Faceoff Factor Camp Report – Day #1

Jesse Marshall | Pittsburgh Penguins

Sep 17, 02:38 PM | Hype this story!

Before we start, let me give you a rundown of the offensive and defensive pairings from today’s action.

Team White:

Offense: Miroslav Satan – Sidney Crosby – Pascal Dupuis
Ruslan Fedotenko – Max Talbot – Matt Cooke
Ryan Stone – Kris Beech – Eric Godard
Tim Wallace – Chris Minard – Dustin Jeffery

The extra line for team white’s offense that did not scrimmage but participated in morning drills was:

Nick Johnson – Keven Veilleux – Mark Letestu

Defense:

Sergei Gonchar – Brooks Orpik
Alex Goligoski – Darryl Sydor
Danny Richmond – Ben Lovejoy

Goal:

John Curry
Dany Sabourin

Team Black

Offense:

Jordan Staal – Evgeni Malkin – Petr Sykora
Janne Pesonen – Jeff Taffe – Tyler Kennedy
Connor James – Bill Thomas – Adam Henrich
Paul Bissonnette – David Gove – Johnathan Filewich

The extra line for team black that practiced but did not participate in drills was:

Joey Haddad – Casey Pierro-Zabotel – Luca Caputi

Defense:

Rob Scuderi – Hal Gill
Mark Eaton – Kristopher Letang
Joey Mormina – Deryk Engellend

Goal:

Marc-Andre Fleury
David Brown.

Here’s a quick rundown of the scoring that occurred in Team White’s 3-1 victory.

Jordan Staal notched the opening goal of the scrimmage for Team Black. Alex Goligoski made a great play defensively on Evgeni Malkin, but flubbed the puck in his own end, and Malkin retreived it. Malkin took it behind the net, centered it to Sykora, who fired it at the goal. The shot was blocked by goaltender Curry, but Jordan Staal was there to tap home the garbage. Team Black was up 1-0.

Miroslav Satan tied the game for Team White when he found himself on a line with two youngsters, Ryan Stone and Tim Wallace. Satan took control of the puck in the near corner, after some dipsy-doodling, he got the puck up to the point, where Alex Goligoski fired a wrist shot at the net. Stone got a stick on it, and Satan was there to get the goal on the backhand after the rebound.

Team White took the lead when Sidney Crosby found Miroslav Satan for the first time. Crosby took control of the puck through the neutral zone and blazed into the offensive end. Taking the puck around the goal, he found a wide open Satan in the slot, and Satan fired it home.

Team White closed out the scoring in the third when Danny Richmond made an outlet pass to Ruslan Fedotenko. Fedotenko went back to the point where Ben Lovejoy fired a puck towards the goal that went into a mess of bodies. Max Talbot got a stick on it and deflected it home.

Team White won the scrimmage 3-1. There was only one penalty assessed, and it was to Alex Goligoski for two-handing Paul Bissonnette up high. Bissonnette missed his penalty shot attempt after deking glove side.

Here are some individual notes and musings on the players that took to the ice today.

The player who stood out to me the most in the drills and scrimmages was newcomer to the Penguins Danny Richmond. Richmond is a very mobile skater with a great heads up style of play. If you love skilled defensemen, you’ll love Danny Richmond. He’ll likely head to Wilkes-Barre, but he certainly impressed me today each time he touched the puck. He seems to be apt in each phase of defensive play and was making clean, crisp outlet passes.

Alex Goligoski had a good day. He took a penalty in the scrimmage and had one turnover, but he actually kept some of the stars he faced in check. He’s a very gifted skater. He looks slightly bigger in the chest than he did last year. Hopefully he’s starting to bulk up, because I believe that plays a major role in his NHL future.

Ruslan Fedotenko had a great morning skate, but went relatively unnoticed during the scrimmage. During the morning drills, Fedotenko exhibited a great first step and an excellent ability to shield the puck in the corners. He generated a ton of chances down low and really surprised me with his first-move quickness.

