When your top six scorers don’t score a point in a 4 game series whose fault is it. Is it the Penguins fault No it wasn’t the Penguins fault. If anyone remembers, the Los Angeles kings who enter the 2012 playoffs as the eight seed in the Western Conference. They had a goaltender named Jonathan Quick who got hot and took the Kings to the Stanley Cup and then they became champions. Well Tuukka Rask is playing the same way and he could lead the Boston bruins to the Stanley Cup in 2013. Do the Penguins need fix and if so how do you do it and where do, you start. It is a good question, one that has been thrown around by many for days and days since the 1-0 loss in Game 4 against the Bruins Friday. I have my own ideas about what needs to happen but first, I’ve heard many theories and talking points thrown around about what did happen and how we are supposed to react to it so let me address these first. THE PENGUINS WERE UNLUCKY, COULDN’T GET A BREAK - Please stop with this nonsense. The two teams could have played nonstop through the weekend and I am not sure the Penguins would have scored. The Bruins absolutely dominated this series. They played smarter, they played better, they played more as a team, they were coached better, they were tougher, they played better defense and they were actually hungrier, which is surprising. In addition, their stars showed up to play while the Penguins stars did not. The Penguins played with arrogance and generally, that gets you beat. This wasn’t a fluke, the Bruins deserved to win. ALONG THOSE SAME LINES WELL YOU KNOW, THE PENGUINS HIT A BUNCH OF POST - One talk show host this weekend went so far as to say maybe the posts should have been measured to make sure they weren’t too big. My God, are you joking me? First off, the Bruins hit the posts a few times as well. Second, shots that hit the posts are shots that didn’t hit the net. Third, maybe had the Penguins threw some shots actually at the net they would have had a better chance to score. Hitting the posts just means you are firing a bunch of inaccurate shots and those don’t lead to goals. IT ISN’T CROSBY AND MALKIN’S FAULT, THEY CAN’T DO IT ON THEIR OWN - OK, yep, it is a team sport but guess what, those two make about $17 million between them, they are the two stars and they are supposed to be the difference makers. In addition, when you lose two critical games 2-1 in overtime and 1-0, well, your players didn’t make a difference. You can’t be considered a superstar if you don’t get it done when it matters most. These two put up a total of zero points in four games and the team scored a total of two goals in four games – so yeah, you CAN and SHOULD put a large part of the blame on them. Sidney Crosby, I’m told, is the greatest player on the planet, well guess what, he hasn’t been in the last three playoff runs. He wasn’t the best player in the Canadians series a few years ago. He wasn’t the best player in the Flyers series last year. He wasn’t the best player or even the second or third or fourth best player – in this Bruins series. Great players are great when the money is on the line. He has not been. He could have made a huge difference in Game 3 and Game 4 with ONE play in each game. Just one and he couldn’t even do that. WE’VE BEEN SPOILED HERE, ONLY ONE TEAM CAN WIN THE CUP, ONE OF THE LAST FOUR STANDING, A GREAT TEAM – BLAH, BLAH, BLAH - Really? What a loser’s mentality that is. This is a team that was supposedly “all in” at the trading deadline, a team that was loaded with talent that was supposed to win a Stanley Cup and it was swept out of the playoffs. Not just beat, swept. In addition, let’s not forget this is a trend now – four years in a row losing to a lower seed. Four years in a row of disturbing losses and bad hockey in critical moments. And just to show that they can lose a lot of different ways the Penguins went opposite of last year – last year they gave up 30 goals in six games against the Flyers while this year they scored only two in four games against the Bruins. So which is worse – giving up 30 goals or scoring only 2? Regardless, this team deserves to be ripped because it is soft, not mentally strong and somewhat arrogant even though they haven’t won anything since 2009 and either the Blackhawks or Bruins will be hoisting their second Cup won since the Penguins won theirs. I’m glad the Penguins have a good team that wins games in the regular season – they are quickly becoming the Braves of the 1990s and I don’t know that is a compliment. THE CHEMISTRY WAS ROCKED AND THERE WASN’T ENOUGH TIME FOR TEAM TO COME TOGETHER - Oh really – please go back and listen to the ridiculous over the top commentary about how special this team was just a week earlier when they blasted Ottawa and were on a roll of winning six of seven playoff games and looking every bit the Cup contender people thought they were supposed to be. This team came together – although Dan Bylsma’s handling of some of the new players was a joke. THEY RAN INTO A HOT GOALTENDER, RASK WAS JUST TOO GOOD – Look Rask was very good but you know what, the Penguins – and this speaks somewhat to coaching – never really challenged him or attacked him differently. There was never any traffic in front of him, never any grinders in front