I’ve never been a person who treads on the misfortunate of others to make myself feel better in bad times. Sadness is sadness and it should not be relative to other people.
And yet...
Even as I continue to deal with the shock and disappointment resulting from the Penguins season ending meltdown against Montreal, even as I try and come to grips with my Penguin sadness, I find myself falling back on this disturbingly comforting thought; at least I’m not a Boston Bruin’s fan today.
I’ve been watching sports for the better part of three decades and I’m fairly certain that I’ve never seen a choke to rival what the Bruins did over the last week. Seriously, not once in 30 years. This one stands on its own.
It was not sufficient for Boston to blow a 3 games to none lead; making them just the 4th team in North American sports history to do so. Such and accomplishment is cause for more than sufficient infamy in and of itself. No, the Bruins had to take it one giant step further. They somehow gathered themselves in the face of the monumental pressure of said choke and stormed out to a 3 to 0 lead…AT HOME…in game 7. And then, faster than you can say James Van Riemsdyk, they blew that lead as well.
I wonder if Boston coach Claude Julien is already sending out resumes. At the very least, I hope he’s hired a good head hunter. I will be shocked beyond shocked if he’s still employed by this time next week.
Just to be clear here, I’m not ignoring the accomplishments of the Eastern Pennsylvania Orange and Black Goon Squad, while I bash Boston. I may hate anything and everything related to that hockey team but even I have to tip my cap to this. Yes the Bruins choked but you have to give the Goons credit for making it happen with incredible resiliency. I do not know if they will win the Stanley Cup, but I’ll give them credit for displaying the heart of a champion. That’s something that could not often be said about the Goons going back to the start of the Lindros era.
Never in a million years did I think I would write something like this but it is sadly true. If the Penguins had shown half as much resiliency in their series as the Goons did in theirs, I would be writing about a second all Pennsylvania conference finals in three years. Remember, they won in spite of rotating third string goalies and playing parts of the series without Jeff Carter and Simone (American Cheese) Gagne.
See how bad the Penguins’ loss really is? It puts me in the awkward position of praising Philadelphia and thanking Boston. Thanking the Bruins for making me realize that in sports, no matter how bad things look, it can be worse.
I know the Penguins let us down against Montreal. I know that to a man, they underachieved and played poorly. And yet as a fan, I find that loss far less agonizing than what occurred in Bean Town. For better or for worse, we could see the signs of it coming all through the series. The lack of consistent offense, especially at even strength, the defensive zone breakdowns, the MIA status of Sid and Geno, and the struggles of MAF made it abundantly clear. At least to me.
In contrast, imagine if the Pens had gone up 3 games to none on Montreal and then lost the series. Imagine if they had jumped out to a 3 to 0 lead in game 7…ON HOME ICE…and lost. I’m sorry but that would have been about a million times worse.
So thank you Boston from the bottom of my heart. You took a genuinely lousy week in my hockey life made it just a tiny bit easier to accept.
With that, my completely meaningless third round playoff predictions. I mean I’m 5 and 7 through two rounds which means a reasonably trained monkey, or Liverant, could probably do just as well or better. Since said monkey was not available in time for this column…
Montreal Canadiens (8) vs the Eastern Pennsylvania Orange and Black Goon Squad (7)
I’ll just come out and say it…I have no clue. I’ve never been as sure of anything in sports as I was that these two teams would not get out of the first round of the playoffs and here they are in the conference finals. So how to I pick a winner?
My natural bias is to predict Montreal for two good reasons.
First, I just watched the Habs take out the Pens (every darn stinking moment of it) and before that the Craps and look darn impressive doing so.
Second, and perhaps more important, they are playing Philadelphia.
Just so nobody thinks I’m going soft here; the Goons are still the Goons. I may have devoted 200 or so words to praising them above but it’s a long way from that to predicting them to go to the Stanley Cup finals.
Beyond that, Jaroslav Halak has gone Giggy on the eastern conference and there is little reason to believe it will stop here. In deference to Rosie, I will stop knocking the Goons goaltending. I figured Brian Boucher and now Michael Leighton would be no match for either Tuukka Rask or the ghost of Marty Brodeur and I was wrong both times. So I will not even mention my belief that Leighton does not match up with Halak (oops).
Besides, it was not just a one man effort for the Habs. Michael Cammalleri was brilliant offensively and the entire Montreal blue line should take a bow for their performance. I will also credit the Montreal coaching for some exceptional strategy.
Finally, I do think Montreal has this team of destiny thing going for them. The ghosts of Les Habitants have awoken north of the boarder…Habs in 6.
San Jose Sharks (1) vs Chicago Blackhawks (2)
Ok, a few off ice thoughts on this series.
