With their second round pick this year the Steelers drafted Running Back Le’Veon Bell. He is a larger running back (6’1, 230 pounds) but is pretty quick on his feet and could be good in goal line situations. With that said I do not think that is all he will be used for. The fact is Pittsburgh finished the year 26th in their run game and if they want a shot at anything post regular season they will need to get a more physical back to add depth on a shaky offensive roster.
Bell ran for a total of 3,346 career yards at Michigan, 1,793 of them coming in 2012 alone, setting a school record. Bell has a lot of promising qualities and is almost sure to get some chances during his rookie season. This begs the question though of whose spot would he be taking if it came down to it?
Having only 48 games due to the lockout, The Pittsburgh Penguins had a near perfect season. They finished 36-12-0 with 72 points, which was good for a division title, first in the Eastern Conference, and second in the NHL.
The depth of the organization was truly tested. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Paul Martin, Kris Letang, and Matt Niskanen all missed time due to injuries. Players were called up, such as rookie first round picks Beau Bennett and Simon Despres who both stepped up big. New additions to the team: Brendon Morrow, Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, and Douglas Murray have exceeded expectations.
With the playoffs just days away, Dan Bylsma is going to have to make some tough decisions on who plays. Here is what I think are the best line combinations for the playoffs.
Dupuis - Crosby - Iginla
Yes this breaks up what was the best line in the NHL, but I think its the best way to even out the top two lines. Iginla wants to play with Crosby, and I think that was Shero's plan when he made the move.
Kunitz - Malkin - Neal
Easily the best line in hockey last year. All three players fit perfectly with each other. Kunitz does work in front of the net while Geno and Neal do their thing. Looking at the players in the top six its hard to go wrong, all of them are All-Stars.
Cooke - Sutter - Morrow
The third line Bylsma has always wanted, but could never keep because of injuries. Should provide great defense, grit, and some scoring in the playoffs.
Adams - Vitale - Bennett
No Glass or TK? I know that is highly unlikely, but I love Joe Vitale. All the dude does is work his ass off. Bennett for Tyler Kennedy is more of the no brainer. Beau Bennett is who TK wants to be but sadly cannot. Beau can play good defense, has a scoring touch, and can make some sick passes. Look at the stats this year for Beau and TK:
Beau has 20 less games played and has three more points and is a +7 while TK is -6. Bylsma has some sort of blood pact with Tyler Kennedy so he will most likely play, and if the Pens lose, its Kennedy's fault.
Lets go to the defense:
Orpik - Martin
Bylsma has already called this his "shutdown pair" so I expect them to be paired come playoff time.
Niskanen - Murray
Murray has been paired with Niskanen since his arrival, and that will not change.
Letang - Despres/Eaton
This is a hard one. Eaton has played so well since signing with the Pens mid season, and he is a good fit to play with Letang. But Despres makes it so hard to sit him. He is young and is going to be an absolute beast. When it comes down to it I thnk Bylsma goes with Eaton just because of experience, although Despres should play some games.
Goalie is the easiest decision:
Marc-Andre Fleury
All he does is win. Fleury will prove that last years playoffs were a fluke. Look for big performances from the Flower.
Playoffs start Tuesday, and The Penguins look to be set for a big run. Time to bring home the cup! #cupordie
Most of you already know that I'm not a fan of drafting Jarvis Jones. The Steelers had much bigger needs than Jones but whatever, I'll write about that pick another day.
Here's my list of Steelers biggest needs:
Biggest needs:
1. Running back: The Steelers need a primary running back. They need a running back that can play all three downs and produce in a quality manner. Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer are decent backups but they are not good enough to be your primary starting back.
2. Safety: Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark are both over 30 and Polamalu is one of the most injury-prone players in the NFL. The Steelers also lost both of their backup safeties. They honestly should draft two safeties in this draft.
3. Wide Receiver: The Steelers lost Wallace and will probably lose Emmanuel Sanders after this year to free agency. They failed to sign anyone to help ease the loss of Wallace.
4. Tight end: Heath Miller is over 30 years old and just had knee surgery. He will most likely be out for at least the first six weeks of the season.
5. Cornerback: Ike Taylor is getting older, the Steelers lost their most promising corner in Keenan Lewis and decided to replace him with William Gay of all people. Cortez Allen is decent but they are lacking quality depth.
6. Inside linebacker: This is a tricky one. If Sean Spence can play they might not need to take one this year. If Spence can't play then they have almost have to draft an inside backer.
I think the Steelers need to go safety-running back in whatever order in rounds two, three, and four.
Best available running backs:
1. Eddie Lacey-Alabama
2. Montee Ball- Wisconsin
3. Johnathan Franklin- UCLA
4. Marcus Lattimore- South Carolina
5. Giovanni Bernard - North Carolina
6. Joseph Randle - Oklahoma State
7. Andre Ellington - Clemson
Best available safeties:
1. Jonathan Cyprien, Florida International 2. Phillip Thomas , Fresno State 3. D.J. Swearinger , South Carolina 4. Shamarko Thomas, Syracuse 5. Duke Williams, Nevada 6. Shawn Williams, Georgia
Best available wide receivers :
1. Keenan Allen, WR, California 2. Robert Woods, USC 3. Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee 4. Ryan Swope, WR, Texas A&M 5. Quinton Patton, WR, Louisiana Tech 6. Stedmon Bailey, WR West Virginia
The NFL draft is tonight. The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a transition year after going 8-8 last season, following that up with a off-season in which they've lost tons of depth and production.
Mike Wallace, James Harrison, Keenan Lewis, Ryan Mundy, Rashard Mendenhall, Max Starks, Casey Hampton, Willie Colon, and Will Allen are all gone.
The
Pittsburgh Steelers haven't had much success in the second round of the draft
in recent history. Sure there are some exceptions, but for the most part it's
been a huge hit or miss round. Personally, think second round picks are too
valuable to waiver and I would like to assume that a second round pick would
eventually turn into an impact player on the team.
In the
2010 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Jason Worilds in the second
round out of Virginia Tech. I disagreed with the pick at the time, mostly
because I thought that it was too early to draft Worilds, and because I thought
the Steelers had more important needs.
Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert made a comment on Monday that has just boggled my mind. Colbert said "Quite honestly, I don't envision anybody coming in and being an impact in Year 1," Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said at Monday's pre-draft news conference. "I never do because I think there is always a growing process that has to occur. (The draft is) really no more critical than any other year because I don't see any player coming and being an immediate impact player,"-ESPN
He doesn't envision any potential draft pick making an impact this upcoming season. The his second quote about his reasoning is because of a growing process. Well duh. Of course there is a growing process but why say that you don't envision your draft picks to help out this year? That's just a dumb statement to make publicly, especially during the worst offseason of the Colbert/Mike Tomlin era.
Matt Cooke "hatefest" was a dud for Ottawa last night. The Pens beat their team with mostly backup players in the lineup and without any help from the refs. Cooke had a point when he made a great play in the offensive zone to assist on a Tyler Kennedy goal.
Of course, Cooke and the Pens didn't leave without controversy. Before the game, Mike Milbury of all-people called Cooke a skunk. I really don't care what Milbury thinks but he still has a large audience to spew garbage from his mouth so I'll complain about him nonetheless.
Pittsburgh Penguins' forward Matt Cooke is one of the most talked about non-superstar players in the NHL. Usually, when his name is in the hockey world news it's not for something good. A discussion about Cooke usually involves intense debate, name-calling, and extreme criticism.
Cooke is third-line player that has done some really terrible things on the ice. At the same time, he's been a very good human being off the ice. He's also not a bad player, averaging around 30 points a year, while contributing on both sides of the ice, and helping how with quality play on the penalty-kill.
