Pens Talbot in Walking Boot!
Jonathan Farzalo | Pittsburgh Penguins
Apr 30, 10:50 AM | Hype this story!
A few years ago nobody would have recognized the name Max Talbot. Even today, few people outside of the hockey world or the Pittsburgh Penguin fanbase would. However, that doesn’t mean the name doesn’t carry weight. Max Talbot is the type of hockey player that has to fight for his breaks. He is not naturally gifted the way Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin are. He is not overly big the way George Laraque is. And is not crazy-athletic like Marc-Andre Fleury.
What Max Talbot has is 100% pure heart and soul. He will work from the moment the puck drops until the final horn. He can be shuffled from the grinder 4th line role up to the top line scoring duty and succeed. He hits, chases down every puck in the corner, crashes the net, has decent hands, and is all energy. Max isn’t going to shy away from contact, in any situation, and will throw every inch of his 5’ 11”, 190lb frame into someone, and plays a huge part on the Penguins penalty killing unit.
It’s that penalty killing unit that is at the front of the minds of fans today. It was announced that “Mad” Max was in a walking boot, and may have a broken foot, but word is mum on that so far….hey, it’s the playoffs. He was hobbled last night after blocking a shot, something Max has never shied away from, despite having a bad high-ankle sprain earlier this season.
So far in the playoffs the Pittsburgh Penguins penalty killing has been nothing short of amazing. They are killing at an unimaginable rate of 92.6%. Anybody who has ever seen that grade on a report card knows that rounds up to 93%, which is an A, on both sets of grading scales!
Max Talbot is a HUGE part of that unit, he takes faceoffs, blocks shots, clears pucks, and outman’s the opposition nightly! He is averaging 2 1/2 minutes of shorthanded icetime per game, and the Penguins are excelling in the shorthanded department.
If Max is lost for the 4th game or longer, one has to wonder how the PK will suffer?! Who will replace him? How will they adapt? One would never say that the team would be lost without Max Talbot, but it’s guys with his heart, soul, desire, and determination that win penalty kills, games, series, and championships.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08121/877806-100.stm
Comments
DaBich
Apr 30, 11:57 AM
Great write-up Jonathan, I couldn’t have said it better. Max is one of my favs, and no one has more heart.
Bryan
Apr 30, 02:29 PM
I give an enthusiastic ‘tru dat’ to all of the above. That said, while Talbot is unquestionably my favorite player and a hugely important part of this team’s success, they will get by without him just fine. They’ve gotten by all season with various injuries and this will be no different.
Hall and Ruutu will see their PK time increase and Roberts will replace Talbot on the fourth line at even strength. Roberts brings an important element of grit to this team. It’s not any better or worse than what Talbot brings, just different, and equally important.
His loss sucks but they’ll get by. Injuries are part of the game, especially in the playoffs
Jonathan Farzalo
Apr 30, 10:04 PM
true, i don’t pretend to think Talbot is an irreplaceable player. however, he is one of those players that you latch on to, you can’t help it, he has so much life and energy about his game, he’ll be missed…but you’re correct, Roberts and others can step in just fine.
I am however worried…if Scuds is out, that would be 2 of our main PK guys, max and scuds out, and would mean sydor comes in…i don’t know how i feel about that just yet.
DaBich
May 1, 05:31 AM
Sydor is better than Whitney, in MHO.
Matt Bodenschatz
May 1, 07:54 AM
Dabich, I agree about Sydor being better than Whitney — right now, anyway — but PK-wise, he’s certainly a downgrade from Scuderi. And that’s the big that we need to worry about right now — though I would bet on Scuds playing.
Commenting is closed for this article.