First, we’ve avoided the DOOM scenario. For those of you who do not know, my lovely fiancé and rabid Blackhawks fan Emily has been predicting DOOM since last summer. DOOM in this case was defined as a Penguin/Blackhawk Stanley Cup final starting 48 hours after our wedding. Two weeks ago she announced…”ALL ROADS LEAD TO DOOM.”
To be crystal clear, I’m not happy about the way we avoided doom. I’m just saying that for better or for worse, we did avoid it. Again, give me lemons and I’ll squeeze out some drop of lemonade.
Second, I’m not unbiased here either. I’ve lived in Chicago for 15 years and I genuinely like the Hawks. They’ve put together a team that is very easy to like. I will not say that a Hawks Stanley Cup victory will make me feel better about the Pens losing. That being said, with our boys out of it and my conflicts reluctantly resolved, I’ll be with my fiancé rooting hard for the Hawks. Quite honestly, I think it’s their year, just as I did the Pens last year.
The Hawks remind me quite a bit of last year’s Penguins. They are a deep, talented, and versatile team, with a lot of guys that quite frankly are easy to like. They play an up tempo, entertaining brand of hockey. No trap in the windy city, coach Q will not allow it. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching them slice up those slash and run pansies from Vancouver.
Indeed, if the Scotty Bowman’s kid had not thrown a 12 year, big money contract at some Slovakian guy who used to play for Detroit I would have nary a beef with the current team. Well with the caveat that I do not lose any sleep over Dale Tallon’s hangover induced signing of Cristobal Huet two years ago.
Even the Huet move has been overcome thanks to the strong play of Antti Niemi. Here is something Pittsburgh fans should appreciate. Many in the “never let the facts get in the way of a good story” national media and many uninformed fans try to play the Hawks goaltending as a weakness. Much like Fleury bashing, it’s a lazy and convenient story. And it’s just not true.
Huet was terrible the second half of the year and I’ll give you that Niemi is inexperienced. That being said, Niemi has been solid between the pipes all year. He ripped the starting job from Huet, played far better than the washed up Nikoli Khabibuhlin did last season, and convinced the Hawks not to trade for another netminder. Suggesting he was a better than Luongo last series is on par with stating that Disque has thicker hair than I do.
The Hawks road will not be easy. You’ll note that I’m no longer referring to San Jose as the Chokes. They were brilliant against Detroit and that includes the usual fold up like a cheap suit trio of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Johnny Nabokov. They are getting great play from Eric Pavelski (or is it Joe Lewbart?). From top to bottom, they’ve showed a post season character that was not evident in prior years.
That being said, I like what I see from the Hawks. I believe that Rocky’s boys are on the road to ending a half century Stanley Cup drought, and even the new and improved Sharks will not stand in their way. In spite of getting zero goals from their prized offseason acquisition…Hawks in 6.
And if I’m wrong…well at least I’m not a Bruin fan.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
In the End, Penguins Got What They Deserved
“This is a Pain that is going to linger…” (Brain Mouse…Pinky and the Brain)
Wednesday May 12, 2010 will always be remembered as the night the Montreal Canadiens closed down the Igloo. And to some degree, it was fitting.
We’ve seen some absolutely amazing hockey from our beloved Penguins over the last 25 years. I’ve said before, we are truly spoiled. Ask our friends in Philly what they would give for 3 Stanley Cups, 4 finals, and four all world superstars over a quarter century (or at least one comeback from a 3-0 deficit). We have no right to complain.
And yet the night they turned the lights off at the Igloo the Penguins suffered no less then their 5th agonizing game 7 defeat on home ice. We are all too young to remember the brutal loss to the Islanders in 1975. And yet we can now add this loss to the Goons in 1989, the horrible, awful loss that should never be spoken of against the Islanders and 93 and from what I’m told, to Florida in 1996 (although I still say if the Pens had lost the conference finals to a clutch and grab expansion team from the deep south I would remember that).
The funny thing about the Igloo is that the Pens have never really had much of a home ice advantage there. As sad as I am to see it go, this is not like shutting down the Boston Garden or Chicago Stadium. The Penguins throughout their history have had most of their biggest wins on the road and their worst defeats at home. And tonight was no exception. As has so often happened in the past, the Penguins saved their worst effort for a 7th game at the aged barn.
There will be all kinds of attempts to analyze what happened tonight and in this series but it’s frankly not necessary. The Pens got beat, plain and simple. The naive of the naïve will put all the blame on Fleury, while conveniently ignoring a complete disappearing act by our media appointed savior, Sid the Kid. They will correctly point out two less than stellar goals tonight while ignoring the constant breakdowns in the defensive zone. They will overlook that a team supposedly built to dominate offensively, scored 9 even strength goals in 7 games.
