Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Penguins Goaltender MAF makes NHL.com's top three of week 1
This is a quick blurb about starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury being named the third star across the league in all positions by NHL.com.
Penguins through two games
With the excitement of a new season in full swing, the Pittsburgh Penguins hope to continue their two game winning streak at home tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. But first, what did the Penguins do right in their previous bouts to earn the win?
THE THIRD LINE
As most hockey fans know, a team has four forward lines, each with a specific purpose. The first and second lines are typically set up as the scoring lines, while the third is a hybrid "two-way" line, and the fourth is made up of enforcers. For the Penguins over the last two games, the third line (with rookie Beau Bennett, Brandon Sutter, and new acquisition Chuck Kobesew) has been as explosive than the star studded first line (Dupuis, Crosby and Kunitz). This step up by seven through nine forwards shows the depth of what has in recent years been the best NHL team on paper. But what makes this line so great isn't only the two goals by Kobesew, with assists from both Bennett and Sutter, but the ability that the line has to complete hits, cycle well in the defensive end and work with multiple defensive pairings to create traps at the blue line that causes turnovers, resulting in the odd man rush.
DEFENSE
Penguins hockey has been characterized in years past by a highly offensive team, while lackluster in defense. This is even more evident in the fact that Kris Letang, the Pens most talented defenseman is typically among the top 5 scoring defensemen in the NHL, and sits high in the standings for the Frank J. Selke defensive player of the year, mainly for his offensive efforts and ability to cause turnovers. Letang however is yet to start a game this season. In his absence, the Pens have become a defensive powerhouse, allowing only one goal in two games. The key to their newfound defensive success is a new defensive scheme, designed to trap the offense coming across the blue line into the Penguins defensive zone. With a progressive 2-2-1 defensive pattern, the Penguins have been able to shutdown the New Jersey Devils, a team pegged to be an outstanding name in the race for the new Metropolitan Division title this season, as well as the Buffalo Sabres. The Devils are a particularly fast paced offense, relying heavily on the odd man rush and quick passing when crashing the net to put the goaltender out of position. In the Pens home opener last thursday, a strong defensive effort limited the Devils to only 28 shots. This is a surprise given the Penguins failure to stand defensively during the preseason.
GOALTENDING
An equally impressive effort by veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury held the Devils off to record Fleury's 250th career win and his first shutout win of the 2013-2014 season. In game two Fleury only allowed one goal in 24 shots. Fleury is currently tied for 1st place in wins and shutouts across the league. This is a welcomed surprise by Pens fans and coaching staff after a lackluster showing in both the preseason and the post season last summer.
FACEOFFS
Penguins captain and star forward Sidney Crosby has not only been doing his part on the scoresheet by getting assists or putting pucks in the net, but also by blowing the opposition away in the faceoff dots. Crosby took 24 of 41 faceoffs in saturdays home game against Buffalo, posting 59 percent success and surpassing his then record of 36 which happened in an Oct. 2009 game against the Florida Panthers.
NOTICEABLE ABSENCES
With Kris Letang out of the lineup long term (lowerbody), second line forward James Neal still sitting for an undisclosed upper body injury and the lack of a tried second goaltender, the Penguins have stepped up their play and carried on without a league leading scorer (Neal), and a top defensive presence.
THE THIRD LINE
As most hockey fans know, a team has four forward lines, each with a specific purpose. The first and second lines are typically set up as the scoring lines, while the third is a hybrid "two-way" line, and the fourth is made up of enforcers. For the Penguins over the last two games, the third line (with rookie Beau Bennett, Brandon Sutter, and new acquisition Chuck Kobesew) has been as explosive than the star studded first line (Dupuis, Crosby and Kunitz). This step up by seven through nine forwards shows the depth of what has in recent years been the best NHL team on paper. But what makes this line so great isn't only the two goals by Kobesew, with assists from both Bennett and Sutter, but the ability that the line has to complete hits, cycle well in the defensive end and work with multiple defensive pairings to create traps at the blue line that causes turnovers, resulting in the odd man rush.
