Dan’s Daily: CDN Media Piles on Penguins; Trial Date Set for WJC 5

The Pittsburgh Penguins earned a point with a two-goal comeback but lost in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings. The vultures are circling, and the Canadian media has pounced with numerous segments and stories with ominous or critical tones. We’ve got the full analysis in print and video of the Penguins’ OT loss, including the good, the bad, and one potential solution that coach Mike Sullivan may have stumbled into. Elsewhere in the Daily, the trial date has been set for the five Team Canada players who are accused of sexual assault at the 2018 World Junior Championships, and the Washington Capitals coach blasted his team after an OT loss.

By somewhat popular demand, the Live Chat is available in podcast form. It’s on all of the platforms: Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and I’ll finish the Amazon signup process soon. I thought yesterday’s chat was particularly good as Francis Anzalone joined in and gave us a solid 20 minutes of insights and takes. I’ll try to squeeze out a lot of pods, as I really enjoy doing them. Some will be 15 minutes on one topic, and others will have some guests, so sign up for the downloads.

It’s nice to put the headphones on and do “radio” again. And you’ll always see me in big boy clothes when I’m working, too.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The boys held some team meetings, and the floor was open following the Penguins’ embarrassment on Monday night, which was further emblematic of this horrendous start. Kris Letang and other team leaders pulled back the curtain on what is going on inside the Penguins locker room.

Last night, the TNT hockey broadcast had a clip that Penguins fans may want to see. The former Swedish national team coach pretty much shredded Erik Karlsson.

Okay, let’s get to the Penguins game in question. If you didn’t watch, here are the pertinent details in the Penguins recap. To the analysis, I skipped the Xs and Os of the OT loss to Detroit because I didn’t think the Penguins did anything special. They were holding on for dear life in the first 30 minutes, essentially afraid of their own shadow, until Bryan Rust borrowed Sidney Crosby’s Superman cape for a few minutes and jumpstarted the team. However, I do think Sullivan stumbled upon a solution to the ongoing shallow lineup–a big one–if he dares to change his mind on something. Here you go–the Penguins report card.

Detroit Hockey Now: From the flip side (an old vinyl album phrase, I suppose), here’s how the folks in Detroit saw the Red Wings win.

This is only on the YouTube page because I want you to “subscribe” to the channel. The 5-minute postgame video also gets into Sullivan’s potential solution and more on the lines swap that helped the Penguins.

NHL News & National Hockey Now

The national media is piling on the Penguins. Not for the faint of heart.

Sportsnet 32 Thoughts: Where do the Penguins go from here? TSN was a bit more blunt and went straight to the heart, “The Penguins will not have success as currently constructed.” Here’s the Smokehouse beatdown.

Our old buddy Jimmy Murphy’s podcast on the Sickpodcast network didn’t shy away, either. Co-host Pierre McGuire said the organization is in panic mode.

TSN: Also on TSN, as they’ve dominated coverage of the World Juniors 5, a trial date has been set for the sexual assault charges stemming from the 2018 incident at the World Juniors Championships.

I don’t think this ends well for the players, but that is why courts and burdens of proof exist: to prevent public perception from leading to the gallows.

New Jersey Hockey Now: It’s taken a bit, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald has finally constructed his team his way. He’s built up the New Jersey Devils.