That being said, I do not want to turn this blog into a defense of Fleury. There is more to it than that and frankly he did not earn it. The bigger picture question is what did we really see tonight. Did Montreal expose the Penguins flaws and end a short lived era of immense glory? Or was this a team that after two long playoff runs and an Olympic year finally ran out of gas?
I like to think the answer lies somewhat in the middle although closer to the latter. I said back in October that this team was going to have to overcome both physical and mental fatigue this year. Frankly, I do not think they ever did. They were talented enough to finish respectably in the standings and win a playoff series against an inferior team. And yet they struggled all year against better teams and especially against strong defensive teams. Let’s not forget they were 0 and 6 against New Jersey, the team last seen skating off the ice against Philly with their head’s in their hands after a five game rout.
Truth be told, the Pens are a flawed team though no more than last year. Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury carried them past those flaws last season (with assists from Staal, Gonchar, and Talbot). Take a look at last season’s stats (regular season and playoffs) and you’ll be amazed how disproportionate they are to 87 and 71. This year for whatever reason, Sid and Geno could not perform the same miracles. The question is, were they just out of gas or is it not reasonable for two players, no matter how talented, to carry a team every year?
So if we are going to make lemons out of lemonade, maybe this is it. The Penguins have stuck with a flawed structure for three seasons because Sid and Geno carried them past those flaws to a well earned championship. Maybe now Ray Shero will realize he has to make some genuinely tough decisions to improve his wingers and blue line; even if that means trading somebody like Jordan Staal (a move that while potentially necessary would cause me great angst). I just don’t think the Penguins can continue to play with Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz as their top wingers or Alex Goligoski and Mark Eaton as a top four defensemen.
In any event, such questions are irrelevant tonight. Tonight we deal with our sadness towards the end of the season and the end of a truly brilliant three year run. We can deal with the what ifs or maybes come July.
The reality of today is the Penguins got flat out beat. Not just tonight but for an entire series. I’m sad to say that I’ve expected this loss since game 2 and I’ve been vocal in my concerns. It’s not rest assured because I am a pessimist and certainly not about the Pens. I never lost faith when they were down 3-2 to Detroit last year, even after the game 5 blowout (see my year old blog that I reposted yesterday). I never lost faith when they were trailing 3-0 to Ottawa in the second period of game 6.
Quite honestly, I’m usually quite the optimist when it comes to the Pens.
Alas there were just too many signs in this series that it was not to be. Throw out game 1 when the Pens overmatched a physically and mentally exhausted Habs team and the reality is that Montreal was just better. Truth be told, the Pens were lucky to even get to a game 7. They played Montreal’s game. They struggled to score at even strength and in fact most of their goals came on long shots from the point. There were not tough goals or dirty goals score from in front. No rebounds, no deflections…and no Sid and Geno.
With each passing game I waited for some sign that the Pens were coming out of this funk and finding their game but it never happened. And thus with each passing game I became more and more convinced that we were feeding the underdog monster in Montreal. If indeed the Penguins really did lose to the Florida Panthers in 1996 (and I still deny this), this series had a frightening similarity (sans 20,000 plastic rats).
Let’s be honest, the problems started long before this series. I’ve been saying since the Olympics that something was not quite right about this team. It was never anything specific or quantifiable but it was always there. Remember how the Pens just dominated the month of March the last two years? Well this year it never happened. Remember how the Penguins got up for big games against key conference rivals the last two years? Contrast that with 0 and 10 against Jersey and the Craps.
This team just did not have that aura of dominance that last year’s team had. Last year you just waited for Sid, Geno, or even a Max Talbot type to do something miraculous. This year they tried but just could not make it happen.
The magic was just not there. Geno and Fleury did not elevate their game like last year. We did not get big goals from grinders like Talbot, Cooke, Dupuis, and Kennedy; at least against the Habs. There was no Bylsma magic behind the bench. And I’m sorry but Sid the Kid just disappeared. He stopped scoring, he stopped winning face offs and frankly stopped being a special player in this series.
As much as I’ve lamented the Penguins playing Montreal’s game for two weeks, the reality is there is no game plan that can overcome such malaise. Last year I described the heart of a champion; as something that goes beyond skill or talent to an unstoppable will to overcome all obstacles. It’s a truly rare thing and quite simply, this year’s team did not have it. Even if they had somehow managed to win tonight, I’m not sure they would have gone any further. I guess the bright side is we don’t have to face the horrifying thought of them losing to the Goons in the conference finals (another bright side, we are not Boston Bruin fans right now).
