Think about this. A power play with Crosby guentzel rust and Karlsson was dead last. Hell you’d expect one with Jake and Sid and Karlsson to be at least middle of the pack
Coaching matters. It’s imossible
To defend Sully on this
OT: The forgotten PENS
- Thread starter NCanton Panther
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Coaching matters. It’s imossible
To defend Sully on this
You aren't going to buyout Jarry. That's silly. You hope a team like Edmonton fails because of goaltending (again) and they would be desparate.
A problem the Pens have......You don't become an UFA (unrestricted free agent) until you are at least 27. Most UFA's are 30. The NHL rarely lets young talent leave free agency wise while in their prime.
I will have a list of guys I might target. But the offseason of 2 years ago (Hextall's last) was a disaster with Malkin, Letang and Rackell. I contend just the simple move of letting Malkin walk and signing Vince Troechek would have boosted the Penguins into the playoffs the past 2 years.
Again, I will post a player by player comment later. But they cannot, absolutely cannot bring back Mike Sullivan.
Actually, buying a contract out does no such thing. What it does is essentially allows you to spread the salary cap hit out over twice as long. So if a guy has three years left on his contract and you buy him out, you can spread the cap hit out over six years instead of three. But the cap hit doesn't go away.
I guess it's better than nothing, right?
On a different note, should we not be looking too much into that Sullivan started Ned tonight...instead of Jarry? Nothing to play for, season is over and Ned gets the call.
Jarry out tonight with a bruised ego !
Please don't compare the two. Mario was stricken with a bad back and Hodgkins disease. Sid had the concussion battle, but, just not the same. Sid is a great hockey player, but, had Mario had no health problems he would own every record the sport has kept. He was the most talented player of all-time.
Truthfully I think Sid works harder to stay in shape than Mario did.
True. But to be honest, almost every NHL player does now compared to the 80's.
Good point. But Id also submit that Mario was more naturally gifted (the long reach, tall, more physically imposing) than Sid. Guys like that tend to rely more on their natural talent
Sid while talented has had to put more sweat equity into his greatness and seems to be always working on improving areas of his game.
Mario is a 1 of 1 guy and he still was really formidable at 36. And, yes, as noted he dealt with a lot off of the ice.
That all said, he was not really known as a worker until he returned from retirement. With Sid, you just see the accumulation of a lot more work throughout the years. Always in top shape, putting levels on levels on the smaller parts of his game.
Sid does not have the consistent bounce he had earlier in his career but he still has the gears when needed and the effort is just a lot more even on both ends.
Also, let’s not forget, Sid went through a terrible 3-4 seasons where he missed a lot of games and really was robbed of his scoring prime (the prime that a guy like McDavid is now in).
Completely different types of players and you will never get an argument from me that at their best, Mario was not a much better player because he just was unreal. But, around 19 years in and at age 36-37, Sid has aged better in the sport. I am sure that even Mario would admit that.
Mario was more naturally gifted than anyone. ANYONE in hockey history. Just injuries/illness held him back. And no doubt if he trained better in the early years, he might not have had the same back issues and would have been even more dominant. I mean Mario smoked as a young player. The inside joke with the Penguins, Mario starts training for the season when he stops putting ketchup on his french fries.
I calculated at a time Mario missed like 250 games in his prime. At that time, he was essentially averaging a goal a game and 2.2 points a game. So he would have had well over 200 more goals and probably 550-600 more points. Not enough to catch Gretzky in points, but possibly in goals.
Sid had like 180 games missed in his prime when he was averaging well over a point, more like 1.5 points per game. So yeah, his numbers would be significantly higher. I mean in 2010-11 season when he lost the rest of the year because of a concussion, he was well over a 60 goal season, 135 point pace.
Gretzky was protected far more from the goonery in hockey than Mario and Sid. He didnt take near the abuse that both of them did
Here's Sid's Point Per Game for every season. Pretty impressive in today's NHL.
1.26
1.52
1.36
1.34
1.35
1.61
1.68
1.56
1.30
1.09
1.06
1.19
1.09
1.27
1.15
1.13
1.22
1.13
1.15
1.26
1.52
1.36
1.34
1.35
1.61
1.68
1.56
1.30
1.09
1.06
1.19
1.09
1.27
1.15
1.13
1.22
1.13
1.15
I think it can be said that we have been damn lucky in Pittsburgh as hockey fans being able to watch 4 of the top 10 players who have ever played. We got to see Lemieux, Jagr, Malkin, and Crosby at their best while securing 5 Stanley cups. Pretty awesome, no matter what order you would rank them.
I'm pretty sure I remember reading or seeing Lemieux regret the fact that he smoked so much and ate sloppy when he was younger.
They didn't have the nutrition info they do now but he knew he wasn't doing himself any favors adding in his back and Hodgkins.
They didn't have the nutrition info they do now but he knew he wasn't doing himself any favors adding in his back and Hodgkins.
He said this a lot after his retirement return and his workout regimen with Jay Caufield (I believe).
The crazy thing or one of about Lemieux is that it has been about 20 years since he played and there has nothing like him at all that has followed. Gretzky was amazing but guys like Crosby (who veered some) and McDavid at points were similarly offensive styled and overly dominant players. Even a guy like Jagr saw someone like Forsberg come later who had some similar characteristics though Forsberg played rougher and Jagr was more skillful.
There has nothing remotely close to Lemieux’s style, size, skill since he left hockey. Nothing in the same stratosphere and there was nothing like him prior either.
