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Penguins Fans Have Seen This Before
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After last night's Penguins 4-1 dominating victory over the Ottawa Senators, Pens faithful are buzzing. Talking at the water coolers and lunch rooms across the nation about how their team out performed the competition and should handle these "Pesky Sens" without much push back. Well, before I go any further, lets rewind our minds for just one second. Think back to game one in Round 1 vs. the Islanders. The Penguins came out smoking en route to a Marc Andre Fleury 5-0 shutout win. That was WITHOUT Sidney Crosby and Brooks Orpik too! I am as guilty as the next Penguin fan who said "This could be done in 4." What happened next, well, has been well documented. Its like a recipe. A dash of arrogance, a pinch of overlooking your opponent, and add in some sloppy puck handling and what do you get? You get a playoff series with a young and hungry team like the NY Islanders that myself and other talking heads still view as lucky the series ended in 6. Remember what it felt like after that 5-0 butt whooping to the Islanders? That feeling similar to the one you feel today after the 4-1 victory over the Senators? Its hard NOT to be confident...after all, yesterday I wrote an article giving you 5 reasons why the Penguins will play BETTER against the Senators. Not to toot my own horn, but the Penguins played the way they should have and took care of business on home ice. Someone once said there is no need to panic in a playoff series until you lose on home ice. Am I confident in this Penguins team? You bet, but I'm also very cautious at the same time. The NHL is giving the two teams an unprecedented 2 days off before the two teams face off in Pittsburgh Friday night. I don't feel that works in anyone's advantage or disadvantage. What I do feel is that the Penguins need to prove to themselves, their fans, and this city that this isn't the same team that let the Islanders hang around. That this team is a team that is determined to be the best team in the Eastern Conference and possibly the entire NHL...and NO ONE is going to stand between them and bringing a Stanley Cup home to Pittsburgh for the 2nd time in 5 years. Deep in my gut I honestly believe that this team is more focused than ever. I told my brother that I felt the "15 game winning streak" team is going to show up, and they did just that last night. Led by Sidney Crosby and the rest of the crew the Penguins took THEIR game to the Senators...something Penguins... [Read More] |
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Believe it or not we are currently a little pas the quarter pole of minor league season for the full season affiliates at least. During this stretch the views of many Pirates prospects have had ample to chance to change both for the better and for the worse. It is still too early to say any one player is having a break out season but it is late enough to take a look at ones who very well may be building towards one. Conversely it is probably too early to call any player's season a disappointment but we can certainly look at which players appear headed that direction. A: West Virginia Power Risers Stetson Allie is the most prominent riser probably of all the Pirates minor leaguers. He has gone from top pitching prospect to borderline pitching prospect to off the map hitting prospect and now he is at least viewed as a legitimate hitting prospect. Allie has been putting up a power clinic down in A ball and while his advanced age for the level, unique back story and long road ahead of him won't have him in any Top 10 lists he has definitely put himself on the radar. The pitcher down in A ball who has done the most to raise his stock has been Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow was already veiwed as a top 10 prospect in the Pirates system but his strong start to the season could have him challenging for mid season top 100 lists. So far this season he is proving to be tough to hit and dominating on the mound although he is showing that his control has a long ways to go. Other players down in A ball seeing their stock rise are Josh Bell, Dilson Herrera, Eric Wood and Orlando Castro. Bell after a disappointing season in 2012 is showing why the Pirates gave him 5 million dollars. Herrera isn't quite having the breakout season some expected but he is still posting solid numbers across the board. Eric Wood is showing surprising power and has now established himself as the Pirates top 3B prospect. Castro was a pitching prospect who was off the radar and thought to be a place holder for Heredia this season but he has surprised and has shown excellent command along with decent overall stuff. Fallers Don't be fooled into thinking the reverse isn't true for anyone down in A ball. Wyatt Mathisen the Pirates 2nd round selection last season is off to a slow start and is showing everyone that he still has a lot of work to do before he is a legitimate... [Read More] |
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So I haven't written anything in over a month (Being a head coach has its downside), but if you've followed me on Twitter (@BnGBlitz) you know I have been fully engaged in everything Pittsburgh...especially the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup run. I was one of the few fans who openly said that I did NOT want to see the Islanders in the playoffs, and the first round was a perfect example of why. Those guys are fast, and they aren't intimidated by the Mighty Penguins. The Pens escaped (yes, I said escaped on purpose) with a series victory, and now they face the Ottawa Senators. Welcome the 3 ring circus. Whether its the Karlesson allegations of Matt Cooke intentionally slashing his Achilles tendon, the CSI crack crew that was sent to investigate the said incident, or Mr. Melnyk (Senators Owner) saying that Pens fans are a disgrace to their city, their team, and the sport due to inappropriate comments made towards his team. Yes, this series should be fun and it should be much different than the Islanders series