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If the parlance of Pittsburghese, the Pittsburgh Penguins are getting their crap together. After stinking so badly in a pair of weekend losses last week, the team hit the practice ice and has won three in a row, with a couple of the games being rather convincing. Our Saturday night report card following the 6-2 spanking of the Calgary Flames touched on several of the important improvements. Elsewhere, the Penguins missed out on the David Jiricek sweepstakes, the NHL trade rumors caused the Rangers to further their self-destruction this season, and the NHL is cracking down on UFA tampering.
We’ve met before. You know that I’ve got a few opinions. I’ll bag my Penguins analysis for larger columns today and tomorrow because I see a few things we need to discuss, as well as a couple of things you don’t want to. Still, the UFA tampering has been so obvious for so long that it’s almost comical. As part of the Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman reported that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly will lead a crackdown on tampering.
The crux is that teams annually announce big-money deals at 12:01 p.m. on July 1. Except that rules are supposed to prohibit teams and players from speaking until noon. So, you’re telling me that for years, teams simply sent out random offers—often via fax—at high noon, and players accepted within seconds? Ummm, sure. It’s good to see the NHL promising a crackdown on tampering, which would include coaches and other players acting as intermediaries.
For the sake of the extraordinary media spectacle that July 1 has become, the NHL could/should create a limited window of discussion beginning at 10 a.m. The NHL might as well dominate the entire day (they should also move it to July 2 or July 6, after Canada Day and before/after July 4, but I’ll never win that battle).
Also–here is the postgame analysis. If the Penguins keep winning, they’re going to kill my YouTube channel, which is all about longer explanations of why they’re losing. Instead, here’s more explanation about why the Penguins are winning:
Some Penguins news: The NHL delivered realistic punishment, though the size of the maximum fines is pretty funny when compared to new NHL salaries. Evgeni Malkin and Nikita Zadorov were fined for their bench incident Friday night in Boston. Don’t engage from the bench, and don’t swing your stick. Here’s the Malkin penalty.
The Penguins’ trade talk was warm. General manager Kyle Dubas made a special trip to Cleveland to scout David Jiricek—that, or he just really likes Great Lakes Brewing and decided to catch a hockey game. However, the Minnesota Wild absolutely broke the bank with their trade offer for Jiricek, and it was far too good for Columbus to pass up, so the Penguins lost out. The Wild’s wild offer in the Jiricek trade sweepstakes.
To the game…
The Penguins’ PP2 scored a trio of power-play goals, but Alex Nedeljkovic was the game story as he was absolutely brilliant. Calgary got goalie’d. The fun details in the Penguins recap.
In fact, you can watch the save of the night, which is probably the Penguins’ save of the year, as Nedeljkovic robbed Rasmus Andersson.
Andersson’s facial expression, mouth agape, cracked me up.
I don’t think coach Mike Sullivan meant to quote The Matrix, but he did. They’re “starting to believe.” We have plenty of details, analysis, and player reaction, and even Sullivan couldn’t help but slip a little joke into his postgame presser. It’s all part of the PHN Penguins report card.
Sportsnet/Hockey Night in Canada: Since the Rangers officially entered the NHL trade market last week with a league-wide memo making some of their inner-circle veterans available, they’ve gone straight downhill, with five losses in a row. Are the Rangers pushing pause on the trade talks?
Dubas is going to face a similar situation quite soon.
New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils lost, which means the Washington Capitals have won seven road games in a row. New Jersey should be a bit better than they are, but they’re fighting a few demons, including slow starts and dumb penalties–the New Jersey Devils postgame.
ESPN+: Grades for all 32 teams at the quarter mark.
Detroit Hockey Now: Well, yeah, I think so — Bob Duff asks the question with heavy consequences: is Derek Lalonde’s time running out with the Detroit Red Wings?
Florida Hockey Now: It’s the goalie controversy about three years in the making. Sergei Bobrovsky or Spencer Knight. Spencer Knight or Sergei Bobrovsky? Should the Florida Panthers even care?
Boston Hockey Now: The Bruins’ power play is inept right now, and interim coach Joe Sacco is considering some major changes to find a spark, any spark, for the Boston Bruins’ power play.
Penguins Report Card: ‘Starting to Believe,’ Team Emerges from Stench
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