Even though I think Cooke is a good player, he has his flaws. Hell, I haven't always stuck up for the stupid shit that Cooke has done. At times, Cooke was one of the dirtiest players in the game. Take a look at all of the dirty stuff he's done throughout his career:
The NHL has consistently been an in and out for coaches and General Managers alike. If you are not doing the job to the ability the team wants, you’re out- no questions asked. In this market there exists no loyalty whatsoever, it is a business and is run as such. Enter: Ray Shero into this equation. Since 2006 he has been a constant in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, making deals no one thought was possible and even deals sometimes fans did not understand. He has quietly continued on a path of being one of the most well respected General Managers in the league, but has only recently began to receive the credit he deserves.
The 2012-2013 season was a season to forget for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They finished 8-8, third in the division, and headed into the off season with dozens of questions. They had one of the worst cap situations in the NFL, and had key free agents to re-sign. Kevin Colbert addressed the media at the start of the off season, saying changes will and need to happen.
The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have a problem, and that is exactly what Colbert did. After hearing the press conference I think we were all excited to see what these changes were. That excitement soon turned to frustration. After a little over a month of free agency, the Steelers are in worse shape and leave a top five franchise QB in his prime with hardly any weapons.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are already having a tumultuous off-season and things are about to get worse. It looks like the Green Bay Packers are bringing in Steelers' nose tackle Steve McLendon for a visit. McLendon was signed by the Steelers to a $1.3 million tender and is currently a restricted free-agent.
The problem is if McLendon leaves the Steelers will get nothing in return because McLendon wasn't drafted. Unlike how the Steelers would have netted a third-round pick for receiver Emmanuel Sanders if they would not have matched the Patriots' offer.
James Harrison wants revenge on the Pittsburgh Steelers. At least that's what I've read on the Internet.
Harrison is currently trying to work on a deal with the Steeler's AFC North division rival Cincinnati Bengals as we speak. According to Adam Schefter those talks are far from close.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are still in bad shape when it comes to the offensive side of the ball. The team which was 21st in the league in total offense, 22nd scoring offense, and 21st in rushing last year has had their offense dramatically altered this off season, and not for the good. The team has lost Mike Wallace and Rashard Mendenhall to free-agency, and Heath Miller will most likely miss the 2013 season due to an injury.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have matched the offer sheet for Emmanuel Sanders for one-year $2.5 million. The New England Patriots had signed an offer sheet for Sanders and if the Steelers had chose to not match the offer, they would have received a third round pick in the upcoming 2013 NFL draft. Obviously this decision by the Steelers has had some mixed reviews.
Personally, I think the Steelers had to sign Sanders. They already lost Mike Wallace, Rashard Mendenhall, and probably won't have team MVP Heath Miller around for the upcoming season due to injury. The Steelers have a franchise/elite quarterback in his prime in Ben Roethlisberger and the window of winning another Super Bowl is closing at a fast pace.
Roethlisberger recently came out and publicly lobbied for the Steelers to keep Sanders. I'm sure that will piss the yinzers off which will make me happy. I can hear it now "Who does Ben think he is? This isn't his team, blah, blah blah, (sip of Iron City) blah, blah, blah, (chugs Iron City).
Roethlisberger needs weapons and he wanted them to keep Sanders because he's not retarded. Sure, Sanders has flaws. He's had some fumbles and some injury problems, but he's still a really good number three receiver. You're also not going to fix all of your problems in the draft. The Steelers' needs are many, now you don't have to draft two or three receivers. Now they can still take a receiver in the first three rounds and at the same time, they'll be able to go after other needs.
Thinking that the Steelers are going to be able to fix all of their problems in the draft is a delusional thought. The Steelers have had some big time misses when it comes to recent drafts under Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert. See the 2008 draft, which the Steelers have nobody left from, and their second round pick in Limas Sweed.
Mike Wallace was a third-round pick but so was Curtis Brown (sucks) and Sean Spence last year (has yet to play and might never play due to injures). Sanders himself was a third round pick, but again with Sanders you know what you have, drafting two receivers to try and replace Sanders and Wallace is moronic.
The only bad part is now Sanders can leave after this upcoming season as a unrestricted free-agent. The Steelers would still get a sixth round pick for him if he does leave but obviously a third is > a sixth round pick. But hey, what round was Antonio Brown drafted in again? Oh yeah in the sixth round....Just trying to use yinzer logic.
