Last week, like thousands of other season ticket holders, I got my yearly invoice asking for my deposit on next year’s season tickets. Of course the most annoying thing is that they ask me for my deposit BEFORE they tell me what the price of tickets for my two seats in D-7 will be once the move to the new arena is complete. Still waiting for that info!

Last year for my two tickets I paid a deposit of $769.70. This year the deposit was $840. I am not sure if this is a harbinger of a ticket price increase or not. But the 9.1% increase would be inline, but high, with what we have recently seen. It would also mean that the total cost of my tickets will be over $4,000 this year if true.

Of course with a season ticket waiting list the Penguins certainly probably feel confident that they can raise prices. It is simply supply and demand after all.

What I don’t like is the Penguins asking me for money before telling me what the total bill will be. I think it is sort of underhanded if you really want my opinion.

I have been holding my tongue the past few weeks because the Penguins have gone from contender to joke in the East. They have accomplished this stunning feat because of several things from poor defensive unit play to shoddy goal tending by Marc-Andre Fluery who seems to be looking ahead to the Olympics more than keeping his mind on what he is doing in net on any given night. But as poor as those things have been the number one reason this team is faltering is because of the power play.

I’ve talked about it before and I think it just might be time for Coach Bylsma and some of the other so-called “experts” to maybe take a listen rather than mock the ideas that I have put forth in the past. Namely that it is time to split the Malkin/Crosby unit into two distinct ones.

Oh I know the excuses. The players claim they are getting their chances and that there is nothing major wrong. The pundits claim that it would be insane to not put your three best offensive threats on the ice together (Crosby/Malkin/Gonchar). But get down out of the clouds for a second!

For the better part of two years the Penguins preferred PP unit has struggled. It is far worse this year but be honest, last year was not all that great either considering the talent level on the ice. Moving Malkin to the point hasn’t worked either and I honestly do not see how putting Malkin back in the circle and moving Crosby to the point would help much despite what some people have said.

I know the inevitable complaint too! Oh how can you tell one of the Pen’s superstar centers that they are not good enough to be on the number one unit? Uh, hello, Earth to space cadets! They play on separate lines most of the game and are deemed affectionately 1 and 1A! You seriously expect me to believe that doing the same with the power play would hurt their egos any worse than this?

Some of you out there are just too enamoured with having one super unit. But that super unit is playing 1:45 out of a two minute PP and not scoring! And let’s face facts here; no one fears the #2 unit!

Suck it up. Let’s try something different!

PP #1 (starts the PP if Malkin is on the ice when penalty call is made)
Crosby
Cooke
Rupp
Gonchar
Kennedy (Point)

And before someone complains about Kennedy on the point, have you seen the way this guy can skate with the puck? Have you seen the way that he puts pucks on the net for rebounds?

PP #2 (starts the PP if Crosby is on the ice when the penalty is called)
Malkin
Staal
Fedotenko
Gonchar/Letang
Goligoski (point)

Yes, Go Go has struggled but this is a guy that the Pens have invested in. Time for his trial by fire! Either sink or swim time.

So what do you say Coach? Wanna give it a try?

I know, Heaven forbid some bozo like me with a blog might actually be right huh?  But I will tell you this, what you are doing is not working.  And doing it over and over despite it not working is leading me to believe that you are insane!

Quickly approaching the halfway point of the 2009-10 NHL season and the main problem for the Pittsburgh Penguins remains. That problem is an anemic power play.

Ok, since Malkin moved to the left point a few games back there have been signs of a pulse for a unit ranked dead last in the NHL despite having more talent than most teams have on their entire roster. Last night against New Jersey however the Penguins power play was once again a liability going 0-5 and giving teams no reason to fear the unit and not take penalties.

Scoring on just one or two of those man advantages might have turned what ultimately was an embarrassing blowout into an actual contest. But no. Instead Penguins fans were once again left to watch Malkin, Crosby and Gonchar struggle for no apparent reason.

This is getting ridiculous and something serious needs to be done soon. Otherwise, mark my words, the Penguins will end up loosing a round in the play offs if their power play is not corrected.

I think moving Malkin to the point is a good change. But I still think a better change is getting Sid and Geno on separate units altogether. Because as bad as the first unit has been with them both on it, the second unit has been even worse and even less of a threat to opponents.

Hard to believe that the Penguins have been as banged up on the blue line as they have considering that they are sitting atop the Atlantic Division. It is almost like the loss of Gonchar, Letang, Goligoski and McKee, each for several weeks and at the same time, did not matter as players like (Dr.) Ben Lovejoy, and Deryk Engelland have filled in nicely and kept the defense sound.

Well, this morning it was announced that Lovejoy and Engelland are heading back to Wilkes-Barre and that means that unless some combination of Letang, Goligoski and McKee are ready to return to the lineup the Penguins would be short handed on defense heading into tonight’s important divisional match up against the Rangers.

