BLITZ 07 TEAM REVIEW - PITTSBURGH - A LEAGUE

[LA Robbie]

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS - BLITZ 07 A LEAGUE

COACH: PERRENIAL CHOKER

TEAM LINK: http://www.blitz94.com/draftab/rosterinfo.asp?team=PIT

TEAM OVERVIEW

Despite having Mario Lemieux on the roster Pittsburgh had a disappointing Blitz 06, finishing in 7th place before losing in 6 in the first round of the playoffs against eventual runners-up, Philadelphia. A look at the roster suggests a lack of elite backup for Mario may have been the cause of the downfall.........so is anything different this season?

To compound matters Mario has moved on to the New York Rangers, so what has been done to replace him & move Pittsburgh onwards and upwards in Blitz 07?

TEAM MAKE-UP

The first thing we have to address is who replaces Lemieux? Well, if you've got to lose #66 there's no better replacement than Steve Yzerman! Blitz's record point scorer comes to the Penguins, and his stats blow the rest of the competition out of the water. Not only is the only player in Blitz history with over 3 points per game average, but at 3.337 he's more than .400 ahead of second placed Alexandr Mogilny. Simply phenomenal! With his 6/5 skating, 4/5 shot, 5 passing, 6 Off aware & 5 stick handling he's got it all.........except maybe the defensive play Mario brings, due to Yzerman's 6 weight, but with scoring stats like these (3 seasons over 100 goals, 2 seasons above 90) who cares?!

So if Lemieux struggled for support last season, who's backing up Yzerman in 07? Joe Sakic returns to the roster from Blitz 06, and on the face of it he looks a great foil for either Lemieux or Yzerman with his 4/4 skating, 4/5 shot, 5 passing and 5 Off aware and superb 2.577 points per game career average.........but he's coming off the 2nd worst season of his career after scoring just scoring just 70 points, and a career low 33 goals in Blitz 06. It's hard to fathom how he wouldn't have complimented Lemieux's skills, but if the Penguins can work out how to pair him with Yzerman this could be a devastating partnership.

Also returning from the 06 roster are Kelly Miller and Evgeny Davydov. Do either of these 2 offer the skills for feed Yzerman & Sakic and their undoubted finishing ability? Miller was actually the 3rd choice forward last season......which may explain the lack of overall points the team mustered. He's not a bad player, but an A league starter?! In Blitz 1 & 2 he had elite stats with Angryjay, but since then has been a bit part player. His 4/4 skating and 4 passing combined with solid 8 weight do make him useful, but his 3/3 shot is average and he looks more like an option off the bench than part of a starting A line-up. Davydov is similar. 4/4 skating, 4/3 shot and 3 passing mean he can hold his own, but he's not a guy you're going to look to when you need to pull out a result. With his 6 weight he lacks Miller's physicality too.

So we're still looking for a competent 3rd forward for this team. Well, a new addition for Blitz 07 is Dave Gagner. Maybe he's the answer? He boasts 4/4 skating, 3/4 shot and 4 passing, which makes him the most solidly skilled of the support players on the roster, and like Davydov is 6 weight. He's little history of playing regularly in Blitz so is an unknown quantity, but it looks like PC/VC/SOH/Scarlet Pimpernell/Clark Kent is going to be choosing between Gagner's all round skills and Millers extra muscle to complete the forward line.

Finishing the forward line is Keith Primeau. With 3/3 skating, 3/4 shot and 2 passing he's the least accomplished on the roster, but his 11 weight offers something genuinely different, and he may be useful against the bigger teams if the Penguins are getting dominated. He can't check to save his life, but he can certainly take the punishment and his ability to stay on his feet under pressure may create space for Yzerman or Sakic to recieve a one-timer pass.

After Yzerman & Sakic we're left with good players here, who are perhaps just short of being A league material. A cohesive offensive system is going to have to be found to make them all collectively productive.

The Pittsburgh D has also taken a hit since Blitz 06, losing both Mark Tinordi & Larry Murphy in the draft. 2 solidly skilled Dmen who look a good partnership. Joe Cirella stays on the roster from 06 and the Penguins have added Jeff Brown, Doug Wilson & Tom Kurvers for this campaign. Brown is the most obvious choice to start games. His 9 weight, 3/3 skating and 4 passing are nice, and he also has an awesome 5/3 shot which brought 21 goals for Boston in Blitz 04. His lack of great speed perhaps prevents him from using that booming shot on the breakaway, but if he can get in position inside the blue line he's got the potential to contribute goals and assists to this team for sure.

Wilson is another big shooting Dman who has 71 goals to his name in his Blitz career. His 4/3 skating and 4 passing are good enough to help on offence and provide assists and his 6/1 shot is going to be a handful for any goal tender whenever it hits. A Wilson/Brown pairing looks a hell of an offensive prospect for any defence to deal with.

Kurvers and Cirella represent the more conservative Dmen on this roster. Kurvers, like Brown and Wilson has some nice skills to play his part in the team's possession play. His 3/3 skating and 3 passing with a 4/1 shot make him a reliable if unspectacular option, and Cirella strangely represents the hardest hitting player on the Penguins roster despite his measly 8.375 checking effect even though he's a big guy with 10 weight. His 3/3 skating and 2 passing is average, but he may be needed to try to keep the D solid under pressure from the elite A league offences.

This defence has the potential to contribute goals and assists, but they're severely lacking in checking ability. Will Perennial Choker's poke check be sufficient, or will the bigger offensive players dominate this team?

In goal Mike Vernon stays on the roster from last season to keep things solid in the net. He's not elite by any means, but he's a good goalie and will be reliable. Frank Pietrngelo backing him up isn't going to play. Simple as.

STARS

They don't come much bigger than Yzerman on the front line. He has the ability to score the goals to keep the Penguins in any game, and if Sakic can recapture his best form Pittsburgh arguably have the best forward partnership in the A league perhaps. On D there's no out and out star. There's big responsibility on Brown & Wilson!

WEAKNESSES

Without Lemieux and Tinordi Pittsburgh have lost huge physical presence from last season, and they haven't really replaced them. As mentioned Joe Cirella is the teams best checker, and the only one on the entire roster with a checking effect above 8.000. That really is unbelievable. They've got some big guys, but every one of them is a pansy, and it suggests they're going to struggle to defend against A league offences. With not one player on the roster who can physically dominate, or play an enforcer role to relieve the pressure the bigger teams in the A league could cause them a lot of problems.

The lack of size on offence could also make things difficult for Yzerman & Sakic too. Primeau could well become an important player this season, as he's the only one on the forward line who can take a hit, and the smaller guys may need that to take some pressure off them, which, of course means a better skilled player than Primeau would be on the bench.

PRE-SEASON PREDICTION - PLAYOFF CONTENTION

Whilst replacing Lemieux with Yzerman is a great piece of business, and the addition of Gagner gives them more strength in depth this team looks to have lost on defence, and certainly lost a physical presence. They have a few big guys to help keep possession, but there seems a big danger that they could struggle to defend against the best. A huge factor in their fortunes is going to be how tight they can keep the D.

At the other end perhaps Sakic, more than Yzerman holds to the key to Pittsburgh's success or failure this season. To grab a good playoff spot he'll need to find his elite form again to aid Yzerman's guaranteed points. If he doesn't they could struggle.

There are lots of question marks around this team, and so much pressure is on Yzerman & Sakic to carry them into the playoffs. Time is going to tell if their quality is going to be enough, and if Vernon and his Dmen can give them a chance to win the games.