Jokinen Takes Crosby Spot

By -
Pittsburgh Penguin's latest big signing Jussi Jokinen will tonight step into injured Sidney Crosby's skates on the 1st line with Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis, the Pens' pregame report reveals. The Penguins' game tonight against the New York Rangers will be the third without captain Crosby. The Pens are also coming back off 2 losses in a row. 

Is throwing Jokinen into the first line really the best idea? Sure he's a great forward but he's only been a Penguin for a couple of days and hasn't had time to bond properly with the two wide men. Surely it would make more sense to promote Evgeni Malkin up from the second line. Malkin is a natural center and had a tremendous run last season, Jokinen is a left winger. 

Begs the question what is coach Bylsma planning playing the new man on the top line out of his natural position. The Pens are desperate to prove that they're more than just the Sidney Crosby Show and with no sign of the superstar's return; the team needs to consider its lines approaching the playoffs. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated and may take a while to appear. This is because the authors are busy/lazy/away.

Popular posts from this blog

Will Neal Dive Deter Others?

By -
This weeks question, comes from one of our devoted fans in the UK, ' James Neal is the first NHL player to be booked for diving. Will this put off other potential floppers or will it deter players who've been genuinely fouled from falling to ground?' IheartModano - Darn good question fellow European reader, let's take a closer look at this. Officially Neal is the first ever NHL player to be named and shamed for diving and has been fined $2,000 for his offense- pocket change really to these guys. On November 13th, Neal was given a warning for the same offense after a game against St Louis, but it appears he didn't think to tune in for that weeks episode. Cue exactly a month later against, San Jose, he then decided to try the very same act again! But what will be the result of this whole thing? Hockey is a tough and physical game, but there are times when you wonder how many others are flopping the getting away it? The punishments that have been set out are n...
Read more

The Sins Of The (Vancouver) Father

By -
You can rarely judge a team on its pre-season performances, but it's fair to say that things at the Rogers Arena are looking shaky. The Canucks are currently 1/4 on their pre-season games, not a great start for new coach John Tortorella . Former coach  Alain Vigneault was fired after the team failed to progress past the the first round of the last two playoffs, along with two assistants. Since joining the NHL in 1970, the Canucks have failed to lift the Stanley Cup. It's a regular occurrence than coaches are fired long before the GMs who brought them in. You can't browse the internet without tripping over people questioning  Mike Gillis ' decision. This season past has included plenty of questionable moments, including Vigneault's firing, Tortorella's hiring, Luongo-Gate  and Cory Schneider's trade to the New Jersey Devils.  Vigneault's firing was an odd move, to fire the coach who'd won more games at the Canucks than any other coach s...
Read more

Struggling Pittsburgh Penguins Fire Mike Johnston

By -
The Pittsburgh Penguins have parted ways with coach Mike Johnston and assistant coach Gary Agnew. It was announced today that Johnston and Agnew would be given a whole load more time to spend with their families over the holiday period, after GM Jim Rutherford relieved them of their coaching duties in Pittsburgh, while dressed as Ebenezer Scrooge, I assume. The Penguins have lost six of their last 10 games, three of those in overtime and the team definitely isn't playing up to its potential. Evgeni Malkin is playing well, as is off-season addition Phil Kessel . But that's not enough, the team are ranked 26th on the power play and 27th on team shooting and goals per game. Times aren't good when the Columbus Blue Jackets are scoring more. Superstar Sidney Crosby's  season has been forgettable by his own, usually phenomenal standards, only six goals so far. Johnston took over for the 2014/15 season, after former coach Dan Bylsma was shown the door, and the team fin...
Read more