Matt Cooke will make you forget about Jarkko Ruutu. He doesn’t look out of place with skilled players whatsoever. During the drills, Cooke was ripping some fantastic slapshots from just above the circles, one of which torched goaltender Dany Sabourin high-glove side. Cooke also lambasted defenseman Deryk Engellend during the scrimmage, and it was clearly the biggest hit of the day. He skated back to the bench sporting quite the smile. If day one is any indication, Cooke will be much more of an offensive presence than Jarrko Ruutu was.

Miroslav Satan lived up to his billing today. He can certainly find the soft spots on the ice, and he can stick handle in a phone booth. Seems as though he and Sidney Crosby found each other quite well today.

Speaking of Sidney Crosby, he looked absolutely fine. His step was quick and his skating was sharp.

I enjoyed watching the pairing of Kristopher Letang and Mark Eaton. Letang’s skating is so fantastic, and Eaton being a stay-at-home defenseman allows Letang to use his mobility to his advantage. It’s great seeing a healthy Mark Eaton back on the ice.

Everyone is asking about Janne Pesonen, The small forward had a relatively uninspiring and hesitant start to the scrimmage, but had a solid finish. He sprung himself on a breakaway in the second, where he tried to beat Marc-Andre Fleury via five hole, and then in the third had a great shift where he deflected a point shot just wide and was very active on the back check. Pesonen did most of his work in the neutral zone. He seems apt defensively and has some neat one on one moves. I’d expect he’ll be more involved tomorrow. He seems to prefer five-hole when one on one with the goaltender.

Tyler Kennedy picked up exactly where he left off. He was skating 100 MPH today and stealing pucks left and right. He potted some nice goals during the on-ice drills for his team.

Despite his hip injury, Luca Caputi did a fine job of skating during today’s drills. As did youngster Nick Johnson. Johnson’s stick handling ability was on display today as he went one on one with the defensemen of the day.

I am always impressed with how vocal Paul Bissonnette is on the ice. You can add Joey Mormina to that list. Mormina has good wheels for a guy of his stature and was calling the shots while he was on the ice.

I really, really like WB/S’s acquisition of Dave Gove. Gove is a fantastic skater who has a low base and a strong stride. He was all over the place today and absolutely dominated the puck in the corners at times. Gove was catching the eye of several people around me with his great work ethic and his explosive skating.

Newcomer Eric Godard isn’t slow as much as he is awkward. He didn’t have any trouble keeping up, but it didn’t seem as if he was always stable.

Of all the offensive lines today, Tim Wallace, Chris Minard and Dustin Jeffery were the most underwhelming. They didn’t generate many chances. Jeffery does love to shoot the puck, though. And he can do it well.

If anyone has any questions for me, leave them in the comments section and I’ll answer them the best I can.

More to come tomorrow. Stay tuned to Faceoff-Factor for all your training camp needs.

Comments

  1. Kim Conner

    Sep 17, 02:57 PM

    Great job, Jesse. Your report from day 1 (day 1!!!!) just upped my anticipation of this season even more. I’m so excited to see this new (and dare I say improved?) Penguins team take the ice in 17 days.

    Thanks for all of this.

  2. Jon

    Sep 17, 03:16 PM

    Didn’t realize how soon it was until you said 17 days… can’t wait. I’m loving the idea of Staal playing with Malkin and Sykora.

    Also can’t wait for some visual aid of the Crosby/Satan combination. I don’t necessarily agree that Dupuis should be on the first line, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see how he can improve his finishing.

  3. Aron

    Sep 17, 03:19 PM

    Thanks, can’t wait for more of these.

  4. Jesse Marshall

    Sep 17, 03:19 PM

    Jon, Dupuis looked good today. I think now he has a better understanding of what it takes to play with Sid.

    Satan certainly looks dangerous.

  5. Eric Politowski

    Sep 17, 03:30 PM

    Jesse, that was a great report.

    Without you doing this, none of us would have heard half of what was going on there.

    Thanks a lot.

  6. Tony

    Sep 17, 03:40 PM

    Good to know I’ve got someone who concurs with me re: Cooke, Jesse…

    Great job,
    Tony

  7. Ben Schmidt

    Sep 17, 04:12 PM

    Great job, Jesse, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s reports already!

