Coverage: Malkin calls Penguins ‘so bad now’

Nothing in sports is more overrated than "leadership". You don't know what is said in the locker room. You just use results. I'm not saying he's a leader. If they were winning nobody questions it. Wins = leadership, loses = no leadership is flawed logic.

Sometimes I feel 87 wears the C by default and doesn't feel that he needs to earn it anymore. While this might have been Crosby's team at one point, I sometimes wonder if a new C might be needed to lead the team through the playoffs. 87 is a great player, but I just don't see the leadership spark anymore. DK, am I off base with my observations?

Watch Sid give full effort on the ice. Went to the game in PHX on Sat.... you could see he was the only one not dogging it on ice in 1st period among skaters. Right now, he is a 1 legged man in a butt kicking contest because so many guys arent matching his compete level or are unable to.

Maybe if all those pin point passes get converted you might feel differently.99% of the time no one can score. Crosby has been playing hard great in both ends of the rink, winning face offs, playing extra minutes, still leading the scoring race. He can't put the puck in the net for others. The team as a whole has not been getting blown out except for that game of shinny last night. Which MAF always has trouble in those type of games and when the level of play goes up the Pens have to be almost perfect defensively .Cam Ward certainly handled it last night in fine form. Fleury hasn't been good early in games lately. Sid can't play goal. Can't blame one player for a team game .Has nothing to do with Sid's leadership. He leads by example and what do you or any of us know about the conversations in the dressing room. Sid is more the play maker and Geno the shooter . Always has been that way .Assistant Captains are also supposed to be leaders. Well I can mention one who has been anything but on the ice. Know what you are saying by looking at the full body of work. Not just your emotions.Lets GO Pens!!

that's no lie Rock - it's not only this year either, if anyone has been paying attention to the on ice "product" you can connect the dots and a relfection of what's happening in the room. If Sid gives a full effort when Geno speaks, that says much more about 71's leadership then it does the effort that follows by anyone.

Oldy, mupens, and especially Nancy, SPOT ON! Do half the fans (and commenters) even watch the game? Yeah, sure, we should get a new "C" for the playoffs - not that the one we have leads by example, or anything. He's only leading the team with most points, less games, and mostly different linemates each game (through no one's fault). If you take a look at the ones trying to catch him, most of them have a winger they have played with for years, or at least is an amazing consistent player on their wing "all the time"!

A leader gets a big goal. A leader is aggressive and gets in the face of the other teams star. A leader is vocal and rallies his team. A leader puts the team on his back in hard times. Crosby is very talented but not a leader. Give Letang or Malkin a chance and Kunitz certainly need not wear a letter anymore, face reality!

I wonder if Crosby needs a wake-up call from the former 66. The team is lacking passion and urgency. Someone needs to lead this team through the playoffs and Lemieux can't do it from the owner's suite.

Mediocrity would would have be enough to win--I wouldn't even call them that

Been thinking/noticing the same of Geno.
In the past i felt he sorta of held back a bit, at least in public, because he was still not comfortable with the language.
He just may be the one to wake these guys up and lead them to the cup.

Those quoted comments stuck out to me, too.

rcyphert: Geno talks for more than 30 seconds for the first time in about ten years, throws his team under the bus - while he takes a rest, and people want to make him the captain!!! Give me a break!

Such is the regular season for the Penguins, wins are expected, dismissed when they happen, and panic sets in when they don't.

Are you watching the games/season?

We have 1 W in last 8 games against some soft teams, and we're 0-12 this year when trailing after 2 periods (not 1 come from behind win!).

I know the band is suppose to play on when the shipping is sinking, but don't expect the rest of us fans to pretend like all is good...there was a reason why Mario was watching practice today, with GMJR.

So you'd feel better if they went into the playoffs on a long winning streak, GC? Remind me again how 1993 worked out...

I'm not saying things aren't good right now. They aren't. Lemieux knows, that's why he's there. Geno knows, that's why he said what he said to DK today. They know. But to say that what is happening right now is the end of all things and to start calling for firings and that we were better off with Bylsma is absolutely absurd to me. We get ousted in the first/second round? Yeah, THEN you can point fingers and go all nuts because THAT'S when it matters. But to do it right now just isn't right.
Listen, I have my own doubts in my head right now about the playoffs. I really do. I feel like we have way too many of the "they won't be here next year" kinds of players. Such as Bennett and Adams and maybe even Kunitz and Sutter (this would obviously have to be by trade and most unlikely). But I also feel like the way Johnston has this team playing and having the skills/mindset like Downie, the net front presence (REAL net front presence) in Hornqvist, Malkin, Perron, Crosby, .... they are ALL guys who can produce. Our defense is capable of great things. Hence why we usually lose by the low scores and not get killed (unlike last night). IF that all can click and keep clicking. We are going to have a nice summer. Now, it's not going to be perfect. It's the playoffs, it's never perfect. Teams fight back. But we have to know how to finish the series off when we can, unlike past years.
I like where we are in the standings. I'd be VERY happy with 3rd place and starting on the road. Or even wild card and starting on the road that way.
The bottom line is this: Freak out and judge during and after the playoffs. There are so many "ifs" right now that we have no idea what is going to happen. But to freak out right now and and say we are done is unrealistic.
Remember judging the regular season the past 5 years and having the expectation that way? Turn it around. Learn from those 5 years of playoff failures. Watch with the attitude right now that once this season is over, the slate is clean. It's washed off, the past 82 games no longer matter to anyone.

