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Notebook: Patrick tells players performance counts

By Karen Price, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, November 12, 2005
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  • General manager Craig Patrick had a message for his players on Thursday night before their win over the Montreal Canadiens -- if you want to stay in Pittsburgh, you'd better play like it. Patrick pointed out that with the team's injured players and recalls from Wilkes-Barre, they have 27 bodies and only 23 spots once everyone gets healthy again. "Something's got to happen," he said. "If people want to stay here, they'd better step it up. Twenty-seven guys don't fit into 23." The Penguins now have 23 players on the active list, including defenseman Ryan Whitney, center Erik Christensen and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, all up from the AHL Penguins. They also have four players on injured reserve -- goaltender Sebastien Caron, defenseman Dick Tarnstrom and forwards Shane Endicott and Andre Roy. "I hope they all expect to be here and make my decision harder, but right now it's pretty easy," Patrick said.

    = Thursday night's win was special for both players who ultimately made it happen in the shootout -- goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who made 30 saves, including six in overtime plus three in the shootout, and rookie center Sidney Crosby, who scored the lone shootout goal. "I thought playing against my old team it was going to be a special night," Thibault said. "When I saw Sidney on a breakaway, I knew he was going to score. He was playing against his childhood favorite team and that type of player in that situation, they always score."

    = The Kansas City Star reported Thursday that Anschutz Entertainment president and CEO Tim Leiweke said if the Penguins don't get their new arena and leave Pittsburgh after their lease at Mellon Arena expires in 2007, they'd be a big hit in Kansas City. "The Pittsburgh Penguins can be the Kansas City Penguins, no question about it," Leiweke, president of the Los Angeles Kings, told the paper. "That team here ... it will sell out every ticket in advance, end of story." ... The Penguins were off yesterday. ... Rookie center Maxime Talbot left the game with about nine minutes left on Thursday after taking a jarring hit in the neutral zone but is day-to-day. ... Thibault is expected to start for the Penguins.


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