Each of the three injured regulars, according to reports, are cleared to play which means the Penguins should for all intents and purposes be back to full strength this evening.

Now, about that struggling power play …

It is becoming rather obvious, after both last season and this season, that there is something drastically wrong with the Penguins power play. Yeah, yeah, make all the excuses you want about Gonchar being out. I am not buying it. Even last year with him on the point running the show the team struggled with the man advantage and they won the Cup inspite of the power play not because of it. All such talk is simply excuse making for a unit that drastically underachieves.

A lot of people have talked about changing the way the Penguins play with the man advantage and it is obviously a problem. Aggressive penalty killing units that go after Crosby or Malkin on the wall, where they seem to like to try to set up from, are causing them fits. Just like last year.

This article gets harder and harder to write each day. Now, with Jay McKee announced to miss two to four weeks it gets even harder. Every time I think about the solution another body winds up in the M*A*S*H ward.

While I think that changing up the mode in which the power play operates is ultimately the solution, I don’t think that it is going to happen with the units as they currently are comprised. This is because the number one unit is so powerful with both Malkin and Crobsy, that it just looks like they are trying to finesse every puck into the net making pass after pass until a lane opens up. Either that or they are taking ill advised shots which bounce away harmlessly because they are shooting into groups of three defending players and pucks never get on net.

The answer is to, I think, get Crosby and Malkin off the same unit. Ok, all you wannabes out there that think you understand hockey can yell at your computer screen all you want now. You can yell until you are blue in the face about how it is insane to not put together the “best” power play unit you can which means Malkin and Crosby on the same line. But I will simply point out that if the unit does not produce goals and continues to struggle so mightily it is obviously not the “best” unit that could be out there.

I honestly think the first unit tries too hard and baring some dramatic change in the heads of those out there on the ice it is going to continue to struggle.

My suggestion is two units, each one run by one of the Penguins biggest stars.

First Unit:
C – Sidney Crosby
W – Michael Rupp
W – Bill Guerin OR Matt Cooke
Point – Sergei Gonchar (he is expected back for the Ottawa game tomorrow)
5th man – Ruslan Fedotenko

Second Unit:
C – Evgeni Malkin
W – Jordan Staal
W – Craig Adams
Point – Martin Skoula
5th man – Bill Guerin OR Matt Cooke

I understand that doing this might put some players outside of their comfort zone. If so then get them used to it in practice. Drill and drill some more with these lineups. At least until the injury situation gets under control. These are much grittier units than we are currently seeing out of the Penguins and you have to play gritty, I think, on the power play to be consistent. You have to have someone willing to stand in front of the net and be a nuisance to the goal tender.

On the first unit you would have Rupp and either Guerin or Cooke to put two guys that could take turns swinging in and out of that area while Sid and Sarge work up high and Fedotenko roams, possibly even going behind the net to fetch pucks. He knows how to forecheck.

On the second unit you would have Craig Adams and which ever of Guerin or Cooke was not out there on the first unit to go down in front of the net while Malkin plays high with Skoula (our poor man’s Gonchar) and Staal going where he needs to go and fetching pucks or sneaking in for a redirect.

Basically I think that the Penguins need to stop trying to set up low along the boards and work high. I think they need to set up high where someone with the talent of a Malkin or a Crosby can survey the ice better. Right now they are getting hemmed in on the boards. And I do understand the concept of tying to set up low. If a puck is not handled cleaning it has a better chance of staying in the zone than a missed pass out to the blue line. I just do not think that it is working all that well.

Setting up high and letting skilled players dance with the puck and play catch at the blue line while preferably two players crash the net and draw defenders I really think would pay dividends compared to the perimeter power play the Penguins currently seem to be employing.

Once everyone is back healthy I would like to see everything look like this:

First Unit:
C – Sidney Crosby
LW – Michael Rupp
RW – Matt Cooke
Point – Sergei Gonchar
5th man – Ruslan Fedotenko

Second Unit:
C – Evgeni Malkin
LW – Jordan Staal
RW – Craig Adams
Point – Kris Letang
5th man – Max Talbot

The way I look at it is what do the Penguins have to loose? The power play is terrible right now and changing things up either produces the same results or something better. It certainly cannot get much worse!

This really should come as no surprise seeing as how Malkin was supposed to sit out two weeks to rest an injury that wasn’t really bothering him. Now those two weeks are up and he will be back in the lineup Saturday against Boston to try and help the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins recover some of their early season mojo.

With the rash of injuries the Penguins have, the latest being Brooks Orpik, you certainly cannot blame the Penguins for wanting him back in the lineup.

Two separate sources with the Penguins have confirmed to me that Malkin will indeed be back in the lineup tomorrow night.