Waterfowl Start The Dance: Penguins Trade Ryan Whitney to Anaheim -- Reaction/Analysis

First of all, I'm sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. Although I heard the news a little after mid-day when it was quite fresh, I was out of town and not able to post.

The Penguins and Anaheim Ducks made an early splash and probably opened the trade floodgates 6 days before the deadline yesterday in a fairly notable deal that had the Pens' send 26-year old offensive defenseman Ryan Whitney to Anaheim for Ducks' do-it-all LW Ryan Kunitz and top RW american prospect, Eric Tangradi.

Kunitz, 29, has 16 goals and 19 assists this season and is an impressive +9. He has had years of 50 and 60 points recently, and potted 25 goals in the 2006-07 season when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup.

Tangradi, 20, is in his 3rd year with Belleville of the Ontario Hockey League. He currently is 2nd in league scoring with 38 goals and 49 assists for 87 points in just 52 games.

Meanwhile, Whitney, 26, put up 2 goals and 13 points this year in 29 games. He's in the 2nd year of a 6 year, $24 million dollar deal Penguins' GM Ray Shero had him sign in the summer of 2007. He was away from the Penguins in Boston with his mother following her surgery on a brain tumor when notified of the deal, and he joined the Ducks for their game in Boston last night, a 6-0 loss to the Bruins.

I feel pretty good about this deal for the Penguins, all things considered. It's hard not to recognize Whitney as one of the better -- and younger -- offensive defenseman in the game. The Ducks' are brining him in to play with young forwards Cory Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, as well as help run the power play, and adding him to their team gives Anaheim GM Bob Murray the flexibility to move either name defensemen Chris Pronger or Scott Neidermayer before next Wednesday.

I, for one, am anxious to see whether Whitney has the chutzpa to run a power play. He didn't really have to do that in Pittsburgh very often because of the presence of Sergei Gonchar. Whitney can definitely bring the puck up ice and distribute it well once in the offensive zone, but he's not nearly as savvy as Gonchar at the point, and he doesn't have the same shot.

While Whitney is on the short list of top offensive defenseman in the game, the Penguins acquired 2 players who should be pretty important parts of their forward corps for several years.

Kunitz is a little un-appreciated around the league. He can score and dish the biscuit, and he works hard around the net to get goals. He's also physical, at 6'1 and 200 pounds. He has 148 hits this year, which puts him 19th in the league (and third on the Penguins behind Brooks Orpik and Matt Cooke, who are 2nd and 4th in the league, respectively, in that category). He has more hits than a guy many were fond of in Pittsburgh last season, Ryan Malone.

The Penguins needed a guy like Kunitz to be physical in the offensive zone and create space for center Sidney Crosby, who should be expected to see Kunitz on his flank on the top line. Ideally, Kunitz pegs as a 2nd line winger, but he has the ability to produce 25-30 goals with a top center, and that's what the Penguins are looking for out of him. He'll probably also get power play time.

Kunitz is signed for the next 3 seasons, I believe, at a cap hit of 3.75 million per, just under the 4 million cap hit Whitney had.

Tangradi is, by all accounts, a top offensive prospect. He was the 2nd best young player in the Ducks' system and many around NHL scouting and management circles see him as a stud impact player when he makes it to the league. He is big at 6'4" and 220, but can skate and score. Although many junior players need seasoning in the American Hockey League before making it to the NHL, Tangradi has the skill set to potentially make the jump without any kind of minor-league professional apprenticeship.

The Penguins didn't have a young player like him in their system and needed one. He instantly becomes the Penguins top prospect (ahead of Luca Caputi) and gives fans the salivating prospect of seeing him on Crosby's other wing sometime soon. Apparently, getting Tangradi -- a Philadelphia native -- was what sealed the deal for Shero.

Let's face it. Whitney was going to be moved. Although they'll miss what he brought to the dressing room, the Penguins have a glut of offensive defensemen and, in a salary cap world, they couldn't afford that luxury -- especially when they had other needs up front. Letang and Goligoski both have the potential, if not ability, to produce at the big league level and, as Whitney himself put it, the Penguins "have two defensemen in Alex and Kris who are good players, make less money than me, and are younger than me".

Whitney also had his weaknesses. He was an awful -15 this season, and had a penchant for giveaways in his own zone. He had a strong run, like the rest of the team, to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but a change of scenery is probably best for him.

Moving Whitney also will make it very interesting to watch what the Penguins do with defenseman Sergei Gonchar next season. 2009/2010 is the final year of the 5-year deal he signed with the Penguins coming out of the lockout.

