…the tough get goin.’
Anyone who’s read PenguinPoop for any length of time knows that’s been my mantra over the years. In part rooted in my distant hockey past, when early Penguins teams were routinely mauled during the goon-squad era by the likes of Philly’s swashbuckling Broad Street Bullies, Boston’s Big, Bad, Bruins and the Blues’ nasty Plager brothers.
Some of it’s based in cold, hard hockey reality. The Panthers won back-to-back Stanley Cups and have made three trips in a row to the Finals, in part, because they were tougher and meaner than anyone else. Before them, the Lightning employed a similar blend of skill and ornery to capture multiple Cups.
All the while and much to my dismay, our Pens of recent vintage have embraced a Milquetoast-ish approach.
Thanks largely to a recent overhaul by Kyle Dubas, I’m happy to report our benign-ness is a thing of the past. In fact, our current batch of Pens is the very definition of hockey tough.
Following the gritty example set by our superstar core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, this bunch battles and competes and digs for loose pucks with the intensity of Mike Lange’s coal miner.
I’m hard-pressed to think of a single player who isn’t willing to get his nose dirty. That includes 18-year-old rookie Ben Kindel, who plays considerably larger than his listed 5’11” 182-pound frame, and Tommy Novak, reputed to be a perimeter player when he first arrived.
Although not overtly physical, twin towers Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha add a brawny presence up front that’s extremely difficult for foes to deal with one-on-one. Our fourth line features a trio of pepper pots, Noel Acciari, Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar (107 hits). The very definition of greasy players.
Even top-liners Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust grind away at the opposition.
In concert with our skill level? It makes for a very difficult group to play against.
As for our defense?
Dubas has assembled our most physical blue-line corps in years. In particular, Parker Wotherspoon (a team-high 119 hits) will rock you, as will Connor Clifton, who’s piled up 107 hits in only 26 games. Before going on IR, Jack St. Ivany displayed a physical bent. So does newcomer Ilya Solovyov.
The net result (pun intended)? Opposing forwards can no longer camp out in our crease without paying a price.
While the team lacks a bona fide heavyweight, the need for one probably isn’t as great as it once was. Due to the increased speed of the game, one-dimensional sluggers like Philly’s Nicolas Deslauriers have pretty much been mothballed. With the exception of Caps marauder-turned-scorer, Tom Wilson, still a loose cannon, and a downright vicious private war between the Lightning and Panthers, fighting and over-the-top physical play appear to be on the wane.
And the Pens aren’t defenseless. A host of players, including Acciari, Dewar, Mantha and Wotherspoon will defend the team’s honor if called upon. The same goes for Clifton, who recently and vigorously dispatched the Sabres’ Peyton Krebs for having the temerity to run goalie Arturs Silovs.
If a heavyweight is needed? Rugged Boko Imama remains but a phone call away in Wilkes.
Our newly robust nature stands in stark contrast to the last few seasons of the Mike Sullivan era, when string-bean defenseman Marcus Pettersson, courageous and game as a butcher’s block but often outgunned, fought (and lost) most of the team’s battles.
With Sully gone, Dubas has been quick to add a much-needed underpinning of grit.
I, for one, am most pleased with the results.
Let the Games Begin
Superpowers Canada and the United States won their Olympic openers with ease.
Led by captain Crosby (two assists), Team Canada blanked Czechia, 5-0. Can you imagine for one second facing a team featuring Sid, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, to say nothing of rising superstar Macklin Celebrini? Talk about a stacked lineup!
Sully’s Team USA likewise pounded poor Latvia, 5-1. Silovs tended goal for the vanquished in the third period and surrendered a goal on six shots.
Politics aside, a shame the third hockey power, Russia, isn’t competing in the Games, although selfishly it gives Geno’s ailing shoulder a chance to heal.