for many reason. One of them is the fact that I feel the Penguins are going to be ALOT better than they were in Round 1....here are 5 reason why I feel that way: - Line Changes - The line changes Dan Bylsma made before game 5 are well documented. Enter Tyler Kennedy and Joe Vitale, exit Beau Bennett and Jussi Jokenen. Enter Simon Despres and exit Derek Engelland. Enter Tomas Vokoun and exit Marc Andre Fleury. Those are just some of the moves that were made. The moves that I'm speaking of are the line changes that could be lethal in round 2 once these players get a feel for playing along side one another. The most obvious, in my opinion, is the top line. Putting Jerome Iginla with Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis was a genius move by Disco Dan. Iginla has shown chemistry with Sid in the Olympics a few years ago, and they have created alot of chances together in the 2 games they've played along side each other. Pascal Dupuis has shown he can play alongside anyone and will adapt to the situation. With Iggy being sent to line 1 with Sid, that puts Chris Kunitz on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal. This line would be the #1 line on 99% of NHL teams, but not Pittsburgh. Kunits compliments Malkin and Neal well as he is the winger that isn't going to improvise, but rather just do his job. Be in the spots where he is supposed... [Read More] |
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7338440.jpgI ask this question and I'm sure the majority of responses will be "He's not Clint Hurdle's pet" or a variety of responses that come back to Clint Hurdle, but those are all general knee jerk reactionary claims. That's not to say it's not true, but it's a Highschool drama-esque type of response I'd rather ignore. Right now, Jordy Mercer looks really good. His Defense at SS might not be as good as Clint Barmes' but Barmes' won't be with the Pittsburgh Pirates next year and through a season and 1 month, his Offensive Production (or lack of) is going to be the main reason. The Pirates rather than needing to sift through the Free Agent dumpster to overpay for a Short Stop that is clearly lacking in something, finally have a guy that can step into play Short Stop - Jordy Mercer. Unlike prospects before him like Chase d'Arnaud who couldn't hit the ball off a Tee if he were allowed at the MLB level, Jordy Mercer has more than held his own as a Temporary starter in place of Neil Walker. He's hitting above average, he's hitting for power and likely overachieving quite a bit in that area but more importantly, he doesn't look overmatched at the plate. Mercer is going to be 27 years old in August. He's past prospect status, it's time for the Pirates to start using these guys at the AAA Level when they start showing the ability to perform at the MLB level. Mercer has a hot bat right now too. You gain nothing by sending him down to the Minors to continue producing down there while continuing to plug Clint Barmes and his .207 Batting and Average to go along with his non-existent power. It's a clear cut kick to the balls of the MLB teams offensive production. Clint Barmes has shown that outside of 1 month as a Pittsburgh Pirate, he can't hit. There was hope and expectation that Barmes might produce closer to what he accomplished at the end of his prime, but it's becoming more and more evident that he's not. At 34 years of age, Barmes is into his decline years and his Offensive production are proof of this. He could still provide value as a bench player, especially if someone like Jordy Mercer ends up struggling. The Pirates are still in a transition mode whether fans like it or not. They've been transitioning from a... [Read More] |
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The Pirates roster is currently a mess. There are only 3 starting pitchers currently on the team, meaning it is possible that both of this weekend's starters are not on the active roster as of Wednesday this week. Due to this oddity the team currently has both an extra reliever and an extra position player on the team. In addition to all this the composition of those 14 position players itself is a little off. Currently two player, Jose Tabata and Russell Martin are nursing minor injuries and their availability for games is uncertain. Of the 12 healthy active position players there are 8 primary infielders on the team in Jones, Sanchez, Mercer, Barmes, Alvarez, Inge, Harrison and McDonald leaving only 4 healthy active bodies to cover 3 outfield spots and the catching position. Some of the many infielders can masquerade as outfielders but that in itself really isn't a solution to this problem. . Going forward the Pirates obviously can not keep the team structured as it is for long. Changes and quite a few of them have to be coming some time with in the next week. The question is what are those changes going to be? . Wednesday Duke Welker is supposedly set to join the team giving the Pirates another bullpen arm. The corresponding move for Welker is unknown at this point and it is tough to say if it will be a pitcher or a hitter. The bullpen even with an unusable Jeanmar Gomez is still at the typical capacity level of 7 relievers but they are worn arms so an extra arm for a few days certainly couldn't hurt. Logically it makes sense to give the bullpen the boost and return to a 13:12 hitter to pitcher balance but depending on the health of Tabata and Martin that may not be feasible. My guess is one of the middle infielders get the boot. Harrison would make the most sense but if that was the plan why call him up at all? The possibility exists that it could be Mercer being sent down or maybe even McDonald being DFA'd. Update: Harrison was indeed sent down to make room for Duke Welker . Saturday Fransisco Liriano is scheduled to come off the DL and make his Pirates debut. He will start the game and give the Pirates a 4th starting pitcher on the active roster. The Pirates will have to make room for Liriano on the roster. The logical assumption here is that he will simply replace Welker and... [Read More] |
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