You're comparing a back-to-back Stanley Cup winning team, and their hot streak, to this team?? I'm sorry, I don't follow.

Our record since January = average. If you think the Pens are hustling the fans, the league, everyone, then I'm all for it. But I doubt it.

(Note to Pens - if the SF Giants could sit Lincecum, who equally hurt their chances last playoff perform these days, we sure as heck can bench Kunitz.)

The Penguins are an first class team and I can tell because they don't slump, they have organizational inquests. They never just play badly, there are always deeper problems hidden below the surface, organizational rot to be flushed out.

The Penguins haven't been an elite team since the loss of Staal, and are stilling trying to construct competent bottom six, their defense prospect haven't mature which is to be expected, time frames are longer for D-Men (could have used another high round pick on forward or two,) and have an average goaltender in net.

They are currently muddled in with 2nd tier of Eastern Conference teams and playing poorly, they need some health, getting a 1/4 of goal scoring back would help and to just play better.

Remember 1/2 of teams lose in the 1st round, it is the most likely outcome.

GC, I'm ALL for sitting Kunitz. I'm all for sitting Bennett too. I'm also all for giving Sundqvist and Kapanen a look too when they are able to come over after their respected playoff runs. They can't do much less than what Kunitz and Bennett are doing.
That's my main concern, the amount of players on our team that are "so-so" and are in there because they "HAVE" to be in there. Kunitz, Sutter, Bennett, Adams.
A. Lane: Mentioning Sutter above, I think Sutter is ok. That's all. He's an ok 3rd line center. We are and have been terribly missing that Staal-type 3rd line center. Get Staal back? No. Too much money and really too much risk. We don't know what he TRULY has anymore considering he's no longer a center and when he is, it's with no one worth noting. But to get a Staal-type third line center is really something GMJR needs to look at and I think he will. Makes you wish maybe Shero had pulled the trigger on the Kesler deal (if that REALLY was a thing).

That back-to-back Cup champion - quite possibly the best team in Pens history - went into the playoffs fresh of an NHL-record winning streak and won what? The Legend Of David Volek.

Hot teams go into the playoffs and lose. Cold teams go into the playoffs and win. And vice-versa. People will point to the Kings, how they hit the playoffs in full stride and won the Cup twice. They'll overlook the times they hit the playoffs in full stride and didn't win.

I'm not panicking now. If they play the first two games of the first round like this, then yeah, I'll panic. This scoring drought can't last forever.

And yes, I said exactly that during the Bruins series, so what do I know?

Well the immediately #1 problem right now is the hockey they're playing is so poor a couple more of these and there IS no postseason.

The teams that went to the Stanley Cup did not have the salary cap burden this version has. They also could roll 4 lines and had a reasonable farm system. Signing Kunitz, Dupuis and Scuderi to those large contracts has hurt this team from a depth perspective. Going forward they have to get younger and cheaper. They also might have to move one of the big three. Should they make the playoffs it would not surprise me at all if Harrington and Duomolin are asked to play some games in place of Scuderi.

Average record since January?
They are a below .500 team since mid December.
They are in the playoffs at all due to a hot start and a career year for MAF.

I'm not panicking, but its an insult to anybody actually watching the game's intelligence, that they are anything but terrible at the moment.

Re Scuderi.....lately?

+100000000000

Or what? They'll promote Mario's golf buddy to head coach?

Eddie Olczyk is not going to coach the team. Let's move on.

...or maybe it is his way of holding GMJR accountable. We have no idea what is being discussed.

They're probably discussing how which playoff call ups can help. It's not that big a deal, imo. Relax. I'll say it again...

game 83+ is what matters.

There is no guarantee there will be a game 83 for the Pens this season. At the present rate we will likely not know until the final buzzer sounds in game 82, hence the concern.

Displeased about what? All people did was bitch and moan about Bylsma and his lack of success in the playoffs. Wait until after the playoffs to judge this team.

STOP KNEE JERKING!

DO YOU NOT REMEMBER THE 90s? appreciate what we have.

they will be fine. right now doesn't matter.. game 83+ is all that matters.

Robert, are you watching -any- of the games, at all? Or are you simply an insufferable optimist? Please don't shout at us for being concerned, no one is knee-jerking for God's sake ... even Malkin admits there are serious issues with this squad right now.

Thanks, Shawn!

Thank you! We're very grateful for everyone's support!

I dunno, Moose, I'm clinging to the hope that putting Kunitz on bottom 6 might actually increase his chances of contributing. He will be playing vs. Lower D-pairings and easier line matchups.
A slim hope, admittedly.

Desperation is NOT what this team should show. They've hit a rough patch. How they react will tell the story. Everyone will forget about this if they make a run in the playoffs.

Being a regular season powerhouse means NOTHING. This team will be judged on what they do from game 83 and on. They know that..