Road Trip Blues

The Pens enter St. Louis tomorrow night at 8:30 following a three game road skid. To make matters worse, they may be without league phenom Sidney Crosby who will be a game time decision. St. Louis is a team that is without a doubt below the Penguins ability level; whether the Penguins are capable of playing at their own ability remains a question and will ultimately determine the outcome of this game.

I'm thinking that the Penguins will play with the "desperation" that Sid says they need, but only in the third period. I don't think that they will come out strong and it might take nothing less than Michel Therrien pulling down his pants in front of the team to illustrate how embarrassing their play has been. Sometime between moons-over-my-hammy and the drop of the puck in the 3rd, the Pens will pull it together. This is where the desperation and at-will-scoring will finally make an appearance this season. Let's not forget to mention someone else that needs a seat at the dinner table, the road power play. The way I see things, the Pens will tie it up in the 3rd with a power play goal from the point. It's not going to be from Malkin, but look for Goligoski or Letang to remember how to shoot. From there, I believe we'll play off that momentum and get a big goal from one of our grinders. Look for Max "handlebars" Talbot or Mike Zigomanis to get on the board late for the game winner. It is these unsung heroes that the Penguins have a wealth of that will make or break this season for the 'Burgh, not Sid and Gino.

Matt@Penstation

Huge THANK YOU to Chris @ Icethetics!

Thanks to Chris at Icethetics, we at Penstation have a beautiful collection of team icons. I was going to just grab some standard team logos for use on the site; I was ecstatic to learn we would be able to use Chris's logo set. The icons are colorful and bright and will be a welcome addition to the site. Thanks again, Chris!

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I am not real sure how exactly they will be used, but I threw those in just to give you an idea for what the images look like.

Matt@Penstation

Crosby Day2Day

We still have not seen anything surface as to what is actually bothering Sidney Crosby. There were reports out of Phoenix that he hurt his ribs, but those were shut down by a Penguin representative. Crosby only hinted to feeling discomfort, but that was the extent of his explanation. Penstation is hoping to see The Kid on the ice tomorrow in St. Louis against Andy McDonald and company. Look for a game preview later tonight.

Happy Halloween from Penstation!

Matt@Penstation

Looking for Light in 4-1 loss to Coyotes

Overall, the Penguins did not play a good game tonight against Gretzky's Coyotes. Fleury was flopping to protect his castle against a barrage of passing, the defense looked sluggish and Sid left the game without return. We'll have more about The Kid when something surfaces.

There were a couple bright spots, however. We tallied 16 shots in the 2nd period after finishing the 1st with a mere 2. Miroslav Satan continues to prove that while he's not playing his best 5 on 5 hockey, he is a valuable power play first liner. Satan's power play goal (5th of the year--4th on the PP) was worthy of Cirque Du Soleil time in Vegas. Aside from that, Orpik threw the body continuing to establish himself as an elite defensive defensemen. Letang also played a relatively sound game and made a fantastic play protecting a potential breakaway.

Gino got quite a few shots tonight, but none of them met twine. He did record an assist on the Satan goal, but only because a shot ricocheted off the boards and out to Satan.

At this point, we need to look at what's going on offensively. The aspect of our game that made us so deadly over the past two seasons was our ability to score at will. I will have more on that topic in the next couple of days.

Matt@Penstation

Oh, brother... Mark Madden. Staal for Kovalchuk?

It has been a while since I've listened to a Mark Madden radio broadcast. I stopped listening to Madden because I could not stand the constant shredding of our Pittsburgh sports teams. While I disagree with some of his harsh attitude, I decided to give him a listen on the radio today.

Madden was talking about the rumor that started running its course yesterday afternoon. I'm sure that by now, most of us have heard about the "blockbuster deal" in the works between the Penguins and the Atlanta Thrashers. According to Madden, speculation hints toward young guns Kristopher Letang and Jordan Staal centerpiecing a deal for Ilya Kovalchuk. The deal would also send a first round pick to the ATL.

I spent my drive to class waiting on hold to get a conversation in with Madden. My main purpose for calling was to attain some validity of the source, but also to gain an experienced journalist's opinion. I actually found that Mark Madden and I agreed on something; we both believe that Kovalchuk could become a 70 goal scorer with the likes of Crosby at center. This in turn would give Crosby 150 point possibility and almost assure 100 assists a season.

While it is far too early in Staal's career to simply write him off as having a great rookie season with nothing else to show, he is simply not worth keeping and developing when you can trade him for the explosiveness that a player like Kovalchuk brings. Seeing how it will already be very difficult to resign Staal, his inclusion in the deal is valid on all fronts. The second piece of the puzzle worries me slightly more. Kris Letang is very young and is still developing into a defensive force. We are currently having a very hard time moving the puck forward, especially on the powerplay. Until we get Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar back, I am not sure that we can give up a promising young offensive defenseman. Let's also not forget that giving up another first-rounder could be devastating as well. It might not seem like a big deal, but these types of moves are reminiscent of the before-Lemieux-era-80's where the Penguins unloaded picks for talent--hurting us in the long run.

Even with the downside of losing a lot of potential talent, if this deal is on the table, Ray Shero needs to pull the trigger. Bringing Kovalchuk to the Burgh could solidify a top line with two of the best young names in hockey (Ilya and Sid) and leave a lot of talent to play with for Gino.

I look forward to hearing some thoughts on this rumor. Contact us at Penstation.Blog@gmail.com

Matt@Penstation

Who's on first? And, who's playing on what line?

Coach Therrien has always been known as a line jumbler. While he has proven to be very successful with our young players, he has also been a bit quick to jump the gun on a line change. While in class tonight, I was doing a bit of this chemistry searching myself.

While Malkin and Crosby have proven that they can compete with anyone in the game, what do we give up by combining their talent on our first line? It is very possible that the Penguins had the greatest wealth in terms of line depth last year. Our second line emerged as arguably the greatest line in the league last season (Malone, Malkin, Sykora). This year, after losing several players at the trade deadline and through free-agency, we are looking at possibly becoming a one-line-team.

In tonight's game, The Kid and Malks will be separated once again with a few different faces on their wings. In my notes was the notion that replacing Malone on Malkin's line with Matt Cooke could prove to be a wise move. I was happy to notice that when I got home, Malkin's line included Sykora and the energetic Cooke. I do not think that Cooke has the potential to put up Malone-like numbers, but he could very well save the same purpose on this sniper style line.

One thing that has worried me about the Penguins this year is the lack of a "Kevin Stevens" in front of the net. We need a grinder that is willing to win pucks in the corners and feed our shooters while providing a big target in front. I was hoping that Jordan Staal would fill this role, but I have yet to see him use his size to an advantage beyond reach. Hopefully, without Malone, Cooke or Staal will fill this role over the season.

With the Phoenix game underway, we will see how these new lines work. If Therrien and I are correct, Cooke will provide the body and the energy to restore Malkin's line to productivity heaven.

Let's Go Pens!

Matt@Penstation

Welcome to Penstation!

Welcome to Penstation! Through this blog, I plan to create a new home for Penguins fans. I will be serving up a heavy dose of couch coaching, game recaps, previews, rumors and polls. Currently, I am one aspiring sports journalist looking to bring my thoughts about our team to life. I am, however, looking for more writers to pitch in and work together on this project. If you would like to talk about this opportunity, contact me via the address below. Happy reading, but most importantly, LET'S GO PENS!

Questions and comments are welcome at Penstation.Blog@gmail.com

Matt@Penstation