Overall, observers seem to be split on who got the better of the deal. In the short term, the trade fills needs of both clubs, but it's hard to say who really won the deal because of the fact that only time will pass judgment on how good Tangradi may be.

Although I would love to see a top tier winger with Crosby, it was doubtful that Whitney was going to bring that return. But getting Kunitz for him should not be regarded as poor value. To the contrary, Kuntiz is a decent player in this league -- and he fits in better with the Penguins needs right now. I'm anxious to see him play more regularly.

The big question that remains for the Penguins and their fans is whether Ray Shero is finished dealing. Most observers -- this one included -- think not. The Penguins could still use some physicality on the back end, and it's still possible that Shero will add another forward. If he's willing to part with center Jordan Staal -- the player who probably has the most value among Penguins said to be potentially on the move -- he still could get that top of the line wing.

I peg the chances of Staal being dealt at about 25%.

More likely, you'll see and hear names like Hal Gill and even Ruslan Fedotenko, the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent who, maybe surprisingly, is garnering a lot of interest around the league. Other players who are getting interest are Max Talbot and even Rob Scuderi.

This is one of the more exciting times of the year for fans. Let's hope the Penguin players aren't getting caught up in it because, despite how difficult it is for them, they have a key 5-game road trip starting tonight with a tough game in Chicago against the Blackhawks. This trip could make or break the Penguins season (especially if they crash and burn on it), and it's important they stay focused on putting a good little run together. They have earned 7 of a possible 10 points under interim coach Dan Bylmsa so far and need to keep pace with the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes, who beat the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres last night, respectively. The Pens' are 4 points back of 6th place, and 3 points back of 7th and 8th.

Recap tomorrow.

Penguins, Fleury Shut Out Islanders, 1-0

2 points is 2 points ....

That's true whether you're playing the Detroit Red Wings or the New York Islanders. They all count the same.

And so it was for the Penguins last night at Mellon Arena, where they picked up 2 key points in a 1-0 whitewashing of the New York Islanders.

With the victory, the Penguins moved to within 2 points of the 7th and 8th place Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres, respectively. The Pens' still sit in 10th, with the Carolina Hurricanes sitting one point better. The Penguins are also only 4 points behind the 6th place New York Rangers and 5 points behind the 5th place Montreal Canadiens.

All of those teams bear watching down the stretch.

Petr Sykora scored the Penguins only goal with just minues left by punching in a rebound past Islanders' netminder Yann Danis, who played fairly well, finishing with 27 saves on 28 shots.

Fleury, on the other hand, didn't face many -- only 21 -- but stopped them all.

The Penguins carried the better part of the play in this one for most of the game. They were especially good in the first and third periods. In the first, New York had only 6 shots. In the final frame, they had only 4.

The Penguins now begin a 5 game road trip starting on Friday which will take them from Chicago to Dallas to Tampa Bay to Florida to Washington. How they look at the end of this trip could possibly shape their season. They won't have easy matchups in any of these contests, and the games against Florida and Washington to close out the swing will be particularly meaningful.

In a way, I'm glad the game against the Capitals is at the end. It will help give the Penguins a reason to play when they might otherwise be hitting the wall.

NOTES:

Sidney Crosby missed the game last night because of the groin injury that has crept up on him and first pulled him out of practice on Tuesday.

Defenseman Ryan Whitney also didn't play, and was said to be back home in Boston attending to "family matters". Kris Letang returned to the lineup and took Whitney's spot.

Janne Pesonen was called up from Wilkes-Barre before the game, but did not dress. Coach Dan Bylmsa decided to play forward Bill Thomas instead.

Trade Deadline Preview

With the Penguins off until Wednesday, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury still licking his wounds after the abuse he took from the Washington Capitals on Sunday, and our Boys of Winter on the fence between a playoff spot and just the next spot on the list of Stanley Cup finalists who have failed to make the postseason just one year after competing for the Silver Chalice, there's no better time to examine the fulcrum which could determine the Penguins fate.

The NHL trade deadline.

8 days from now, on March 4, 2009 at 3 PM, the team could look meaningfully different than it does today, since the Penguins are among the teams that are being mentioned as much as any in NHL rumor circles.

I'll be tracking the rumors I'm hearing from now up until the deadline, but thought it would be worth mentioning the several players I've heard connected to the Penguins over the last few months. Some have been mentioned here before, but with trade deadline closer, it's worth being more inclusive.

