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If the Pens make the playoffs they will still probably be the favorites in the East

Are you ****ing serious? Pardon the extreme language, but this kind of homer talk should be outlawed. Holy crap, dude. They'll be lucky to make it as the 8 seed!!!! And that's IF Carolina falls apart, and IF the Sabres don't get in, and the Sabres are way better than Pittsburgh!

You guys need to realize that the HC should have been fired long ago, and the Pens had no chance in that Cup final againt Detroit. They didn't exactly have the stiffest competition in the East last year, fellas.

The Pens get in who in the heck will want to play them? You give Sid and Malkin a shot in the playoff they will make things happen. You tend to forget TAE that Gonchar who is by far our 3rd best player has been out all season. Whitney is just getting his legs back under him, Stall is starting to turn it on after signing his deal. Fluery has proved to be one of the best goalies in March, April, and May. Its not being a homer its looking around the league and realizing that the East is quite weak. The Rangers always fold in the playoffs, Sabres seem to never be able to get past the conference semi's and we have had their number for a decade, Caps are not there yet, Habs and the Flyers scare me but I'm sure the Penguins scare them as well though.

you are the expert when it comes to college football but hockey wise c'mon man don't act like you know it all. As count said Shero will make a deal to get more scorers. There are about 5 forwards on the team right now that should be in Scranton. The Pens get in they will be one of the favorites in the East, dude. This isn't football where top seeds get a bye and the lower seeds only play on the road. In hockey Pens get one of the first two on the road its lights out because they are pretty close to unstoppable at home in the playoffs. In hockey, playoff experience is everything and the Pens now have great, great experience from the last two seasons. BTW season is half and they most likely will make the playoffs and are still in reaching distance of 1st in the division so they will most likely not be an 8 seed.

The Ancient Enemy wrote: You guys need to realize that the HC should have been fired long ago, and the Pens had no chance in that Cup final againt Detroit. They didn't exactly have the stiffest competition in the East last year, fellas.

3 things here,

1. If that puck that is rolling across the goalline as time expires finds a way in, Pens win that series. So dont act like they weren't competitive
2. Firing the head coach now would result in throwing away the rest of this season so why not just wait until the offseason
3. You proved my point for me that the Pens are still one of the favorites in the East. They won it last year and show me where any team in the East made enough improvement to be that much better than the Pens? The only team that was aggressive in the offseason with moves was the Tampa Bay Lightning and they still suck.

I agree that no one will want to play the pens in the playoffs. I disagree that if they make it they're the favorites to win it. They were by far the preseason favorites to win it, but not anymore. Boston has exploded out of nowhere to be a dominant team, rangers are a better team than they were last year, the flyers are a better team than they were last year. heck, i wouldn't even call the pens the favorite from the atlantic division. They will make the playoffs, they will be competitive, they will not win the east.

I like how people on this site tell me "don't interfere in our sports, you aren't allowed to have an opinion".

What the heck have you seen from this team to make you think, right now, that they're a playoff team? Didn't Malkin score 1 goal in 11 games? They just lost... again... to Colorado, who is GARBAGE at best. The next 4 are brutal, and they probably won't win any of them. Other than "faith" what exactly are you betting on, here?

Obviously I want them to win the cup, but come on now. There's teams who are playing way better than Pittsburgh. 7 or 8 of them, in fact, just in the East.

First off i never said they would be the clear cut favorites. However, they make the playoffs they will be one of the favorites out of the East. Colorado has nearly an identical record as Pittsburgh in a much tougher Western Conference so dont call them garbage. Nashville was a garbage team that they lost to. Penguins go the second half of there season and get in as say a 6 seed like I predict them to do they will be one of the favorites in the East.

actually if you take a look at the bowl poll, TAE knows nothing about college football.... lol

Just wanna throw these stats out there...

Some of the Penguins putrid statistics from their 8-15-1 stretch dating to Nov. 22:

• 15.5 percent on the power play (16-for-103).

• 76.4 percent on the penalty kill (81-of-106).

• 83 goals surrendered for a 3.46 goals-against average.

• 719 shots allowed for an average of 30 per game and a .886 save percentage.

• More than two goals scored in just 13 games (52.2 percent), compared to 18 games with more than two goals allowed (75 percent).

• 83 goals surrendered for a 3.46 goals-against average.

9 quality defensemen if you count Gonchar, remember?

They have quality players on defense, but only a few quality defensemen. Goligoski, Letang, and Whitney are always trying to play too much offense. Sure it looks good on their stat sheet, but what the stat sheet doesn't show (other than +/-) is how many times they've been trapped deep in the offensive zone, and committed a turnover that lead to a break away. I think Boucher is a terrible player and Shero trading Sydor for him was a terrible move. IMHO Orpik and Gil are the only two defensmen on the team who are worth a poo. And Scuderi and Eaton are ok players, but they are deffinately not something to brag about. As to the grumblings of firing Theirienn, if some of you recall he signed a contract extention last year, so there is little chance that he'll be gone anytime soon. Then you have to look at Ray Shero, who granted has brought in some big name players that have propelled the Pens to quick success, but you also have to look at what he gave up to get them. Especially fighting the loosing battle to keep Hossa on the team last year and letting Malone and Ruutu quietly slip away in the process.