Stanley Cup Final’s Roundtable Discussion

Well everyone, we did one of these for each of the first two round and it paid off.  After missing the Eastern Conference Finals (along with the Carolina Hurricanes), Jesse Marshall at Faceoff-Factor invited me back to participate in one more roundtable.

This time, it’s Stanley Cup Finals style! …

We asked some of the best hockey minds in Pittsburgh to tell us their one key to victory for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Here’s what they came up with!

Penguins Roundtable, Question #4

Tony Ferrante oragnized a roundtable of Pens bloggers over the summer to discuss the Penguins and he’s at it again.  This is the second installment and Tony was gracious enough to allow us to participate once again, one-third of the way in to the season.  Below are the list of bloggers that are participating in the second installment:

Sean Leahy (SL) – Going Five Hole, Chris Wassel (CW) – The Program, FrankD (FD) – Pensburgh, Stephanie (ST) – The Steel City Sports Fan (Penguins Edition), Hooks Orpik (HO) – The Sweater Ted, Greg Wyshynski (GW) – Puck Daddy, Yahoo! Sports Blogs, Chris Gates (CG) – Pittsburgh Puck Talk, Seth Rorabaugh (SR) – Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Empty Netters, Matt Bodenschatz (MB) – Faceoff Factor, Brian Metzer (BM) – Hockeybuzz.com, Jesse Marshall (JM) – Faceoff Factor, Pensblog Staff (PB) – The Pensblog, Tony Ferrante (TF) – Kukla’s Korner/The Confluence.

4.  OK, the unavoidable question.  What the hell do you attribute the problems on the Penguins’ powerplay to ??  Injuries ??  Scheme/coaching ??  Personnel assignments ??  Execution ??  Let’s hear it.

Penguins Roundtable, Question #3

Tony Ferrante oragnized a roundtable of Pens bloggers over the summer to discuss the Penguins and he’s at it again.  This is the second installment and Tony was gracious enough to allow us to participate once again, one-third of the way in to the season.  Below are the list of bloggers that are participating in the second installment:

Sean Leahy (SL) – Going Five Hole, Chris Wassel (CW) – The Program, FrankD (FD) – Pensburgh, Stephanie (ST) – The Steel City Sports Fan (Penguins Edition), Hooks Orpik (HO) – The Sweater Ted, Greg Wyshynski (GW) – Puck Daddy, Yahoo! Sports Blogs, Chris Gates (CG) – Pittsburgh Puck Talk, Seth Rorabaugh (SR) – Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Empty Netters, Matt Bodenschatz (MB) – Faceoff Factor, Brian Metzer (BM) – Hockeybuzz.com, Jesse Marshall (JM) – Faceoff Factor, Pensblog Staff (PB) – The Pensblog, Tony Ferrante (TF) – Kukla’s Korner/The Confluence.

3.  This team has had significant problems holding leads this season.  Do these Penguins have the fortitude to dig deep and play a 60-minute game the way they did during most games during the second half of last season ??  What has to change in order for them to do it ??

Penguins Roundtable, Question #2

Tony Ferrante oragnized a roundtable of Pens bloggers over the summer to discuss the Penguins and he’s at it again.  This is the second installment and Tony was gracious enough to allow us to participate once again, one-third of the way in to the season.  Below are the list of bloggers that are participating in the second installment:

Sean Leahy (SL) – Going Five Hole, Chris Wassel (CW) – The Program, FrankD (FD) – Pensburgh, Stephanie (ST) – The Steel City Sports Fan (Penguins Edition), Hooks Orpik (HO) – The Sweater Ted, Greg Wyshynski (GW) – Puck Daddy, Yahoo! Sports Blogs, Chris Gates (CG) – Pittsburgh Puck Talk, Seth Rorabaugh (SR) – Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Empty Netters, Matt Bodenschatz (MB) – Faceoff Factor, Brian Metzer (BM) – Hockeybuzz.com, Jesse Marshall (JM) – Faceoff Factor, Pensblog Staff (PB) – The Pensblog, Tony Ferrante (TF) – Kukla’s Korner/The Confluence.

2.  Do you believe the Penguins’ oft-injured blueline will be healthier and stronger for it as the team heads into the playoffs?  How would you sort out the defensive logjam when Gonchar and Whitney are healthy ??

Penguins Roundtable Question #1

Tony Ferrante oragnized a roundtable of Pens bloggers over the summer to discuss the Penguins and he’s at it again.  This is the second installment, one-third of the way in to the season.  Below are the list of bloggers that are participating in the second installment:

Sean Leahy (SL) – Going Five Hole
Chris Wassel (CW) – The Program
FrankD (FD) – Pensburgh
Stephanie (ST) – The Steel City Sports Fan (Penguins Edition)
Hooks Orpik (HO) – The Sweater Ted
Greg Wyshynski (GW) – Puck Daddy, Yahoo! Sports Blogs
Chris Gates (CG) – Pittsburgh Puck Talk
Seth Rorabaugh (SR) – Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Empty Netters
Matt Bodenschatz (MB) – Faceoff Factor
Brian Metzer (BM) – Hockeybuzz.com
Jesse Marshall (JM) – Faceoff Factor
Pensblog Staff (PB) – The Pensblog
Tony Ferrante (TF) – Kukla’s Korner/The Confluence

1.  Taking the plethora of injuries so far this season into account, what grade would you give the Penguins’ overall performance and why ??