The names I've heard the most, OR those I think with greater potential to be a part of a deal to bring them to Pittsburgh include:

Martin St. Louis
Erik Cole
Dany Heatley
Chris Neil
Nik Antropov
Alex Ponikarovsky
Alexei Kovalev
Derek Morris
Petr Prucha
Greg Zanon
Martin Erat
Dan Hamhuis
Ryan Smyth


Other names I've heard, but not as frequently, OR those who I do not feel have as much of a chance ending up as a Penguin:

Ilya Kovalchuk
Colby Armstrong
Nathan Horton
David Booth
Thomas Kaberle
Maxim Afinogenov
Bill Guerin
Martin Havlat
Ville Koistenen
Keith Tkachuk
Marion Gaborik
Darcy Tucker
Wojtek Wolski
Milan Hejduk
Steve Sullivan
Alex Frolov

I've also known the Penguins and Dallas Stars to be scouting each other, but haven't heard any names thrown around.

It's obvious that the Penguins have needs. In my estimation, there are 2 primary things they lack:

1) A top winger for the top center -- some guy named Crosby.
2) Grit and physicality, primarily up front but also on defense.

Despite the salary cap, it looks as if the Penguins are not afraid to make a play for the top winger again. That seems to be their top priority at the deadline, with adding some mustard to the team a bonus, if they can manage it.

However, for the Penguins to add a top player, they probably will have to get rid of some salary, which explains why, even though Shero has considered players like Ryan Whitney and Jordan Staal a part of the team's "young core", he is fairly evaluating whether or not one of those two should be moved to better balance out the team.

I've even heard rumors where both have been involved.

In addition to Whitney and Staal, I've heard of other Penguins being involved in trade talks as well. Max Talbot's name has been mentioned, as have the names of defensemen Hal Gill, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. Miroslav Satan's name has been thrown around a little too, although to a much lesser degree.

Personally, the guys I've love to see in a Penguin unform the most are Heatley, Neil, Morris, Booth, Tkachuk, Wolski and Frolov. Of course, not all of them will be wearing the skating Penguin anytime soon, but if the Penguins are able to land any in that group, they'll be adding nice pieces to their team. Heatley is the big scorer they need. Neil would give them a lot of grit. Morris is a nice top-4 defenseman. Tkachuk is the veteran presence who can still score and be physical. Booth, Wolski and Frolov are the young forwards that could flourish playing with Crosby and be fixtures here for years.

It's going to be an interesting next 8 days for Shero and Penguin followers. Ownership has made it clear that missing the playoffs isn't an option, so even though Shero described his firing of former coach Michel Therrein as his "big move", I wouldn't at all rule out him making one or more deals before the deadline.

The only question is .... who is coming and who will go?

Capitals Roll Over Fleury, Pens, 5-2

I believe I'm generally patient when it comes to the play of the Penguins' goaltenders.

In my opinion, most goals (say, 75% of those that are scored) these days are due to the work and skill, or lack thereof, of the players, rather than the netminders.

But when I see the work that Penguins' goalie Marc-Andre Fleury put in yesterday in the Penguins' awful 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center, I have no choice but to call him out.

Fleury lost the game for the Penguins.

Remember, coming into the contest against Washington, one would have a hard time arguing the Fleury was on top of his game. He had given up 4 goals in each of the last two games -- matchups that the Penguins won in spite of, rather than because of, his play.

Yesterday, they couldn't overcome his shoddy work again.

With the game 3-2 Washington in the latter part of the 2nd period and the Penguins' doing their best to stick with the Capitals, Fleury imploded, allowing 2 terrible goals back-to-back -- one from Capitals defenseman Shaone Morrison on a bad angle slapshot and one from behind the goalline in the corner by forward Brooks Laich that quirted between Fleury and the post, just landing over the line behind him.

Sure, there were other facets of the Penguins' game that were lacking yesterday -- not the least of which was a subpar power play that went a measley 1-for-8.

But I'm pinning this one on #29. When he let up those 2 goals, the game was over.

I remember before the game wondering if interim coach Dan Bylsma was going to play Mathieu Garon, who has only played one game since acquired from the Edmonton Oilers. Fleury hadn't been playing spectacularly, as I mentioned, and Garon needs to get some work. On the other hand, at this point of the year when the Penguins' need all the points they can get, it's hard not to just roll the dice with your best players.

I don't know what I would have done if I were the coach.

With the loss, the Penguins remain stuck in 10th place in the East, 4 points behind the 8th place Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina won it's 3rd in a row yesterday to get right in the playoff mix with Buffalo, and along with the Montreal Canadiens, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers.

The optimist in me would see that, if the Penguins continue to win roughly 2 out of every 3 games the rest of the way, they'll have a fair chance of sneaking in to the post-season.

