[BUGLE BOY]

You just have to accept that this team will never learn. They can hope and wish and cry and whine about how the league operates but the reality is that it ain’t changing…

So they’ll continue to ice a team that is old, slow, lacking finish, and weak both physically and mentally. And we will watch them get ragdolled all over the ice, show inability to clear their own crease or establish a net front presence at the other end, watch the defensive structure not exist, watch the inability to finish, watch odd man rush after odd man rush, etc, all while droning on about “playing the right way”.

But there will always be whipping boys for fans to blame.They will insist that it’s all on goaltending or Malkin while ignoring that entire “identity” of the team is rotten to the core. Matter of fact, what is their identity? Punching bags? Door mats?

I have no clue how they think this roster is supposed to compete in this league. How Hextall and Burke could sit up there and watch their forwards get ragdolled all over the ice, watch their top defensemen get outmuscled in front of the net night after night, see odd man rushes handed out like candy, then double down on it is beyond me.

 

[TrashPanda]

Not cool!

Especially when they tie it and immediately give up the go ahead goal. WTH???

 

[Steeltrap]

The old adage of "Age and Wisdom" beating "Youth and Speed" (or something like that) is on full display.

That....and they can't get around NY

 

[SRA-5C+]

Dear Ron, your team has gotten older, slower and our defense is bush league at best. Please take your Philthy philosophy back to Eastern Pa and until you learn how to effectively manage and find talent, consider this your last year. Idiot.
And, you needed to get a goalie, instead you got us older as a team.

 

[fishin coyote]

Another stupid penalty by Malkin leads to a under a dozen seconds left in the period goal

 

[BUGLE BOY]

Another stupid penalty by Malkin leads to a under a dozen seconds left in the period goal

Already see where this is going…

while it was a stupid penalty, the blame will be put on Malkin and Jarry once again, while totally ignoring the garbage, defensive structure and inability to finish…

 

[BUGLE BOY]

Yep, when the game is over, the game will be blamed on Jarry and Malkin…

3 on 1, 4 on 2, guys wide open in the slot with another guy untouched in the crease screening Jarry, but it’s all his fault. Fifth will probably be blamed on him somehow too…

 

[SRA-5C+]

Oh no, we suck again!

6-0 and Jarry gives up 4 on16 shots. BY Tristin.

DeSmith, 2 on 4 shots. we blow!

 

[fishin coyote]

No Bugle boy it’s not Malkin’s or Jarry’s fault. This team has been bad all season and it starts with the front office

 

[fishin coyote]

I do find it funny though that a future HOFer takes at least 1 stupid penalty every game like clockwork

 

[BUGLE BOY]

Oh no, we suck again!

6-0 and Jarry gives up 4 on16 shots. BY Tristin.

DeSmith, 2 on 4 shots. we blow!

with all due respect, do you see the defense in front of the goaltenders? Odd man rush after odd man rush guys wide-open in the slot guys camping out in the crease. It’s literally high danger chance after high danger chance for the opposition all night long. Jarry and DeSmith aren’t elite, but come on now they get zero help…

 

[BUGLE BOY]

No Bugle boy it’s not Malkin’s or Jarry’s fault. This team has been bad all season and it starts with the front office

Correct. But the front office in the coach never gets the blame from the fans. It’s always the goalttending or stupid Malkin or something else. This allows the garbage to continue because no pressure is ever put on management.

 

[SRA-5C+]

Sorry guys, losing is losing. There is plenty of blame to go around, and Jarry has been pulled 3 times in 4 games.

Oh no, we still suck!

 

[BUGLE BOY]

Sorry guys, losing is losing. There is plenty of blame to go around, and Jarry has been pulled 3 times in 4 games.

Oh no, we still suck!

And I will contend that the type of defensive structure, or lack there of that this team plays with has led to mental breakdowns from flurry Murray, and now Jarry. It’s literally a shooting gallery night in a night out.

 

[TrashPanda]

Was there a game on tonight?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is a very, very bad time to be a Pittsburgh sports fan.

 

[SHEDMAN25]

 

[SRA-5C+]

The question, what could have been?

This is it ladies and gentleman, Sully lost the team, Hextall made it irrelevant! And we are old as the hills.

 

[Steeltrap]

Let's see....We have 6 defenseman, NY has 6 defenseman. Malkin took a stupid penalty....but Malkin had only (only?) 4 penalty minutes (2 penalties). Now, I watched the game up to the last 15 seconds of the 1st period....when, on cue, the Pens gave up goal #2. I then turned to basketball....and it didn't matter who was playing.

When I turned the game back on, it was 6-0.

Again.....we have 6 guys rostered on the D. They have 6 guys rostered on the D. Is it the quantity....it's the quality?

So...I just tossed some numbers on a spreadsheet....'cause I usually have a spreadsheet for anything. The average age of the Pens defense is 30. The average age of NY defense is 26. The defenseman who played the most for the Pens (LeTang..age 36) played 24.23. The defenseman who played the most for NY (Miller...age 23) played 22.55 .

Now, I'm not going to say that Letang is a bad player. He's not. He's a good player. But age "catches up" with everyone. Also, one man does not carry a team...in any team sport. And hockey is one of the toughest "endurance" sports with the average shift of...what?...from 45 seconds to 90 seconds.

I can't blame the team or the coach. But I can blame Hextall. Now...Hextall gets his marching orders from the ownership group. So, I have zero knowledge of what that discussion is.....but I have to think the "ownership group" wanted to keep Crosby, LeTang, and Malkin....along with Carter. I think that's what happens when non-hockey guys get involved in hockey decisions. Look at the Dallas Cowboys.

It's all over for this year. They may make the first round.....but after that I have no visions of Stanley.

 

[limbhnger10]

But those banners hanging down from Mellon...errr Consol...errr PPG arena can still be gazed upon.

 

[Danesdad]

What I saw last night was that the team has exactly two defensemen that are top 4 guys. Letang and Petterson. The rest are third pair guys or minor leaguers. Jarry got roasted like a chestnut at christmas, but he also got hung out to dry like the laundry. That loss wasn't his fault. Vladislav Tretiak couldn't win behind this team. Guys like Rewedal, Friedman, Dumolin should NEVER be pinching. Sully has to change his philosophical outlook and adjust to the fact that his team is old and slow. Carter should be fourth line center and that is it. No PP or PK time. And, I dont know if it is coincidence, but all the older guys they traded for are now hurt.

At the end of the day this team has problems and they are many, but the primary blame is on Hextall (and, I guess Burke). They need to go.