The Legend of Vincent Tremblay

I'm moving again.

Not in real life. Just the blog. Vox is an interesting hybrid of blog and social networking site, but for how I use it, it's neither fish nor fowl. Wordpress works much better for my purposes, and it gets along with MarsEdit quite well. Sorry, 6A, but I can't wait for your API to catch up.

You can find the new Legend of Vincent Tremblay here: http://legendofvinnyt.wordpress.com/

(If that works as a link, that is. Maybe I shouldn't be posting from a Firefox 3 beta.)

This site will still be hanging around for the foreseeable future. I haven't figured out an easy way to transfer old posts yet, so I want to keep the archives intact.

Two trades for the Penguins today.

Defenseman Hal Gill from Toronto for Pittsburgh's 2nd and 5th round picks in the 2008 draft.

Gill is 6' 7", all of it mean. He's very good at parking himself in the slot on the penalty kill and beating on anybody who dares cross his path. If you remember him from his Bruins days, you probably remember him because he frustrated the bejeezus out of Jaromir Jagr.

Wings Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis from Atlanta for  wing Colby Armstrong, center Erik Christensen, center Angelo Esposito (currently back in juniors), and Pittsburgh's 1st round pick in the 2008 draft.

Wow. This is a big, big deal.

Hossa is a five-time All Star, has averaged about one point per game, and is a steady 30 goal per season scorer. He's also a strong penalty killer. Dupuis is more of a third-line checking winger, and is also a good penalty killer. (Detecting a theme here?)

The now ex-Penguin I feel, um, least bad about is Christensen. Crusher's ideal role is second line center. He doesn't really have the physical style that his nickname would suggest, so he won't work on a third or fourth line. Michel Therrien tried him on the wing last year, but he wasn't very effective there. Thus, the only way Christensen could get quality time was when Crosby or Malkin were, for whatever reason, not the 1 and 2 centers.

That excess depth at center also explains Esposito's departure. With Crosby locked up for six years, and Malkin due for a big contract this summer, there wasn't room for another first round center. It could end up another Markus Naslund for Alex Stojanov deal, if Espo lives up to the potential he's shown with the Quebec Remparts. The jury is still out on that, though.

The big shock in the deal is Colby Armstrong. On the ice, he's had some scoring droughts, but he never takes a shift off, is a reliable penalty killer, can take on any role in the system, and never lets his beanpole physique get in the way of a good hit. In the locker room, he set the tone for this young team: Take the work seriously, but never let the game stop being fun. You probably couldn't find a human being in the city of Pittsburgh who didn't like Army.

That kind of heart isn't easily replaced.

But from a tactical point of view, Ray Shero's moves make good sense. The Penguins' penalty kill has been mired in the mid-20s in the league rankings this year. Meanwhile, Hossa and Dupuis were 1-2 in shorthanded ice time for the Thrashers this season. (Which makes you wonder what will happen to their PK down the stretch...) Gill's size speaks for itself. Together, they should improve the team's biggest weakness.

Acquiring Hossa also solves the dilemma that has been perplexing armchair GMs in Pittsburgh all season: Who will be Sidney Crosby's linemates? Since Sid's high ankle sprain, the Malone-Malkin-Sykora line has caught fire. Nobody wants to break that up, but that left the cupboard bare for Crosby's line. Now, with Hossa, Sid has the finisher he needs to complement his play-maker role. Add a grinder like Talbot, and the Penguins already potent offense gets that much deeper.

Gill's place in the line-up creates a new question, though. Who's the odd man out? The obvious answer would be Brooks Orpik, who has been in and out of Therrien's doghouse all year. Down the stretch, though, there's always somebody hurting, so a seventh defenseman isn't a bad thing to have around. Ask Alain Nasreddine.

We'll have to wait and see how this all unfolds. The obvious message from Ray Shero is that the time for rebuilding is over. Now, it's time to win the Stanley Cup.

In the interest of a) proving that I'm still alive, and b) proving how little I really know about football, I'm publishing the picks I had made for this season* and comparing them to how things actually happened. I even came up with a little scoring system: 2 points for a correct division champion, 1 point for any other correct pick, 0 for an incorrect pick, -2 for any first place pick that finished last or vice versa. A perfect score would be 40 points. (16 for the division champs, 24 for the remaining teams.)

Do you think Kevin Young started on the juice before he went downhill or because he went downhill?

Do you even remember Tim Laker?

Those are the only two players in the Mitchell Report who were on PEDs while on the Pirates roster, according to the Post-Gazette. Josias Manzanillo, Denny Neagle, Jason Christiansen, and some guy named Barry Bonds were also named, but didn't start using the stuff until after they left the Buccos.

Even at steroids, the Pirates suck.