But for a team that can't even string together more than 2 wins in a row in 3 months, the pessimist in me says that, even if they make it, they'll be sitting ducks for the likes of the Boston Bruins or, on the miracle that they can actually obtain a 6th or 7th seed, the New Jersey Devils, or even (gulp), the team they have dominated over the years in the postseason but who seems to be regularly handing them their lunch this year -- the Capitals.

That's a thought I just can't stand.

Carbon Copy: Pens' Down Flyers, 5-4

As I was taking in Saturday afternoon's 5-4 Penguin victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, it felt I was watching a replay of the team's 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens victory Thursday night at Mellon Arena.

The Penguins stormed to a 2 goal lead, blew the lead, but recovered and got the last goal to win.

More importantly, the Penguins tucked 2 points into their pockets to stay in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race, 4 points behind the now 8th place New York Rangers.

Sidney Crosby stole the show and handed the Flyers and their hateful home fans their lunch this afternoon, ringing up 2 goals, and adding 2 helpers on 2 goals by Ruslan Fedotenko, who looks great on #87's RW.

Evgeni Malkin added the other Pittsburgh goal, tipping in a Sergei Gonchar point shot.

This game was quite a contest. There was physical play befitting these two division rivals, together with a lot of skating and a lot of intensity. The goaltending left a bit to be desired on each side, but it's hard to argue that Flyers' goalie Martin Biron made the biggest gaffe of the night to pave the way to a Penguin victory with about 3 minutes to go in the game, which was then a 4-4 tie.

Penguins' defenseman Ryan Whitney lightly dumped the puck into the middle of the Flyers zone from his own blueline, trying to catch LW Pascal Dupuis coming off the Penguin bench. Dupuis got a half step on the Flyer defender, so Biron came 35 feet out of his net to try and beat Dupuis to the puck

Biron did so, but gloved the puck instead of just knocking it away. To avoid a delay of game penalty, he tried to quickly get rid of it by tossing it behind him as he stood up off the ice facing his own net.

The problem was that Biron failed miserably at tossing the puck away. It actually dropped right behind him, where Dupuis conveniently got up after bumping Biron as he game out for the puck.

Dupuis quickly got a pass to Crosby, who had entered the zone and was steaming down the right wing. Crosby reached for the puck, beat a Flyer defenseman to it and poked it into the empty cage before Biron could get back.

What a play.

The Penguins had fair control of this game at 3-1 in early in the 3rd period before Ryan Whitney made a bad giveaway while on the power play. Whitney tried to pass cross-point to Gonchar, but Penguin killer and shorthanded wiz Mike Richards stole the puck and went in on a breakaway against Penguin netminder Marc-Andre Fleury before giving him a quick deke and just tucking the puck between Fleury's legs after opening him up.

I could have strangled Whitney for making that so easy for Richards.

That goal gave the Flyers momentum and, thanks to a broken Petr Sykora stick, were able to tie the game within minutes.

After the Penguins took the lead again, Philadelphia actually capitalized a second time because of another Penguin, Gonchar, breaking his twig in his own zone.

No doubt Philadelphia got some breaks there.

Biron's gaffe made up for that, however, and sent the Penguins to Washington for a big next-day nationally televised game against the Alexander Ovechkin and Capitals at 12:30 PM on NBC.

The Penguins still need to work on their "aggressive" defense, but I think they played better than Philadelphia and deserved to win. It looks like they are quickly getting the hand of playing "aggressive" offensively under new coach Dan Bylmsa, scoring 5 goals for the 2nd game in a row against a team that had won its last 3 games on home ice to the tune of 16-6.

Pittsburgh definitely looks like a faster team out there. They are skating more all over the ice and it shows. They'll have to do that to match up well against Washington, when 2 more huge points are at stake.

If the Penguins can beat the Capitals, it will be the first time they've won 3 in a row since November.

It couldn't come at a better time -- or against an opponent more deserving for, since the Caps' have beat the Penguins twice on their home ice this season so far.

Recap Monday. Go Pens!

Pens' Get First Win For Dan Bylsma; 2 Big Points With 5-4 Win Over Montreal

During his first practice with the team on Wednesday, new Penguins' coach Dan Bylmsa coached, instructed, and taught his new players the various tenets of the aggressive style of play he wanted to implement to the tune of nearly 2 full hours on the ice.

Yesterday before last night's big game at home against the Montreal Canadiens, Bylmsa denied that his new "style" essentially amounted to run-and-gun hockey. He described it more as controlled aggression, and several players indicated that his sytem wasn't markedly different from the one former coach Michel Therrein ran in his nearly 3 years at the helm in Pittsburgh, which makes sense since, as far as I know, Wilkes-Barre plays the same system as the big club for this reason.

