If you were to look at his rookie stats, you would think he would be a 30+ goal scorer by now but that is not the case. He broke into the league when the Penguins already had Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the roster, so there was no rush in making Jordan Staal play as an 18yr old. That is until he started to score goals and be a workhorse on the penalty kill. Jordan looked like he was poised to be a threat for the Penguins for years to come. Then the sophomore slump, a year in which Jordan established himself as a solid penalty killer, but his offensive numbers suffered while being switched back to center, a position he is natural at but was then switched back to wing this season only to be put back at center when that experiment failed Therrien, to re-create the magic Jordan had his rookie year as a winger.

As a fan, I can only give my two cents on the situation of Jordan Staal, a player that looked like he was going to be in the same mold as his brother Eric but a little more polished defensively. What was the problem? I blame the lockout for helping Eric, he had the same type of rookie year Jordan had, but his sophomore year was spent in the AHL where he was the go to guy. During his time in the AHL, Eric rounded out his game and worked hard at the things he saw as his flaws in his rookie year. On a smaller stage, Eric had the opportunity to be a 1st line player and the guy that was ‘the man’ for any crucial situation. You would have to be kidding yourselves if you think the full year spent in the AHL did not help Eric Staal be the player he is today. Because right after that full season in the AHL, Eric went from 31pts to 100pts and amazing playoffs in which he put up 28pts in 25 games on route to a Stanley Cup Championship.

Even with evidence like this, the Penguins still chose to keep Jordan Staal up the entire season in his sophomore year; yes he was great in the playoffs during the run to the finals in which the Penguins eventually lost in 6 games. But losing 1 year of his rookie contract in the AHL so he could round out his game and be a better player and a bigger help should have been something Shero and Therrien should have looked at.

Jordan Staal has the size, he has the speed and he has 2-way play that will definitely make him a Selke candidate more than a few times in his potentially long career in the NHL. But it seems as though it will not be with the Penguins when he rounds out his game and starts to put up offensive numbers that are comparable to his older brother Eric. It also doesn’t help that he seems to be firm on his 5m/yr stance on what he feels he is worth. For now, Jordan has 2 goals in his past 3 games and has found chemistry with Fedotenko to build on the 3rd line with Tyler Kennedy (a stand-out at this point in the season).

Gronk, as he known by his teammates, can still turn it around. He has the ability to do so and this season will be crucial for him as it might be his last as a Pittsburgh Penguin. It would have been interesting to see how he would have fared after a full year in the AHL but at this point, it is too late to try that experiment out by GM Ray Shero. All we Penguins fans can hope for is that Jordan can build on scoring 2 goals in the past 3 games and gets back to his rookie form with finding the back of the net.

So another game in which the Penguins decided to show up for a portion of the game rather than the full 60 minutes. One would think that Therrien would have rallied his troops after Oilers game in which they almost blew a 5-0 lead, but sadly they did not. The first period the Islanders showed up while the Penguins decided to start their 20 minutes of suck in the 1st period. In the 2nd they turned it up a notch with Kennedy’s 4th goal of the season which was then followed up by 2 goals by the Islanders (Jackman & Hilbert of all people who finished with a 3pt night). At least they ended the 2nd with a beautiful goal by Jordan Staal who has now scored 2 goals in his past 3 games.

Penguins Celebrate Shootout Win

In the 3rd however, Kennedy ties up the game with his 5th goal of the season and 2nd of the game with a deflection from Goligoski’s point shot which was the only tally for the period. Overtime solved nothing and the Pens almost lost the shootout had it not been for Sabourin’s left pad saving the day. You could see Therrien freaking out starting in the 3rd period when Talbot was taken off the 1st line and Michel started up his usual line juggling instead of trying to build chemistry. This has got to stop, playing for half the game and coasting the other half. The ice was brutal and that excuse is only good for so long till you realize your play just isn’t good enough.

The problem, at least from my point of view, is Therrien’s inability to fire up his team. What happened to Mad Mike during the post game interviews? That Therrien was never pleased with his team’s performance and would call a spade a spade when they were not playing well. We all know Marc-Andre Fleury was a victim of his tirades many a time. How about calling out Crosby? Sure he is hurt but if he is ok enough to be in the line-up he should be ok enough to lead the team he is the captain of. Scoring just three goals is not acceptable considering his 8.7m/yr contract kicked in this season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins need to find units with each line, like most great teams, there are units or rather lines that stay together and are effective because of chemistry. Most of these lines show sparks throughout a few games and then start to click when they get each other’s timing right. Therrien can’t seem to keep players together long enough for that to happen. So far this season he has kept Malkin and Sykora together – which is the usual duo on the 2nd line, but Fedotenko, Staal and Kennedy, have shown great chemistry as well as Crosby and Talbot in the few games they have been together. A player like Satan will find a way to score and when Malkin was with Crosby, he did just that…on the third line.

The team is 8-4-2 through luck, consistency and chemistry throughout the line-up needs to be worked on by Therrien. The passive Michel Therrien is clearly not working with the work ethic this team has shown through 14 games. Maybe they will show a little more emotion when they face the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. It’s the first time they face their Stanley Cup Finals opponents as well as ex-teammate Marian Hossa (No word on Conklin starting against his old team).