Faceoff Factor

Comments

1. Move the Needle

   Feb 26, 03:18 PM

   Horrible Pens Trade. I know very little about Hockey but you trade Crosby’s best Friend, Road Roommate and locker room Glue and the exciting scoring potential, ass-in-the seats future that is Angelo Esposito plus two more AND a first rounder for an excellent rental player. Yes Sid has a winger. well, for 2 months then maybe Hossa goes and the tease is over for Sid. So, two WBS guys come up to fill in for Colby and Crusher. I don’t see that as a playoff run upgrade. Hossa, yes is a huge upgrade. I predict it gets them into he third round of the playoffs this year and no further. None of our 3 Goalies will be able to carry us further than that. The Conklin and Fleury fight for number one will ruin the goaltending chemistry and if Fleury is the man then Sydor will have to prove he can play defense in front of him. He has yet to do that. Sydor likes how Conklin passes the puck and hates how Fluery does not. I hate this trade and Pierre McGuirre just reported that he hates and hates it a lot.

2. Justin

   Feb 26, 04:20 PM

   Will the three new guys be in the line-up tonight? WHat will the new line-up look like once we get Crosby back? Who is the odd man out on Defense?

3. Ben Schmidt

   Feb 26, 04:48 PM

   Unless the Pens call up two forwards from WBS, Hossa and Dupuis will have to be in tonight’s game, just to get to 12 forwards.

   Wow. I’m still stunned at this move.

   I honestly think Shero is making a run for the Cup right now.

4. Tom

   Feb 26, 04:49 PM

   Michael: I should like to wait to see if Hossa can be signed reasonably. He needs a big time center to be effective, and Crosby certainly qualifies. If he is merely a rental player, we paid an outrageous price for him, two fine players, a great prospect and a number one draft pick. Hal Gill is an over priced immobile stiff — we have a penchant for signing such non-factors (e.g. Sydor) for alot of cash. I believe we mortgaged the team’s future for little long term return.

5. Matt Bodenschatz

   Feb 26, 04:52 PM

   Justin, probably not to playing tonight. Lines are up in the air, but I’d say:

   Staal-Crosby-Hossa
   Malone-Malkin-Sykora
   Dupuis-Talbot-Kennedy
   Ruutu-Taffe-Laraque

   Scuderi-Gonchar
   Gill-Whitney
   Sydor-Letang

   Orpik is odd-man out.

6. Ashley Gallant

   Feb 26, 05:09 PM

   I agree wholeheartedly with ‘Move The Needle’ and Pierre McGuire. I hate this trade, and I hate it a lot. Hossa and Dupuis will take Army and Crusher’s roster spots for the remainder of the season, but there are a whole lot of questions regarding Hossa.

   Will he show up for the playoffs?

   Will he even have chemistry with Sid?

   Will he resign with the team this summer? If yes, Pittsburgh becomes “Tampa Bay North” and look how well that experiment turned out in Florida.

   If no, will it be worth losing Armstrong, Christensen, Esposito, and a first round draft pick for Pascal Dupuis and 2 months of Hossa?

   This trade is so unlike anything we’ve seen from Shero, so I think there may have been a little pressure from Mario for him to do this.

7. Michael Farkas

   Feb 26, 05:46 PM

   This caught me by surprise…but I look at this way…we didn’t lose anything in Christensen really, he didn’t have a place on this team in the future…we didn’t lose anything but a friend for Crosby in Army, he came with the big hit from time to time, but he didn’t offer too much…who knows what happens with Esposito, he could be a bust, he could be this or that, but he’s the fourth consecutive center we used a first round pick on, better to move Espo than Staal, that’s how I look at it…and the 1st in 2008 is probably the most costly, but you look at it this way, you invest a 1st round pick in Marian Hossa in the hopes that 1st round pick becomes the 30th pick in the draft…

   If Hossa re-signs this is the steal of a lifetime…if he doesn’t, then it’s about even really…I’m more content with this than I thought…I expected it to be Staal + + +, this really isn’t too bad…I don’t know, I don’t even feel this was the best offer out there really…

8. Move the Needle

   Feb 26, 06:07 PM

   You know the real key to today’s Penguins player movement is Nathan Smith Clearing waivers this afternoon. This is good for at least 1 point in the standings. The AHL standings that is.

9. Clarence

   Feb 26, 10:23 PM

   I still can’t believe this trade. Colby has been scoring a lot lately, and they trade him! I just hope they can get him in the summer. I mean, he’s the teams glue, and… oh, I just can’t believe this trade! HORRIBLE TRADE!

10. Matt Bodenschatz

    Feb 26, 11:00 PM

    Clarence, Armstrong isn’t an unrestricted free agent this summer, so getting him back would require some form of trade.

    I hate seeing Army go, as he was one of my favorite players — I sport an autographed Armstrong jersey when I go to games — but popular players are traded often.

    When the Penguins traded Recchi in the early 90s, he was best friends with John Cullen and Kevin Stevens. They combined to form a very skilled line that was a big part of the team. The two remaining players were ticked off beyond belief…until the team won the Cup.

    In actuality, the only part of this trade that truly hurts is the loss of this year’s first rounder. Even that isn’t that big of a deal when considering who was brought in.

11. Paul

    Feb 26, 11:15 PM

    We knew Christensen was a goner. I expected Espo would be trade bait too. I was a bit surprised to see Army go, just because of the Glue thing….not because of his playing prowess. Hopefully it won’t be a chemistry distraction. I don’t think a first round pick is a big loss given the youth/talent of the current roster. I personally like the deal…it is aggressive. It prevented Hossa from going to New Jersey or Ottawa. Is there risk involved? Yes….but no reward without risk. I say commendable job Ray Shero. Only time will tell if it pays off….

12. Jesse Marshall

    Feb 27, 09:37 AM

    So Colby and Christensen AREN’T dime a dozen players? Neither of them did anything in the playoffs last season, either. And they’d hardly give the Penguins a chance to do anything this season. Don’t overrate the value of players simply because you like them. Hossa and Dupuis help this team NOW! We can find another Armstrong and another Christensen in the off-season.

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