Overall this is was a good move. You stopped Sanders from going to the Patriots which is a win in itself. Plus you actually showed your quarterback and franchise player some love. You also did nothing in free-agency to help the offense. I hope all of yinz are miserable about this, that will make me love the move even more.
The New England Patriots have signed Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million. The Steelers have until Sunday to match the offer. If the Steelers fail to match the offer they will receive a third-round pick in the upcoming 2013 NFL Draft. Even though there are pros and cons of this, you have to match the offer to Sanders. Although I do not think that Sanders is anything special, I certainly do not think that the Steelers can afford to lose him.
I love Kate Upton. She's my favorite. In honor of it being so nice and finally having that spring time weather, here is Kate Upton wearing yoga pants. I also love yoga pants.
Thanks to deadspin.com for the pic. This picture was tweeted by Almeda Ta'amu. What a dumbass. I just wrote the other day that the Steelers should cut this jackass and every yinzer defended him because the Steelers need him to play nose tackle.
Like I said, I believe in second chances, but when Ta'amu got a DUI last year it was actually his second DUI. He tried to run over cops while driving drunk. That's not a mistake, that's sick. This guy needs professional mental help. Getting paid millions of dollars to play football isn't a right. You have to earn it.
The Steelers don't need Ta'amu football wise either. He's never done anything on the field for him. They should cut this asshole now before it's too late. Oh and here are his tweets for explaining this dumbass pic of him in a car with a open bottle of whiskey.
We all make mistakes, some of us even make big mistakes that have legal implications. The question is can you learn and mature from them. I don't think this guy has at all but hey yinz be the judge.
Anything involving the Pittsburgh Penguins should be nothing but fun right now, right? The Penguins are in first place of the eastern conference, the Atlantic division, and they have a chance to win the President's trophy for most total points by a team this year. Sidney Crosby leads the league in points, assists, and plus/minus.
Then general manager Ray Shero went out and traded for Jarome Iginla, Douglas Murray, Brenden Morrow, and Jussi Jokinen. The Pens are stacked with talent. We've joked about Shero being a wizard and have predicted total hockey domination for this Pens team. It's truly a great time to be a fan of the Pens.
But it hasn't been all fun for the fans. In fact, it seems like the Pens can never be fully healthy. In hockey it's tough to have a healthy roster all of the time but almost every night a key player gets injured. It's starting to get f*cking ridiculous. Take the new injury, Pen's winger James Neal, who caught an elbow from Michael Del Zotto in the Pen's last game. Neal didn't know where the hell he was when he get hot. I mean, he literally said "what happened?". Chances are he has a concussion, sorry if I"m being a pessimistic ass, but we should all be familiar with the ins-and-outs of concussions by now.
Hopefully Neal will be fine, I"m sure he'll be ready for the playoffs, but it's still just another incident that's killing the buzz. When Iginla was making his debut for the Pens against the New York Islanders, everyone was going insane with excitement, then not even a minute into the game, a Brooks Orpik slapshot got redirected into the jaw of Sidney Crosby. Now, Crosby is missing teeth and has a broken jaw, and he's out indefinitely. Luckily for everyone Crosby doesn't have a concussion.
Kris Letang has been on the IR with a broken toe, Evgeni Malkin has missed 13 games this year, most of them due to a shoulder injury. Paul Martin is most likely out for the rest of the regular season with a broken bone. All of this talent compiled and the Pens have yet to play an entire game with everyone healthy and intact.
Not only are the Pens trying to overcome all of these injuries, again, but they'll have to overcome recent playoff disappointments that still linger, as well as not letting all of the talent assembled go to their heads. For example, after the 15-game winning streak, the Pens laid back to back eggs against the Buffalo Sabers and New York Rangers, losing 4-1 and 6-1.
Here was the Pascal Dupuis's assessment of those games:
That's not a good sign. The Pens have the most talent in the league but you still have to work hard to win. Since all of these big trades, the Pens are just 2-2. Even more concerning is Malkin has just THREE points in his last five games, and Iginla has just one in four games with the Pens. Sorry guys but the Stanley cup isn't going to be handed to you.