DEFENSE
Penguins hockey has been characterized in years past by a highly offensive team, while lackluster in defense. This is even more evident in the fact that Kris Letang, the Pens most talented defenseman is typically among the top 5 scoring defensemen in the NHL, and sits high in the standings for the Frank J. Selke defensive player of the year, mainly for his offensive efforts and ability to cause turnovers. Letang however is yet to start a game this season. In his absence, the Pens have become a defensive powerhouse, allowing only one goal in two games. The key to their newfound defensive success is a new defensive scheme, designed to trap the offense coming across the blue line into the Penguins defensive zone. With a progressive 2-2-1 defensive pattern, the Penguins have been able to shutdown the New Jersey Devils, a team pegged to be an outstanding name in the race for the new Metropolitan Division title this season, as well as the Buffalo Sabres. The Devils are a particularly fast paced offense, relying heavily on the odd man rush and quick passing when crashing the net to put the goaltender out of position. In the Pens home opener last thursday, a strong defensive effort limited the Devils to only 28 shots. This is a surprise given the Penguins failure to stand defensively during the preseason.
GOALTENDING
An equally impressive effort by veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury held the Devils off to record Fleury's 250th career win and his first shutout win of the 2013-2014 season. In game two Fleury only allowed one goal in 24 shots. Fleury is currently tied for 1st place in wins and shutouts across the league. This is a welcomed surprise by Pens fans and coaching staff after a lackluster showing in both the preseason and the post season last summer.
FACEOFFS
Penguins captain and star forward Sidney Crosby has not only been doing his part on the scoresheet by getting assists or putting pucks in the net, but also by blowing the opposition away in the faceoff dots. Crosby took 24 of 41 faceoffs in saturdays home game against Buffalo, posting 59 percent success and surpassing his then record of 36 which happened in an Oct. 2009 game against the Florida Panthers.
NOTICEABLE ABSENCES
With Kris Letang out of the lineup long term (lowerbody), second line forward James Neal still sitting for an undisclosed upper body injury and the lack of a tried second goaltender, the Penguins have stepped up their play and carried on without a league leading scorer (Neal), and a top defensive presence.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
ESPN announces Penguins as number one fan supported team across all sports
The following link is to an article on the Pittsburgh Penguins website regarding the standings produced by ESPN announcing the Penguins to be among the top franchises in current sports.
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=683755
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=683755
Penguins injuries and last minute roster moves set the final lineups for Opening Day
As most professional sports teams the Pittsburgh Penguins are typically very quiet about roster moves and injuries. With the recent preseason events leading to two key players, Kris Letang and Tomas Vokoun being scratched indefinitely, how the Penguins will make the 5 p.m. Monday deadline for a cap satisfying roster is still up in the air.
Ray Shero, Penguins General Manager and last seasons NHL GM of the Year, said Sunday in an interview with Shelly Anderson, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that the organization has no intention on making any trades to fit under the cap. Shero also stated that the Letang injury will not lead to a long term absence of Pittsburgh's most talented defense man.
With the deadline fast approaching, Tomas Vokoun's emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in his pelvis last week returns to the spotlight as the Penguins struggle to fill the backup goaltenders spot. The top contender, Wilks-Barre/ Scranton starting goaltender Jeff Zatkoff. Zatkoff, a four year veteran among AHL goaltenders, played his first season with Wilks-Barre/ Scranton last season and was voted as the team MVP after posting a 26-20 record with a 1.93 goals against average, .920 save percentage and five shutouts. He was also given one start during the preseason.
What Shero plans to do to get the team under the salary cap is only known to a handful of people. Monday the Penguins will release the starting roster for the 2013-14 season. Shero said that roster may change before the opening night game against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 3.
Ray Shero, Penguins General Manager and last seasons NHL GM of the Year, said Sunday in an interview with Shelly Anderson, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that the organization has no intention on making any trades to fit under the cap. Shero also stated that the Letang injury will not lead to a long term absence of Pittsburgh's most talented defense man.
With the deadline fast approaching, Tomas Vokoun's emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in his pelvis last week returns to the spotlight as the Penguins struggle to fill the backup goaltenders spot. The top contender, Wilks-Barre/ Scranton starting goaltender Jeff Zatkoff. Zatkoff, a four year veteran among AHL goaltenders, played his first season with Wilks-Barre/ Scranton last season and was voted as the team MVP after posting a 26-20 record with a 1.93 goals against average, .920 save percentage and five shutouts. He was also given one start during the preseason.
What Shero plans to do to get the team under the salary cap is only known to a handful of people. Monday the Penguins will release the starting roster for the 2013-14 season. Shero said that roster may change before the opening night game against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 3.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Chapter 7: 9th Edition | Holistic Editing
I'm posting this summary of chapter 7 here, because I wasn't able to find a place to post it on The Fourth Estates' page. Also keep in mind that this is for Chapter 7 in the 9th Edition.
