Pouliot shouldn't rush - He should take time to develop

Recently Mike Johnston made comments about how Pouliot had appeared in pre-season and how, and what, he needed to do to work on his game. Johnston was quoted as saying that he "Doesn't see him as an NHL regular, He's a guy who has played games". In some respects, he isn't wrong. He has only 34 games to his name but he excelled at the AHL last season.

Pouliot needs to work on his defensive side according to Johnston and I agree. It is a part of his game that he needs to improve and it is similar to Letang's progress at a young age. He has a great offensive game and has good awareness of other people on the ice, but like Letang when he was developing he has a propensity to be out of position on defence and slow to react.

Pouliot will possibly be sent down reading into Johnston's comments if he believe he needs to and it could work out well as he flourished last time. Learning in a more relaxing environment with less pressure may make him develop quicker. With the veterans that Wilkes-Barre have it wouldn't be terrible to learn from them either. If he stays on the big team then he would be best to learn from Letang what with their similar playing styles. I'd avoid the mistake ridden game of Scuderi if I were him. I also don't see Gonchar staying.

Pouliot has time on his side and with the recruitments the Penguins have made over the summer he doesn't need to rush or be rushed. He's only 21 and this will be his first full professional season outside the Canadian Hockey League. I suspect that he'll be sent down and then be called up come early November. Whatever happens though he will know that Johnston will have his best interests at heart and he can trust him, based on their working relationship at Portland.

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Kessel and Zatkoff enjoy opening pre-season games

The Penguins opened their pre-season with a back-to-back schedule against Columbus on Monday and Carolina on Tuesday. The squads were split with the game against Columbus involving more fringe or development players. The game against Carolina at home featured the big hitters and amongst those was Phil Kessel making his home debut.

The game against Columbus was a low scoring one with Beau Bennett winning it in a shoot-out giving Jeff Zatkoff pitching a shut-out. The Penguins back-up position isn't one that has had much success recently with perhaps Tomas Vokoun being the only reliable player in recent years. Brent Johnson, Brad Thiessen, Thomas Greiss and even Zatkoff himself have come and gone without making much of an impact. After spending the year in the AHL he'll be hoping to make the most of this opportunity because it will be his last with Pittsburgh based on our prospect pool.

In the game against Carolina the main man was Phil Kessel due to it being his home debut, as mentioned above. Kessel clicked with Crosby with ease and also seemed to help bring Kunitz up to a more competitive and better level. If Kessel can contribute that in the season then he will be invaluable.

Elsewhere, Dupuis showed no signs of ageing and was as good as he has ever been despite missing most of last season due to blood clots. Olli Maatta was a joy to watch as ever and it is a massive shame he missed out last season. Sergei Gonchar was on a PTO but whilst he his hand-eye co-ordination was still there his speed was lacking and if we have Scuderi, I'm not sure I see a spot for him.

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NHL16 Review

First things first, I think that EA made the right choice in ditching Patrick Kane from the front cover in lieu of his legal difficulties right now. It just wouldn't be right or good to have someone going through that on the front cover as it could become spectacularly bad for them. Innocent until proven guilty.

Last year I didn't buy NHL15 as I was disappointed at the lack of features in the game which  I felt made it wrong to call a game or be sold at full price. I refused to buy it and spent another year with NHL14. I did miss not having a next-gen game but I coped and hope that this year would be better. That it is.

This year the game has returned all those features and with a bang. Be A GM was a mitigated disaster last year but is a great piece this year. The biggest addition was the morale system. It can have the potential to get repetitive but if they can work on it then it would be a good addition. The simulation speed is much improved and prospect development seems to be better with more accurate rates of progression achieved.

EASHL returns but with pre-set player classes. This works but I feel like there should be more ability to edit a players ability. EASHL is great fun to play with people and so far I have 6 points in 7 games. My biggest gripe with EASHL is that there appears to be some slight lag and a clunkiness to the players. Some of them skate as if they've got cinder blocks on their legs.

HUT has finally introduced a single player season to allow to earn pucks that way if you're not ready for the online game. Or if your team, like mine, sucks. The HUT menus are where the new, fast layouts are best displayed. Their quickness and ability to filter from one to the other is a great relief and change from the previous years. HUT gameplay is different to the rest of the game as it is more arcade like but it is still enjoyable.

Lastly on the game mode front. Be a Pro. Last year for some stupid reason they took out the option to sim shifts which made Be a Pro unplayable. That is back and there is more influence and ability to guide your player through the leagues which makes it feel a lot more personal and with the way the game progresses, it makes you want to play more.

The commentary can get repetitive and without a soundtrack is does feel a bit empty but the actual gameplay is a huge improvement with physics that feel more realistic and actually work. Some slight tweaks are needed with players going in the crease and with the puck chopping but the basis of a great game is there. The only major gripe I have with EA is their ratings with don't allow you to really feel that much of a difference between Tanner Glass and Phil Kessel. Changing those would revolutionise the game. All in all, I would give NHL16:

80/100 - A good game with room for improvement to make it epic.

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Penguins taking part in Rookie tournament in London

The Pittsburgh Penguins prospects will start their season this Friday in a rookie tournament in London, Ontario against the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. This will be a chance for the hierarchy to get a look at how the prospects are developing and where they could play this year.

It will also be the first time that an old-Penguin will play against them. Most notably Kasperi  Kapanen. Kapanen was part of the trade that brought Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh and will be looking to impress and potentially seal a spot on the Maple Leafs roster this season after a solid showing in the AHL last season with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. If he does make the NHL then he'll play for the  Marlies down the road.

The Penguins have invited a few players on amateur try-outs but they're mostly there to fill the numbers as the Penguins cupboard is bare at the moment. The highlight for the Penguins is no doubt Daniel Sprong who was drafted this year in the 2nd round. Penguins fans will be eager to see what he can do as he is a highly rated prospect.

The tournament starts this Friday, the 11th with the Penguins playing Montreal first. They follow that with games against Ottawa and then Toronto.

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