What the Hell?
Article about Stephen Walkom, the ref who called the roughing penalty at the end of the Hawks / Wings game 7:
Are they implying that Walkom stole that puck? Sure seems like it, otherwise why mention that at all? Odd.
I don’t understand why Malkin is dropping the gloves so much. Is he just so frustrated, or is he bigger than anyone thinks and wants to pound on guys that are like gnats flying near his ear?
The Pens have to understand that they can’t win every game, and sometimes the other team is just better. Teams like the Penguins rarely benefit from such a long layoff, as their skill level requires a continuous schedule to keep passing rhythm and puck movement in harmony. You can’t keep that up in practice. They will be fine if they win game two, but even if they don’t, I won’t start to worry until the Pens have lost three in this series. They are a great team, capable of beating anyone. If Rusk is hot, well, that’s the way it goes sometimes. But he hasn’t won anything but a game. Nothing to sneeze at, but not something to lose sleep over, either.
If Malkin is fighting to get the rest of the Penguins charged up, that’s short sighted. I’d hate to see one of the worlds best players hurt in a fight.
Is Jonathan Quick ill or something?? Holy crap, he watched the last goal go in and they pull him. Time for a break, buddy. The Hawks can just play keep away for the last 20.
No, the Kings’ defense is ill. The best goalie in NHL history couldn’t have stopped those shots.
In other events, Tuukka Rask can fee a tiny better about the ‘oops I fell over’ goal he let in last round, as the German men’s soccer team goalkeeper just knocked Tuukka out of the top spot for biggest goalkeeper whoopsie of the year. Soccer on ESPN - Scores, Stats and Highlights. At least Rask’s whoopsie wasn’t on a pass from a teammate.
Though it was just an exhibition match for the German, he was also caught way out of position later on, when a US player nearly scored from midfield, and the keeper fell over trying to get back (the ball was wide, so no goal).
That was the first time Quick actually didn’t have his A game…which is fine…he can’t be inhuman every game. The defense didn’t have their best game either which does worry me more than Quick’s game. I think Doughty, Voynov are injured to some degree and not sure if Muzzin really got hurt when he slid into the boards in game 1. Mike Richards would be a serious loss if he’s hurt too.
But Quick should have stopped 3 of those 4 shots if he was his normal self.
Looks like the Pens are having the same problem the Kings had yesterday! 4 goals, 13 shots?? Yikes.
And it wasn’t all Vokoun. Fleury let one in too.
Lovin’ this … bring on the Blackhawks!
A Boston/Chicago series should be a lot of fun to watch.
I thought you had to win 4 games.
WTF?!?! cries Of course, now it’s all, “TRADE FLEURY!!!” Seriously, every time we lose, that’s all my cousin can say.
Ok… Now I’m starting to panic.
Down 2-0 and losing both games at home? NOT good!
And not only losing, but never really looking like they were competitive. At this point, all the Bruins and possibly some Penguins will be feeling they know which is the better team.
Yeah, the Pens look whooped.
I think it’s a matter of not playing the game that got them to the conference finals. Boston is in their heads, they are faster, they aren’t playing scared. The Pens looked dead on the bench in game two. And I loved that they put in Fleury, and what does he do? Gives up a goal on the first shot he faces! Classic.
This team is imploding, and barring a miracle, they will be out of the playoffs by next weekend, if not sooner. Shero mortgaged the immediate future for a cup run this year, and quite frankly, on paper this team shouldn’t be touched. But you can’t find heart on paper.
There should be a major house cleaning if the Pens don’t win the cup this year, and it starts with the coach. But it wil also require some of the overpaid offensive firepower to get traded for some real defenders and a number one goalie. I think Fleury might still have something left, but not in Pittsburgh. He needs a change of scenery.
Vokoun has to be in the net for game three. And the Pens have to have him stand on his head. It’s their only chance.
Huh. Who’d’a thunk?
Lots of people have been saying it for quite a while now. Myself included.
Fleury has been losing me as a fan ever since he won the cup with a brilliant diving save against Detroit in '09. I don’t know what it is, but instead of his confidence soaring after that, it seemed to slide backwards. Now maybe a lot of this can be blamed on the Penguins front office, as he was routinely required to turn away 30-45 shots a game, but still, he seemed to play well durning the regular season. When the playoffs came, he never seemed to be that guy (like Quick last year) who can carry a team.
My break with him came last year in the Flyers series. He looked so unsure of himself. Even this year, during the regular season, everytime he flopped to the ice, my stomach sank because I knew he was going to have trouble with the shot.
He gives up terrible rebounds. Instead of smothering the puck or directing it toward one of the corners, he would stop the first shot and send the rebound straight back out into the oncoming defenders, who started burying them with alarming frequency.
His last game in these playoffs, that embarrassment against the Islanders, was it. I knew he’d probably never start another game in the playoffs again this year unless we had a huge series lead or Vokoun was injured. I will expect Vokoun to be in the net for the Pens next game.
Still, you can’t blame all this on the goaltenders. That defense is putrid. They aren’t about sacrificing their bodies by sliding in front of snapshots from the point, and they are so slow, they can’t get back when an odd man rush happens. Their back checking is horrific.their ability to stand a guy up at the blue line is non-existant. We all knew this before the playoffs started, but ignored it because of all the offensive firepower. But it’s hard to ignore it now, isn’t it?
Hard to remember the last legitimate blue liner we had… Do I hae to go back to Ron Stackhouse? (Who I hated, btw). Surely It wasn’t Randy Carlisle. Jim Paek? Ever since they had Coffey on D, they have chased after that offensive defenseman, and have come up with a few along the way. But nobody who is a solid skater that just plays D because that’s what he likes and what he is good at… At least I can’t think of one off-hand.
These guys better pull a couple of games out of their collective butts this week, or I imagine many faces will not be seen again next year. Including Coach Dan.
ETA: Defensemen who made you hate your time in the offensive zone for the Pens! Bob “Battleship” Kelly, Brian Hextall, and Dave Shultz. I think I got those names right.
Damn. You certainly know yor hockey.
You didn’t like Randy Carlyle? As a “legitimate blue liner”? Carlyle was an excellent tough defenseman. Not sure whats not to like
I just think he is a bit of a choke-artist. I think he’s got all the talent in the world but he’s just not playing to his potential.