They're not invincible nor should they think they are. Especially considering the fact that the Pens have won ONE playoff series in the last three seasons. Egos need to be in check if this team really wants to win a Stanley Cup this year, and I think the front office has shown that they're ALL IN when it comes to that.
This current roster is arguably the most talented Pens' team in franchise history, and at the very least the most talented since the early 1990s. And just as life, nothing will come easy for them. Most great teams, players, and coaches thrive when faced with adversity. The Pens have no shortage of adversity right now, especially with Crosby missing substantial playing time yet again.
The pressure is on, if this team doesn't win a Stanley Cup it will be a disappointment, but having yet another early playoff exit for a fourth straight season would be a failure of epic proportions. Most certainly, head coach Dan Bylsma's job would and should be in jeopardy if that happens. Even if the Pens are missing key players like they are now.
Hopefully everyone will get healthy at the same time and the right time. Crosby and Martin are on pace to be back for the start of the playoffs, although Crosby will have screws in his face and will be part robot. Letang should be back tomorrow night and if not soon. Perhaps when more and more players start coming back, the Pens should give some of the veterans some nights off to rest for the playoffs.
I think this team has what it takes to win it all, they have an endless amount of leadership, grit, talent, and championship experience. That doesn't mean that they will win it all but they should. Realistically, Boston and Montreal are the only two teams I can see actually beating the Pens in a seven game series.
Is this fun? Is the high expectations and pressure really fun? Yes, when they win, but every loss, every injury, every mistake will be under the microscope. The Pens perseverance and character will certainly be tested. I'm hoping we have more fun than anything. Go Pens!
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost pro bowl wide receiver Mike Wallace to free-agency this offseason. There was no way that Steelers were going to give Wallace big time money, especially considering that they had already signed Antonio Brown to a big deal. But now the Steelers have to replace Wallace and his insane production and I agree with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, it's not going to be easy.
Look at Wallace's stats with the Steelers in the four years he spent in Pittsburgh.
He averaged 1,000 yards a year matched with EIGHT receiving touchdowns per season. Antonio Brown has seven career receiving touchdowns in three seasons. Emmanuel Sanders has five career receiving touchdowns and only 1,209 receiving yards in just three season. Everyone keeps telling me that Wallace is just a one-trick pony but that's one pretty damn good trick.
This is about production. What concerns me even more is the Steelers could be without Heath Miller for most of the upcoming season if not the entire season. Miller caught 71 passes with eight touchdowns last year. He was the team MVP and the most important cog in the offense. For some reason not known to man, the Steelers they brought in Matt Spaeth to "help" the Steeler's tight end situation.
The Steelers do have veterans Plaxico Burress and Jerricho Cotchery for depth at wide receiver but replacing Wallace and Miller is still going to be difficult. The Steelers have a laundry list of needs when it comes to the draft. Here are me needs in order:
1.Running back- Lost Rashard Mendenhall and Chris Rainey. Dwyer and Redman aren't good enough to start. Running back should be drafted at least the 2nd or 3rd round this year.
2. Wide Receiver- Lost Mike Wallace, Sanders hasn't proven to be a viable number two, I think a WR should be drafted in one of the first three rounds.
3. Safety- "Troy Polamalu will stay healthy all year"- said by no one ever. Steelers lost Ryan Mundy and Will Allen as backups. They have zero depth.
4. Nose tackle- Steelers moved on from "Big Snacks" and I still feel as though they should cut Almeda Ta'amu for his trying to run over cops while driving drunk incident. No depth and Steve McLendon needs someone good to challenge for the starting spot.
5. Outside Linebacker- Even though I think Jason Worilds should be given a chance to start since he was a 2nd round pick and has 10 sacks as a backup. But they still need to draft another guy to compete with him.
6. Tight end- Miller might be gone for the entire year. Spaeth sucks. The Steelers also have David Johnson and David Paulson. They need to bring in some more talent.