After 2 huge points in a 5-4 victory against Montreal, one thing is for sure: whether run-and-gun or not, Bylmsa's imprint was all over the team.

The Penguins skated more aggressively and forechecked more aggressively last night. In my estimation, they also played more carelessly with the puck in an effort to get things moving more, especially in their own end.

Certainly, the team is still learning the nuances of everything their new bench boss wants them to do, but they won't be able to get away with playing the way they did last night against better teams.

There's no doubt that Montreal was ripe for the picking last night. They are slumping badly, having prevailed in only 3 of their last 16 or so games. They banished their star player, RW and former Penguin Alexei Kovalev, to street clothes for the last 2 games just to clear his head while trade rumors swirl around him like a hurricane. Clearly, they were a fragile bunch, and it showed the way they played on the ice.

All that said, while they weren't the best test for the Penguins, the 2 important points they earned last night carry the same value as 2 earned against any other club -- and they were especially timely in the standings.

Both the 7th and 8th place Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers, respectively, lost last night, leaving the Penguins only 4 points back of each. The Penguins also stayed relatively close to the Canadiens by beating them. They are only 5 points back of Montreal, who currently sit in 6th spot. That's a heck of a lot better than sitting 9 points behind, like they would have been had the Canadiens beat them. The badly slumping Rangers, currently in 5th, are also only 1 point further ahead.

The Penguins got things going last night with a nice goal by RW Petr Sykora, his 22nd, who was just beginning to skate away from the goal when he was able to chip a shot over the shoulder of Montreal goaltender Cary Price to give the Boys of Winter a 1-0 lead.

The Pens' and Habs traded goals throughout the rest of the first and entire second periods, with Miroslav Satan scoring for Pittsburgh after deflecting a Ryan Whitney shot past Price. Montreal's 2nd goal occurred on a 5-on-3, which was the first 2-man-disadvantage goal the Penguins have given up all season.

That's a nice statistic, but when the opposing power play is the result of 2 lazy and/or dumb penalties, as they were in this instance when Sykora (hooking after pulling up a little short on the backcheck) and Max Talbot (slashing the stick of a Canadien player) committed infractions 90 seconds apart, it's hard to take.

Going into the 3rd period, it was anyone's game.

Center Evgeni Malkin got the final frame off to a heck of a start finishing a 3-on-2 by burying a quick pass from Crosby as he was falling down while going 100 MPH toward the goal. Less than 3 minutes later, Talbot picked a puck out of a scrum near the goal, pulled it back just a bit and fired it far side past Price as the goal was lifting up on him and he was jostling with other players in front. The goal never came off the moorings, however, so the goal stood.

Almost just as quickly, Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec got the Canadiens back to a tie, but then Penguins' defenseman Sergei Gonchar ripped one from the point past Price to give the Penguins a 5-4 lead.

It was Gonchar's first goal of the season in his 3rd game back. Price never saw it through a screen.

That's the way the game ended.

In most of the 3rd period, the play was up and down the ice, and I didn't like the Penguins trading chances with Montreal like that. Anyone who says that wasn't run-and-gun hockey is kidding themselves.

And that's my concern with what Bylmsa is trying to do. At least early on. When players get rolling and get aggressive offensively, it's easy for them to lose track of -- or get lazy about -- what they are supposed to be doing in their own zone. Highly skilled players are especially susceptible to that because it's instinctive for them to want to play offense.

The Penguins took a lot of chances in this one, especially late. They gave the puck away several times in the 3rd period trying to make a play by tossing the puck right up the middle of their own defensive zone carelessly. Jordan Staal and Hal Gill were guilty of the most obvious transgressions, but there were others.

The Penguins simply need to be better defensively. There's a time to lock-down. Last night, they got away with some things, but that won't happen against better clubs.

This weekend will be an interesting test for Bylmsa and the players, going on the road to play the 2 pretty skilled offensive clubs in the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals in back-to-back afternoon games.

The Penguins are 1-7 in afternoon contests this season.

If they don't want to make that 1-9, they need to strike a balance between maintaining the offensive pressure they want to put on their opponents, while playing tighter -- and smarter -- in their own zone. You can't trade chances or play run-and-gun hockey with Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. Unless Fleury stands on his head, that could be a recipe for distaster, and the Penguins need those points.

NOTES:

The Penguins scratched Bill Thomas and Kris Letang last night. I and probably many others were surprised by Letang's benching. There were rumors going around on a Montreal radio station during the game last night that the Penguins had traded him to the Canadiens for Kovalev. That ended up not being the case, however, and the team has vehemently denied that any deal like that has occurred or is even being discussed.

