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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 06.04.20
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Matt Vensel
12:21
Good afternoon, Pens fans. Hope everyone is doing OK. Excited to talk hockey with everyone today. You can submit your questions now and we'll get going around 1 p.m. I'll chat for about an hour.
D S fischer
1:04
There has been some talk about Pittsburgh being a host City for the resumption of the NHL season. Can this be viable with mostly all of the practice facilities being outside of the city?
Matt Vensel
1:05
ICYMI, I wrote last week about Pittsburgh being one of 10 cities still in consideration to be a playoff hub city, with interesting details on the pitch the Penguins made to the NHL. https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2020/05/27/nhl-hub-city-p...
1:08
Anyway, the proximity of practice ice is something I've considered as well. UPMC66 is about 25 minutes from downtown. That's a bit of a haul. RMU Island Sports Complex is a nice facility but I don't know if that would be an option for practice ice. There are a few other rinks with 20 minutes or so of Pittsburgh but I don't know if they're up to the NHL's standard. There are more important things as far as the NHL is concerned, starting with the number of COVID cases in the area and available tests for players, staff, etc. But I do think the proximity of UPMC66 could be a strike against the Pens, as nice as the place is. We should find out in late June.
TP Ranger
1:09
Matt, I get that the NHL needs money, thus the playoff tournament. But, it seems to me that the league is going to ruin two seasons by doing this. How are the Stanley Cup finalists going to have time to prepare for the 20-21 season?
Doug
1:11
Hey Matt: Any talk about how the 20-21 schedule may unfold?  Assuming clubs get up and running in July and the Cup is awarded in Sept/ Oct...a few months off and back at it? Perhaps compress the 20-21 schedule and only add a month or so (award the Cup in July) and get back to a normal October start in 21-22(barring additional outbreaks)?  I assume the NHLPA has to ratify.  Also, any idea how this could affect the renewal of the CBA which expires in 22?
Matt Vensel
1:14
Gary Bettman said last week that the NHL is open to starting the 2020-21 season in December, maybe even kicking things off with the Winter Classic. The NHL has also indicated it hopes to play a full slate in front of fans. If the NHL goes that route, they would have to condense the schedule, eliminating scheduled breaks and the All-Star Game. Still, that would mean that at the earliest the Cup would be rewarded sometime in July. My stance on this and pretty much everything right now is that it's a unique situation, with much more important things at stake than hockey, and the decisions the league makes either way will leave folks unhappy. But if hockey is played, I think we should feel fortunate regardless given everything that's going on in the world. As for the financial stuff, all that needs to get sorted out still and, yes, the players will have to sign off on an major changes to the league's schedule or salary structure.
Joe
1:15
When are the Pens going to be back at Cranberry taking the ice in small groups?
Matt Vensel
1:15
Last we heard from the NHL, which was over Memorial Day weekend, the league hoped to move into Phase 2 in the first half of June.
TP Ranger
1:16
Matt, do you think Sidney Crosby was essentially shamed into making a statement about the Floyd tragedy? I agree with those who think that prominent athletes have the right to their privacy if they would rather not issue statements on political and social events.
Matt Vensel
1:21
I'll say this: I was puzzled about why some folks, mostly fans of other teams, were so quick to jump on Crosby when he didn't immediately issue a statement. He's the face of the league, I get it. But I don't fault him for taking a couple of days to gather his thoughts and carefully consider what he wanted to say, even if it was pretty boilerplate. And considering his track record of the many acts of kindness he has done in various communities, many of which is not publicized because he wants it to be discreet, I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt there. One thing I've come to learn about Sid is that he might not say much, but he means what he does say.
Ln
1:23
Hi Matt, wasn’t phase 2 supposed to start this week ?  Have the players started to skate ?
Matt Vensel
1:24
Here's the new story from last week on Phase 2 since there have been a couple of questions about it: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2020/05/25/nhl-phase-2-gu...
1:26
All the NHL said then was that it was targeting early June and would continue to monitor everything that is going on. So stay tuned. I will add that it's smart the NHL is not putting concrete timetables on anything right now because this situation is as fluid as they come and passing deadlines make people think something is seriously amiss.
Guest
1:26
I think Kane had a lot of nerve to call out Crosby and no other players.  Isn’t Kane the same player who came to the pens bench during a game to intimate them and try to get them to fight ?
Matt Vensel
1:30
C'mon. It's absurd to bring up standard on-ice shenanigans while talking about a black player speaking out about racism in hockey.
ZO
1:30
I'm guessing this may be a popular question, but gonna ask anyways.  When/ if games resume as outlined by the NHL with the Pens opening up against the Canadians, what do you see the 4 lines and 3 defensive pairings looking like.  This assumes that Murray is in net. Because, otherwise, "Sully" may have "lost his marbles," and anything is possible.
Matt Vensel
1:32
ZO, I haven't been asked this in a chat since the news that Nick Bjugstad is out for the rest of the season. I feel bad for Nick. Great dude who wants to be out there but has just had rotten injury luck. His absence does create a little clarity on what the Game 1 lineup will look like because it likely means Jared McCann is the No. 3 center.
Here is my best guess on what the forward lines will be...
1:33
Guentzel-Crosby-Sheary
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
Marleau-McCann-Hornqvist
ZAR-Blueger-Tanev
1:36
I'm most curious to see what happens with Jason Zucker, assuming the Pens put Jake Guentzel back on Crosby's left wing. I'm guessing Sullivan would want to get a look at Zucker on Malkin's wing and see if they click. If not, maybe you push Zucker down to the third line in the hopes of balancing out the lineup. But if Patrick Marleau plays second-line minutes, would he wear down quickly in a condensed playoff slate? All things for the coach to consider. I'm not touching the Blueger line. Those three were good together during the regular season and as a trio are seemingly built for postseason play.
1:38
I expect no surprises on the blue line. It would be...
Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
Johnson-Schultz
Ln
1:38
Do you think riikola regrets signing with the pens given his lack of playing?  He might have played more on other team s and been further in his development .
Matt Vensel
1:38
Speaking of the lineup, let's talk about Juuso Riikola.
1:39
I wrote about Juuso's role a few weeks ago when Mike DeFabo and I did our Penguins on Pause series: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2020/04/06/Juuso-Riikola-...
1:41
As for your question, I can't answer that one for him. I'm sure he would like to play more. But I don't know how he feels about his development as a player here and whether it was worth spending so much time in the press box. That is certainly something to ask him after the season, assuming the media gets the opportunity.
1:42
Riikola will be a RFA, so actions may speak louder than words.
pozone
1:43
The only team I worry about come playoffs is the Flyers. I believe they can and will push us around?
Matt Vensel
1:45
I would worry about a few more teams than that. Boston is a great team. Tampa Bay has all that starpower. Carolina could be a threat with all their young talent. The Caps always put up a fight. But I do agree that the Flyers, one of the hottest teams in hockey when the sports world came to a halt, will be a team no one is excited to face. As always, you wonder about their goaltending. But it wouldn't be surprising to see them make the NHL's final eight.
1:46
Any more questions? Or should we call it quits for this week?
1:49
Alright. Thanks for the questions. We'll do it again in two weeks.
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