Monday, April 22, 2013

Bennett's no ordinary Beau

By Mark Madden

Beaver County Times Sports Columnist | Posted: Sunday, April 21, 2013 11:45 pm

http://www.timesonline.com

The jerseys worn by the Penguins this past Saturday at Boston will be auctioned on-line, with proceeds going to those most affected by the Boston Marathon bombing.

Bid on Beau Bennett’s. Buy low, sell high.

The Penguins’ rookie winger is going to be a star. He has that look already.

But that doesn’t mean Bennett will be in the lineup when the playoffs begin.

Barring injury, the Penguins’ top 12 forwards will be Craig Adams, Matt Cooke, Sidney Crosby, Pascal Dupuis, Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, Tyler Kennedy, Chris Kunitz, Brendon Morrow, James Neal, Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Sutter.

Bennett wouldn’t even necessarily be the first called upon in case of injury. That would depend on the role to be filled.

Bennett is far more talented than a few of those listed. But coaches prefer veterans to rookies in tight spots. Dan Bylsma is hardly unique in that regard.

But Bennett’s time will come, perhaps sooner than later. Neal doesn’t seem a lock to be ready for the start of the postseason.

Injuries always intervene. Like Mario Lemieux says about the playoffs, it’s a long two months. Jock Callendar, Dave Michayluk and Mike Needham got their names on the Stanley Cup in 1992. Who? Exactly. But they earned it.

At any rate, Bennett is ready. Not anxious, not chapped by the seeming inevitability of starting the playoffs in the press box. Just ready. Paying attention. Learning. Drinking it all in. Just 21, but as cool as they come.

Bennett is a strange player. Good strange, not bad strange.

Bennett’s profile says he’s 207 pounds, but he looks like he could shower in a drainpipe. He doesn’t seek out contact, but he doesn’t shy away from it. Bennett spends a lot of time in high-traffic areas and does well. Bennett frequently skates into crowds and comes out the other side with the puck.

Bennett has some weird moves: Little half-spins and tight cuts. He expertly puts the puck into space for teammates. His release is rapid. Bennett played roller hockey growing up in California. Much of his repertoire reflects that.

Bennett will be on Crosby’s wing next season. Write that down.

I’d put Bennett on the fourth line for the start of the playoffs. Bennett isn’t a traditional fourth-liner. But most teams use grinders as fourth-liners because that’s all they got. Bennett would be a unique fourth-line weapon and could move up the lineup as mid-game injury or poor play by others might dictate.

Bennett will end up playing a role. That seems inevitable.

Right now, winning the Stanley Cup seems inevitable. The Penguins have won 21 of 23. Fifteen-game win streak, hiccup, six-game win streak. The top seed in the Eastern Conference is clinched. Even the better teams in the East seem meek.

But it’s a long two months.

In an odd way, the Penguins’ late-season rash of injuries has worked for them. Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow have assumed bigger roles than might have been targeted for them. That’s made it easier for them to be prominent. Confidence and comfort established now will carry over into the playoffs.

No team is unbeatable. But the Penguins have that look and feel.

Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9)

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Pedro Alvarez: the most confusing hitter in baseball

By Grant Brisbee on Apr 18 2013, 9:00a @mccoveychron 4

Wait, wait. I see something weird with his swing. Play the tape back. - Vincent Pugliese

My personal history with Pedro Alvarez, in two parts:

1. In 2008, the Giants had the No. 5 in the June draft. They were terrible enough the season before to earn the pick, and they were terrible enough that season to make their fans excited about it. When it came to Alvarez's draft profile, I knew I shouldn't bother. He was going to to in the first two or three picks, if not first overall.

But draft day is filled with wacky machinations and subterfuge, so there was at least a chance Alvarez was going to be around. It was almost like by writing the profile and even suggesting he could be available at No. 5, that was the first step in wishing him into existence. He was the absolutely the perfect pick for the Giants. I was convinced of that. Instead, they picked some goofball catcher, and that perfect match was never to be.

2. On April 17, 2013, I was sorting early-season stats, looking for story ideas. When I sorted by OBP, K%, and WAR, the same name kept coming up, and that player inspired my only idea of the night. Which is how I found myself staring at a blinking cursor, with nothing in the story editor but a title. The title was worth about 750 words, and all I needed to do was find them. Except, the title told the whole story. There was nothing more that needed to be said.

The title: "Dammit, Pedro Alvarez." So I hit delete and came up with a title that wouldn't give everything away.

That's not just a personal history of Pedro Alvarez. That's his entire career, from draft to present day, for just about everyone. Only the details are different. He started as a franchise cornerstone -- the kind of top prospect that made a team feel lucky they had the top pick in that specific draft instead of the year before or the year after. Even better, he wasn't supposed to languish in the minors. He was one of the rare farm-to-table prospects that made sense to hype right away.

As of the end of April 17: .089/.180/.089 in 50 plate appearances. He's without an extra-base hit, obviously. He has four hits in 45 at-bats. He's struck out in over a third of his plate appearances. If Alvarez is the most perplexing hitter in baseball, this wasn't a perplexing start. It was simply awful. I went through the game logs, and just started tallying the plate appearances up. So instead of a narrative, you're going to get a list of factoids.

In 31 of the 50 plate appearances, Alvarez didn't see a pitch while ahead in the count.
He's hit the ball out of the infield six times -- four singles, a fly out to shallow left, and a fly out to center
In 33 of 50 plate appearances, he was at two strikes by the third pitch
He's had a two-strike count against him in 38 of 50 plate appearances.
He's put the ball in play three times while ahead in the count -- a single, grounder to first, and pop out (all on 2-0 counts)
One of his singles was against Carlos Marmol, which doesn't officially count
The farthest Alvarez has hit a ball this season is about 325 feet
The second farthest Alvarez has hit a ball this season is about 240 feet

I'm pretty sure I've never seen a hitter as messed up as Pedro Alvarez. He might as well be going up to the plate without a bat, pantomiming the whole thing. At least then he can pretend he's trapped in the batter's box and see if security is called to take him away.

Pedro Alvarez at the start of last year comes pretty close. Through 15 games last year, he was hitting .149/.200/.426. But that was with four home runs and a double, which makes that version like Miguel Cabrera compared to the current version. Still, he was lost at the plate last year, and he still finished strong, with a .253/.328/.471 line after his low-water mark on April 27. He came around, and he ended up being rather valuable.

Pedro Alvarez in 2011 comes really close. He hit .191/.272/.289 in 262 plate appearances that year, and he was merely okay in the International League after he was demoted.

More: Bucs Dugout for Pedro Alvarez news and analysis

So, to recap: Alvarez was one of the top college hitters of the last decade. He flew through the minors, hitting at just about every stop. When he arrived in the majors, he was a good hitter. Then he was the worst hitter in baseball, a title which carried over to the following spring. Then he was good again. And a season later, he's one hit ahead of Barry Zito after 41 more at-bats on the year. Alvarez's single on Wednesday also pushed him ahead of Zito in RBI this year (2).

I kept looking at the game logs and videos expecting to see some kind of answer, as if baseball is that obvious. "Oh, wait, he's holding the wrong end of the bat." Nope. There aren't any answers. The Pirates just have to work with Alvarez and hope he figures out what's wrong, like he did last season.

Except for as messed up as Pedro Alvarez has been in his short career, I'm not sure he's ever been this messed up. That's saying something. The only thing we know about him is that he's the most confusing hitter in baseball. I'm not sure how close second place is, either.

Cards one and done against Burnett

By Rick Hummel
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
www.stltoday.com
April 18, 2013

PITTSBURGH • In his previous start, prized Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller allowed one hit and struck out eight, walking none and hitting one while pitching seven scoreless innings. Now he knows what the other side feels like.

