I found it a bit unbelievable there wasn't already a Pittsburgh Penguins section, so I've taken it upon myself to start the official Dobberhockey Pittsburgh Penguins Thread... At the very least, I would like to offer news updates, and possibly game recaps - although I can't promise anything as I am normally a very busy student

If one of the moderators could possibly sticky this thread, it would be greatly appreciated.

In addition, if anyone out there would like to offer their writing services and help out w/ the official Penguins thread, just send me a PM and we can work something out.

Without further ado...

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mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

Amidst all the speculation about "other" injuries Crosby might be dealing with. This news could possibly mean that one of or both of Crosby and/or Staal could be returning to the lineup Tuesday at home against DET.

- In other news, no real updates regarding Kris Letang and his concussion issues. In the Penguins most recent practice report, Letang wasn't even mentioned; so I wouldn't exactly expect him to return to the lineup soon.

- Same story w/ Zbynek Michalek, no real updates here either.


Fantasy Thoughts:

- James Neal is coming off a 2-goal effort against the Isles on Saturday night, and has really shown incredible consistency this season. He's been a great fantasy play [especially at home, scoring 11 of his 17 goals at Consol Energy Center], so make sure he's in your lineups Tuesday night.

- Matt Niskanen is a really underrated fantasy play while Kris Letang is out of the lineup. Over the past 7 days Niskanen has potted 3 assists, registered a +4, has totaled 7 PIMs, 1 PPP, 4 SOG, and 7 Hits. He's also been getting around 2+ minutes on the PP, so he could be a decent play over while Letang/Michalek are on the shelf. Deeper leagues take notice in the short-term.

- I predicted Evgeni Malkin would score 100+ points this season, and it looks like my prediction was a bit off - although if he keeps up the current pace he's on I should be pretty close. Geno has obviously missed some time due to "soreness" in his knee, but he's currently on pace for 91+ points. He's been everything the Penguins [and fantasy owners] have needed in the absence of Crosby and others this season. Good for you, Geno.

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mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

Good luck! I'm confident you'll rock it. Pretty active and knowledgeable poster around here these days.

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H2H 12 Team/12 Keeper League. Cats: G, A, P, +/-, PIM, PPP, W, GAA, SV%, SO.

C - Crosby, Malkin, Backstrom
LW - Parise, Neal, Ryan
RW - Kovalchuk, Skinner
D - Karlsson, Subban, OEL
G - Rinne, Ward

Farm - Yakupov, Tarasenko, Galchenyuk, Granlund, Baertschi, Silfverberg, Lindback, Markstrom

Another point to note:

With all the talk in the NHL about concussions and all the suspensions received from so-called "headshots" nowadays, I'm just a bit surprised this hit from Zac Rinaldo has gone largely unmentioned, and clearly unpunished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veSRlqfoxYQ

I know the video isn't exactly the greatest quality, but you can see from the evidence that the hit was pretty messed up for a couple reasons. First, Rinaldo came in pretty late, well after Bortuzzo had shot the puck. It really irks me when players do this kind of thing to eachother; Secondly - and the worst part of the hit in my eyes - is the fact Rinaldo seemed to target Bortuzzo's head on the hit.

The result of that hit was a concussion for Bortuzzo, just adding to the Penguins Defensemen out of the lineup w/ concussion right now. Organizational depth will most certainly be tested over the coming days/weeks.


- mounD

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mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

Well, it looks like the Jason Williams news has nothing to do w/ Crosby. He addressed the media today after missing Monday's practice, and admitted that he's been dealing w/ concussion-like symptoms for the past few days; here is the video for anyone who hasn't seen it...

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.ht...id=DL|PIT|home


Some telling quotes:

-Crosby feels, "not bad..." this morning...

- Crosby seemed to indicate that the hit from David Krecji was the hit that has put him on the shelf most recently.

- When asked if Crosby was frustrated, he answered back with this incredibly depressing quote [almost w/ a tear in his eye], "I don't know if frustrated even describes it ... it's not fun watching, but at the same time, I look at my ImPact [I look at some of that stuff] and I'm way better off than I was dealing with this stuff 10 months ago."

- There is no timeframe; however when asked how he feels Crosby answered, " Definitely better than August." I guess it doesn't hurt to speculate that he's feeling about a "September" right now, so he could be on the mend for another couple months... Crosby said his "Impact [was a positive sign]," however the concussion-test is obviously not foolproof.

