The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

[RealmK]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Merry Sidmas everyone..

At least until he gets hit hard and ends up hurt again. Not that I'd want to see that happen.

[Fiddy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

At least until he gets hit hard and ends up hurt again. Not that I'd want to see that happen.

say hello to the biggest Scrooge on Operation Sports..

[RealmK]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

say hello to the biggest Scrooge on Operation Sports..

Actually I was being serious, I'm not a Crosby or a Pens fan by any means, but I don't like to see anyone get hurt for the sake of it. At any rate the Pens are a better team with him in the lineup, he's got skill. I do think the media over rates him and I don't think he's very classy but I can't deny he's got talent.

[SidVish]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Just like that Sid scores. Good for him.

[Fiddy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Actually I was being serious, I'm not a Crosby or a Pens fan by any means, but I don't like to see anyone get hurt for the sake of it. At any rate the Pens are a better team with him in the lineup, he's got skill. I do think the media over rates him and I don't think he's very classy but I can't deny he's got talent.

and i was being serious about you being a Scrooge..

happy moment and you was a Debbie Downer..

also, thanks for stating the obvious, that the Pens are better with him.. umm, yeah, hello, best player in the league. the media dont over rate him, you cant over rate the best player in the league, but you sure can have to much coverage..

unreal start for Sid, he should have 4 points, Kuintz crossbar on first shift, then Malkin off the posts a few shifts later on PP..

he doesnt look like he has missed a beat.. awesome to see!! great for the league!!

[MizzyMike05]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Welcome back, Sid! Unreal.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

That goal was easily the highlight of the season.

I read a report that said the media there is the size of a Stanley Cup Final game.

[Fiddy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

That goal was easily the highlight of the season.

I read a report that said the media there is the size of a Stanley Cup Final game.

usually 50 to 75 for a regular season game.. 250 there tonight!!

edit - Sid 26 points behind scoring leader.. ha!!

[Fiddy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

You couldn't have scripted this any better.. Unreal!! Let's Go Pens!!

[Splitter77]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

great game by sid. amazing to do that after almost a year off. Albeit against the worst team in the NHL right now.

Hopefully he stays healthy. This league needs him.

[RealmK]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

and i was being serious about you being a Scrooge..

happy moment and you was a Debbie Downer..

also, thanks for stating the obvious, that the Pens are better with him.. umm, yeah, hello, best player in the league. the media dont over rate him, you cant over rate the best player in the league, but you sure can have to much coverage..

unreal start for Sid, he should have 4 points, Kuintz crossbar on first shift, then Malkin off the posts a few shifts later on PP..

he doesnt look like he has missed a beat.. awesome to see!! great for the league!!

It's debatable if he's the OMG BEST PLAYER EVA111!!!!! I doubt the NHL needed a shift by shift blog of his return either. When he starts putting up Gretzy like record totals in a season we'll talk. But I'm sorry if I don't buy into the whole the NHL needs Crosby!!! They did fine while he was out. They did fine before him, they'll do fine when he retires down the line.

There are other skilled players in the league that get zero attention and it's a shame that every major NHL story need be focused on fellate Crosby all the time. For a non Pens fan it gets old after awhile.

[Money99]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Glad to see Sid back and after one game it appears he's no worse for wear.
I hope that continues. He's a lot of fun to watch. Everytime he's on the ice he makes something happen. There are very few players in this league that can say that.

On a funny note, Puck Daddy's hilarious. He pointed out that after Sid's 4-point night he's only 11 points back of Ovechkin's total. Hahaha!

Seriously, something's wrong with Ovie. Not only is not even trying out there, he's become a one-trick pony.
I got spoiled watching how explosive he was every night, but now I can name about 20 forwards that are just as effective or better than he is.
He does the same move; fly down off-wing, curl into middle of ice and use dman as screen for a shot from 20' out.
Thing is, dmen have figured that out. Now they crowd him and one easy poke-check has the move neutralized. Still, Ovie tries it over and over and over again.

And the fans are starting to turn their back on him too. Over the past couple of weeks, Caps fans have been calling into XM Home Ice complaining about his game.

As an outsider who only gets to watch a handful of his games, to me it seems the game isn't fun anymore.
He came into the league and had no responsibilities or expectations. His team wasn't expected to win and he was put into a very exciting and up-tempo system that fit his style of play perfectly. It was all fun and games and crazy one-liners from the NHL's favorite Dennis the Menace.

Now with the C, massive expectations and a switch to a defensive system, hockey's not as fun and it's showing in his play.
Ovie's going to get his coach fired and really, McPhee needs to do something. He built a team full of high-end offensive players and now they're suddenly playing NJ Devils hockey. It doesn't fit.
Either play a style that fits the kind of team he built, or start removing guys like Green and Semin and tell Ovie he's going to the 3rd line until he can figure out how to be a responsible two-way player.
Guys like Datsyuk, Kesler, Toews and Sid have figured out how to play defense while still putting up great offensive numbers. Ovie needs to do that now too. Maybe a move to RW would help?