of the net digging for rebounds and never any attempts to just start flinging pucks at him and at has pads and trying to slam home the rebounds. Heck, the only time we saw that kind of approach was with about 2 minutes left in Game 4 when the light finally went that the season was ending. Yes, Rask was good – but the Rangers showed he was beatable and they are supposedly a bad offensive team. The Penguins fired many shots at Rask but many of them were from areas on the ice where it was easy for him to see them and even easier for him to stop them. In addition, when he did give a rebound, there was never anyone around to make him pay. To me the Penguins made it easier on Rask than they needed to and so while he deserves credit for playing well – the Penguins deserve a lot of blame for keeping him in the game.So what happened? Well, like I said – the Bruins played better, were tougher, played smarter and played more like a team than the Penguins and more importantly the Bruins stars played like stars while the Penguins stars disappeared….again. Any analysis that goes deeper than that is just excuse making and apologizing and we’re not supposed to be in the business of that. OK, so now that is off my chest let’s look at what I think are some of the things that need to happen to make sure this doesn’t happen again next year. The Penguins may not reach the Cup next year again as nothing is guaranteed, but if they do things the right way they can at least go down fighting and putting their best foot forward. So here we go: Bylsma --- I could be convinced that Bylsma should stay and get one more year but only if he is willing to make some tweaks to his system and stop being so arrogant as to think that his system is going to work eventually. He also needs to do a much better job of putting his best team on the ice night in and night out regardless of how young they are. Truth be told if you look at how the Pens are built, they really do have one more year for this group before there would be a natural time to blow it up and start from scratch. There are 13 players entering the final year of their contract this year and very few players signed beyond next year. I think Dave Molinari wrote there were five or six players signed up for 2014-15 which means there could be a roster overhaul after next year if there is another failure. That brings me to Bylsma, who is in the final year of his contract – make it clear he is coaching for an extension and a raise. Now, I don’t know if he would go for it, maybe he tells them to shove it in which case, he fires himself. However, none of that happens as Bylsma was given a 2-year contract extension I honestly think a strong case could be made that he should be fired, but if he isn’t he needs to be coaching as a lame duck and knowing that he is coaching for an extension. He is obviously a good coach; he obviously has good ideas and obviously has a system that seems to take advantage of his team’s talent so perhaps he can get it right with another offseason to tweak whatever it is that needs to be tweaked.Now, if the rationale to keep Bylsma is that Bylsma is a good coach, should be given one more opportunity to get it right because he did lead a Cup run. Continuity with this group is important -- like I said, the group has one more year before a blow up would be easy given the contracts --- I’m OK with it. I’m OK with seeing if he can get it right one more time, the team would start next season as a Cup contender and so it is not like they wouldn’t have another chance to make a run. And like I said, he is a good coach, his players like him and they seem to like the system so perhaps with a few tweaks it would work out well. MARC-ANDRE FLEURY – Much like Bylsma, Fleury can be a virtual lame duck as well as he has two years left on his contract at $5 million per year. So bringing him back for one more year you can sort of make the same statement --- “Hey Marc, you are playing for a new contract and future employment with the Penguins.” He obviously has been very good in the regular season so he essentially would have one more opportunity to prove that 2009 was not a fluke and that he can be THAT goaltender. If he flames out and stinks in the postseason, --- again – you can use one of your two buy-outs next summer to get out from underneath his final year under contract at a very painless $3.5 million. The other side of that is you may have some trade value for him right now but boy; I have a hard time believing there is going to be a big market for a shaken goaltender at that price tag, even one who has won a Cup in the past. So much like Bylsma, I say if you can trade Fleury and dump his $5 million that’s wonderful but if you can’t get a deal that makes sense, go into next year with the knowledge that it is do or die time for him. That means you would have a goaltender and a coach with a sense of urgency and the ultimate motivation hanging in front of them and that may spark them to make the necessary changes to get it right. Rest of the roster -- As it stands, the Pens will have about $8 million bucks (give or take) to try to sign their own free agents and fill any needs they have left as they have 18 or 19 players under contract. That is why Kris Letang is