Penguins Wrap: Debating Malkin’s Words; Rookies Emerge; Camp Updates
The Pittsburgh Penguins will begin Day 3 of the high-intensity, competitive Dan Muse training camp this morning at the UPMC Lemieux Complex. The first two days have elicited smiles, laughter, and plenty of sweat as the players have collided in something close to game speed.
Muse’s training camp began very much like junior or college hockey, with an emphasis on good habits and fundamental hockey rather than systems implementation. The players have done “Herbies” after their side loses a competitive drill, and Muse has essentially lost his voice after two days of guiding individual practices for three full roster groups.
Muse’s post-practice presser was tough to sit through–you had to feel for the guy because he could barely talk. But watch him light up when he wants to talk about a certain topic. On Day 1, that topic was competitiveness. Muse literally burst into a three-minute smile as he talked about its importance.
Yesterday, he got amped when we asked about Avery Hayes and Tristan Broz, especially Hayes.
There have been plenty of fun battles to watch, from Blake Lizotte wearing Sidney Crosby to Hayes playing like a rugger and getting under defensemen on the wall. Still, my favorite moment was Broz trying a spin-o-rama on Erik Karlsson.
You’ve got to have an abundance of confidence to try that move.
If you see me around camp today, feel free to say hi. And yes, yes, we’re still working on the email issue.
Penguins Wrap
There is always some debate about the words and perhaps a little misunderstanding when Evgeni Malkin talks to the media. Sometimes, you have to work backward in his sentences, and I believe that was the case yesterday. We succinctly asked if he would accept a trade if he were playing well, but the team wasn’t doing well. Technically, he didn’t say no, and compared the potential to Brad Marchand’s trade out of Boston. I think Malkin essentially said that he didn’t know how he would feel if the team asked him to leave. You decide–Here’s the full story and video of Evgeni Malkin.
After having to splice writing and watching camp, on Day 2, the hockey got my full attention, and I noticed something that might make fans happy. Tristan Broz was absolutely cutting the ice with his skating strides, and Avery Hayes was all over the ice. Here’s the full Day 2 analysis of which kids are playing well, and some of the veterans who are not in the Penguins training camp analysis.
Forward Kevin Hayes was injured Thursday when Ryan Graves hammered him into the boards. Friday, Muse had the update, and Hayes will be out for some time.
Also on Thursday morning, Kyle Dubas said a lot. However, instead of circuitous language or talking around certain issues, Dubas went right to the heart of the questions and dropped a few organization-defining lines. It was his best press conference with the Penguins. You can watch the video here with the news story, and you can get our full analysis, including a potential hint of a lack of trade, from Dubas’s press conference here.
Also, from Day 1, there was a lot of talk about the Muse difference. Here are the players’ early impressions of Muse and the new Penguins regime.
And finally, we wrote this just before camp, but before the Penguins signed Robby Fabbri to a PTO (spoiler: he’s looked pretty good, too). There are over 20 forwards who could claim an NHL roster spot, and we broke it all down–the guarantees, the most likely players, and the battle royal projections for the Penguins’ lineup.
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