While Miller allowed a hit to the first Milwaukee batter he faced last week in St. Louis, Pittsburgh righthander A.J. Burnett didn’t give up a hit until the next-to-last batter he faced Wednesday night.

The Cardinals’ Carlos Beltran doubled to right center with two out in the seventh to end the no-hit bid by the 36-year-old Burnett, who had one nearly 12 years ago while pitching for Florida.

Burnett left after the inning for a pinch hitter, having allowed one hit and fanning eight in seven innings. He walked none and hit one, just as Miller did last week.

The only other runner to reach base against Burnett was Daniel Descalso, who was hit in the foot by a pitch with one out in the sixth inning after Burnett had set down the first 16 Cardinals.

Miller was good this time, too, but the Pirates nicked him for a run in the first, another in the sixth and, with the help of some flawed Cardinals defense and some spotty Cardinals relief pitching, proceeded to a 5-0 victory before a modest, but amused, turnout of 9,570 at PNC Park.

Beltran’s hit, which prevented Burnett from making history, was the Cardinals’ only hit of the game. Earlier, Beltran had been a subordinate part of history as he became the 2,000th strikeout of Burnett’s career.

After Beltran got his hit, Burnett said to Beltran, “Hey, couldn’t you just have had one more swing and a miss?”

“He looked at me and smiled and said, ‘Congratulations on the 2,000th strikeout. You got me there.’’’

Burnett had walked nine in his first no-hitter but, having had one, he said, “I hope to throw a no-hitter every time out. I really want another one. The one I had was ugly. Nine walks. I want a pretty one before I retire.”

Burnett said the competition against Miller and the Cardinals’ deep lineup added fuel to his fire.

“The way Miller was pitching and with that lineup they have, it pumps you up,” said Burnett. “You’d better be on top of your game to win a game like this.”

Second baseman Neil Walker made a diving stop to his right to rob Matt Carpenter in the fourth and right fielder Travis Snider tumbled to take a hit from Yadier Molina in the fifth. Burnett, just before Beltran’s hit, slid to make the play on Matt Holliday’s tap and, though he bobbled the ball, he nipped Holliday at first.

“Normally, pitchers don’t make those plays,” said Beltran.

Otherwise, Burnett was in total command with his fastball and slider, rarely having to go to his third pitch, his changeup.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said, “The breaking ball was big and the fastball was exceptional. The combination of the two kind of had their guys in between all night.”

Beltran, 10 for 33 (.300) in his career against Burnett, said he hit a slider for the double. “That was one of the few that he threw in the middle of the strike zone,” said Beltran. “He threw me one for a strike and the second one was more hittable than the first one.”

As hitter after hitter was retired, center fielder Andrew McCutchen said, “(Burnett) made it look so easy I thought I was out there in a lawn chair watching it all.”

Miller, who threw four no-hitters in high school in Texas, including three in a row in one state tournament, said, “(Burnett) threw a really good game. You just tip your cap to him tonight.”

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, asked if he thought Burnett had no-hit stuff, “I never try and give too much credit to any of them, especially with our lineup. And then you’re seeing some balls hit pretty hard and you figure somebody’s going to find a spot.

“We went in with a game plan, but he made tough pitches when he had to.”

When Miller came out, the Cardinals were down only 2-0, but third baseman David Freese’s error gave the Pirates an unearned run in the seventh and Trevor Rosenthal and Randy Choate each surrendered a run in a two-run eighth.

The Cardinals also survived a lazy toss back to the infield by left fielder Holliday when an advancing runner overslid the bag at second.

“In every loss like this, there are a lot of little things that help contribute to it,” Matheny said. “We’d been playing pretty well defensively, and that’s something we need to make sure we keep as a top priority.”

Miller, who retired the final 17 men he faced last Friday, allowed a triple to Starling Marte and a bloop single to Snider with the infield in to account for the first run in the first inning.