Let’s at least lose with grace and dignity. Resist the urge to complain about the officiating. It was shaky but we overcame similar issues to win the cup last year. Do not restart the Scuderi love fest. That’s the same guy that gave up 13 points to Ovechkin in the second round last year. Do not myopically scapegoat Fleury; he was one of many that disappointed. Do not blame Ray Shero because Feds and Poni-K did not work out. You roll the dice and sometimes you get seven or eleven. Most important, let’s not make more of Jaroslav Halak than he is. He played great but he was just one part of a superior team effort.
No, let’s just face the reality that for whatever reason, this was just not the year for our Pens. We look forward to a new season next year in a new arena that we’ve been waiting a decade to see. Let’s be proud of a young team that matured long before most of us expected to win the cup and go to two straight finals. Let’s remember that as much as this hurt, there have been far more painful moments than tonight. This is not the one of the greatest teams in NHL history losing to a decidedly inferior opponent in 1993. This was not a solid Penguin team losing to a beer league expansion club in 1996.
This is what it is. A team that was not good enough and probably finished exactly where it deserved. Let’s deal with the sadness and start up again at the new barn in October.
In good times and in bad…All Hail the Mighty Penguin, Blessed be the Penguin, for it is Good (even tonight).
Wednesday May 12, 2010 will always be remembered as the night the Montreal Canadiens closed down the Igloo. And to some degree, it was fitting.
We’ve seen some absolutely amazing hockey from our beloved Penguins over the last 25 years. I’ve said before, we are truly spoiled. Ask our friends in Philly what they would give for 3 Stanley Cups, 4 finals, and four all world superstars over a quarter century (or at least one comeback from a 3-0 deficit). We have no right to complain.
And yet the night they turned the lights off at the Igloo the Penguins suffered no less then their 5th agonizing game 7 defeat on home ice. We are all too young to remember the brutal loss to the Islanders in 1975. And yet we can now add this loss to the Goons in 1989, the horrible, awful loss that should never be spoken of against the Islanders and 93 and from what I’m told, to Florida in 1996 (although I still say if the Pens had lost the conference finals to a clutch and grab expansion team from the deep south I would remember that).
The funny thing about the Igloo is that the Pens have never really had much of a home ice advantage there. As sad as I am to see it go, this is not like shutting down the Boston Garden or Chicago Stadium. The Penguins throughout their history have had most of their biggest wins on the road and their worst defeats at home. And tonight was no exception. As has so often happened in the past, the Penguins saved their worst effort for a 7th game at the aged barn.
There will be all kinds of attempts to analyze what happened tonight and in this series but it’s frankly not necessary. The Pens got beat, plain and simple. The naive of the naïve will put all the blame on Fleury, while conveniently ignoring a complete disappearing act by our media appointed savior, Sid the Kid. They will correctly point out two less than stellar goals tonight while ignoring the constant breakdowns in the defensive zone. They will overlook that a team supposedly built to dominate offensively, scored 9 even strength goals in 7 games.
That being said, I do not want to turn this blog into a defense of Fleury. There is more to it than that and frankly he did not earn it. The bigger picture question is what did we really see tonight. Did Montreal expose the Penguins flaws and end a short lived era of immense glory? Or was this a team that after two long playoff runs and an Olympic year finally ran out of gas?
I like to think the answer lies somewhat in the middle although closer to the latter. I said back in October that this team was going to have to overcome both physical and mental fatigue this year. Frankly, I do not think they ever did. They were talented enough to finish respectably in the standings and win a playoff series against an inferior team. And yet they struggled all year against better teams and especially against strong defensive teams. Let’s not forget they were 0 and 6 against New Jersey, the team last seen skating off the ice against Philly with their head’s in their hands after a five game rout.
Truth be told, the Pens are a flawed team though no more than last year. Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury carried them past those flaws last season (with assists from Staal, Gonchar, and Talbot). Take a look at last season’s stats (regular season and playoffs) and you’ll be amazed how disproportionate they are to 87 and 71. This year for whatever reason, Sid and Geno could not perform the same miracles. The question is, were they just out of gas or is it not reasonable for two players, no matter how talented, to carry a team every year?
So if we are going to make lemons out of lemonade, maybe this is it. The Penguins have stuck with a flawed structure for three seasons because Sid and Geno carried them past those flaws to a well earned championship. Maybe now Ray Shero will realize he has to make some genuinely tough decisions to improve his wingers and blue line; even if that means trading somebody like Jordan Staal (a move that while potentially necessary would cause me great angst). I just don’t think the Penguins can continue to play with Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz as their top wingers or Alex Goligoski and Mark Eaton as a top four defensemen.
In any event, such questions are irrelevant tonight. Tonight we deal with our sadness towards the end of the season and the end of a truly brilliant three year run. We can deal with the what ifs or maybes come July.
The reality of today is the Penguins got flat out beat. Not just tonight but for an entire series. I’m sad to say that I’ve expected this loss since game 2 and I’ve been vocal in my concerns. It’s not rest assured because I am a pessimist and certainly not about the Pens. I never lost faith when they were down 3-2 to Detroit last year, even after the game 5 blowout (see my year old blog that I reposted yesterday). I never lost faith when they were trailing 3-0 to Ottawa in the second period of game 6.
Quite honestly, I’m usually quite the optimist when it comes to the Pens.
Alas there were just too many signs in this series that it was not to be. Throw out game 1 when the Pens overmatched a physically and mentally exhausted Habs team and the reality is that Montreal was just better. Truth be told, the Pens were lucky to even get to a game 7. They played Montreal’s game. They struggled to score at even strength and in fact most of their goals came on long shots from the point. There were not tough goals or dirty goals score from in front. No rebounds, no deflections…and no Sid and Geno.
With each passing game I waited for some sign that the Pens were coming out of this funk and finding their game but it never happened. And thus with each passing game I became more and more convinced that we were feeding the underdog monster in Montreal. If indeed the Penguins really did lose to the Florida Panthers in 1996 (and I still deny this), this series had a frightening similarity (sans 20,000 plastic rats).
Let’s be honest, the problems started long before this series. I’ve been saying since the Olympics that something was not quite right about this team. It was never anything specific or quantifiable but it was always there. Remember how the Pens just dominated the month of March the last two years? Well this year it never happened. Remember how the Penguins got up for big games against key conference rivals the last two years? Contrast that with 0 and 10 against Jersey and the Craps.
This team just did not have that aura of dominance that last year’s team had. Last year you just waited for Sid, Geno, or even a Max Talbot type to do something miraculous. This year they tried but just could not make it happen.
The magic was just not there. Geno and Fleury did not elevate their game like last year. We did not get big goals from grinders like Talbot, Cooke, Dupuis, and Kennedy; at least against the Habs. There was no Bylsma magic behind the bench. And I’m sorry but Sid the Kid just disappeared. He stopped scoring, he stopped winning face offs and frankly stopped being a special player in this series.
As much as I’ve lamented the Penguins playing Montreal’s game for two weeks, the reality is there is no game plan that can overcome such malaise. Last year I described the heart of a champion; as something that goes beyond skill or talent to an unstoppable will to overcome all obstacles. It’s a truly rare thing and quite simply, this year’s team did not have it. Even if they had somehow managed to win tonight, I’m not sure they would have gone any further. I guess the bright side is we don’t have to face the horrifying thought of them losing to the Goons in the conference finals (another bright side, we are not Boston Bruin fans right now).
Let’s at least lose with grace and dignity. Resist the urge to complain about the officiating. It was shaky but we overcame similar issues to win the cup last year. Do not restart the Scuderi love fest. That’s the same guy that gave up 13 points to Ovechkin in the second round last year. Do not myopically scapegoat Fleury; he was one of many that disappointed. Do not blame Ray Shero because Feds and Poni-K did not work out. You roll the dice and sometimes you get seven or eleven. Most important, let’s not make more of Jaroslav Halak than he is. He played great but he was just one part of a superior team effort.
No, let’s just face the reality that for whatever reason, this was just not the year for our Pens. We look forward to a new season next year in a new arena that we’ve been waiting a decade to see. Let’s be proud of a young team that matured long before most of us expected to win the cup and go to two straight finals. Let’s remember that as much as this hurt, there have been far more painful moments than tonight. This is not the one of the greatest teams in NHL history losing to a decidedly inferior opponent in 1993. This was not a solid Penguin team losing to a beer league expansion club in 1996.
This is what it is. A team that was not good enough and probably finished exactly where it deserved. Let’s deal with the sadness and start up again at the new barn in October.
In good times and in bad…All Hail the Mighty Penguin, Blessed be the Penguin, for it is Good (even tonight).
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
A Frighteningly Passionate Defense of Marc-Andre Fleury
Everybody has a weak spot and mine is goaltending.
I can keep my emotions and passions in check on just about every other topic. Trust me on this one. If I had any doubt about my ability to stay calm in the face of enemy fire, Ben Roethlisberger is forcing me prove it on a daily basis.
I’ve stood up to numerous out of town assaults on Ben’s character, decisions, and generally scum-baggedness (it’s my blog; I can make up words if I want). Frankly, Ben deserves it for the way he’s acted.
I’m not sure I deserve it; after all I’m not hitting on 20 year old drunk college girls. That being said, when you wear your sports passions on your sleeve as I do (and on your shirt, your shorts, and your hat), you have to be tough. If I’m going to walk around Chicago carrying my terrible towel trumpeting the glory of the Steelers all the time, I have to be prepared for a response when things go south.
