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« on: October 26, 2005, 03:01 AM »
The thing with Gonchar though is that he (this is rumor, but from a good Pens reporter around the city) is giving a big "F You" when the coaching staff's asked him to step up his defensive play... I guess he's being indignant about being asked to try helping clear the zone, clear the crease, etc... Like he doesn't get that he ISN'T an offense guy at all and that he has to have SOME skill at clearing his own zone...
I'm a firm believer in offensive defensemen on every team, especially since the Pens haven't had too much there since Larry Murphy took off... But usually they have some defensive ability. Kind of like 3rd line muck & grinder offensive players. Murphy was like that... He'd be a great help putting points on the board, he was way underappreciated on the PP, and yet he was a guy you could count on to get his **** together and get the team BACK on offense quickly. Paired with Ulf Sammuelson, he was great because you had the best of both worlds with the two...
Gonchar though just seems to give up the puck so much and I mean really stupid **** too. Clearing attempts out the middle, never using the boards, takes weak hits like they're open-ice checks from goons... He's turning out to be, simply, a *****. It's frustrating as **** to be a Pens fan right now. We have so much offensive talent and a lot of it's not getting much time because we're on the defensive most of the game, and taking it up the poop shoot from even weak offenses because our D sucks and our Goaltending is weak at best.
And every time they toss Fleury down to Wilkes-Barre he just gets more and more demoralized. The kid that was here last season is seemingly long gone and the Pens have no desire to find him.