Miller allowed four of his six-hit allotment in that inning.

“I just made some mistakes and they capitalized on them,” he said. “The rest of the game I felt good.”

The other Pirates run off Miller came after a shattered-bat single by McCutchen with two out in the sixth, shortstop Descalso’s throwing error on the play, a walk and Walker’s single to center.

But, overall, Miller pitched strongly.

“He was good,” said Molina.

And Burnett?

“Even better.”

Rick is a baseball writer/columnist at the Post-Dispatch

Canadiens fall 6-4 to Penguins

Pittsburgh wins despite missing Crosby, Malkin

BY PAT HICKEY, THE GAZETTEAPRIL 17, 2013

Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Brenden Morrow (10) celebrates his second-period goal with Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Pascal Dupuis (9), as Montreal Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges, centre, skates back to his bench, during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh Wednesday, April 17, 2013.

Photograph by: Gene Puskar, AP

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins were missing Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Paul Martin and James Neal, but they didn't miss a beat as they completed a three-game season sweep of the Canadiens with a 6-4 victory Thursday at the Consol Energy Center. It marked the first time this season the Canadiens have lost three consecutive games in regulation time.

We're No. 4: The loss left the Canadiens tied in points with the Boston Bruins, who dropped a 3-2 shootout to Buffalo. But the Bruins are first in the Northeast Division because they have played one fewer game. The Canadiens drop to fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Who's in goal? For the third consecutive game, the Canadiens' starting goaltender finished the game on the bench. Peter Budaj saw his seven-game winning streak come to an end when he gave up three goals on nine shots in the first period. He was replaced by Carey Price, who had been yanked in the two previous games.

Newcomers contribute: A couple of late-season additions provided the bulk of the offence for the Penguins. Brenden Morrow scored at 9:30 of the first period to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead and he added his 11th goal of the season when he combined with Beau Bennett on a 2-on-1 break at 4:07 of the second period. Veteran Jarome Iginla scored a power-play goal at 19:38 of the first period. It was his 1,100th NHL point. And defenceman Douglas Murray completed the Pittsburgh scoring with a third-period goal.

Two for Sutter: Brandon Sutter also scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season. He opened the scoring at 7:24 of the first period and added a power-play goal when he scored on a rebound after Price stopped Morrow.

Dupuis on a streak: Laval native Pascal Dupuis assisted on Morrow's first goal to extend his points streak to six games. Dupuis, who has been pressed into service as a centre following the loss of Crosby, has three goals and seven assists in the string.

Rookie watch: Alex Galchenchuk had the prettiest goal of the night when he went top-shelf on Marc-André Fleury and Gabriel Dumont scored his first NHL goal in the third period. But Brendan Gallagher had a tough night. He left the game briefly after stopping a shot by Matt Niskanen late in the first period. He also collected eight penalty minutes, including a double minor for what appeared to be an inadvertent high-sticking on Matt Cooke.

Missing bodies: Michael Ryder didn't travel to Pittsburgh. He is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Also missing is Ryan White, who has been suspended five games for a head shot on Philadelphia's Kent Huskins Monday.

What's next: The Canadiens return to the Bell Centre for their final regular-season home games. They play the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night (7:30 p.m., TSN-Habs, RDS, TSN-690 Radio) while the Washington Capitals are in town Saturday.

phickey@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @zababes1

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Team Needs: Pittsburgh Steelers

Team needs: Pittsburgh Steelers

Posted by Mike Florio on April 16, 2013, 8:56 AM EDT

http://profootballtalk.nbc.com

Getty Images

The Steelers need something that few draft picks ever immediately give any team: leadership. The only way to fix that moving forward is to find players who are likely to become leaders in the future. Of course, there may not be a future for the people picking the players if the team doesn’t improve before this year’s rookies become some future year’s leaders. So here are the areas where the Steelers need to focus in order to buy time for this year’s incoming players to eventually become leaders.

