There still is no “official” decision on the future of Dan Bylsma. But rest assured, he will be sent down the road soon. If you read my post from yesterday, my roundtable and I discussed how we believe that Jacques Martin will be the next coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then today happened, and rumors are flying about that the Pens have serious interest in Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. Sources have told the Trib’s Rob Rossi and other sources that Babcock WANTS to come to Pittsburgh and he wants to coach Crosby. Problem is he has one year left on his current contract with Detroit, and the Wings would have to give permission to the Pens to make a deal and give Babcock permission to go. We will keep a very close eye on this development going forward.
Alright, lets shift focus to the players themselves for the information that was revealed to us today.
Turns out “Sunshine” Beau Bennett has been playing with a serious wrist injury since the “setback” in February. He never broke his wrist, as stated by Bylsma back in November, but will require another surgery this offseason to fix the problem; his third wrist surgery in the last 5 years. This would certainly explain why he was having problem with puck control in the Ranger series. Beau admitted, “The Ranger game, I was useless out there to be honest.” He will have surgery next week and should be ready to go next season.
Everyones favorite Duper was on hand for end of the year festivities today as well. He is still recovering from that season ending ACL injury he suffered in December. When asked today if he had any doubts about being ready for October, in typical Duper fashioned he said “none at all.” I personally can’t wait for more “Thanks Daaaaaaan.”
Turns out that Beau Bennett wasn’t the only one suffering from a wrist injury. Playoff stud Jussi Jokinen was playing with a rather bad wrist injury himself. Evidence could be seen of this in the handshake line following Game 7 when he couldn’t shake hands with his right. He admitted to hit today and does not intend to have surgery to fix it, simply rest. Jussi also discussed his future with the team and he “hope to be back, but there’s lots of decisions this organization has to make and I’m one of them.” We will get into the return of the Juss in future posts…
Olli Maatta admitted today that this season was a grind, and that he was wiped out by the playoffs. He was invited to join Team Finland at the World Championships but has declined. It was apparent that the kid was wiped before the playoffs started, and he really struggled these playoffs. This is the most hockey he has played in his life: 79 regular season games, about 8 at the Olympics followed by 13 in the playoffs. Take the summer off kid and relax, you’ve earned it.
Though Sidney Crosby will not join Canada at the World Championships, Evgeni Malkin will join Team Russia. He was not available for the media today unfortunately, so we have no quotes for him.
Got to give Kris Letang a lot of credit today. He has been the source of a lot of criticism this year and last for that matter but I really respect what he said today. Despite reported feuds with the coach in the past, today Letang defended Bylsma saying, “A coach is a coach. It really doesn’t matter. It is up to us to do the job out there, we’re the ones on the ice.” He was taking some flack for that on Twitter this afternoon but that’s a great defense of the coach.
It also came out today the Letang broke his hand in Game 7. We did see him shaking his hand several times throughout the game before leaving briefly. He will not have surgery according to reports. As for his stroke, he told reporters his offseason will be like normal. He will be taking medication but has no other restriction.
Marc-Andre Fleury is going into this offseason with a lot of questions. He has one year left on his deal. Some are calling for a trade, some for a buyout. Neither option is rather smart in my opinion, but that’s neither here nor there right now. He was quoted as saying, “I really hope I can stay. It’s my team, it’s where I want to play.” He has earned the right to stay. His postseason was phenomenal. And if he goes, who replaces him? Jonas Hiller? There is no one available with the pedigree of the Flower.
The saddest thing about today was the conversations with Sidney Crosby. My God, the poor guy has never sounded so down and dejected. It was painful listening to him speak. He will not join Canada at World Championships. He will head home for the summer.
Those not available to the media today were Malkin, Martin, Neal, Niskanen, Orpik and Scuderi. The only one we know for sure will be back next season is Geno. There are a lot of talks that Neal is going to go. Orpik has a serious knee injury (broken knee cap from rumors I’ve heard) and will unlikely be ready for the season. Niskanen is going to get PAID! Hope is he will be back here though. Martin has one year left, expect him back. Scuderi? There have been lots of questions about him, which we will look out down the road.
That wraps up the news from the boys directly. Be sure to check back on the Twitter, Facebook and here on the blog for new posts over the next few weeks dealing with the individual players and thoughts. Enjoy one of the 1990s greatest jams to end the season, Semisonic's "Closing Time." Cheers!