Alex Goligoski

[Pavel Bure]

The best defenseman the Pens never knew they had is a healthy scratch tonight.

[meow]

Ryan Whitney was a healthy scratch last night as well

[JS©]

You're wrong. The best defenseman the Pens never knew they had was a healthy scratch last night, which was also the first time in his career.

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/02/04/a-healthy-scratch-for-the-first-time-of-his-career-tonight-against-vancouver

[JS©]

Ryan Whitney was a healthy scratch last night as well

beat me to it

[itissteeltime]

Turning two healthy scratches into your two best wingers sounds good to me!

[Rylan]

Strange. Both seemed to be playing well last I had checked. Which apparently was a long time ago.

[mikey287]

Goligoski has been pretty bad this year, but was fine last year. He's trying to do too much on a defense that lacks a lot of imagination. He's pretty much the whole transition game. Philip Larsen (a favorite of mine) will get the nod tonight, also a small-ish defenseman with good vision. He's been scratched the past three games, which is silly, but given the structure of the Stars defense, it's hard to make a lot of room for him.

[meow]

Ryan Whitney was a healthy scratch last night as well

beat me to it :fist:

That's what you get for being long winded

[ILikeTurtles]

I see a thread like this about DP in about 5-6 years

[JoseCuervo]

Goligoski has been pretty bad this year, but was fine last year. He's trying to do too much on a defense that lacks a lot of imagination. He's pretty much the whole transition game. Philip Larsen (a favorite of mine) will get the nod tonight, also a small-ish defenseman with good vision. He's been scratched the past three games, which is silly, but given the structure of the Stars defense, it's hard to make a lot of room for him.

Granted I don't catch as many games as I could, but I was really surprised how much they kept playing jordie benn on D to start the season.

[mikey287]

Yeah, he's really worked his way up through the organization...took the long way to be sure. They're trying out Jordie big time, gave him big minutes in the AHL, giving him NHL minutes, they want to see what they have. Less time for evaluation due to age/contract status/etc. Ultimately, I'm not sure that he'll win out because the Stars have some young guys that can play. But they want to see if they have something there...compliance buyouts exist on the other side of this season remember, also, the Stars are in the process of turning over their team to the new kids. Old guard is being quickly replaced, just seat fillers were added this offseason to help the transition from old guys to prospects.

Larsen gets action, then he's out. Benn gets action, then he's out. Oleksiak gets action, then he's out. It's a tryout. Not unlike what we have going on in Pittsburgh. The hyper season is as good of as an excuse as any to keep a rotation like that going and it's chance to see if you've amassed any riches.

[pittsoccer33]

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2 ... e-penguins" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Alex Goligoski oddly scratched; Stars make James Neal trade look worse

Neal, meanwhile, has six goals in 10 games after a 2011-12 season in which he scored 40 and made the All-Star team. Niskanen is nursing an ankle injury, but has matured into a legitimately reliable top-four defenseman and power-play presence in his own right.

[pittsoccer33]

Gogo has been a plus 2. not awesome numbers but not something i would want my highest paid defenseman sitting over

[She'sTheFastest]

The fact that Shero pulled that trade off is still incredible. Neal for Gogo straight up is a deal in itself, but to throw in Niskanen is insane.

[relantel]

Gogo with 2 assists tonight. Guess the scratch worked

[joopen]

Wait, you mean it's actually ok to hold veteran players accountable?