Straka promoted as Pens break up top trio
By DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Faceoff.com correspondent
Some athletes, upon returning from a major injury, bristle at being queried about their health on a daily basis.
To be sure, the Pittsburgh Penguins' Martin Straka is one of them.
"It's tough being asked about it every day, especially when you go on the road and get the same questions. You want to put it behind you. You don't want to talk about it anymore. I know everybody's being nice and wants to know, but it's tough saying it over and over again."
He thinks he has a solution for the problem, one sure to satisfy him and the questioners.
"If I'm playing for a month, then maybe there shouldn't be any more questions. Then, you can see I'm OK, right?"
No question about that so far.
In his first three games since returning from a ferocious combination of a cracked vertebra, a damaged back ligament and a twice-broken leg, Straka has a goal and three assists, is working both special teams and, most impressive, is averaging 17 minutes of ice time.
"He still has a little bit to go to get to 100 percent," Pittsburgh coach Rick Kehoe said. "But you can see he's getting better every game."
The coaching staff thinks enough of the Straka's progress that he will play on the top line with Mario Lemieux and Alexandre Daigle Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center.
The line was put together Tuesday in practice after Kehoe broke up the highly productive trio of Lemieux, Alexei Kovalev and Aleksey Morozov before the 3-2 loss Saturday to the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Kehoe was displeased with the way the line in recent games had appeared to waver from the direct approach favored by Lemieux.
"What we're really looking for from the top line is more north-south," Kehoe said. "We were doing a little too much east-west, and we need to get back to playing a more up-and-down game."
The Lemieux-Kovalev-Morozov line accounted for 13 even-strength goals in 14 games, but Lemieux expressed no regret upon its breakup.
"You can't go 82 games with the pace we were on," Lemieux said. "Guys get a little tired, and they stop thinking about what they have to do on the ice, and that's what happens. That's when you make changes. ... We stopped skating. When we're not skating and creating gaps, anybody can stop you. There's not much you can do. Everybody has to go back to skating and try to push the defense back and give the puck-carrier a little bit of room. If we do that, the chances are going to come back."
That will be the role of Straka and Daigle, two of the fastest skaters in the game. Lemieux wants them -- particularly Straka -- to carry the puck through the neutral zone and back off the opposing defense to give him a bit of breathing room once the play crosses the blue line.
"If we get a good breakout pass and are coming out of our end at full speed, there's no way the other team can slow us down unless the referee lets them," Daigle said. "If they call the penalties, this is an advantage for us, big-time. That's what Mario wants, for us to use our speed and get ahead of him."
"It's all about skating," Straka said. "That's my game, and everybody is seeing now how unbelievably Alex is skating. If we keep our feet moving and get open, we know Mario's going to find us."
For Straka, being added to the Lemieux line represented a personal triumph of sorts. When Lemieux was asked at the beginning of training camp to name his preferred left winger, he cited Straka, even though Straka was no certainty to participate at all in the 2002-03 season.
"When a guy like Mario has confidence in you, to say back in camp that he wanted to play with me, it was awesome," Straka said. "It felt good. It made me feel better."
LINE COMBINATIONS:
Martin Straka-Mario Lemieux-Alexandre Daigle
Aleksey Morozov-Jan Hrdina-Alexei Kovalev
Dan LaCouture-Wayne Primeau-Ville Nieminen
Steve McKenna-Kent Manderville
Dick Tarnstrom-Ian Moran
Josef Melichar-Jamie Pushor
Marc Bergevin-Michal Rozsival
Hans Jonsson
INJURIES: Center Randy Robitaille (ankle) is practicing with the team but isn't likely to return until next week. ... Right winger Shean Donovan (knee) also is practicing but he will not play Thursday. He could return Saturday. ... Defenseman Andrew Ference (abdomen) will resume skating Thursday for the first time since having hernia surgery Oct. 3 and will rejoin the team for practice Friday. He estimated will be another three weeks before he can play.
NOTES: Part of the Penguins' plan in assembling their new top two lines was to ensure that each line had a forward adept at carrying the puck through the neutral zone. Left winger Martin Straka will be the designated choice for the No. 1 line, right winger Alexei Kovalev for the second. ... Despite the shakeup in the top two lines, the power-play units remained intact. ... Right winger Alexandre Daigle will carry a three-game goal-scoring streak into the game against the Wild. ... Johan Hedberg, who will start in goal Thursday, is one of the few Penguins willing to go on the record to express their disdain with the recent work of NHL referees. "I think it has slipped a little bit. I think it was better officiated for the first seven or eight games," he said. "Now, it's slipping. I don't know if it's just a fluke or if there's something going on. I hope they keep calling the hooks and the holds. I liked what that was doing for the game. But they have to be smart, too. They also have to learn how to let other little things go that maybe don't fall into the obstruction category. Take care of the stuff that's killing the game, and let the little stuff go." ... General manager Craig Patrick made his first trip of the season to Wilkes-Barre to watch the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate lose its fifth in a row. Many fans in northeastern Pennsylvania want to see his brother, Glenn Patrick, fired as coach. The team is 4-9-1 despite having seven former first-round picks in the NHL Entry Draft. .. Center Mario Lemieux, on how teams such as the Minnesota Wild have succeeded in using the neutral-zone trap despite the league's obstruction crackdown: "It's more difficult now, because you can pick up a lot of speed coming out of your zone. And especially in the neutral zone, you can't put a stick on anybody, so it would be very, very difficult. You can still do it -- block the lanes and block the passing lanes -- but working like it did before would be very difficult."
By DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Faceoff.com correspondent
Some athletes, upon returning from a major injury, bristle at being queried about their health on a daily basis.
To be sure, the Pittsburgh Penguins' Martin Straka is one of them.
"It's tough being asked about it every day, especially when you go on the road and get the same questions. You want to put it behind you. You don't want to talk about it anymore. I know everybody's being nice and wants to know, but it's tough saying it over and over again."
He thinks he has a solution for the problem, one sure to satisfy him and the questioners.
"If I'm playing for a month, then maybe there shouldn't be any more questions. Then, you can see I'm OK, right?"
No question about that so far.
In his first three games since returning from a ferocious combination of a cracked vertebra, a damaged back ligament and a twice-broken leg, Straka has a goal and three assists, is working both special teams and, most impressive, is averaging 17 minutes of ice time.
"He still has a little bit to go to get to 100 percent," Pittsburgh coach Rick Kehoe said. "But you can see he's getting better every game."
The coaching staff thinks enough of the Straka's progress that he will play on the top line with Mario Lemieux and Alexandre Daigle Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center.
The line was put together Tuesday in practice after Kehoe broke up the highly productive trio of Lemieux, Alexei Kovalev and Aleksey Morozov before the 3-2 loss Saturday to the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Kehoe was displeased with the way the line in recent games had appeared to waver from the direct approach favored by Lemieux.
"What we're really looking for from the top line is more north-south," Kehoe said. "We were doing a little too much east-west, and we need to get back to playing a more up-and-down game."
The Lemieux-Kovalev-Morozov line accounted for 13 even-strength goals in 14 games, but Lemieux expressed no regret upon its breakup.
"You can't go 82 games with the pace we were on," Lemieux said. "Guys get a little tired, and they stop thinking about what they have to do on the ice, and that's what happens. That's when you make changes. ... We stopped skating. When we're not skating and creating gaps, anybody can stop you. There's not much you can do. Everybody has to go back to skating and try to push the defense back and give the puck-carrier a little bit of room. If we do that, the chances are going to come back."
That will be the role of Straka and Daigle, two of the fastest skaters in the game. Lemieux wants them -- particularly Straka -- to carry the puck through the neutral zone and back off the opposing defense to give him a bit of breathing room once the play crosses the blue line.
"If we get a good breakout pass and are coming out of our end at full speed, there's no way the other team can slow us down unless the referee lets them," Daigle said. "If they call the penalties, this is an advantage for us, big-time. That's what Mario wants, for us to use our speed and get ahead of him."
"It's all about skating," Straka said. "That's my game, and everybody is seeing now how unbelievably Alex is skating. If we keep our feet moving and get open, we know Mario's going to find us."
For Straka, being added to the Lemieux line represented a personal triumph of sorts. When Lemieux was asked at the beginning of training camp to name his preferred left winger, he cited Straka, even though Straka was no certainty to participate at all in the 2002-03 season.
"When a guy like Mario has confidence in you, to say back in camp that he wanted to play with me, it was awesome," Straka said. "It felt good. It made me feel better."
LINE COMBINATIONS:
Martin Straka-Mario Lemieux-Alexandre Daigle
Aleksey Morozov-Jan Hrdina-Alexei Kovalev
Dan LaCouture-Wayne Primeau-Ville Nieminen
Steve McKenna-Kent Manderville
Dick Tarnstrom-Ian Moran
Josef Melichar-Jamie Pushor
Marc Bergevin-Michal Rozsival
Hans Jonsson
INJURIES: Center Randy Robitaille (ankle) is practicing with the team but isn't likely to return until next week. ... Right winger Shean Donovan (knee) also is practicing but he will not play Thursday. He could return Saturday. ... Defenseman Andrew Ference (abdomen) will resume skating Thursday for the first time since having hernia surgery Oct. 3 and will rejoin the team for practice Friday. He estimated will be another three weeks before he can play.
NOTES: Part of the Penguins' plan in assembling their new top two lines was to ensure that each line had a forward adept at carrying the puck through the neutral zone. Left winger Martin Straka will be the designated choice for the No. 1 line, right winger Alexei Kovalev for the second. ... Despite the shakeup in the top two lines, the power-play units remained intact. ... Right winger Alexandre Daigle will carry a three-game goal-scoring streak into the game against the Wild. ... Johan Hedberg, who will start in goal Thursday, is one of the few Penguins willing to go on the record to express their disdain with the recent work of NHL referees. "I think it has slipped a little bit. I think it was better officiated for the first seven or eight games," he said. "Now, it's slipping. I don't know if it's just a fluke or if there's something going on. I hope they keep calling the hooks and the holds. I liked what that was doing for the game. But they have to be smart, too. They also have to learn how to let other little things go that maybe don't fall into the obstruction category. Take care of the stuff that's killing the game, and let the little stuff go." ... General manager Craig Patrick made his first trip of the season to Wilkes-Barre to watch the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate lose its fifth in a row. Many fans in northeastern Pennsylvania want to see his brother, Glenn Patrick, fired as coach. The team is 4-9-1 despite having seven former first-round picks in the NHL Entry Draft. .. Center Mario Lemieux, on how teams such as the Minnesota Wild have succeeded in using the neutral-zone trap despite the league's obstruction crackdown: "It's more difficult now, because you can pick up a lot of speed coming out of your zone. And especially in the neutral zone, you can't put a stick on anybody, so it would be very, very difficult. You can still do it -- block the lanes and block the passing lanes -- but working like it did before would be very difficult."