More than anything, Letang is the type of player one would think Bylmsa would want in his system and on the ice. He's a skilled guy who can transition well, while generally (most of the time, with the recent Toronto game notwithstanding) playing fairly sound in his own zone.

Perhaps Bylmsa was just beginning a bit of a defensive rotation. I hope not. I think Letang needs to be in the lineup.

Penguins Lose To Islanders, 3-2 (SO) In Bylmsa's Debut Behind Bench

Even a change behind the Penguin bench isn't enough to give the Penguins a boost.

In the first game with a new coach, one would think a team would come out flying -- showing work-ethic and energy not seen before, if only because they'd want to impress the new boss, let alone MAKE THE PLAYOFFS.

All the Penguins did yesterday was show they could play on relatively even terms with the worst team in the National Hockey League, the New York Islanders, for 65 minutes, then lose in a shootout.

The Penguins did pick up a point to move them within 4 of the 7th and 8th place Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers, respectively.

However, the Penguins also failed to pick up a point that could end up making the difference between them making the post-season or getting an early start at working on their golf game in April.

Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Whitney scored for the Penguins in regulation, but only Petr Sykora was able to beat Islanders' netminder Joey McDonald in the shootout, while his Pittsburgh counterpart, Marc-Andre Fleury, allowed shootout goals to Frans Neilsen and Jeff Tambellini to give New York the win.

On the bright side, the Penguins rang up a season high 37 shots, but that's telling since the Penguins have given up 40+ in each of the 2 games prior to their contest against the Islanders yesterday. New York isn't the best defensive team in the league, either, so too much shouldn't be read into Pittsburgh's shot totals yesterday. Although new coach Dan Bylsma wants the Penguins to play a more up-tempo, attacking style, time will tell if they are able to translate that into more shots and more goals.

It was already going to be interesting to see what Penguins' GM Ray Shero does at the trade deadline. Now, it will be worth watching even more. Will he bring in players with speed? Or will he try to improve the Penguins defensively, where they have been ba a lot of this season? Both maybe? His feelings on whether he's going to keep Bylsma on as coach after the rest of this season may have something to do with that.

The Penguins will have some additional time to work on the nuances of how Bylsma wants them to play when they have their first full practice on Wednesday, one day before their next matchup -- a home contest against the struggling Montreal Canadiens and newly acquired Habs' defenseman Mathieu Schneider.

Meanwhile, Michel Therrein finally spoke about his dismissal yesterday, saying he "never saw it coming" and was "shocked" by the firing. He was not critical of Shero, however. In fact, he went on to predict that the Penguins will make the playoffs.

That, of course, remains to be seen.

Penguins Fire Head Coach Michel Therrein, Replace With Dan Bylsma From Wilkes-Barre

And to think I wasn't planning to post today.

Last night, Penguins Vice-President and Executive General Manager Ray Shero fired head coach Michel Therrein and replaced him by promoting Baby Penguins' coach Dan Bylsma from the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

Therrein, 135-106-31 in approximately 3 seasons with the Penguins, was just 5 days shy of having the longest tenure of any Penguins coach in the history of the franchise -- something which is just an incredible statistic.

In making the move, the Penguins also reassigned assistant coach Andre Savard to another, unspecified role within the organization. Assistant coach Mike Yeo and goaltending coach Gilles Meloche were retained. The Penguins also will move Director of Player Development Tom Fitzgerald behind the bench to assist Bylmsa.

Bylmsa, described by shero as "one of the up-and-coming coaches" in hockey, was 35-16-1-2 with the Baby Penguins this year. As of the time of his promotion, Wilkes-Barre was on an 8-game winning streak, and sits 1 point behind the division-leading Hersey Bears.

What we wouldn't do to see an 8-game winning streak in Pittsburgh?

How about that for pressure, Dan?

Bylmsa played in the NHL for 9 years with LA and Anaheim, and has been coaching for about 4/5 seasons now. Although this will be the first time he has had his own NHL bench, he has served as an assistant at the big-league level, previously having served with the New York Islanders -- the team he will face today at 2 PM in his first game as Penguins coach -- in 2005/06.

The Penguins have not announced who will take over the Wilkes-Barre bench, although Shero did say that Baby Penguins assistant Todd Reirden would continue to have a significant role with that club.

Bylmsa was quoted last night as indicating that he wanted the Penguins to play aggressively and to their strengths. Shero described him as being good with the players, demanding but firm, and "fair", something which many did not attribute to Therrein.