Running back: The Steelers keep saying they want to return the focus of the offense to the running game. That’s hard to do without a chain-moving, old-school running back. Rashard Mendenhall is gone, and none of the other in-house options conjure memories of Franco Harris or Jerome Bettis. In 2004, the Steelers were overdue to get a franchise quarterback. In 2013, they’re overdue to get a franchise tailback.

Receiver: Even with Emmanuel Sanders still in the fold for one more year, the Steelers need to think about 2014, when Sanders likely will join Mike Wallace as third-round picks who picked up and left after four seasons in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have done a great job finding quality receivers in later rounds of the draft; they need to do it again.

Linebacker: To vindicate the decision to cut James Harrison and later to rebuff his interest in coming back for less money, the Steelers need a solid replacement. Especially with Harrison likely landing in Cincinnati. Jarvis Jonespresents an intriguing option with the team’s first-round pick. With other needs, however, using their first-round pick on a rush linebacker may be a luxury they can’t really afford. Unless Jarvis Jones is there at 17.

Quarterback: Apparently, Charlie Batch and Byron Leftwich won’t be back, replaced by Bruce Gradkowski as the understudy to Ben Roethlisberger. It would make sense to spend a late-round pick on a guy who could be developed to serve as the backup over the next few years — especially with Roethlisberger’s injury history. He has appeared in all 16 regular-season games only once in his career.

Cornerback: Keenan Lewis is gone and Ike Taylor is getting closer to the end of the road. With the front seven not as potent as it used to be, the secondary needs to improve, or the defense won’t.

Tight end: A torn ACL suffered late in the 2012 season by Heath Miller makes the position a question mark for 2012. It could be time to think about finding a long-term replacement.

Offensive line: For the first time in years, the line isn’t as big of a need — in part because other needs trump it. Late-round depth would be helpful a year afterDavid DeCastro and Mike Adams arrived via rounds one and two, respectively.

Monday, April 15, 2013

ESPN: Bengals try to sign James Harrison

James Harrison, Bengals Working On Deal

John Clayton discusses the possibility that linebacker James Harrison could sign with Cincinnati.Tags: John Clayton, James Harrison, Bengals, revenge

The Cincinnati Bengals and former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison will try to complete a deal this week, a source familiar with situation told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

[+] Enlarge

Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesJames Harrison has long been a thorn in the side of AFC North quarterbacks, such as the Bengals' Andy Dalton, pictured. He might soon be a player Ben Roethlisberger has to worry about as well.

Harrison and former Miami Dolphinslinebacker Karlos Dansby each visited Cincinnati last week, and while the Bengals are interested in Dansby, a deal with Harrison seems more attainable and realistic at this time.

The Bengals have a need at outside linebacker, as 2012 starter Manny Lawson signed with the Buffalo Bills this offseason.

The 34-year-old Harrison, who was set to make $6.57 million in 2013, was released by the Steelers last month after refusing to take a pay cut. His agent said his client would be open to a return to the Steelers, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the team is not interested in a reunion.

Harrison was meeting with the Baltimore Ravens on the same day Baltimore reached agreement with linebacker Elvis Dumervil, which ended the team's interest in signing Harrison. Otherwise he has received little interest from teams looking for a linebacker.

Harrison missed the first three games of the 2012 season with a minor knee injury but was one of Pittsburgh's steadiest performers over the second half of the year. He finished with six sacks, tied for the team lead, and a pair of forced fumbles as the Steelers finished No. 1 in total defense for the fourth time since Harrison became a starter.

He has 64 career sacks and was named The Associated Press' Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 after finishing with a career-best 16 sacks.

Information from ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter and The Associated Press was used in this report.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Wild, wonderful world of Marte

About Dejan Kovacevic

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Sports Columnist Dejan Kovacevic can be reached via e-mail

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By Dejan Kovacevic

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Published: Sunday, April 14, 2013, 9:36 p.m.