Chapter 7-
Best use of this chapter, as the Brooks and Pinson tell you in the introduction, is best used as a reference until you gather the experience to know from memory. Listed in this chapter are thirty-eight different types of stories with a brief description of each. Also each section lists cliche's and perferred word choices in certain situations for that type of story. You can also find information on what qualifies as that particular type of story and how it should be written, active or passive voice, delayed-ID, ways to avoid jargon, ect. Also in each section is a how-to list of what every story of this type should or should not include.
The following is a list of story types, distinguished by topic, included in this chapter.
Accident and Disaster
Advance
Analysis
Boating and Shipping
Business
Calendar Items
Celebrity News
Chronological Stories
Color Pieces
Columns
Court Stories
Crime
Education
Entertainment
First-Person Stories
Focus Pieces
Follows
Food Features
History Pieces
How-to Articles or Service Journalism
Human-Interest
Labor Disputes
Medical News
Meeting Stories
Obituaries
Personality Profiles
Political Stories
Press Release Stories
Question and Answer Interviews
Religion
Reviews
Science and Health
Seasonal Features
Speeches
Sports
Travel
War Stories
Weather
Chapter 7-
Best use of this chapter, as the Brooks and Pinson tell you in the introduction, is best used as a reference until you gather the experience to know from memory. Listed in this chapter are thirty-eight different types of stories with a brief description of each. Also each section lists cliche's and perferred word choices in certain situations for that type of story. You can also find information on what qualifies as that particular type of story and how it should be written, active or passive voice, delayed-ID, ways to avoid jargon, ect. Also in each section is a how-to list of what every story of this type should or should not include.
The following is a list of story types, distinguished by topic, included in this chapter.
Accident and Disaster
Advance
Analysis
Boating and Shipping
Business
Calendar Items
Celebrity News
Chronological Stories
Color Pieces
Columns
Court Stories
Crime
Education
Entertainment
First-Person Stories
Focus Pieces
Follows
Food Features
History Pieces
How-to Articles or Service Journalism
Human-Interest
Labor Disputes
Medical News
Meeting Stories
Obituaries
Personality Profiles
Political Stories
Press Release Stories
Question and Answer Interviews
Religion
Reviews
Science and Health
Seasonal Features
Speeches
Sports
Travel
War Stories
Weather
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Penguins struggle to fit under cap
OPINION- For National Hockey League fans, Oct. 1 marks one of the most exciting days of the year, opening day. For fans of six of the NHL's 32 teams (Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, San Jose, and Los Angeles), that day also holds a sense of fear as their clubs make last minute moves to begin the season under the mandated salary cap of $67,100,000.
2012-13 General Manager of the Year, Ray Shero of Pittsburgh, has yet to release what the Penguins will do save the $1,098,333 the Pittsburgh Penguins are over on the cap ceiling. All analysts and fans can do is pray and speculate to the fate of favorites and less than favorites on the roster.
Dan Bylsma, Penguins head coach, announced Wed that there are only three spots open for competition during training camp which began that morning with team meetings and a media day devoted to video and still images for publication by the organization. Bylsma hinted, without confirmation, that all spots were forward positions, and concluded that all other spots on the NHL team's roster were locked in.
After absorbing all the commentary, reading blogs by Penguins hockey reporters Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe of Trib Total Media, its very clear that even the professionals closest to the team can only offer their best guess as to what lies ahead.
As of Wed night, Pittsburgh and their minor league affiliate, Wilkes-barre/Scranton Baby Penguins, shared 18 defensemen. League wide roster limitations state that each team may dress only six defensemen, totaling 12 active players, while the remaining six can stay as part of the organization. However those inactive players are reserved for situations involving injury, or suspension of the active players. In layman's terms, the Penguins organizations are paying six men to eat cap space, just in case a higher caliber defensemen is injured ect.
The same can be said about any team in the league, in all positions. The difference between the Penguins and most other hockey clubs in the league is that the Penguins have one of the highest paid rarely active defensemen in the league, Matt Niskanen at $2.3 million this year, the last of his contract. Based on a new bi-law introduced after the lockout last fall, a player is only available for trading in the last year of his contract. Before Oct. 1, Matt Niskanen will likely be on the trade block.