You know how, when you're a kid, your parents tell you to stand up to a bully because bullies can't take retaliation? Imagine coming home from that confrontation with a broken nose, two black eyes, and an earful of obscenities.

Patriots 34, Steelers 13.

What is it about the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise that chews up coaches and spits out a pile of picked-clean bones? I ask this because Michel Therrien is rolling full speed ahead into the "lost his shit" phase, which has signaled the end of every Penguin coaching tenure not involving Bob Johnson (cancer) or Scotty Bowman (getting on Mario's bad side).

Last season, when the Pens were changing line combinations frequently, it appeared that Therrien was creating match-ups, making little tweaks and adjustments that would keep the offense one step ahead of the night's opponent. It would be something simple, like switching Malone and Roberts between the first and second lines. And let's face it; it's easy to excuse coaching decisions that would look iffy at other times when the team is winning.

This season, he seems to have no idea what combination of forwards will give him four strong lines.

The fourth line appears to have fallen into place for him. Jarkko Ruutu, Georges Laraque, and Maxime Talbot had some great shifts last night against the Devils, producing good cycles down low, one or two quality scoring chances (which is as much as you can expect from a 4), some SportsCenter-worthy hits (not that ESPN would show them), and plenty of energy for the team and the crowd to feed on.

At the top, Therrien has five players for three positions: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Malone, Petr Sykora, and Mark Recchi. Most coaches would love to have that many options for their first two lines, with playmakers like Sid and Geno, finishers like Malone and Sykora, and grinders like Rex and…

Uh-oh. There's the problem. Nobody has stepped up to complete that second line. Jordan Staal is mired in the Mother Of All Sophomore Slumps. Erik Christensen has started out cold. Gary Roberts seems to be a half-step behind on every shift. Adam Hall and Tyler Kennedy are third line players. And Colby Armstrong has, for reasons unknown, landed in Therrien's doghouse, and can't play his way off the healthy scratch list for love or money.

Therrien doesn't want to put Crosby and Malkin together. That kills the second line. A Malone-Malkin-Sykora line would have the potential to wreak havoc on NHL defenses. They haven't played on a line together for more than a few shifts, but in pairs, Malkin-Malone and Malkin-Sykora have clicked. But that leaves the reigning NHL scoring champion and MVP on a line with Recchi and a spare part.

And with Recchi producing turnovers faster than Arby's, he's playing like a spare part, too.

Thus, with 14 forwards and 12 slots, Therrien's decision making looks a little something like this:

Fourth line: Ruutu-Talbot-Laraque. Truth. Ask Johnny Oduya and Danius Zubrus if you don't believe me. As long as the line Ruutu doesn't take dumb penalties, they'll give you 8-10 minutes of reliable energy a night.

First line: Crosby, obviously. Can't put all our eggs in one basket and put Malkin here, so do the next-worst thing (as we'll see in a moment), and use Sykora and Malone here.

Second line: Malkin, obviously. He's the only one of the remaining forwards who scores on a regular basis. OK, now what?

That leaves Recchi, Roberts, Hall, Christensen, Staal, Kennedy, and Armstrong.

Colby is on Coach's shit list, and Kennedy is a recent call-up from Wilkes-Barre, so they're the designated healthy scratches until further notice.

Recchi's scoring comes in streaks these days, but those streaks won't get started on the third line. They're not getting started on the first or second lines, either, but there's still a chance. That leaves Crusher and Staal. Staal worked well with Malkin last year, so maybe that will help lift the sod farmer's malaise.

Second line: Staal-Malkin-Recchi.

Third line: Roberts-Hall-Christensen. Feel free to substitute Kennedy and/or Armstrong as you see fit. It doesn't really matter who of these five is playing, or where. This is the junk drawer of the Penguins' roster: Occasionally useful, but usually clutter.

That was the general line combination last night. By the way, all of this probably changed in practice today, since leaving Malkin without any support killed the second line. Lord only knows who will be on the first line with Sid on Thursday night, but without help from Sykora or Malone, Geno might as well have a neon sign over his head that reads "TRIPLE-TEAM ME".

So why am I dropping this on Therrien's head? Because the Penguins have three games remaining on this homestand, and Therrien will almost certainly change the line combinations for each and every one of those three games. He just can't stop himself. It worked last year, and by God, it will work again this year, right? Therrien's English is serviceable, but I honestly believe that he doesn't know the meaning of the word continuity.

Oh, and he called Marc-Andre Fleury "fragile" in last night's post-game presser. But if I get started on our goaltending situation, this could run longer than a Peter King column, and I wouldn't even get to the tangents about coffee.

Having a Real Job will do that sometimes. Having a third period like we did against the Maple Leafs will do that, too.

Toronto 5, Pittsburgh 2: 25 Oct 2007
Exasperating 20 minutes of hockey, after the score was tied at 1-1.

