Thursday Night, Jaromir Jagr will play against the team he started his career with, and nearly finished it with. But then at the last minute, he became a Flyer. For a Pittsburgh Penguin Fan, could he have chosen a worse team to play for? I don’t think so!
Jagr comes into Thursday nights game proving that talent can win out over age. Eight Goals and 13 assists, Jagr is well on his way to having a 25 goal season, and for someone that is 39 to still put up that kind of production, that says a lot. He is not alone on this team though. The Flyer’s have real scoring power on this team with Giroux, Read, Briere and Reimsdyk all with nearly 20 points or more going into Thursdays game. Even the Ear Biting Scott Hartnell is off to a fast start with 11 goals and 11 assists.
It’s not just Jagr’s play that Penguins fans are looking forward to, it’s also former Penguin Maxime Talbot. Pen’s fans want to see how he is received by his new team. Talbot was a real asset for the Penguins while he was here, and a locker room favorite. He is still close to Crosby, and Fleury and a few other guys in that locker room. What makes his move to the flyer so interesting, is the scene from the picture below.
In this photo, he had just knocked out, and I mean literally knocked out Daniel Carcillo during the game in which the Flyer’s led 3-0. This fight, was key to the Pen’s coming back to win the game and winning that series. Talbot is also playing well this year with 6 goals and the same number of assists. Max has stated on many occasions that this game would be the “toughest” game of the year for him. That is because he has such fond memories of not just the team, but also the fans and the City. Max was a fan favorite, and he loved being in Pittsburgh. He also understands this rivalry.
On the Penguin’s side of the ice, they will still be without Michalek and Letang for they were both Diagnosed with Concussions. So their return will be delayed even further than once suggested. And now, news literally just broke as I was writing this, Crosby is to sit out the next 2 games after a pretty hard hit he took in the game against Boston. He had passed all of his tests, but Dr. Collins said it would be a good idea to be cautious with this. This LINK will take you to the official release from the Penguins. Park will also be a game time decision. That was a very physical game they just played, so the 3 days of rest between that game and the Flyer’s game, will provide much needed healing time. That is why limited numbers of players were on the ice for practice the last couple of days.
Interesting stat going into Thursday’s game, Kimmo Timonen is well on his way to having his most productive year as far as total points with. Kimmo currently with 17 points, is on pace to finish with over 55 which would be an all time high for a regular season. Of those 17 points, he has not scored one goal. He has never been confused as being a goal scorer, but he is at an all time low pace.