Last season, Niskanen, 26 of Virginia, MN, played 40 of 48 games, tallying four goals and ten assists. "Nisky"also played 15 playoff games and had two assists in the post season. With numbers that low, it is likely that the Penguins may attempt to trade Niskanen for draft picks in next June's 2014 NHL Entry Draft. That would keep the organization from paying any newly acquired players from the trade this season.
Niskanen isn't the only option however. Fourth line left winger Tanner Glass, 29 of Regina, SK, Canada, may also see himself playing in Pittsburgh on an away team this season, thanks to disappointing stats and a seemingly halted track of developmental improvement. Last season, Glass' third full season for an NHL club, Tanner played in all 48 games, but only posted one goals, one assist and was rated -11 in plus/minus.
With all the young talent coming up the pipeline from last years 5th seeded, Eastern Conference semifinalist Wilks-barre/Scranton team, such as Beau Bennett, left winger, 21 of Gardena, CA, it wouldn't be surprising to see Glass take the back door to another club. Removing Glass from the equation would free up $1.1 million this season, clearing the cap and keeping more inactive players available if needed, removing an expensive, weaker horse to keep more younger horses in the stable.
Again, most of this is speculation. No one person knows, sparring possibly Ray Shero, what will happen in the days to come for the Penguins organization. It is possible that, despite Bylsma's word, a strong showing in training camp may be the saving grace for Matt Niskanen and Tanner Glass.
--------------------------------------
My prediction: Niskanen will be traded before Oct. 1. Leaving the remaining active roster to look something like this.
FORWARDS
Pascal Dupuis - Sidney Crosby- Chris Kunitz
Beau Bennett - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Jussi Jokenen - Brandon Sutter - Adam Payerl
Dustin Jefferey - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams
DEFENSIVE PAIRS
Kris Letang - Rob Scuderi
Brooks Orpik - Simon Despres
Deryk Engelland - Paul Martin
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andrey Fleury
Tomas Vokoun
2012-13 General Manager of the Year, Ray Shero of Pittsburgh, has yet to release what the Penguins will do save the $1,098,333 the Pittsburgh Penguins are over on the cap ceiling. All analysts and fans can do is pray and speculate to the fate of favorites and less than favorites on the roster.
Dan Bylsma, Penguins head coach, announced Wed that there are only three spots open for competition during training camp which began that morning with team meetings and a media day devoted to video and still images for publication by the organization. Bylsma hinted, without confirmation, that all spots were forward positions, and concluded that all other spots on the NHL team's roster were locked in.
After absorbing all the commentary, reading blogs by Penguins hockey reporters Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe of Trib Total Media, its very clear that even the professionals closest to the team can only offer their best guess as to what lies ahead.
As of Wed night, Pittsburgh and their minor league affiliate, Wilkes-barre/Scranton Baby Penguins, shared 18 defensemen. League wide roster limitations state that each team may dress only six defensemen, totaling 12 active players, while the remaining six can stay as part of the organization. However those inactive players are reserved for situations involving injury, or suspension of the active players. In layman's terms, the Penguins organizations are paying six men to eat cap space, just in case a higher caliber defensemen is injured ect.
The same can be said about any team in the league, in all positions. The difference between the Penguins and most other hockey clubs in the league is that the Penguins have one of the highest paid rarely active defensemen in the league, Matt Niskanen at $2.3 million this year, the last of his contract. Based on a new bi-law introduced after the lockout last fall, a player is only available for trading in the last year of his contract. Before Oct. 1, Matt Niskanen will likely be on the trade block.
Last season, Niskanen, 26 of Virginia, MN, played 40 of 48 games, tallying four goals and ten assists. "Nisky"also played 15 playoff games and had two assists in the post season. With numbers that low, it is likely that the Penguins may attempt to trade Niskanen for draft picks in next June's 2014 NHL Entry Draft. That would keep the organization from paying any newly acquired players from the trade this season.
Niskanen isn't the only option however. Fourth line left winger Tanner Glass, 29 of Regina, SK, Canada, may also see himself playing in Pittsburgh on an away team this season, thanks to disappointing stats and a seemingly halted track of developmental improvement. Last season, Glass' third full season for an NHL club, Tanner played in all 48 games, but only posted one goals, one assist and was rated -11 in plus/minus.
With all the young talent coming up the pipeline from last years 5th seeded, Eastern Conference semifinalist Wilks-barre/Scranton team, such as Beau Bennett, left winger, 21 of Gardena, CA, it wouldn't be surprising to see Glass take the back door to another club. Removing Glass from the equation would free up $1.1 million this season, clearing the cap and keeping more inactive players available if needed, removing an expensive, weaker horse to keep more younger horses in the stable.