I can handle the shots at Big Ben and Santonio Holmes. I can handle the weekend at Bernie’s jokes directed at Joe Paterno. I can even take all the grief that comes from being a Cub fan. Oh and I’m perfectly willing to listen to legitimate criticism about the entire NHL world fawning over Sid the Kid to the point of Favre like nausea.
Seriously, I can handle all of that with a proportionate degree of class and dignity.
Alas, when you attack my goaltender, I become like a mother bear when one of her cubs (not Cubs) is under attack. I grimace and growl; the fur (hair) stands up on the back of my neck. I become 100% ready to attack.
To some degree I’ve always known this but tried to overlook it as a minor character flaw. Alas it came flying back to the forefront this week because once again a segment of the Penguin fan base has taken to ripping up Marc-Andre Fleury.
Yes that’s the same Marc-Andre Fleury who you last saw robbing future hall of famer Nicklas Lidstrom at point blank range to win game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals…on the road. The same MAF who took the Pens to game 6 of the finals the year before that. The same Flower who robbed Alex Ovechkin on a breakaway in game 7 against Washington last season (again on the road). And also the guy who shut out Montreal on the road last night.
A normal person would not care about this criticism. They would just brush it off. It would be enough for them to say, Stanley Cup Champions and move forward. Of course when it comes to goaltenders, I am hardly a normal person. That’s why I wrote an entire blog on the subject last year after the Stanley Cup finals. I called it, Stanley Cup Championship should put an end to Fleury bashing. Apparently, I was wrong.
http://ahaberman35.livejournal.com/tag/fleury#post-ahaberman35-5374
Is it any wonder that Emily gets so worked up when people criticize her favorite player, Hawks goaltender Antti Niemi? It’s almost like we are the bear couple (not to be confused with Chicago Bears) and we have two sons, Marc-Andre and Antti. Cleary I’m not setting a good example for grace under fire.
Here is the thing about Fleury, he is never going to have great numbers, at least not playing for this version of the Penguins. And to be clear, that’s the way it should be. The Penguins have two of the best offensive players in the league in Crosby and Malkin. They play Dan Bylsma’s aggressive forechecking system which generates a lot of scoring chances in the offensive zone. They allow their talented offensive defensemen to pinch and go in deep to create chances.
This is exactly the way a team with this much talent should play. Do we really want to see them playing the NJ Devils trap? We don’t and neither does their owners, a fellow who knew a thing or two about scoring goals as well. The Penguins fired the worlds angriest French Canadian as coach last season about 48 hours after he unveiled the Crosby and Malkin version of the neutral zone trap.
So in came Bylsma who totally revamped the way the Penguins played. He developed a style that plays to their strengths and covers up their biggest weakness, their defensive defensemen. It’s a classic example of a coach brilliantly tailoring a team’s game plan to its talents.
The down side to Bylsma’s strategy is it exposes the Penguins to a lot of quality chances against them. To be clear, that’s not the same as a lot of shots on goal. When Kris Letang goes in deep and throws a diagonal centering pass to the slot, sometimes it results in a brilliant goal. Sometimes it results in a 2 on 1 break the other way.
Fortunately, the Penguins have a goaltender who can be counted on to make the big save when that happens. More important, they have a goaltender who gets that this style is going to leave him exposed sometimes. He makes as many big saves as possible and when one gets buy him, he fishes it out of the net and moves on.
When they are on their game, the Penguins dominate with the forecheck and do not give up a high number of shots. And while I can not prove this statistically, I would guess that the number of quality shots they give up as a percentage of total shots is as high as any team in the league. The result, you will not find Marc-Andre Fleury at the top of the list in save percentage in the NHL. Compare this to Jaroslav Halak who faces 45 shots a game but probably faces fewer quality chances than the Flower.
There is a stat that he is frequently on the leader board for…wins. Especially playoff wins. I guess we as Penguin fans can grudgingly settle for that?
I went through this with Tom Barrasso in the early 90s. Lemieux, Jagr, Coffey and company were playing run and gun hockey and winning games 6 to 4. I would hear all kinds of comments about Barrasso and how his GAA and save percentage were mediocre so he obviously was not good. To say I did not always handle such criticism well was a grotesque understatement.
I would get into arguments with people at school, in bars, anywhere to defend Barrasso. I turned my home into a billboard for him. I ran into Jeff Webster a few years back after not seeing him since high school and the first thing we did was argue about Barrasso! It was soccer practice 1990 all over again.
And yes, I admit this is emblematic of some degree of psychosis. It’s disturbing that I could not be above such arguments, especially after two Stanley Cups. Alas, I was 17 years old when that started. Clearly I’ve matured and moved on from such issues after two decades of personal growth.
WRONG.