Also, they need depth at cornerback, inside linebacker, and offensive guard. The Steelers failed to sign any players in free-agency because "The Steelers don't do that". That's not the Steeler way yinzers are always quick to tell me. Hey that's fine but don't bitch when they go 8-8 again.
Everyone knows that I can't stand Mike Wallace. I think he's a egotistical punk and I've called him out more than once. Hell, the dude even blocks me on Twitter. I don't think he's an elite receiver at all. He never makes catches in double coverage, he's a mediocre route-runner, and I think his attitude sucks.
That being said, once again the Steelers got rid of Big Ben's favorite and most productive target. Just like when they traded former Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes for a fifth round pick, and when they let Plaxico Burress leave via free-agency.
Wallace is a punk and not worth the money, but his production is out of this world. Antonio Brown is a good receiver and punt-returner, but his duties in the return game will be reduced because he's now the number one receiver, and he'll be facing much tougher coverage from opposing teams. Remember that Wallace was the one getting double-covered the last few years.
So now the Steelers have to draft a receiver. Do they go after one in the first round? It seems that there isn't a running back worth the 17th overall pick in the draft. Some mock drafts have Keenan Allen, Tavon Austin, and Cordralle Patterson graded as good enough value for the Steelers at 17. I honestly wouldn't be mad if the Steelers went with anyone of them, but I really like Allen from Cal. Good size and speed.
Best case scenario for the Steelers would be to find a trading partner in the draft and trade down. Get maybe an extra 2nd or 3rd round pick with an extra 4th or 5th round pick. Draft a running back and outside linebacker in the 2nd round, followed by a wide receiver in the 3rd. No matter what they do though, the Steelers need to draft a receiver and early.
In the end I feel bad for Big Ben, who never seems to be able to have the weapons that other elite quarterbacks constantly get to have. In 2007, the Patriots went out and got Randy Moss and Wes Welker for Tom Brady. Peyton Manning was always surrounded by great skill players in Indianapolis, and now the Broncos just gave him Wes Welker, to join the two 1,000 yard receivers that they already have.
Can Ben get something like that?
The Steelers won't miss Wallace's personality. I think he is a punk and a poison. However, they will miss his production. Especially considering that their offense was ranked 21st in the NFL last year with Miller and Wallace. Now you have to replace their production. Good luck.....
The Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to shed a bad public image that they definitely have developed over the past few seasons. Questions about their leadership has filled a locker room full of big egos matched with historical success. Even more so, the Steelers's precious public image isn't what it should be.
Here's a question for you, how big of a bitch do you have to be to slash someone from your bench, then hide behind all of your teammates? The answer we are looking for is Rick Nash, a big ass bitch. Nash chirped and slashed Matt Cooke from the behind the bench and proceeded to back down to a much smaller Matt Cooke. I'm glad to see Cooke can still troll with the best of them.
Rangers fans are trying to say that Cooke is a dirty player, but speaking of dirty, how about this ferocious elbow that Michael Del Zotto threw at James Neal. Watch for yourself.
Whether it was accidental or not, an elbow to an opposing player's head should be a major penalty and should be disciplined by the league. You have to have control of your body. The league already came out and announced that they won't even bring Micheal Del Zotto in for a hearing. So he got away with no penalty and no punishment at all. Now the Pens might have to deal with a possible James Neal concussion. Awesome.
Hey about the pickup of Jussi Jokinen? I remember a bunch of idiots on social media sites saying how horrible of an acquisition this was. Then we find out from capgeek.com that the Carolina Hurricanes are going to pick up $900,000 of Jokinen's salary for next season, which now Jokinen is only going to cost $2.1 million, which is only $100,000 more than Tyler Kennedy made this year.
Jokinen was the best player last night not named Marc-Andre Fleury. Jokinen was a beast on face-offs, which the Pens were drastically struggling with in recent games. Jokinen won 13 out of the 15 face-offs he took. Jokinen also scored the Pens only goal during regulation, which head coach Dan Bylsma amazingly predicted. Jokinen also scored the game-winning shootout goal. Thanks Ray Shero!
Brooks Orpik continued to not play well. Read my article about how the Pens could buy him out or trade him after this season.