Montreal 3, Pittsburgh 2 (SO): 27 Oct 2007
Ended up watching this one from home, as the Old College Roommate claimed both tickets. Any shootout that goes 8 rounds will be ended by somebody who's making the first attempt of their career. Cue Andrei Markov.

Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 1: 7 Nov 2007
28 seconds. That's how long it took for Sid to get too fancy with the puck, lose it at his own blue line, and set up a tic-tac-toe goal for the Umberger-Briere-Lupul line. Mellon Arena was having a Technical Difficulty Night, with the orange-gold runway lights staying on for much of the first period, no player numbers on the penalty board, a TV time-out game where the answer was given away on the jumbotron, and for a few minutes, Tampa was leading Florida 196-0, according to the balcony out-of-town scoreboards.

Oh, and the ice has been atrocious for all of these games.

As has the defense. Seriously, 22 shots against in the first period of last Thursday's Rangers game?

I'll keep this one short, because a few themes persisted throughout the game:

• Ryan Malone was flying all night.
• Brooks Orpik was meaner than he's been the past few nights.
• Marc-Andre Fleury was sharp.
• The posts behind Marc-Andre Fleury were sharp.
• The Pens were making too many passes.
• The Rangers did a better job of controlling the puck.
• Scott Gomez and Chris Drury still don't fit in.
• Constantly mixing lines leads to too-many-men penalties. The Pens got another one tonight.
  

The critical time of the game was the first two minutes of the second period. With 1:58 of power play time to start, the Pens scored the only goal they'd need. Sidney Crosby, from the right point, to Ryan Whitney, sneaking up the left wing, to Evgeni Malkin to the right of the goal, for a quick flip behind Henrik Lundqvist. 1-0 Pens. 0:25 later, Jordan Staal gets a penalty shot, thanks to a thrown stick. Unfortunately, Staal went straight in and threw an easy wrister on the net that Lundqvist had all the way.

This was one of those nights where throwing the kitchen sink at a goaltender just builds his confidence. The Rangers out-shot the Penguins 36-22, and Fleury just got stronger as the game went on. Meanwhile, the combination of Malone, Staal, Jarkko Ruutu, and Adam Hall kept Jaromir Jagr frustrated all night. By the third period, Jagr was hanging his head at the end of every shift.

Final Score: Penguins 1, Rangers 0, Jagr boos per period: 12.

Three Stars:

1. Marc-Andre Fleury (36-save shutout)
2. Evgeni Malkin (GWG)
3. Brooks Orpik (Hits galore)
   

Run.

Run the bloody football.

Run the bloody football all over the 32nd rushing defense in the National Football League.

I don't give a damn if Denver is putting eight men in the box. You can bet your fancy Coordinator title that the Broncos had eight men in the box against the five other teams they've faced this season. And they still had the 32nd rushing defense in the National Football League going into tonight's game.

Ben Roethlisberger shouldn't have had more than 15 pass attempts for the entire night. Counting pre-game warmups.

The game plan for tonight was so simple, a hockey blogger could figure it out:

• Run Willie Parker
• Run Willie Parker
• When Parker needs a blow, run Najeh Davenport
• Run Willie Parker
  

Mike Shanahan should have been seeing phantom dumps in his hamper for a year, wondering how this season went down the drain. Instead, Jason Elam is a hero again.

Yours truly,
Vinnie T.

“Pittsburgh penalty, number 55, Sergei Gonchar, 2 minutes for hooking. Time of the penalty, 0:25.”

Yeah, that quick.

“Carolina goal, his second of the season, scored by number 13, Ray Whitney. Assisted by number 8, Matt Cullen, and number 17, Rod Brind’Amour. Time of the goal, 0:59.”

People had barely started into their nachos, and we had already given up a power play goal. Dany Sabourin started in goal for the Penguins, and he didn’t have a chance on Whitney’s shot, a laser of a slapshot from the left point that grazed the crossbar to Sabu’s left.

Ryan Malone, still feeling his oats after Wednesday night’s implosion, quickly decided to head the Canes’ momentum off at the pass, and picked a fight with Mike Commodore. (Why isn’t his number 64? Kids these days have no sense of humor. Back in my day, Steve Heinze wore 57.) Commodore won the fight, but Malone got the momentum shift he was looking for.

Until Sergei Gonchar touched the puck again. He and Ryan Whitney both had cosmically bad nights. Gonchar’s early hooking penalty was a result of a giveaway off the opening faceoff. Later in the first, he gave the puck away to Eric Staal behind the net, but Sabourin bailed him out. On his very next shift, he had to return to the bench for a new stick, and ended up with a towel caught on the blade, and couldn’t get away from the bench until somebody grabbed the towel. Meanwhile, Whitney played the entire game with a bizzaro stick. Pucks were bouncing around, over, and off his blade with random results.