Again, most of this is speculation. No one person knows, sparring possibly Ray Shero, what will happen in the days to come for the Penguins organization. It is possible that, despite Bylsma's word, a strong showing in training camp may be the saving grace for Matt Niskanen and Tanner Glass.
--------------------------------------
My prediction: Niskanen will be traded before Oct. 1. Leaving the remaining active roster to look something like this.
FORWARDS
Pascal Dupuis - Sidney Crosby- Chris Kunitz
Beau Bennett - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Jussi Jokenen - Brandon Sutter - Adam Payerl
Dustin Jefferey - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams
DEFENSIVE PAIRS
Kris Letang - Rob Scuderi
Brooks Orpik - Simon Despres
Deryk Engelland - Paul Martin
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andrey Fleury
Tomas Vokoun
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
A little about Pittsburgh Post Gazette's corrections
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette's policy is to correct mistakes as soon as possible. This includes print and electronic media. The staff attempts not to remove blogs or images unless under certain circumstances, and there is an editors note as to why.
Typical corrections are signified by a footnote or are mentioned in next print publication under a corrections section.
Typical corrections are signified by a footnote or are mentioned in next print publication under a corrections section.
Pens training camp to begin Wednesday
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Monday that they will invite 54 players to training camp beginning Wed Sept. 11, 2013.
Head coach, Dan Bylsma will have less than a week to finalize the preseason roster before Sun Sept. 15, where the Penguins will play their first of six preseason games in Columbus, OH against their new conference mates, the Bluejackets. The team will be narrowed down to 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goaltenders.
21 players on the list are returning members of last years division champion team, including Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and veteran goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun.
Pittsburgh's first day of camp will consist of team meetings and off-ice drills in preparation for Thursday, where the team will take the ice for the first time together after game four of the Eastern Conference finals this summer. The team will hold an open practice and scrimmage on Sat Sept. 14, for fans to attend.
Other invitees to camp include the entire AHL affiliated Wilks-barre/Scranton Baby Penguins along with several new acquisitions in the off season, goaltenders Matt Murray, Jeff Zatkoff and Jarry Tristan.
Head coach, Dan Bylsma will have less than a week to finalize the preseason roster before Sun Sept. 15, where the Penguins will play their first of six preseason games in Columbus, OH against their new conference mates, the Bluejackets. The team will be narrowed down to 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goaltenders.
21 players on the list are returning members of last years division champion team, including Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and veteran goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun.
Pittsburgh's first day of camp will consist of team meetings and off-ice drills in preparation for Thursday, where the team will take the ice for the first time together after game four of the Eastern Conference finals this summer. The team will hold an open practice and scrimmage on Sat Sept. 14, for fans to attend.
Other invitees to camp include the entire AHL affiliated Wilks-barre/Scranton Baby Penguins along with several new acquisitions in the off season, goaltenders Matt Murray, Jeff Zatkoff and Jarry Tristan.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Pittsburgh Post Gazette corrections policy
I'm posting this only to better access it during Thursday class.
The policy of post-gazette.com is to correct content mistakes in articles, blog posts and on social platforms as quickly as possible. Corrections to articles will be posted at the bottom of the articles. The text of those corrections will be displayed here.
The policy of post-gazette.com is not to "unpublish" or delete articles, blog posts, photos or videos from the website. In the rare cases where a false story or image is posted, an embargo has been broken or a copyright has been violated, content will be replaced with an editor’s note, explaining why the content was removed.
The policy of post-gazette.com is to update online articles with facts or developments that the newsroom can verify. Updates will be noted at the end of articles.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Penguins Net Minder Melodrama
With the 2013-14 NHL preseason only two weeks away, many roster spots on every team around the league will be up for grabs over the next month leading to opening day puck drop on October 3. One position that the Pittsburgh Penguins seem to have locked in is their puck swallowing duo between the pipes at goaltender. Marc-Andre Fleury, 28, and Tomas Vokoun, 37, hope to improve their performance over a lack luster post season.