Brenden Morrow probably played his best game as a Penguin last night. That's a good sign.
Douglas Murray fucked up Brian Boyle something fierce last night. All hail Crankshaft.
For some reason Simon Despres was a healthy scratch. Not sure how that makes sense in any realm.
Evgeni Malkin is struggling right now, despite having Jarome Iginla and Neal on his line. So don't blame a lack of talented wingers on his lack of production. Malkin has now failed to register a point in the last two games. But don't ever criticize Malkin or the fan-boys will come get you!
Kris Letang will most likely be back Tuesday night, hopefully Malkin will play that night as well. OH!
Finally, Marc-Andre Fleury was a stud last night and has been all year. Fleury had 33 saves on 34 shots and some of the saves he made were REDONKULOUS. Fleury is now tied for the league lead in wins (19) and is in the top EIGHT in both save percentage and goals against average among goalies that have played in 20 or more games this year. So please tell us all again how much Fleury sucks.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik has a cult following in Pittsburgh and throughout the hockey world. He's a former first round pick from Boston College University, he was named after USA /NHL head coach Herb Brooks, he's a Stanley Cup champion, and was on the 2010 USA Olympic hockey team that lost to Canada in the gold medal game .
Orpik made his claim to fame when he simply had "the shift" in game 3 of the 2007-2008 Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings.
Then there was this hit....
This is what Orpik is all about, or at least this is what Orpik was all about. Orpik still gets a ton of hits, currently he's tied with Ron Hainsey for most hits by a defenseman on the season with 98. Orpik also gets a ton of blocked shots.
That's all fine and dandy, blocked shots and hits are nice, but what about actual defensive play and positioning? This season is the worst I've seen Orpik play defensively in his career. Constantly out of position, constantly allowing the opposing team to be open in the slot, or camp out in front of his goaltender.
Orpik's hit numbers are a mirage. I can't think of one meaningful hit he's had all year. Some of the hits he goes for takes him out of position, much like an even less skilled Deryk Engelland. Against the New York Rangers last night, Orpik and Engelland were paired up and boy it wasn't pretty. This picture right here will tell the entire story.
Orpik has become slow and doesn't have that edge he used to play with. Orpik has been one of the most outspoken players in the Pens organization over the years, even calling out the team publicly. That's great, but how can you call your team out when you're one of the main cogs that has become a total liability to your team defensively? And that is exactly what Orpik has become.
If you want to know how bad Orpik has truly been this year, just watch every goal scored on the Pens. That would basically be Orpik's 2013 highlight reel. The crazy thing is Orpik is a +12 on the year. But +/- doesn't really do a great job of showing how well a player performs defensively. Not to mention that, in the 10 losses this year, Orpik is a -6, with just two points.
Furthermore, Orpik has been on the ice for 45 of 94 goals that the Pens have allowed this year. That's almost half and 12 of those goals were on the penalty-kill but still. (Thanks Brian Bylstone for the info @ToonsBrian ) So basically, when the other team scores a goal against the Penguins, there's almost a 50 percent chance that Oripik was out on the ice. For being known as a tough rugged player, Orpik has never played a full season in the NHL. In fact, Orpik has missed at least nine games, each of the last three seasons, including 19 two years ago. Orpik often looks slow and worn down towards the end of the season, just like this season. The big hits start going away and the goals against start going up.
Not only has Orpik played awful defense this year, he's also responsible for Sidney Crosby's broken jaw.
Orpik obviously misses Paul Martin and he should never be paired with Engelland ever again. But, Orpik makes $3.75 million a year. The Pens have a laundry list of players that they have to re-sign the next two years, and they only have around $8.5 million in cap space lined up for next season. Jarome Iginla, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke, Douglas Murray, Brenden Morrow are all unrestricted free-agents after this year. I can't imagine the Pens will sign either Murray or Morrow back. But they should and will sign Dupuis. And reports of Iginla wanting to sign back with the Pens has already been let out of the bag.