This game had a lot more 5-on-5 action, so there was a much better flow. The Pens killed a Jarkko Ruutu hooking call, then Carolina killed an interference penalty to Brett Hedican, and we were back to 5-on-5 again, where the bounces started getting a little goofy. Sarge’s bad day continued, when he blew a tire while attempting to clear a puck to the back boards, and he ended up shooting the puck directly at Sabourin. Fortunately, it was a weak backhand that Sabu was able to steer aside easily. Carolina had the momentum through this long stretch of play, and the weird bounces went on for quite a long time until Sabu finally froze the puck. After the TV timeout, the Pens got their bearings again.

The Pens finally got the equalizer at 18:58, as Petr Sykora chipped in a rebound off a wrap-around attempt by Sidney Crosby. It was his 250^th career goal.

Erik Cole picked up a late hooking call, and the Pens started the second with a little over a minute of power play time. They added four seconds of 5-on-3 when Hedican was tagged for tripping. Erik Christensen, for the second straight game, missed a slam-dunk rebound, but the second PP unit was strong. Cam Ward hung tough and weathered the storm.

Then the Pens screwed up a line change, giving Carolina a 3-on-1 break. Sabourin scrambled, but Trevor Letowski managed to score on a wrist shot before the Pens’ defense could get back. 2-1 Canes.

During the next TV timeout, the Pens PA announcer acknowledged Canes assistant GM and former Penguin Ron Francis, and congratulated him on his upcoming Hall Of Fame induction, which brought a standing ovation from the standing-room-only crowd.

After killing yet another Ruutu penalty, the Pens had a 3-on-1 break of their own, but Evgeni Malkin’s pass through the slot was somehow deflected harmlessly to the corner.

About halfway through a Commodore throwing-the-puck call, Mark Recchi was dinged for goaltender interference, setting up the most bizarre moment of the night. With the puck entering the Carolina zone, a referee whistled the play dead for too many men on the ice. Oh, no, not again. The ref didn’t point at a specific bench and both teams though the call was on them. My best guess is that the ref lost track of who coming out of the penalty box first, Commodore or Recchi. They eventually got everything straightened out, and reversed the call, but for a moment there, it looked like we were going to get a repeat of Wednesday night.

Not long after that, we got a repeat of something else entirely: soft goaltending. Justin Williams carried the puck into the zone 1-on-2, and fired a quick wrist shot that fooled Sabourin. 3-1 Canes.

Then a scary moment. On his way back to the bench, Carolina winger Scott Walker suddenly dropped to his knees. He was involved in a collision with Ruutu earlier in the period, but didn’t seem to be suffering any ill effects until he collapsed. They brought out a stretcher for him, but he was able to skate to the locker room with assistance. After the game, the Hurricanes described it only as a “torso injury,” and that he was released from the hospital and joined the team for their flight to Philadelphia.

This turned out to be ominous for Carolina, as it completely stopped their momentum. The Penguins fourth line came through with a tough goal, with Adam Hall picking up his first goal as a Penguin on a Ruutu rebound.

Then the Pens got a late period 5-on-3. With Commodore and Brind’Amour in the box, Sykora did what the Penguins have done well so far this season: banged home a rebound, this time on a Gonchar slapshot, at 19:54. The Pens entered the third period tied 3-3.

The third was good back and forth hockey, with one power play for each team. Sabourin settled down after that Williams goal, and Ward continued to stand tall. The highlight of the OT third was Sid, but it wasn’t a goal. Charging to the net right-to-left, Crosby launched himself into the air, tucked his knees into his chest, and cleared the entire crease, Ward included, before making a rolling landing into the corner. No goals, so we go to overtime, which was more of the same, but with two fewer skaters.

Shootout!

• Christensen gets Ward to commit to his left, and scores on a wrist shot.
• Cullen slows as he gets to the slot, gets Sabourin to commit to his left, and scores on a wrist shot.
• Sykora fakes Ward out with the forehand-backhand, and scores.
• Jeff Hamilton fakes Sabourin out with the forehand-backhand, and scores.
• Crosby fakes Ward almost entirely out of the crease with a sick move, and scores an easy wrister.
• Ray Whitney realizes that he can’t copycat Sid’s moves, and just goes for a straight-in wrist shot, which Sabourin easily gloves to win the game for the Pens.

Final Score: Penguins 4, Hurricanes 3 (SO), number of games Alain Nasreddine has been a healthy scratch this season: 4. The other two were a “conditioning assignment” in Wilkes-Barre. Since when did rust count as requiring “conditioning?”

Three Stars:

1. Petr Sykora (2G, 1 SOG, 250^th NHL goal)
2. Sidney Crosby (2A, 1 SOG)
3. Justin Williams (1G, 1A)