The New Matt Cooke
We were all skeptical, but the proof is in the pudding. After leading the league in goals for the first week of the season, Cooke's play lulled as he tried to find his way and get comfortable with his promised rehabilitation. With two games to go, Cooke has set a career high in goals (19), and added 19 assists (1 short of his career high) for a total of 38 points (4 short of his career high) while being assessed only 42 PIM (all minors) and nothing even close to supplementary discipline. He has remained a key contributor to one of the top-ranked PKs in the league (88.0%, T-3rd).
Bottom line... Off the ice, Matt Cooke has always been a good guy. I'm glad he has found a way to be that guy on the ice.
The Return of Geno
After a couple of sub-par seasons, partly due to nagging knee and shoulder injuries, concluding with the early end to 2010-11 due to a horrific MCL and ACL tear suffered in a collision with Buffalo's Tyler Myers, Evgeni Malkin has bounced back in a big way. Malkin trained harder in the off-season than even before. He showed up for training camp nearly 100% recovered and ready to go. After sitting out 7 games during the first month of the season due to lingering soreness in the surgically-repaired knee, Geno caught fire.
Malkin has looked every bit the player that won the Art Ross and led the league in playoff scoring in 2008-09, while carrying the Penguins to the Stanley Cup and winning the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. He has been a dominant force on the ice all season, leading the league in points (105) and shots (335) and has set a career high in goals (48). Malkin is the odds-on favorite to take home the Hart Trophy (MVP) at the NHL Awards this summer.
The "Real Deal" James Neal
The 2011 trade deadline brought the Penguins James Neal (and Matt Niskanen) and, for a beloved return, Alex Kovalev. Neal was the sure-thing, up-and-coming, projected 30+ goal scorer with a penchant for fading down the stretch. Kovy was a no-risk, all-reward gamble; a desperate attempt at restoring some of the offense lost with injuries to Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Both failed miserably. Kovalev played his way right out of the NHL. Neal scored 1 goal in 20 regular season games and 1 goal in 7 playoff games as the Penguins blew a 3-1 opening round series lead against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Neal had a lot to prove coming into this season. He did not disappoint. He scored the Penguins first goal of the season at 5:04 of the first period in the season opener at Vancouver and he never looked back. Neal has set career highs across the board, including G (40, 4th in the NHL), A (41), P (81, T-5th), Power Play Goals (18, 1st) and S (329, 2nd).
Dupuis' Career Year
Quick... Who has the longest points scoring streak in the NHL this year? At 15 games and counting, the answer is... Pascal Dupuis. Along the way Dupuis has set career highs in G (24), A (33), P (57), +/- (17-T), GWG (8), and S (209). He has been a key contributor in all situations, all over the ice, and up and down the lineup.
Crosby Watch
The waiting was finally over. The Pens captain, Sidney Crosby finally returned from 10+ months of injury and speculation and misinformation and (let's face it) utter circus... For 8 games... Then it started all over again... Now he is back again, scoring at a 1.7 points-per-game pace, ahead of the pace he was setting before going down with the now-infamous mild concussion in January 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment