Politics and the Pens

So, just how loaded is the Penguins roster?

by Wayne Scanlan
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/index.html
May 15, 2013


Coach Dan Bylsma answers question following the Pittsburgh Penguins optional practice at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the NHL's Eastern Conference semi-final. (Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen

PITTSBURGH — So, just how loaded is the Penguins roster?

So loaded that James Neal, Pittsburgh’s pre-eminent sniper last season with 40 goals, was on the bench for both of the Penguins’ power play goals against the Senators in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal.

So loaded that Jussi Jokinen, a centre acquired at the trade deadline for Pittsburgh’s playoff push, was a healthy scratch against the Senators in the opener.

Can a team have too many good players? We may soon find out. If the Penguins don’t go on to win a Stanley Cup this spring, it could be blamed on a fatal flaw, such as goaltending, or it may be that adding as many deadline players as the Penguins did — Jarome Iginla, Douglas Murray, Jokinen, Brenden Morrow — makes it difficult to be one big, happy, functioning family as a hockey club.

As head coach, Dan Bylsma has the twisted pleasure of filling out the lineup sheet every night, knowing he is putting legitimate NHL players up in the press box, and hacking the minutes of others depending on the opponent and situation.

Winger Joe Vitale said he auditions for the coach every time he suits up. Used for only two games against the New York Islanders in a six-game quarter-final, Vitale was thrilled to get the call against Ottawa in the opener.

“I have to play with a desperate mentality every night to stay in the lineup,” Vitale said.

He might be in luck. The Senators are a more physical team than the Isles — and plan to come out thumping Friday — and Vitale’s grit is an asset in this series. Tyler Kennedy is in the lineup largely because of his status as a Senators killer (11 goals in 20 games). And so Jokinen and Tanner Glass sit for the moment, as does former first-round pick Simon Depres on defence, out for rugged Deryk Engelland.

Not only did the Penguins bring in four key players, including former captains in Iginla and Morrow, injuries to Sidney Crosby (late March) and Neal (late April) meant there has been limited opportunity to sort out line combinations.

“It’s been an interesting month and a half, with the additions we made at the deadline, the injuries we had,” Bylsma said, adding there was only a game or two with everyone available before Crosby broke his jaw. He was still out when the Penguins opened their series against the Islanders, returning for Game 2.

Now that the gang’s all here, iconic line combinations are being tossed aside like leftovers in the search for balance and cohesion. The Crosby-Chris Kunitz-Pascal Dupuis combo, one of the best in hockey this season, has been altered, with Kunitz now lining up with Evgeni Malkin and Neal.

Dupuis has shifted over to the left side to make room for Iginla to the right of Crosby. Seems both Crosby and Malkin like playing with Kunitz (who wouldn’t?), but now Crosby usually sees him only on the power play. Oh, and once in a while, Bylsma will throw Crosby and Malkin together — just because he can.

Neal agrees it “definitely” is a challenge to get everyone the appropriate ice time.

“Obviously I would say that’s the coach’s, I wouldn’t say problem, but he’s got to deal with that,” Neal said. “I think it’s a good thing to have. It’s fun to be able to play with all these guys. We’ve got a special team here and we want to keep things rolling.”

Understanding the end goal — a late June playoff series, and then possibly some bubbly and a raucous celebration — leads Bylsma to believe players buy in to the idea of playing smaller roles if that is what’s required.

“When it comes to ice time, almost to a man, everybody understands what role they need to play, what position they’re in — any way they can help the team win is where the players mindset is at,” Bylsma said.

“There’s not a lot of looking at time sheets.”

Good thing, because there was a time when Morrow, former captain of the Dallas Stars, would have gasped at seeing only 10:31 of ice time in a playoff game, as he did in Game 1 Tuesday. In 2008-09, Morrow averaged 21:21 as a Stars forward. His time on ice had been reduced to around 15 minutes per game in recent years.

As powerhouses go, the Penguins are a work in progress. At times, they can look like god’s gift to hockey. At other times, they look more like potential child’s play for the Chicago Blackhawks.

“We’re going to continue to get better each day,” Neal says.

The Senators are saying the same thing prior to Game 2.

‘GOON’ CROSBY

It’s easy to forget that Crosby can mix it up physically. Teammate Matt Niskanen remembers having a fight with Crosby three years ago when Niskanen was a member of the Dallas Stars.

Niskanen was astonished by The Kid’s strength.

“He rag-dolled me pretty good,” Niskanen said. “Threw me around like I was a little kid.”

When he first joined the Stars in 2007 as a rookie, the Finn said little, and people thought it was because he didn’t know English.

“I sat in my stall and kept my mouth shut for the first four months,” he says.

The Pittsburgh defenceman has more to say now. He entertained reporters for about 20 minutes after the Penguins optional skate Wednesday.

COACHED BY MAC

Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma once played for Senators head coach Paul MacLean as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, when MacLean was an assistant coach there.

“He was the power play coach, I didn’t see a lot of him,” Bylsma joked. “We passed in the hallway and stuff.”

“It looks like he has the same demeanour quality about him (today) that I liked about him when he was in Anaheim,” said Bylsma, who credited MacLean with helping him out as a player.

In turn, MacLean called Bylsma a “professional player, a student of the game … a real good teammate,” while with Anaheim. MacLean is not surprised Byslma became a coach because he was the type of player that would “stick around and ask questions.”

Asked if he could envision having the kind of heated coach-to-coach exchanges that marked the Senators’ first round series with Michel Therrien and the Montreal Canadiens, MacLean said: “I would doubt that.”

wscanlan@ottawacitizen.com
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