Updated 22 minutes ago

Always let the thoroughbred run wild.

For all else there was for the Pirates to embrace on this stirring Sunday at PNC Park, where 10 runs in the final two innings crushed the Reds by a 10-7 count, where backup Michael McKenry went deep twice, where Starling Marte slugged a cloud-seeker of his own, where the bullpen picked up a nervous Phil Irwin in his big league debut, where irked Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker grabbed the box score afterward and tore it into his office wastebasket … what I found most moving was one seemingly innocuous play in the seventh inning.

No, really. Stay with me here.

The Reds were up, 5-0, when McKenry led off with his first shot. After two outs, Marte lined a single, and Travis Snider lofted what controversially was ruled a double after bouncing off a fan over the Clemente Wall.

Even as the home dugout began to leap in protest, Marte poured it on. He went into full gazelle mode around second, put his head down approaching third and blew right through Nick Leyva's stop sign. By the time he touched home, the Reds just got the ball to the infield.

And Leyva clapped.

What would you have done?

In theory, Marte made a lousy decision. Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen were due up, and no one wants to make the third out at home when you're down four runs.

But with Marte, throw out the theories and the fears. There are few regrets when letting him to do pretty much anything he thinks he can do.

“Players like that, they have those abilities,” Leyva would say afterward. “I've been lucky to be around guys like Roberto Alomar, Ozzie Smith … this young man's right there. He's one of those. He's got that type of tools. He's one where you just say, ‘Go get 'em, son.' ”

Explains a lot.

So up came Marte in the next inning, the score now 6-6 and Jose Tabata aboard.

Earlier, Marte had committed an error that cost a run, he'd grounded out and struck out twice. It's the type of showing that can bury a 24-year-old in his first full big league season.

Must have had a lot on his mind as he locked eyes with flamethrower Jonathan Broxton.

“No,” he snapped right back.

Well, how about when Broxton got ahead with a fastball?

“No. Nothing. Not thinking about anything.”

Not until Broxton then hung an inside slider, anyway, and Marte attacked it like a mortal enemy. This wasn't about leadoff-type patience or going the other way or any other facet of standard baseball maturation.

This came with two steps:

1. Seek.

2. Destroy.

The ball took off as high as the light standards and landed deep into the left-field rotunda.

“My God,” teammate Jose Tabata recalled. “He killed it.”

Still sprinted around the bases, too, barely breaking stride to high-five Leyva.

“I see it's a breaking pitch, it's coming in, and I gave my best swing,” Marte described. “Not thinking about anything. It's baseball. It's a game. I don't let anything bother me. Why should I?”

Honestly, I still can't get a firm feel for these Pirates, not with a 6-6 record and not even after this intense, impressive sweep of an opponent that's among the class of the National League.

But I know this right now: If they rise, it'll be because this special athlete — unleashed on the field, unbridled in baseball joy — will play as much of a marquee role as he has so far: He's batting a team-best .347 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, seven RBI, two steals and a .385 on-base percentage.

And that's to say nothing of the best outfield arm in these parts since, what, Dave Parker?

Look, this is hardly a done deal. Pitchers will find holes, and he'll have to adjust. There will be slumps, as there were last summer. The free-swinging he did in the minors will have to continue to morph into, if not walks, then better selectivity.

But for right now …

“Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good, pretty confident,” Marte said.

He then grabbed his cellphone to show me a text he got Friday from Rene Gayo, the Pirates' Latin American scouting director who found Marte on a Dominican sandlot in early 2007 and signed him with an $85,000 check right on the spot.

“Rene told me I've got to play like Brandon Phillips this weekend,” Marte said, referring to Cincinnati's do-it-all, All-Star, Gold Glove second baseman.

And?

“I always trust Rene.”

Gary Roberts Knows: Winning is Hard

About Joe Starkey

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Freelance Columnist Joe Starkey can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7848

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The Penguins' Gary Roberts checks Detroit's Brian Rafalski into the boards during the second period of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at Mellon Arena.

