A day before the Penguins welcome the New Jersey Devils into town -- a team winless in now 5 straight games after being whitewashed 3-0 by the New York Rangers last night -- I thought it would be a good time to catch up on various Penguin tidbits, prospect related news and, of course, the person connected to the Penguins who is getting all the attention these days: Pens' TV's own Alyonka Larionov.
First of all, there were reports yesterday indicating that the Penguins were one of about a dozen or so teams trying to make a serious play at signing University of Denver free-agent Tyler Bozak.
Bozak, who went undrafted 3 years ago, has developed into a quality player for the Denver Pioneers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The sophmore has missed some time this year because of a knee injury, but has 23 points in the 19 games he has played. The year prior, he led the team in scoring with 34 points in 41 games as a freshman.
For all his offensive skills, Bozak is no slouch defensively either. He's 6'1" and about 185 pounds, and has good hockey sense.
Only time will tell if the Penguins are able to sign Bozak, although one has to think the Penguins' are playing with a double edge sword when compared to other teams looking to sign a guy like Bozak.
On one hand, who wouldn't want to play with the stable of young talent the Penguins have? On the other, Bozak, a center, has to look at the triumverate that would be in front of him in Pittsburgh and wonder where he might fit in. With Crosby, Malkin and Staal patrolling the middle, the Penguins won't have an easy time finding a place for their other good prospects at center in their system -- guys like Dustin Jeffrey and Kevin Veilleux -- as it is. Bozak would almost certainly have to change positions and play wing if he wanted to sign with Pittsburgh, and that may be a factor in his decision on whether he wants to come to Pittsburgh.
While we're discussing college players, there's also been word recently that the Penguins have talked with representatives of Boston University Defenseman Matt Gilroy. Gilroy is in the same boat as Bozak -- a college-playing free agent who has been among the better players in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association. Again, Gilroy is talking to a lot of teams right now trying to decide where to sign and turn pro after this season.
Penguins' GM Ray Shero is doing right by exploring these avenues to add players. Of course, there's a reason why these players went undrafted, but with the salary cap, it is incumbent on GM's to explore every option to try and add skilled players at low cost. It's not unlike what Shero did in signing Janne Pesonen last summer.
Shero seems to be more progressive than most GM's in these areas and should be praised for that. Most of these guys won't pan out, of course, but if you get one who does, you can really add to your team on the cheap.
Meanwhile, the Penguins may be ready to sign another player already in their system -- Gilroy's blueline partner at Boston University, Brian Strait. Strait, at 6'1" and 200+ is a defensive defensman who brings a steady, gritty game to BU's blueline. BU is currently playing in the Frozen Four, but it's very likely that Strait will sign his first pro contract for 3-years and join the Baby Penguins for their post-season run.
Even if Strait doesn't sign, at least the Penguins don't have to worry about losing his rights yet. That is not the case with 2007 draft pick, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, who led the Western Hockey League in scoring with the Vancouver Giants this year, tallying 115 points on 36 goals and 79 assists.
Pierro-Zabotel, a center, has the same roadblocks in front of him that Jeffrey and Vellieux do -- and that Bozak would -- but there's no indication right now the Penguins aren't interested in signing him this summer before he would go back into this year's draft pool. Time will tell what happens here, and since Pierro-Zabotel is probably one of the Penguins' top 5-6 prospects, what the Penguins do here will bear watching.
Back with the big club, the Penguins still currently sit in 6th place in the Eastern Conference, 1 point ahead of the New York Rangers after New York's win last night. The Penguins also remain 1 point behind the Carolina Hurricanes and 2 behind the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Penguins have 1 game in hand on Carolina, the Flyers have one game in hand on them. None of that will change tonight because neither of those teams play. The games of interest the Penguins will be watching are the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Florida Panthers hosting the Ottawa Senators.
Despite the Penguins' 5-1-1 homestand so far, they haven't been able to gain much ground. When they came off their 5-0 roadtrip, they rose from 10th to 7th in the standings. 7 games later, they are only 1 spot higher, and only hold that place by 1 point.
Good thing they've been winning as often as they have. If not, they'd probably be on the outside looking in.
The Penguins still have an long, OUTSIDE shot at capturing the Atlantic Division, but if the Devils continue to stumble, who knows. If the Penguins beat New Jersey in regulation tomorrow night, they will be only 6 points back with 5 to play. The Flyers, of course, also could catch New Jersey.
Still, I think all of that is unlikely. The bigger question for Pittsburgh in the next 10 days or so will be whether they settle into 5th, 6th or 7th place, which is most likely, or maybe even rise up high enough to capture 4th and home ice in the first round. Otherwise, the interesting race will be how New Jersey or the Washington Capitals finish, because those teams are still likely to finish 2 or 3. It's just a matter of which order, and that has implications for who the Penguins' may be most likely to match up against in round 1 of the postseason.
In roster news, it looks as if defenseman Mark Eaton will be able to play tomorrow against New Jersey after being rammed face first into the dasher by Rangers' RW Colton Orr in Saturday afternoon's game.
Eaton has some stitches and an ugly (uglier) nose, but he's otherwise ready. And it's a good thing because it seems as if interim coach Dan Bylmsa isn't ready to insert defenseman Philipe Boucher into the lineup in his place. It seems that Boucher is still struggling with his timing.
I'm not sure what Bylmsa is going to do about that. He needs to get Boucher in there and some of those timing issues probably won't resolve until he gets game action.
Even though Bylmsa said he was going to try and play Boucher before the end of the regular season, he may just have to take his chances and call on him in the postseason if needed.
I'll end today by putting Evgeni Malkin's favorite chef back in the spotlight.
Now, I haven't discussed this topic in this forum yet, but by now, most Penguin partisans have seen the video where Geno and Penguins' TV star Alyonka Larionov do a cooking segment.
Here's the link for those that may have missed it:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-Evgeni-Malkin-and-Alyonka-Larionov-heat-u%3Furn%3Dnhl,150459
I think the funniest part of the video is defenseman Kris Letang coming in at the end and c*ckblocking Geno. If I were Malkin, I would have been PISSED. It's no wonder Malkin just leaves the room at the end.
Without a doubt, though, my favorite line is Alyonka saying, "Now, I'm all dirty, so thank you"
As if we all can't imagine what Geno was thinking.
ANYWAY ...
Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review did a nice piece on Alyonka the other day.
(Did I say "nice piece" and Alyonka in the same sentence?? Really, that wasn't intentional).
Here's a link to that article:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_618286.html
Looks like we might be seeing her around Mellon Arena more often.
Certainly, that won't disappoint Geno.
Now only if Letang can mind his own business.
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