PENS RE-TOOLING

[vman]

Well since I have now, in recent posts, pledged alligance to Donbo & all that is green & gold and concede that UPS plays the most awesome ooc schedule and of course the best conference....I figured i better talk of Hockey. Let's wrap up Ray Shero's reconfiguration of the Pgh Penguins...but first check this out:

Penguins sign Finnish forward
Monday, July 07, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Penguins have signed Finnish forward Janne Pesonen to a one-year contract the team announced on Monday.
Pesonen, 26, led the Finnish Elite League last season, with 34 goals, 44 assists, 78 points in 56 games with the Oulu Karpat. He had 7 goals, 9 assists during the post-season, helping lead Karpat to its fifth league championship.
"Pesonen is a quick, skilled player that has had much success in the Finnish Elite League," said Penguins general manager Ray Shero said. "We look forward to watching him perform at his first NHL training camp."
Pesonen has won four league championships with Karpat and was the playoff MVP in 2007, recording seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) in nine games.
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Okay now, the first and most important thing he has done is to identify & lock up his 'core' players. Namely, Sid, Malkin, Orpik, Fleury, Whitney and w/in the yr. J Stall will be in the fold! Just like the NFL the 'cap' makes it more business like...why most NFL clubs hired Capologist! Point being you lock up 6/7 key players but there will be a more transient nature to most (smart) teams. Which is why role players like Satan & Fedotenko are/were given one yr deals...smart GM's will tinker w/ these types of role players annually and offer them another yr., or more, if & only if they produce!

Shero did pursue Hossa but hey ...Fungul him...you move on.....Malone was also a tough loss...but $4.5 mil a yr is hefty & as previously noted, for that money shero did not deem him as part of the core! Then we lose Ruutu, Hall & Larouque.

In exchage we've signed Satan, Fedotenko, Matt Cooke ( better skater & penalty killer than Ruutu, will definitely get more ice time than Ruutu did), Eric Godard (essentially to replace Laroque) and now a Finnish star! That's 5 forwards and the last will certainly be given every oppurtunity to play on Sid's wing...imagine a quick Teemu Selane like finisher w/ Sid!!!! Critics always wonder will Europeans be able to withstand the physical rigors of the NHL & smaller rinks but this kid is 26, looks fairly solid & has won 4 Finnish championships in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. In 2008 he also scored the most points in the SM-Liiga with 34 goals and 44 assists for 78 points in only 56 games. In addition to being the league's current scoring champion, Pesonen was the SM-Liiga Rookie of the Year in 2003-04, and was the playoff MVP in 2007.

Best move Pens made recently...signing Shero!!

[count2infinity]

shero did a great job this FA season. the only thing that i'd like to see him do is move whitney and sydor. possibly get a better back up in case fleury goes down, but hey you can't have everything. the best part of the off season is now the pens have this guy:


and this guy:

[abpk2903]

I read something on ESPN.com the other day that Jagr and the Pens were talking and Jagr is very interested at an opportunity at coming back to the 'burgh to play a few years with Crosby and Malkin. Not sure if the talks have gone much further but both parties have shown interest according to the article. Now imagine that team with Jagr.

[vman]

Jagr signed a huge 2 yr deal to play in Russia (on team he previously skated for during NHL strike).