Penguins

Kovacevic: NHL only contributes to panic

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The Penguins gather around Jacques Martin, Sunday in Cranberry. - PENGUINS

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Still no Sidney Crosby. Still no word on when he might return.

Still no clue from anyone at NHL offices as to managing a major professional sports league.

But I digress: The Penguins' captain, who left the team's scrimmage Saturday early, was the only expected participant to miss practice Sunday morning at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. The session included everyone except Crosby and the nine players who've missed all of training camp to date for coronavirus precautionary reasons.

After the scrimmage Saturday, Crosby's linemate Conor Sheary downplayed Crosby's issue as 'a maintenance thing,' which is hockey vernacular for being extra careful with an existing injury. But Mike Sullivan declined to discuss Crosby's status at all, following the NHL's strict new protocol that no absences are to be discussed with media.

I tried, knowingly in vain, to ask about Crosby's status of Mark Recchi, who took Sullivan's turn with the media Sunday.

"You're trying the wrong guy," he replied with a smile. "I'm not privy to those things. So ... I think you know the league's stance right now. Sorry about that."

What that leaves everyone, of course, is virtually no information. On the game's preeminent player. At a time when the league would, at least theoretically, be invested in trying to have people prioritize sports anew.

Here's what I've heard: It's nothing serious. Meaning Crosby's issue. As in, it's not serious at all. There was a scrimmage Saturday, there's another one Monday at 11 a.m., and this practice -- the shortest of camp so far at just 49 minutes -- was sandwiched in between. There wouldn't be much point to anyone participating if trying to bury a minor matter.

So why, amid a pandemic that's got people panicking all over creation, wouldn't the team be allowed to make one simple statement, even a vague assessment? Why not grant the Penguins -- or any team regarding any player -- a reasonable exception? Why not accept that the common sports fan, the kind the NHL never even bothers to pursue, has a heightened interest in star talents and personalities? Why not be more like the NFL or NBA, which would never, ever allow anyone to wonder if anything were seriously awry with, say, Tom Brady or LeBron James? Why, if it wouldn't impact anyone's privacy -- it most assuredly wouldn't -- not just say it doesn't seem too bad? Why, even if the NHL Players Association pushed for that privacy in the recent talks, wouldn't the league counter with a concept to ensure people wouldn't presume the worst any time a player's missing for an afternoon?

Don't dare sully the good name of garages with the comparison you've got in mind.

• There remained no sign of Patric Hornqvist or any of the nine players who've been held out of the entire camp due to coronavirus concerns.

• The practice lasted 49 minutes and consisted primarily of systematic drills -- forechecking and breakouts -- as well as special teams. It very much looked and felt like a practice sandwiched between scrimmages.

Lots of this:

• Crosby's place in drills was taken by center/winger Evan Rodrigues, amid the following lines and pairings:

Guentzel-Rodrigues-Sheary
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
Marleau-McCann-Lafferty
Aston-Reese-Tanev-Blueger

Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
Johnson-Schultz

Bear in mind: If Sullivan had the slightest indication Crosby would be out for some significant span, he'd do a lot more shuffling than to slide Rodrigues to the top line.

• Power-play combos were predictably thrown out of whack by Crosby's absence but, for what it's worth: The top unit had Jake Guentzel up front with Jared McCann and Jason Zucker, and Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin at the points. The second unit had Sheary up front with Patrick Marleau and Bryan Rust, and Justin Schultz and John Marino at the points.

Matt Murray faced the top power play for much of that time. He stopped everything that came his way. And that doesn't matter any more than anything else he or anyone else does, good or bad, until about a week from now. These players have been back for a week after a four-month pandemic shutdown.

That very rant headlines my Monday podcast:

• Among the most striking sights of this camp, at least from this perspective, has been Zach Aston-Reese's authoritative finishing touch. He's been sizing up the net better, ripping what he gets and, maybe most encouraging, going upstairs once in a while.

If you'll recall, before Aston-Reese became a fourth-line fixture for his defense, he was seen as a significant threat coming out of Northeastern University, where he was the NCAA's leading scorer. This isn't some plugger. Never has been, and never should be. But over the course of this past NHL regular season, he managed only six goals on 98 shots, a 6.1 shooting percentage that was lowest among the Penguins' forwards.

For context, Dominik Simon was a 6.9.

I asked Aston-Reese after this practice if he's made any particular commitment to putting away more of his chances.

"Yeah, it's something I've been working on the last month and a half," he replied. "I switched my stick up to the same stick I had my senior year of college. I'm feeling a lot more confident with the puck, shooting the puck. I know it might sound a little crazy, but just making that switch has helped a lot."

• Aston-Reese's center is working to improve, as well. Relentlessly. Teddy Blueger stays out on the rink way, way longer than anyone, almost always attempting to address details. On this afternoon, he stayed with Rodrigues, who was dropping fake faceoffs that Blueger was trying to win backward ... with the knob of his stick.

I couldn't help but ask.

"The advantage is that, compared to a blade, you've obviously got a lot less of your stick on the ice, and it's harder to do," he explained. "The timing becomes more important. You're trying to get a piece of the puck right as it hits the ice. It's just something to get the timing back and get settled back into taking draws again."

Blueger's 45.17 percent faceoff success rate was lowest on the team in the regular season.

Brian Dumoulin's among the winningest winners anyone could encounter. At Biddeford High School in Maine, his team won two Class A state championships. At Boston College, his team won two NCAA championships. And with the Penguins ... oh, you know.

What, I asked, motivates him that way?

"That's why you play," he replied. "The people who win, they have that hunger, that desire to win more. You go through a full 82-game season, you grind it out through injuries, the rehab and everything, all just to try to win at the end. That's my ultimate goal. That's what drives me. Other people might have different feelings, obviously, but that's my ultimate goal. Whether it's a drill in practice or whatever, I want to win at it. That's what I judge myself on the most. Winning."

• It's the little stuff: Sam Lafferty went top shelf on the cardboard goalie after practice, bar down, loud ping ... then spun his blade and holstered the stick. Jack Johnson went next and ripped one to precisely the same spot, louder ping, and simply skated away with a smile.

Hockey's great. I'll miss it when it flees the country.

MORE FROM CAMP

Murray rocked in scrimmage
Crosby's early exit downplayed
How will ice impact Penguins?
• Series breakdown: The goaltenders
Series breakdown: The defensemen
Series breakdown: The forwards 

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