Last week I found myself defending Barrasso on Bob Smizik’s blog. I was defending him for that awful, never should be spoken of playoff loss to the Islanders in 1993. I was pointing out in intricate detail how poorly the Penguins played in that series and two awful turnovers by Ulf Samuelson that lead to goals in game 7 (a nightmare I relived thanks to the NHL network and the miracle of YouTube). I was doing this with vigor, anger, and passion…17 YEARS LATER. Honestly, this is not normal behavior.
And over the last 48 hours I’ve been fighting it out with Fleury bashers as if they insulted by family.
I admit that Smizik’s blog has become kind of a guilty pleasure for me. It helps me deal with being completely isolated from the inside Pittsburgh sports scene. I enjoy reading it and commenting on it. I do this knowing full well that internet blogs attract a motley mix of folks, some of whom do not have the most educated or enlightened perspective on sports.
I found myself pleasantly amused by the belief that Bruce Arians is responsible for everything that went wrong with the Steelers the last two years, right down to Ben’s bathroom escapades. I enjoyed arguing my minority view point on Ben which I espoused twice in recent blog entries. I argued these points with thought, passion, and sensibility.
As for the Fleury bashing…yikes. I did not bring my computer home last night. So I found myself counting the minutes until I got to work so I could lay into these morons who are attacking one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. I could feel the anger and venom building up inside me as my fingers cracked the keys. Honestly, it’s frightening…to me!
So I have two suggestions for Penguins fans.
First, be proud that you have one of the best young goaltenders in the league on your team. Understand that he’s not perfect; that he will let in a soft goal once in awhile, or give up a bad rebound. Understand that his statistics will never be amongst the league leaders except for wins. And understand that in spite of that, the guy is perfect for this Penguin team and the way they play. He’s an elite goaltender in the NHL no matter how much some fans and media members refuse to believe it.
And second…if you disagree with the above, don’t mess with me on this topic. This old bear still gets mighty angry when you attack his goalie!
ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY PENGUIN, BLESSED BE THE PENGUIN, FOR IT IS GOOD !
I can keep my emotions and passions in check on just about every other topic. Trust me on this one. If I had any doubt about my ability to stay calm in the face of enemy fire, Ben Roethlisberger is forcing me prove it on a daily basis.
I’ve stood up to numerous out of town assaults on Ben’s character, decisions, and generally scum-baggedness (it’s my blog; I can make up words if I want). Frankly, Ben deserves it for the way he’s acted.
I’m not sure I deserve it; after all I’m not hitting on 20 year old drunk college girls. That being said, when you wear your sports passions on your sleeve as I do (and on your shirt, your shorts, and your hat), you have to be tough. If I’m going to walk around Chicago carrying my terrible towel trumpeting the glory of the Steelers all the time, I have to be prepared for a response when things go south.
I can handle the shots at Big Ben and Santonio Holmes. I can handle the weekend at Bernie’s jokes directed at Joe Paterno. I can even take all the grief that comes from being a Cub fan. Oh and I’m perfectly willing to listen to legitimate criticism about the entire NHL world fawning over Sid the Kid to the point of Favre like nausea.
Seriously, I can handle all of that with a proportionate degree of class and dignity.
Alas, when you attack my goaltender, I become like a mother bear when one of her cubs (not Cubs) is under attack. I grimace and growl; the fur (hair) stands up on the back of my neck. I become 100% ready to attack.
To some degree I’ve always known this but tried to overlook it as a minor character flaw. Alas it came flying back to the forefront this week because once again a segment of the Penguin fan base has taken to ripping up Marc-Andre Fleury.
Yes that’s the same Marc-Andre Fleury who you last saw robbing future hall of famer Nicklas Lidstrom at point blank range to win game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals…on the road. The same MAF who took the Pens to game 6 of the finals the year before that. The same Flower who robbed Alex Ovechkin on a breakaway in game 7 against Washington last season (again on the road). And also the guy who shut out Montreal on the road last night.
A normal person would not care about this criticism. They would just brush it off. It would be enough for them to say, Stanley Cup Champions and move forward. Of course when it comes to goaltenders, I am hardly a normal person. That’s why I wrote an entire blog on the subject last year after the Stanley Cup finals. I called it, Stanley Cup Championship should put an end to Fleury bashing. Apparently, I was wrong.
http://ahaberman35.livejournal.com/tag/fleury#post-ahaberman35-5374
Is it any wonder that Emily gets so worked up when people criticize her favorite player, Hawks goaltender Antti Niemi? It’s almost like we are the bear couple (not to be confused with Chicago Bears) and we have two sons, Marc-Andre and Antti. Cleary I’m not setting a good example for grace under fire.