    I’m a bit curious about Mormina – the descriptions I’ve read of him make him sound like a potential future Gill replacement. Any thoughts on that?

    Also, did you get a chance to see how Haddad looked at all? Anyone who can earn an invite to the main camp when they’ve only got an ATO seems like someone to watch, if only to see if they’re a potential AHL’er, if nothing else.

  8. Alex Kirshner

    Sep 17, 04:15 PM

    Great work Jesse.

    Glad to hear about the success of Richmond. Some were upset when Brent was dealt for him, but it sounds like it may be a good deal after all.

    I’d be stunned if he made the team, but I guess anything is possible.

  9. Jesse Marshall

    Sep 17, 04:52 PM

    Tony –

    Cooke launched himself like a missle right into Engellend, who is twice his size. Very promising.

    Ben –

    Mormina is a big guy. Very vocal as well. For his size, he skates well. He could potentially be a future gill replacement, but his shot needs a little work, and he could probably stand to use his size a little more.

    Haddad didn’t play in the scrimmage, and in the skating drills I didn’t really notice him much.

  10. dave

    Sep 17, 05:11 PM

    hey jesse,

    im a big adam henrich fan can you let me know how he looked today and in general through out camp. i’ve been following his career since junior…what are his chances of making the big club or getting called-up?

    thank you

  11. KJ

    Sep 17, 05:16 PM

    I see 30 forwards listed, the Pens have 31 in camp. Where was Boogaard?

  12. Jesse Marshall

    Sep 17, 05:24 PM

    Dave –

    Henrich didn’t do much today. But I’ll keep an eye out for him. The big club is log-jammed, but I can see him making an impact at the AHL level.

    KJ –

    Boogaard wasn’t on a set line today. He was there, but he didn’t scrimmage, and he was getting placed with different guys in the morning drills.

  13. Kyle

    Sep 17, 05:30 PM

    Solid work Jesse! Can’t wait to have a good read after each day of camp.. keep up the great work! We all appreciate your in-depth write-ups for sure.

    Q: How did Sydor look out there given all the talk surrounding him and a possible trade/move?

    Thanks again Jesse

  14. dave

    Sep 17, 05:45 PM

    thanks for the insight if you can keep an eye out for him that would be appreciated.

    enjoy

  15. Dayna

    Sep 17, 06:17 PM

    Great post! Can’t wait to see how Satan/Crosby look on the ice in a game!

  16. Jesse Marshall

    Sep 17, 06:25 PM

    Kyle –

    Sydor looked solid. His shots from the point were crisp and accurate, and he hasn’t lost a step. I liked him being paired with Goligoski, he seemed to be really helping Alex throughout the day.

  17. Kyle

    Sep 17, 06:32 PM

    Thanks Jesse, appreciate the update!

    I like what I hear!
    I think it will be a big help for Alex to have some veteran guidance..

    Keep those updates coming!

  18. Tom

    Sep 17, 06:35 PM

    Jesse, If Goligoski, Mormina, Lovejoy and Richmond are sent back to the baby Pens, They will again contend for the AHL championship with a very hard hitting and skilled blue line.
    I don’t think Mormina’s physicality needs to be increased after watching his game last year against the Pens. Ask Jeff Taffe.

  19. Jesse Marshall

    Sep 17, 06:42 PM

    Tom –

    I totally forgot about that hit!

    Add T.J. Kemp to that list. He’s a little guy, but he was getting it done today. Should he end up on the blueline in WB/S, he can certainly step into big shoes should Alex get called up.

  20. Paul Chapman

    Sep 17, 07:35 PM

    Hey Jesse

    Great write up. Loving the early reports of the chemistry with Crosby and Satan. Thrilled to see how Staal does with Malkin and Sykora.

    Can you summarize how Ben Lovejoy looked? He’s one of my favorite unsung prospects. I think he’s lost in a numbers game, but maybe if the Pens move Sydor and Scuderi sometime in the future, he could become our new cheap Scuderi. What are your thoughts on him?

  21. Jesse Marshall

    Sep 17, 07:49 PM

    Paul –

    Lovejoy did a good job today. He was paired with Danny Richmond, who I mentioned, and they both seemed to feed off each other. It was his shot from the point that set up Max Talbot’s game clinching goal.