[Fiddy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

It's debatable if he's the OMG BEST PLAYER EVA111!!!!! I doubt the NHL needed a shift by shift blog of his return either. When he starts putting up Gretzy like record totals in a season we'll talk. But I'm sorry if I don't buy into the whole the NHL needs Crosby!!! They did fine while he was out. They did fine before him, they'll do fine when he retires down the line.

There are other skilled players in the league that get zero attention and it's a shame that every major NHL story need be focused on fellate Crosby all the time. For a non Pens fan it gets old after awhile.

i dont think he is the best OMG BEST PLAYER EVA11!!!!!!!!

when he starts putting up "Gretzky" type numbers we'll talk? yeah, when the NHL goes back to the early/mid 80's and goalies were guys like you and me with pillows for pads between the pipes, we'll talk then..

those other skilled players, cant do what he does night in and out. if they did, they would get the attention, period the end.

a rarity here, i agree with you, the national media covering him all the time is a bit much and gets old.. but then again, no other player is worth covering in their opinion or so it seems.

Glad to see Sid back and after one game it appears he's no worse for wear.
I hope that continues. He's a lot of fun to watch. Everytime he's on the ice he makes something happen. There are very few players in this league that can say that.

On a funny note, Puck Daddy's hilarious. He pointed out that after Sid's 4-point night he's only 11 points back of Ovechkin's total. Hahaha!

Seriously, something's wrong with Ovie. Not only is not even trying out there, he's become a one-trick pony.
I got spoiled watching how explosive he was every night, but now I can name about 20 forwards that are just as effective or better than he is.
He does the same move; fly down off-wing, curl into middle of ice and use dman as screen for a shot from 20' out.
Thing is, dmen have figured that out. Now they crowd him and one easy poke-check has the move neutralized. Still, Ovie tries it over and over and over again.

And the fans are starting to turn their back on him too. Over the past couple of weeks, Caps fans have been calling into XM Home Ice complaining about his game.

As an outsider who only gets to watch a handful of his games, to me it seems the game isn't fun anymore.
He came into the league and had no responsibilities or expectations. His team wasn't expected to win and he was put into a very exciting and up-tempo system that fit his style of play perfectly. It was all fun and games and crazy one-liners from the NHL's favorite Dennis the Menace.

Now with the C, massive expectations and a switch to a defensive system, hockey's not as fun and it's showing in his play.
Ovie's going to get his coach fired and really, McPhee needs to do something. He built a team full of high-end offensive players and now they're suddenly playing NJ Devils hockey. It doesn't fit.
Either play a style that fits the kind of team he built, or start removing guys like Green and Semin and tell Ovie he's going to the 3rd line until he can figure out how to be a responsible two-way player.
Guys like Datsyuk, Kesler, Toews and Sid have figured out how to play defense while still putting up great offensive numbers. Ovie needs to do that now too. Maybe a move to RW would help?

the teams in the NHL figured him out, one dimensional shoot first, you stop that, you have a great chance of shutting him down.

but he has the skill set to be a ton better overall than he is displaying. is it bc he dislikes Bruce? McPhee ok'd this defensive play style so to speak. so he is to blame as well.

for him struggling so to speak, whats he on pace for? 35 goals or something? thats still very good, esp in this new NHL..

[Money99]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

the teams in the NHL figured him out, one dimensional shoot first, you stop that, you have a great chance of shutting him down.

but he has the skill set to be a ton better overall than he is displaying. is it bc he dislikes Bruce? McPhee ok'd this defensive play style so to speak. so he is to blame as well.

for him struggling so to speak, whats he on pace for? 35 goals or something? thats still very good, esp in this new NHL..

I think he's on pace for 30.
But considering he scored 65-goals only a few years ago, and was considered the best natural goal scorer in the league, 30 is a disappointment. Especially when you consider he's making $11M+ a year.
For $11M you want 45+ goals and around 100-points a year. Plus strong defensive play.

I read a very interesting stat on Puck Daddy the other day; only one player has scored their career high in goals past the age of 25. That man was Brett Hull.
All other players achieved their highest one-season mark between the ages of 20-25.
If you take that into consideration, you can pretty much kiss goodbye Ovie ever reaching 65 again. And at this point, I think most fans would be happy with 45.

Ovie is obviously tanking it because he and Boudreau don't see eye-to-eye.
I'm not saying he's doing it on purpose, but just watching him you can tell his heart isn't into it. He used to play every shift like it was his last, now it looks like he can't wait to get off the ice so he can feed that enormous gut of his another Mr.Big.

[SPTO]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

If Sid can stay healthy and the other guys (Malin, Staal) stay healthy all year than LOOK OUT! The Pens are going to be a tough team to beat this year. I have to say something for the Pens as an organization though, even when Crosby was gone for all this time the team never really slipped or lost a beat. That's a testament to just how well run of an organization they are. A lot of credit has to go to the management and coaching staffs up and down the organization IMO.