The bigger problem is the following year. That's when the contracts of Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang are up, along with Orpik's contract. Based on what I've seen from Letang this year and the Pens without Letang, I think it is vital that the Pens sign him long-term. Letang was on his way to winning the Norris Trophy this year, leading all defenseman in points.
In my opinion, Orpik is not worth $3.75 million a year. I don't think the Pens should have to suffer from another similar performance from Orpik next season. Especially at that price. So I went to capgeek.com and found out what would happen if Ray Shero and the Pens would actually buy out Orpik's contract after this season.
As you can see, the Pens would save $2.5 mil next season, which would give them around $11 million in cap space. Their blue-line would still be solid with Martin, Letang, Niskanen, Simon Despres, and I would even bring Mark Eaton back, who is a much cheaper and more dependable defenseman than Orpik.
The Pens also have a plethora of young talented defenseman just waiting to get a shot with the big boys like Scott Harrington, Olli Malta, and Derrick Pouliot. Unfortunately, the Pens will not buy out Orpik's contract and they would have to pay him $1.25 million in 2014-2015 without getting anything in return. It's simply not worth it.
Orpik just became the all-time leader in games played by a Pens defenseman. He's done more good than bad for the Pens. That being said he certainly hasn't been playing well and I definitely do not think Orpik should be re-signed to a new contract after next season. Hopefully Orpik will somehow find some magic in the old gas tank and unleash some free candy this postseason. The Pens are going to need him to be the shutdown d-man he's paid to be. So basically, he needs to play the opposite way he's been playing so far in 2013.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been absolutely ravished by injuries in recent years, especially last season. So many key players missed crucial games to due to injuries, Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Rashard Mendenhall, LaMarr Woodley, and James Harrison, just to name a few.
According to this French guy, who I'm told by my peeps on the world wide web, is a good source for info. Jarome Ingila came to Pittsburgh for the long haul.
Looking at the salary cap situation, it seems like a longshot, considering that they only have a little over $11 million in cap space projected for next season. Iginla has been making a steady diet of $7 million a year. How much less would he take to stay with the Pens in the twilight years of his career?
Here's a list at the Pens unrestricted free agents after this season:
1. Jarome Iginla- 7 mil
2. Pascal Dupuis- 1.5 mil He'll need a big raise or he'll be gone.
3. Brenden Morrow- 4.1 mil He'll have to take probably half of that to stay with the Pens.
4. Matt Cooke -1.8 mil Hard to imagine Pens without Cooke. I'd like to get another year out of him.
5. Craig Adams- 675K Might end up moving on from Adams
6. Tyler Kennedy- 2 million (RFA) Bye
7. Dustin Jeffery - 575 K (RFA) Bye again.
Then on defense you have:
1. Douglas Murray- 2.5 mil I can't imagine the Pens re-signing him at all.
2. Mark Eaton- 725K I can see them bringing Eaton back for insurance again.
So let's say they re-sign Eaton for around the same, round up to 850K. Re-sign Cooke and Dupuis for $2 million(Cooke) and $2.5 million for 2 years for Dupuis. That's about $5.25 million right there. Which leads you with about $5.75 million. Not to mention the fact that after next season, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin's contracts are up, among others. What price can Iginla be had for? God damn salary cap.
Even though I do believe that Iginla wants to stay in Pittsburgh after this season, its' going to be tough. The Pens will not be able to outbid other teams, they simply do not have the finances to do that. Only chance is for Iginla to want to be here so he can compete for a Stanley Cup and play with Sidney Crosby. Thanks for tampering with Iginla Sid, we owe you one.
This is yet another reason why the Pens have to win a Stanley Cup this year. It truly is cup or die. In Ray Shero we trust.
I know you know what happened in Saturday's game. Sidney Crosby got hit in the mouth region by a Brooks Oprik slapshot. Now Crosby is missing teeth, and his jaw is broken. The only injury joke I'll make is this; If Brooks Orpik would have injured one of the Islanders instead of Crosby, it would have been Orpik's biggest contribution to this season so far. Crosby getting injured just sucks. Crosby getting injured and having to miss a significant amount of hockey games really sucks.
