Saturday, September 27, 2008

Pens Make Final Cut Before 10-Day Europe Trip

[UPDATE] My buddy, Eric, over at "Experiencing the Evolution" set me straight on the cuts before, during, and after the Pens trip to Europe (THANK YOU!!). The story is that the Penguins are only allowed to carry the 25 players during their Jokerit game in Helsinki, Finland then must cut another player before the 2 games in Stockholm and a final 1 before returning to the US. My guesses would be Curry before Stockholm games (because they don't normally have 3 goalies in their lineup) and Bissonnette before returning to the US because they don't need more than 1 enforcer (and Godard does a pretty good job at taking care of business) -- or just maybe I'm still pulling for Pesi even though he'll probably be one of the players to be cut when Whitney and Gonchar returns (Goligoski probably being the other). Thanks again, Eric! By the way - I like what you've done with the place over at E.T.E!!

The Pittsburgh Penguins made 2 final cuts today prior to their 10-day European stint in Stockholm.

Surprising, yet not so surprising, Connor James and Danny Richmond are the last 2 players assigned to WB/S today while the remaining 25 make the trip to Stockholm to prepare for the final pre-season game against the Jokerit in Helsinki then the 2-game season openers against the Ottawa Senators in Sweden.

The Penguins are allowed to carry one additional player with them while in Europe (25) but will need to cut that additional player next Friday, before the regular season begins on October 4th. Notable players to remain on the Penguins roster are Janne Pesonen, Paul Bissonnette, and John Curry. It is speculated that Curry will be the one sent back to Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate WB/S next Friday. Both Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar have been placed on injured reserve (IR) and do not count against the team's final 24 players. As my husband, John, pointed out, the Penguins will need to cut an additional two players once Whitney and Gonchar return to the lineup at some point (which would take care of Bissonnette and Pesonen, but allows them the opportunity to prove themselves in the meantime).

3 comments:

Vince said...

If bissonette and/or Pesonen end up being solid contributors before Gonch and Whits get back, some other people i could see getting deactivated:

Sydor - for some reason they seem to hate him...
Scuderi - not sure if he is ready
Taffe - With the resigning of Kennedy they may give him a better look as the 4th line center thus not needing taffe...

Ex. The Evolution said...

steph,
the Pens actually are allowed to carry 25 players only for the preseason game against Jokerit. They then have to get to 24 for the two games against the Sens, and then to 23 when they return to the States.

Shame about Newman, huh? He was a great guy, and one of the best actors ever. Cool Hand Luke and Slap Shot are easily among my top 10 favorite movies.

Ex. The Evolution said...

hey again,
no problem on "setting you straight" as you put it haha.

and that's awesome about All The Right Moves. My dad told me the first time we watched the movie together that a girl he went to highschool with is riding in the backseat of the car that T.C. gets into, and apparently one of my great uncles was in one of the mill worker scenes. small world, huh?

i duno how your fantasy roster is looking, but the injury to Gonchar really dealt a pretty good blow to my defense.

thanks for the comments about the new look of E.T.E... i guess i was just bored with the old one.. hopefully change turns out to be a good thing, but if we start 0-5 you can rest assured i'm switching back to the yellow and black haha.

sorry for the book. take it easy
-Eric