Been away for a while and haven’t been able to post.
The Pens have played 3 times since I last got anything done.
Ugh.
The Carolina Hurricanes
An NHL team since 1979, First Stanley Cup in 2005/06.
And a rich tradition it is.
Offense
| Name | Points | +/- | Shooting |
| Ray Whitney | 24g-50a-74pts | +4 | 212 11.3% |
| Eric Staal | 39g-35a-74pts | +15 | 360 10.0% |
| Tuomo Ruutu | 26g-28a-54pts | -4 | 179 13.4% |
| Rod Brind’Amour | 16g-33a-49pts | -21 | 130 11.5% |
Eric Staal and Erik Cole have been reunited. They play well together. Good Chemistry.
Ray Whitney has been doing it since ‘91 and he’s been doing it consistently since 1993-94.
Tuomo Ruutu is not Jarkko Ruutu.
In the beginning of the season, Brind’Amour blew.
Lately, not so much. He was –32 or something like that…
Weird.
Defense
| Name | Points | +/- | Hits/Blocked Shots |
| Joe Corvo | 14g-24a-38pts | +3 | 40/89 |
| Joni Pitkanen | 7g-26a-33pts | +10 | 62/121 |
| Anton Babchuck | 14g-18a-32pts | +13 | 22/108 |
| Dennis Seidenberg | 5g-25a-30pts | -10 | 144/153 |
| Tim Gleason | 0g-12a-12pts | +5 | 167/130 |
| Niclas Wallin | 2g-8a-10pts | 0 | 126/76 |
I never really thought about it until now…2:46AM…but there are typically only 6 dressed defensemen on a roster.
Why not cover the defense a little better with the chart.
So we saw what Joni Pitkanen had to offer the other day. He’s a slick skater with a good head for the game.
We also saw Anton Babchuck. And his slapper.
This defense joins every rush and produces points.
Does this defense really play a playoff style?
That remains to be seen.
Goaltending
He steals playoff joy…
And turns green when angry.
2.44GAA
.917
38-22-5
Legit.
So What?!
Carolina is the other team that nobody wants to play.
Staal and Cole are back together, Cam Ward is hot.
Everything is going for these guys right now.
They just crushed the Isles 9-0.
Last game the Isles gave up 9?
Game 29: December 11, 2008
9-2 Pens over Isles.
Pens then go sour for a month…and slide into 10th.
Bad omen for the Canes?
The Florida Panthers
The Rags have made it possible for Florida to go to the Playoffs.
Florida hasn’t really made this worth my while.
| Name | Points | +/- | Shooting% |
| Stephen Weiss | 14g-43a-57pts | +15 | 9.6 |
| David Booth | 28g-26a-54pts | +8 | 12.0 |
| Cory Stillman | 16g-32a-48pts | 0 | 14.4 |
| Nathan Horton | 21g-22a-43pts | -5 | 16.5 |
Impressive? Not individually. But don’t be fooled easily; the offense is actually pretty deep.
David Booth is 24 years old and in his 3rd NHL season. His 28 goals are going to be much louder this summer than they were this season. He’ll be an RFA after this season and you can bet he’s going to want a raise. He’s going to make $675k this season.
Yeah. That’s right. The easy way out.
I took it.
And now Mr. Horton has some Whos.
Nathan Horton…For a while it looked like he was going to be the scoring winger that Shero/Crosby/the Pens needed/still need. In all honesty, I can’t say whether that was legitimate or just a rumor from someone’s comments section, but he’d look nice in black and Vegas gold.
Supporting cast in Dvorak, Frolik, Stillman, Zednik
The panthers also get some offense provided by Bouwmeester, McCabe, and even Ballard.
Jaybo is overrated.
This team has an even plus/minus, 223g for and against
Tomas Vokoun-2.48GAA, .926Sv%, 6 shutouts, 24-22-6.
I’m getting sick of talking about the Panthers…as if you couldn’t tell by this point.
If they get into the playoffs…then get past the first round, I’ll feel bad that I didn’t look at them harder.
Check out a cool trick.
Go Pens.
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