    As far as his future, WB/S is stacked with talented defensemen, and he’s certainly one of them. His game is well rounded and he’s a guy that, like a Rob Scuderi, can go generally underappreciated. This year should give us a better indication of where his career is headed. I’ll keep an eye on him for you tomorrow.

  22. Slipstream

    Sep 17, 09:11 PM

    Thanks, Jesse! Great job.

    Any thoughts on Stone or Filewich? We are approaching make-it or break-it time for these two, correct?

  23. Jesse Marshall

    Sep 17, 09:33 PM

    Slip –

    Correct. Filewich was a non-factor. Stone’s skating has improved and he looked very solid out there. He took a shift with Satan that resulted in a goal. His work in the boards was just as strong as it was last year and he’s consistently shown the willingness to take a beating to make a play.

  24. Matt Bodenschatz

    Sep 17, 10:13 PM

    Great report Jesse.

    Just a few thoughts from an outsider who didn’t attend camp.

    I love the line combos. If the Pens roll out a third of Fedotenko, Talbot and Cooke, they’ll have a pseudo scoring/checking line. I’ve always loved that concept.

    It appears as though the lineup is set aside from the odd job or two on the fourth line. Just from my own perspective, and the interview with Ray Shero from a few days back, I’d put money on one of Stone or Filewich making the team. Early indications are that it will be Stone.

    And, as I have predicted for quite some time, it appears Goligoski is on the outside looking in, and that is a very good thing. First, it further demonstrates the team’s depth on defense. When a guy like Whitney can go down and no one needs recalled, that’s a good sign. Second, it will give Goligoski more time to hone his defensive game, just as Letang did last year.

    Very exciting indeed, and I can’t wait for more.

  25. Eric

    Sep 18, 12:04 AM

    I agree with your comments Matt. And excellent work Jesse.

    Has there been any talk of them doing their Army training this year? Or due to the shortened training camp, that activity has been cut?

  26. Matt Bodenschatz

    Sep 18, 09:39 AM

    They won’t be heading to Army training this year for two reasons. First, there just isn’t time. They leave for Europe in fewer than 10 days. Second, the man who ran the team-building drills — his name escapes me — is in Iraq right now, according to what I’ve heard.

    I guess it’s bad in some ways and fine in others. To me, team-building is more for young guys, to show them how to fight for one another. Since the team is maturing, the need isn’t as strong. But, since there was such a high roster turnover during the summer, a team-building camp wouldn’t have hurt. I suppose, to an extent, the Europe trip will be a bonding/team-building camp of a different kind.

  27. Jess

    Sep 18, 10:56 AM

    Hey.

    This is so great. Since I can’t get to the practices I have been waiting to find a review of how all of the players looked in camp.

    However, I am most interested in Bill Thomas. I guess I am just hoping a home town boy makes the team, could you maybe let me know how he looked in the skrimmage?

  28. Bill

    Sep 18, 04:15 PM

    Hey Jess, this is Bill Thomas. I looked horrible in the scrimmage. I had 37 turnovers and I still can not skate backwards

  29. Jess

    Sep 19, 01:10 PM

    Wow. The last thing I expected was for Bill Thomas to actually respond to me. Sorry to hear you didn’t play well.

    All of us FC grads are rooting you on. Glad to see you back in the Pittsburgh area. Goodluck with the rest of camp. Are you going to get a chance to play in any preseason games?

  30. John

    Sep 27, 03:00 PM

    Hey Jesse,
    You really seem to know your penguin hockey. So, I am asking for some advice, knowledge, any help you can give…I live in Utah and have to see my penguins games on tv (center ice). For my birthday we are traveling to San Jose to see them in person and I would really love some autographs…any ideas on penguin morning skate time, hotel information, where visiting teams enter in San Jose, etc. I love my penguins and my family does too. So your help would be greatly appreciated.

  31. Jesse Marshall

    Sep 29, 11:11 AM

    John,

    I have a few friends in San Jose that might be able to help. Shoot me an e-mail: jmarshff@gmail.com.

    Thanks,

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