Fleury, an "elite goaltender" who led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup victory in 2009, was named earlier this week to the top goaltender spot. This front office decision has taken a lot of scrutiny from Penguins commentators and analysts in the recent days due to Fleury's lack of a post season presence. Thats not to say that Marc-Andre didn't play in the post season last summer, in fact, Fleury played in five games, winning two, allowing in 17 goals with a goals against average of 3.52 That number is way too high for an elite NHL goaltender. To contrast, Vokoun's 11 starts yielded 6 wins and only 23 goals against with a goals against average of 2.01.
By all accounts the two Penguin goaltenders should be middle of the field players, but the Penguins have an outlier that most teams don't, unrivaled offensive force. One could argue that the Penguins trip into the deep post season last year was almost entirely driven by their offense. With super stars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Pascal Dupres, James Neal and late season acquisition Jarome Iginla (now a Boston Bruin) The Penguins scored more points in the first two rounds of the post season than any other two teams in the Eastern conference put together.
Ranked 16th and 17th goaltenders overall by NHL.com's stat monkeys, both Penguins net-minders have stated that they are focused this offseason, and seeking to better their performance. The front office decided to give them some help by promoting Mike Bales, of the Penguins Minor League AHL affiliate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Penguins. Bales was the head goaltending coach in Wilkes-Barre, his work with minor league goaltenders Jeff Zatkoff and Brad Thiessen yielded a collective goals against average of 1.93 per game, the lowest in the AHL.
Bales, who dressed for 23 games between 1992-97, never quite had what it took to maintain in the NHL, but after two years coaching in the farm system at Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins General Manager Ray Shero has given Bales a chance to bring the missing piece in the Pittsburgh puzzle to the table, solid goaltending.
Not only did Bales help the two Baby Penguins' goaltenders improve last season, but his scouting of amateurs was also taken into account this summer as the Penguins have signed three amateur goaltenders over the last two years, Tristan Jarry (44th overall in 2013), Matt Murray (83rd overall in 2012), and Eric Hartzell (undrafted free agent). Hartzell was a 2013 Hobey Baker Award finalist and a USA Hockey College Player of the Year.
What lies over the horizon for the Penguins is still up in the air, but one thing is for sure, a focus on defense. With a salary cap crushing offensive lineup, one can only wonder how 2012-13 GM of the year Shero can hold it all together.
Fleury, an "elite goaltender" who led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup victory in 2009, was named earlier this week to the top goaltender spot. This front office decision has taken a lot of scrutiny from Penguins commentators and analysts in the recent days due to Fleury's lack of a post season presence. Thats not to say that Marc-Andre didn't play in the post season last summer, in fact, Fleury played in five games, winning two, allowing in 17 goals with a goals against average of 3.52 That number is way too high for an elite NHL goaltender. To contrast, Vokoun's 11 starts yielded 6 wins and only 23 goals against with a goals against average of 2.01.
By all accounts the two Penguin goaltenders should be middle of the field players, but the Penguins have an outlier that most teams don't, unrivaled offensive force. One could argue that the Penguins trip into the deep post season last year was almost entirely driven by their offense. With super stars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Pascal Dupres, James Neal and late season acquisition Jarome Iginla (now a Boston Bruin) The Penguins scored more points in the first two rounds of the post season than any other two teams in the Eastern conference put together.
Ranked 16th and 17th goaltenders overall by NHL.com's stat monkeys, both Penguins net-minders have stated that they are focused this offseason, and seeking to better their performance. The front office decided to give them some help by promoting Mike Bales, of the Penguins Minor League AHL affiliate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Penguins. Bales was the head goaltending coach in Wilkes-Barre, his work with minor league goaltenders Jeff Zatkoff and Brad Thiessen yielded a collective goals against average of 1.93 per game, the lowest in the AHL.
Bales, who dressed for 23 games between 1992-97, never quite had what it took to maintain in the NHL, but after two years coaching in the farm system at Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins General Manager Ray Shero has given Bales a chance to bring the missing piece in the Pittsburgh puzzle to the table, solid goaltending.
Not only did Bales help the two Baby Penguins' goaltenders improve last season, but his scouting of amateurs was also taken into account this summer as the Penguins have signed three amateur goaltenders over the last two years, Tristan Jarry (44th overall in 2013), Matt Murray (83rd overall in 2012), and Eric Hartzell (undrafted free agent). Hartzell was a 2013 Hobey Baker Award finalist and a USA Hockey College Player of the Year.
What lies over the horizon for the Penguins is still up in the air, but one thing is for sure, a focus on defense. With a salary cap crushing offensive lineup, one can only wonder how 2012-13 GM of the year Shero can hold it all together.
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