I Don't Get It

I have been meaning to update this blog for some time now, but have been utterly disgusted by what I have seen from the Pens this season.

Everything seemed to be going well until Marc-Andre Fleury missed a few games with a groin injury. Then, Dany Sabourin comes in and sucks up the joint and we haven't recovered since.

Now, granted injuries have played a major part of why this ever deepening suckfest has continued.

Why Michael Therrien hasn't been fired yet is beyond me. There hasn't been any consistency in the roster for most of the season. We're rotating 7 defensemen through the lineup nightly.

Again, injuries play into this, but it's no wonder the team looks out of sync. How can you possibly build chemistry when you don't know who you'll be playing with on a given night?

Now we're on a 4-game losing streak after losing to Tampa Bay Lightning tonight.

Wait....we won?

Really?......Wow.

Anyway, I could go on and on, but tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning was an eye-opener.

Down 3-0 after two, Evgeni Malkin spoke up in the locker room and essentially called everyone out. Now his lack of English speaking skills might have made this speech an instant YouTube classic, but it apparently worked.

The Pens stormed back to tie it and then Malkin fittingly gets the game winner in overtime with 16 seconds left after Max Talbot got robbed by the refs just seconds earlier.

Everyone reporting on the Pens has given a few examples of supposed "turning points" to get out of this funk. There's the two solid wins against the New York Rangers in the last couple weeks, a big win over the Philadelphia Flyers blah blah blah.

Already I'm seeing people calling this another "turning point." I really want to believe it this time, but this team has not responded well to any of the aforementioned big wins. They come out almost expecting to win and you can't just win games because you want to win. You need to put in the effort for 60 minutes, grind it out and do whatever it takes. Period.

Tonight's game was very different from the other big wins thought. Granted it was against the hapless Bolts, but maybe just maybe they'll wake up this time.

There's also a ridiculous rumor on hockeybuzz.com from Mr. Hardly Ever Right Eklund saying that the Pens might bring Mark Recchi back to town.

Really? Are you kidding me?

Don't get me wrong, Recchi is a legend in Pittsburgh and I'd welcome him back, but we need scorers. Not guys on the verge of retirement. We could use some veterans on the roster sure, but come on.

The only upside to this deal is that I would be able to take the tags off the Recchi jersey I got as a gift 2 days before we cut him two years ago. Yeah, I'm one of those people that doesn't wear jerseys of people not on the team. It's a pet peeve of mine showing up to games and seeing wrong jerseys.

What would we give Tampa for Recchi anyway? One of the draft picks we got from them this past offseason as compensation for them speaking to Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone?

Get off your high horse Eklund for the love of God. I could sit around all day and post "rumors" that could go down from "sources." I don't doubt you know some people, but I'm fairly certain half the rumors you post are trades you concocted in NHL 09.

Not to mention his other rumor right now about the Dallas Stars thinking about bringing Sean Avery back.

Excuse me for a second.

(Excessive laughter....wiping tears away.)

You have got to be absolutely kidding me. Why would they bring him back now when the team is just starting to turn things around and play better? Makes no sense. Not to mention not even the Rangers would want him at this point.

Get a clue man.