- Clearly, this is ground-shaking news in Pittsburgh and around the hockey world. Get well soon, Sid.

- In more positive news, I would expect Jordan Staal in the lineup tomorrow night against DET.

EDIT:

Although it's only speculation at this point, I just wanted to add that there are some out there talking about possible "knee" problems for Crosby right now.

Could be the dreaded double whammy of injuries for Crosby... this really is sad.

__________________
mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

Amazing job so far bud. Keep up the great work!

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@B0ndon

Goalies: If I'm pickin em you best be sittin em!

So I'm just sitting here bored out of my mind, trying to keep my mind off all the big injuries around the NHL right now so I decided I would post some ramblings about a Penguins prospect that some people around Dobberhockey have begun to notice: Joe Morrow. I'd like to preface this by saying I'm not an evaluator of prospects and that I've only seen Morrow in limited action [and a few highlights]; however, I still figured this section might be useful for some people who don't really know much at all about Morrow.

Just celebrating his birthday this past Friday [Dec 9], the 19 year old Morrow hails from Sherwood Park, Alberta and plays for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. The youngster has a solid frame for his age, being listed at just over 6-feet and anywhere from 197-206 lbs. - he should have a pretty solid man body in a few years. His development has gone very well in the WHL, and he has learned to effectively use his size and mobility to better use; however, more recently his production has reflected his offensive upside. Here is an excerpt from his prospect analysis courtesy of a puckprospectus.com article, "Top 10 Prospects: Pittsburgh Penguins":

http://www.puckprospectus.com/articl...articleid=1044

Last season [2010-11] Morrow put up quality numbers, scoring 9G [40A] in 60 GP; in addition he added 6G [14A] in 21 playoff games. He carried some of this offensive prowess into the Penguins camp and preseason earlier this year; Morrow played very well during the preseason and showed hints of his offensive talent [and his heavy shot]. For evidence view this PP goal setup from Letang during a preseason game against the Wild:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx6nQwzw9to

In addition to his big shot from the point, Morrow showed incredible poise handling the puck both in his own zone, moving up the ice on the rush, and possessing and moving the puck in and around the offensive zone. One thing that was very impressive about Morrow in my eyes was his incredible calm surrounding his play; he never seemed put off carrying the puck or making a good pass, and his defense game wasn't being exploited much in the process. Many opinions surrounding the Penguins believed Morrow could be NHL ready... ultimately the organization saw their incredible defensive depth [to begin the season at least ] - and realized Morrow would benefit from another season in the WHL - and decided to send the young defenseman back to juniors.

This WHL season Morrow is on his best pace in terms of point production, showing his offensive skills on an almost nightly basis. Although his traditionally high +/- rating is suffering a bit this year at -1 [+23, +17 the previous seasons], his offensive output is incredible: Morrow has scored 9G [19A] in 27 games and has already equaled his goal scoring totals from last season in under half the time. The blue chipper is on currently on pace to finish the season w/ 20 goals [42A] and over PPG production. There is also more grit to Morrow's game than usual, as he's already racked up 51 PIMs over 27 games, putting him on pace to finish the season with ~113 PIM. Just looking at the numbers, it appears Morrow is putting together an all-around game at the junior level, gaining more valuable experience for his future NHL career. Here is a video of Morrow dropping the gloves from last season - one of many such videos available on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HJ-OG-R3qk

Here is a sweet highlight goal scored by Morrow earlier this year [must scroll to 2:35 mark to see Morrow's sweet goal:

http://www.whl.ca/video/index/id/1319045479

I hope I didn't murder anyone with this wall of text, but I'm just very excited about the future that could be in store for this kid on Pittsburgh's blue-line. I hope a lot of you guys are excited about Joe Morrow, too.

- mounD

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mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

via Pittsburgh Penguins / @PensPRLady on Twitter

https://twitter.com/#!/PensPRLady/st...33422889541633

-Looks like both players will be in the lineup tonight against DET. Set fantasy rosters accordingly...

__________________
mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

You are my hero, mounD

No problem, I'm here to help. I should have a game breakdown following tonight's tilt as well, so don't forget to stop back later for some insight and analysis [probably a few jokes and rants as well].

Cheers.

__________________
mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin