Whitney
Sergei Gonchar
Brooks Orpik
Mark Eaton
Kris Letang
Hal Gill
So, with Whitney out of the picture for some time, one of a few names will naturally have to replace him. Those players are Daryl Sydor, Rob Scuderi, and Alex Goligoski. Minor leaguers like Danny Richmond and Ben Lovejoy might have a chance to join the roster as well, but that would take more injuries, and absolutely outstanding camps from either of them. Figure that Richmond and Lovejoy have no chance, but note that could change in drastic circumstances.
I would lobby for Daryl Sydor or Rob Scuderi. There is just no need to rush Goligoski along. The Pens have fantastic defensive depth, and from what I've seen and heard, "Gogo" could make good use of another developmental year in the AHL, before he begins what should be a good career with the big club.
Sydor and Scuderi are each accomplished NHL defensemen in their roles. Sydor, a puck possesion, defensively sound player, has been the whipping boy of many Pens fans for some time, having been ripped for his goal scoring output, or lack thereof, and Scuderi has, through injuries to Eaton, has found a place in the lineup every night for the last two seasons, yet has played like much more than a backup, and been the most reliable blueliner, perhaps on the entire team.
If there are any typos here, I apologize. It's past my bedtime.
Go Pens.
3 comments:
11:15 and it's past your bedtime? BigK, what's happening here? *laughs*
Anyways, Scuds should be the first replacement, then Sydor. I have nothing against Sydor, but I know Scuds performance and he deserves to play. Watching him all the time when we played 5-on-3 last season proved to me that he should be starting, but with so much depth it is hard to try to figure in so many people.
Now we just have the problem of losing a offensive defenseman because we all know Scuds and Sydor provide solid D but don't necessarily make the goals. Empty-Netters was saying that Whit has produced a lot in the last 2 seasons. He is 9th overall and Gonchar and Lidstrom top the list. Also Bouwmeester and Chara didn't make the list. Although everyone yells at him, he does produce a lot more than most figure. I guess we are going to need the goals and points from people who didn't produce as much last season.
I woke up at 3:30 in the morning.
Not even kidding.
I spent the day driving all over the place, and then saw the emotionally draining "The Dark Night". Best movie of the year.
Okay, I was a bit worried about you w/o that explanation ... *laughs* Sound like you had a long day though ...
TDK is one of my favorite movies now ... still hard to beat anything by Paul Newman, though, especially Slap Shot.
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