By Joe Starkey

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Published: Saturday, April 13, 2013, 11:45 p.m.

Updated 8 hours ago

Gary Roberts hasn't pulled on a Penguins sweater since 2008. He retired from the NHL in 2009. But he's still capable of delivering the kind of check everybody needs come playoff time.

A reality check.

Like most across the league, Roberts loved the Penguins' deadline acquisitions. He was one of those in 2006.

“Ray Shero once again finds a way to infuse his hockey club,” said Roberts, who runs a fitness center in Toronto. “He brings in guys who he believes are going to give him an edge in the playoffs.”

Roberts raves about Jarome Iginla, who would have been his teammate in Calgary if Roberts hadn't broken his neck in 1996. He remembers battling against the pit bull that is Brenden Morrow and the human washing machine that is Douglas Murray.

Can you imagine a collision between Murray and Roberts?

“Yeah, I remember lying down a lot after hitting him,” Roberts said. “Kind of like (Zdeno) Chara, you could take a 4x4 and hit him and I'm not sure you're going to move the guy.”

Jussi Jokinen is looking like a nice addition, too, but even if the Penguins return to full health in the playoffs, they face a long and arduous road. Talent and hard work might not be enough. They'll need luck, too.

The word “Cup” gets thrown around a lot in these parts. It's good to be reminded of just how hard it is to win one. It's good to have a healthy respect for the process.

Roberts certainly does.

“It's hard to win,” he said. “You look at the Penguins going to the Cup final and winning it the next year? That was incredible. Pittsburgh fans have been blessed. That's not the way it always is. I remember standing on the blue line in Calgary and winning a Stanley Cup. I was 23. I looked over at my buddy Joe Nieuwendyk and said, ‘Wow, that was easy. How many more of those are we gonna win?'

“At 23, it was like, hey, no big deal. But all of a sudden, just before my 43rd birthday, I retire — almost 20 years later — and with no more Stanley Cups. I think it hit me then, like, ‘Oh my gosh, my career's over, and I never won another Cup.' You appreciate it a heck of a lot more when you're sitting in my seat today.”

It's easy to forget the lesson most championship teams teach us: Luck is a critical factor. If you watched the recent ESPN documentary on the 1983 North Carolina State basketball team, you were reminded.

Forget the miracle play that won it. N.C. State wouldn't have been there if not for waves of good fortune along the way. Like its first-round game against Pepperdine, which was up six with a minute to go in overtime, with the ball.

Remember, there was no shot clock then. No 3-point line, either. N.C. State twice fouled Pepperdine's best player.

Then-Pepperdine coach Jim Harrick remembered: “They foul the all-time leading scorer in the history of Pepperdine, Dane Suttle, who was a four-year, 84-percent foul shooter — which you'd almost put your house on.”

Almost. Except Suttle missed the front end of two 1-and-1's.

Meanwhile, Root Sports is running a documentary called “The Save” — a reminder that the 1991 Penguins had the hockey gods on their side when Frank Pietrangelo miraculously stopped New Jersey's Peter Stastny shot toward an open net.

The 2009 Cup-winning Penguins could relate. Who knows what happens to them if Kris Letang doesn't bang a puck off a skate in overtime of Game 3 against the Capitals? Lose there, and the Penguins are down three games to none.

Nobody needs to tell the Penguins' new guys about the Cup's elusiveness. Including playoffs, Morrow, Murray, Iginla and Jokinen have combined for 3,318 games and zero rings.

How's that for a void?

“I think about it a lot,” Morrow said.

Iginla made it as far Game 7 of the Cup final in 2004. Morrow made it to overtime of Game 6 in 2000. Murray and Jokinen have never advanced beyond the conference finals.

Will this be the year for all four?

Maybe.

But Shero said it best the day he acquired Iginla: “This doesn't guarantee anything.”

Black and Gold