Although there is no word on what type of contract Bylmsa has signed, it would seem that he's techincally an "interim" coach. Shero stated that he intends to see what happens the rest of the season with Bylmsa behind the bench before deciding what to do next.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how the Penguins respond to Bylmsa. Although he wants the players to play a bit more up-tempo, I would expect him to retain a majority of the system in place -- at least at the beginning. That's a benefit to the big club and the Baby Penguins playing the same system, and although Shero seems high on Bylsma, let's be frank -- he's taking a big chance giving him an NHL bench as opposed to someone like Peter Laviolette because Bylmsa is obviously unproven at the big-league level. It's very possible that the continuity in systems is one of the reasons why Shero went with Bylmsa. After all, how easy is to to make a coaching change mid or late in the season like this and then fundamentally alter the team's style of play?? It's easier to stick with what the players know.

Personally, I hope the Penguins continue to play a style similar to what they have done the last few years. I don't want them to turn into a run-and-gun team. They are most effective playing solid defense and using their offensive skill on the counterattack -- as last year's successful run to the Stanley Cup Finals has proven. In fact, I would argue that, although there have been many reasons for their free-fall this year, their poor defensive play ranks near the top of that list. They need to be much better in that area. Regardless of what they do, let's hope they get a boost from Bylmsa's hiring because they need all the points they can get right now.

Meanwhile, at-least one player, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, has indicated that he was "shocked" by Therrein's dismissal. I'm not too sure how that could be, since it's obvious to all of the players, fans and everyone associated with the team that the Penguins have underachieved this season.

As for Therrein, he took the fall for the Penguins' drop in graces -- and the standings -- this year. Many will argue that Shero waited too long to dismiss Therrein. That's a hard call. I said before, and still believe, that despite his misgivings (frequent line changes, abrasiveness, etc.) Therrein deserved some rope. He helped turn this franchise around, leading them to a 100+ point season 2 years ago in the 4th biggest improvement (47 points) from one season to the next in NHL history together with the team's first playoff berth in 5 seasons, then helped get the group to within 2 wins of the Stanley Cup this year.

You can't just toss aside a guy who makes that kind of contribution at the first sign of trouble.

That said, it has been obvious to everyone that something has been wrong with this team for months. Sure, they are missing pieces and have suffered through some injuries, and neither of those things are Therrein's fault. But they had meaningful injuries last year, too, and still found a way to succeed.

I believe the biggest problem has been the team's lack of urgency. They haven't shown the necessary desire and work-ethic all season long. Of course, motivation falls on the players, too. They certainly aren't blameless and deserve as much -- or more -- of the fault for where they sit in the standings as Therrein does.

However, if Therrein lost the ability to get them to respond -- and it clearly looks that way -- he had to go. The Penguins simply failed to compete on too many nights this year. They have blown too many leads and just not shown up against teams they should beat relatively handily on most nights. Some of the fault for that has to be on the coaching staff.

Maybe the move should have been made a few weeks ago, but I don't think it should have been made in, say, December.

Shero, who said that he didn't like the direction the team had been going in for the last few weeks, isn't immune from criticism for the team's struggles this season. To his credit, however, he made it very clear last night that he was as accountable as anyone, and also indicated that the players were somewhat responsible as well. Although Shero said he just "wasn't sure where everything went wrong" with the team and/or coaching this year, he went out of his way to thank Therrein for his loyalty and "significant contributions" to the franchise the last 3 or so years, noting how not many people expected he and Therrein to stick together for so long.

I'd be very surprised if Shero doesn't make additional moves -- this time involving some players -- before the March 4 trade deadline. It's known that he's in active talks with several teams throughout the league, so time will tell whether putting Bylmsa behind the bench is his main chess piece in trying to get the team to respond and play well enough to get into the post-season, or whether more is coming.

Everything starts this afternoon on the Island.

So much for a boring, holiday game against the last-place Islanders, eh??

Embarassing Penguins Throttled By Maple Leafs Again

There are a lot of words to describe the way the Penguins played for a lot of last night's crucial 6-2 loss on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Disgusting.

Shameful.

Dispicable.

All are too charitable.

The Penguins were literally outworked by the Leafs for much of the night and that is the part I and a lot of other fans in Penguin Nation should be the most upset about.

Pittsburgh is simply in no position to get outworked by other teams -- not with them needing every point they can get just to get into the post-season, and ESPECIALLY against squads below the Penguins in the standings.

Perhaps the worst part is that this has happened all too often for the Penguins this season. They've been beaten by the likes of Tampa Bay, Nashville and Toronto all too often this year. The Leafs', in particular, have beaten them 3 times a row and scored 7, 4, and 6 goals doing it.