a luxury that they can’t afford and their top priority should be to move him either at the draft or later in the summer prior to training camp. You can remove $3.5 million cap hit (I’d say if you can get a few draft picks or a couple of young prospects – i.e. cheap return salary wise – it would be ideal) and free up some cash to sign some other guys. And frankly Letang to me represents everything that is wrong with the Penguins – he is a flashy but a little soft, offensive defenseman who tries way too hard to do way too much instead of making the simple play and while he is a really good player, his negatives are apparent. It seemed to me in that 6-1 loss he was intent on assisting on every Bruins goal and that’s part of the problem – he is one of those players who, if it is a 6-5 game, could conceivably contribute to all 11 goals in one way or another. Letang has a lot of value and could bring back something in return while freeing up cap space for this season so there is no question he should return. Of the four new players at the trade deadline, three are free agents but the only one who I think should be a priority to retain is Jarome Iginla. That is, of course, provided he is willing to come back at a price that makes sense for the team (like $2 million, which would be a $5 million pay cut but for the chance to win a Cup he may go for it). Iginla may not take that much of a pay cut but if he does, you sign him and then you tell Bylsma – “he is a right winger on the top line and he is on the power play. Period” And while we are at it someone needs to tell Bylsma – “Paul Martin will join the top power play unit and stay there as well.” To me, one of the biggest sins that Bylsma committed is that he got a Hall of Fame player and totally misused him, totally underused him and totally used him in ways that he was destined not to be successful. Iginla can help this team win provided he is used right. Brendan Morrow was relegated to the fourth line by the end of things and Douglas Murray is probably a luxury they can’t afford. Jussi Jokinen is signed for one more year and if I am reading it correctly, the Hurricanes are paying some of his salary. Now if Morrow or Murray want to hang around for a bag of pucks or something, fine, but I would say neither of them should be a priority. Obviously signing Evgeni Malkin to contract extension is a no-brainer. An absolute must and anybody who suggests the two-star system isn’t working and needs to be broken up is silly. Every year you start with two of the top players in the world, you have a chance to win a Stanley Cup. Again, every year the Pens are a contender as long as Crosby and Malkin are on the roster together. This has to be done and there isn’t even a discussion to be made otherwise. The idea of trading Malkin is ridiculous and if you don’t understand why, I can’t help you. Of the key free agents – Kennedy (restricted), Adams, Eaton Cooke and Dupuis – I think they should try to keep three of them given their cap situation, four if Dupuis is willing to take less than he will get on the open market. Unfortunately, I think Dupuis is going to be too expensive unless he takes less to stay here, which I can’t see him doing at this stage of the game. He is running out of career and needs to cash in on this contract, as it will likely be his last chance to get a big pay raise. If you can hang on to Dupuis comfortably, fine it is a no-brainer to sign him, but that is still going to be a lot of money and a large part of your available cap space. I also think Kennedy may be a player who you can shed some salary with by trading especially since he doesn’t seem to be a guy who Bylsma has a lot of faith in. Think about how much of the season down the stretch and in the playoffs, Kennedy sat on the bench – as in the bench way above the ice as a healthy scratch – and ask yourself where he fits in? I would try and sign Cooke, Eaton and Adams as they aren’t going to come at a heavy price tag and all are “grit” guys and Cooke in these playoffs showed he can be an asset as a skater, not just a punk. In addition, I think there is some value to keeping a couple of veterans around especially given their contributions on the penalty kill and like I said, in hustle plays and grit. I wouldn’t sign any of them up long term given their ages, but if you can get them both to accept a 2-year deal for a good price, it is probably worth it. SIMON DESPRES A TOP FOUR DEFENSEMAN” AND BEAU BENNETT A TOP SIX FORWARD - The other day, play it for him every day next year, and remind him that this is what these two youngsters are and need to be. This way when he tries to healthy scratch them, move them down, bounce them in and out of the lineup and all the stuff he did this year I’m not saying that these things would cure all of the problems, but I do think if Bylsma is given a reprieve and another year, this is what the roster should look like for one more year and then if there is another flame out – bye Bylsma, bye Fleury and bye a bunch of guys who have been the core of this team for the last few years next summer.
Source:http://sportsbygarydibert.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-do-you-fix-penguins.html
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