Here is the thing about Fleury, he is never going to have great numbers, at least not playing for this version of the Penguins. And to be clear, that’s the way it should be. The Penguins have two of the best offensive players in the league in Crosby and Malkin. They play Dan Bylsma’s aggressive forechecking system which generates a lot of scoring chances in the offensive zone. They allow their talented offensive defensemen to pinch and go in deep to create chances.
This is exactly the way a team with this much talent should play. Do we really want to see them playing the NJ Devils trap? We don’t and neither does their owners, a fellow who knew a thing or two about scoring goals as well. The Penguins fired the worlds angriest French Canadian as coach last season about 48 hours after he unveiled the Crosby and Malkin version of the neutral zone trap.
So in came Bylsma who totally revamped the way the Penguins played. He developed a style that plays to their strengths and covers up their biggest weakness, their defensive defensemen. It’s a classic example of a coach brilliantly tailoring a team’s game plan to its talents.
The down side to Bylsma’s strategy is it exposes the Penguins to a lot of quality chances against them. To be clear, that’s not the same as a lot of shots on goal. When Kris Letang goes in deep and throws a diagonal centering pass to the slot, sometimes it results in a brilliant goal. Sometimes it results in a 2 on 1 break the other way.
Fortunately, the Penguins have a goaltender who can be counted on to make the big save when that happens. More important, they have a goaltender who gets that this style is going to leave him exposed sometimes. He makes as many big saves as possible and when one gets buy him, he fishes it out of the net and moves on.
When they are on their game, the Penguins dominate with the forecheck and do not give up a high number of shots. And while I can not prove this statistically, I would guess that the number of quality shots they give up as a percentage of total shots is as high as any team in the league. The result, you will not find Marc-Andre Fleury at the top of the list in save percentage in the NHL. Compare this to Jaroslav Halak who faces 45 shots a game but probably faces fewer quality chances than the Flower.
There is a stat that he is frequently on the leader board for…wins. Especially playoff wins. I guess we as Penguin fans can grudgingly settle for that?
I went through this with Tom Barrasso in the early 90s. Lemieux, Jagr, Coffey and company were playing run and gun hockey and winning games 6 to 4. I would hear all kinds of comments about Barrasso and how his GAA and save percentage were mediocre so he obviously was not good. To say I did not always handle such criticism well was a grotesque understatement.
I would get into arguments with people at school, in bars, anywhere to defend Barrasso. I turned my home into a billboard for him. I ran into Jeff Webster a few years back after not seeing him since high school and the first thing we did was argue about Barrasso! It was soccer practice 1990 all over again.
And yes, I admit this is emblematic of some degree of psychosis. It’s disturbing that I could not be above such arguments, especially after two Stanley Cups. Alas, I was 17 years old when that started. Clearly I’ve matured and moved on from such issues after two decades of personal growth.
WRONG.
Last week I found myself defending Barrasso on Bob Smizik’s blog. I was defending him for that awful, never should be spoken of playoff loss to the Islanders in 1993. I was pointing out in intricate detail how poorly the Penguins played in that series and two awful turnovers by Ulf Samuelson that lead to goals in game 7 (a nightmare I relived thanks to the NHL network and the miracle of YouTube). I was doing this with vigor, anger, and passion…17 YEARS LATER. Honestly, this is not normal behavior.
And over the last 48 hours I’ve been fighting it out with Fleury bashers as if they insulted by family.
I admit that Smizik’s blog has become kind of a guilty pleasure for me. It helps me deal with being completely isolated from the inside Pittsburgh sports scene. I enjoy reading it and commenting on it. I do this knowing full well that internet blogs attract a motley mix of folks, some of whom do not have the most educated or enlightened perspective on sports.
I found myself pleasantly amused by the belief that Bruce Arians is responsible for everything that went wrong with the Steelers the last two years, right down to Ben’s bathroom escapades. I enjoyed arguing my minority view point on Ben which I espoused twice in recent blog entries. I argued these points with thought, passion, and sensibility.
As for the Fleury bashing…yikes. I did not bring my computer home last night. So I found myself counting the minutes until I got to work so I could lay into these morons who are attacking one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. I could feel the anger and venom building up inside me as my fingers cracked the keys. Honestly, it’s frightening…to me!
So I have two suggestions for Penguins fans.
First, be proud that you have one of the best young goaltenders in the league on your team. Understand that he’s not perfect; that he will let in a soft goal once in awhile, or give up a bad rebound. Understand that his statistics will never be amongst the league leaders except for wins. And understand that in spite of that, the guy is perfect for this Penguin team and the way they play. He’s an elite goaltender in the NHL no matter how much some fans and media members refuse to believe it.
And second…if you disagree with the above, don’t mess with me on this topic. This old bear still gets mighty angry when you attack his goalie!
ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY PENGUIN, BLESSED BE THE PENGUIN, FOR IT IS GOOD !
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