Maybe that's the biggest problem? The Penguins' lack of defense. They gave up 40+ shots again last night. Certainly, you can't give that many chances to any opponent if you're going to win on a consistent basis. Penguins' netminder Marc-Andre Fleury actually played fairly well, despite letting 6 pucks go by. He was hung out to dry most of the night by his team, and to be truthful, kept the result from being worse. He made a 10-bell save on Jason Blake in the 3rd perdod that was for the ages, diving to snatch the puck from going into an empty cage after Blake had been left alone in front (again).

Unfortunately, that just kept Blake from getting the hat trick.

I don't know that I've seen too many defenseman play a worse game than Mark Eaton and Kris Letang last night -- Eaton more so than Letang. Eaton has been fairly solid recently, but he was miserable in his own zone throughout the game. The Penguins held 2-0 and 2-1 leads thanks to goals by Matt Cooke and Bill Thomas, but that's when Eaton and Letang did the most damage. Because of their play in front of the Penguins' goal, they were basically responsible for Toronto's first 3 goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods. At that point, the Leafs never looked back.

On the first Toronto goal -- which admittedly wasn't as bad as the next 2 -- Eaton and Letang allowed Leafs' forward Nik Antropov to crash the net so easily off a faceoff that he was able to get position on them and bang a rebound out of mid-air and past Fleury.

On the second Leafs' goal, Eaton again got outmuscled in front, this time by the diminutive Blake, who found himself able to deposit the puck into the empty cage behind a sprawling Fleury.

On the third goal, Eaton did a poor job of communicating with LW Pascal Dupuis along the wall in the Penguins' zone and turned the puck over which led to a quick odd-man situation in front of the Penguins goal. Pittsburgh-killer Blake ended up with the puck alone and made a nice move to deke Fleury and again score, essentially, an empty-net goal.

After that, the Penguins imploded completely and the Leafs' rolled to 3 more goals thanks to more poor defensive play by the Penguins. Ryan Whitney was culpable a few times on those goals.

Just an awful night by the Penguins all around. Their poor play overshadowed the solid returns of Ruslan Fedotenko and Sergei Gonchar back into the lineup. One would think that having those two back in the lineup would give the Penguins a boost. I suppose it did, but I didn't think the boost would be for only 10 minutes.

Gonchar actually looked pretty good out there. He had 20 minutes of ice time and gave the Penguins' power play a look they definitely haven't had all season.

Too bad the Penguins didn't work hard enough to generate sufficient power plays to make that advantage meaningful.

The bottom line in this one is that Pittsburgh had a chance to build some real momentum against a team they should beat after having won 3 of their last 4, but squandered it by not showing up and playing 60 minutes. That's happened way too many times for the Penguins this year.

Last night's loss could be the real-killer for Pittsburgh's playoff chances. I know I'd have a hard time getting over this one if I'm in that locker room. I'd be wondering why the team didn't show up when it needed most.

With efforts like that, I'd be thinking that the team doesn't even deserve to be in the playoffs.

Gonchar, Fedotenko To Return To Lineup Against Toronto

56 games into the season, Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar will return to the lineup tonight on the road in a Hockey Night in Canada near 'must' game for Pittsburgh against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Gonchar is a welcome addition to the Penguin lineup, especially at this time of the year when they are fighting to just get into the Eastern Conference playoff field. In addition to lending a calming influence to his teammates, Gonchar instantly will improve the Penguins both offensively and defensively.

He'll be especially key to the Pittsburgh power play, which has sank to 23rd overall in the league -- a place it shoudn't be with world-class talents like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin patrolling the man-advantage. Gonchar will settle things down and be more of a threat for the Penguins from the backline.

Everything won't come right away for Sarge, of course, but his presence in the lineup can do nothing but boost the Penguins.

The same can be said of LW Ruslan Fedotenko, who will also return tonight from a broken right hand sustanined in a game where he got the obvious better of Atlanta Thrasher and former Penguin Colby Armstrong in a dust-up the last time those 2 teams met about 5+ weeks ago. Fedotenko had been playing quite well leading up to that time, with a near point-a-game pace for the month prior.

With the return of these two players, the Penguins are the healthist they've been since the beginning of the season. Only depth center Mike Zigomanis -- out 4-6 months with a shoulder problem -- and depth defenseman Phillipe Boucher -- now out indefinitely after foot surgery -- are missing from the lineup.

A near-full complement of players couldn't come at a better time for the Penguins. Let's see if they can keep their little roll going against a Toronto team who beat them the last 2 times they matched up. The Boys of Winter owe them some packback.

Recap tomorrow. Let's go Pens'.