Who's slipping?

Who's slipping?

April 13, 2008

Sunday, April 13, 2008

It was reported last month by Bob Smizik that the reason Mike Lange was dismissed from his duties as the play-by-play announcer for Penguins television broadcasts was because FSN Pittsburgh and the Penguins felt his work was slipping.

We strongly disagree with that assessment.

Check out his radio goal calls from the first two Penguins' playoff games someone posted on YouTube:

Game 1

Game 2

If Mike Lange is slipping as a broadcaster, Gary Roberts is slipping as a tormentor of the Senators.

If his work had declined, it was because of the putrid state the franchise was in during the early part of this decade. You wouldn't be your sharpest either watching Rico Fata, Dick Tarnstrom and Jean-Sebastien Aubin getting run over by the Maple Leafs on a nightly basis with the specter of the franchise's potential relocation hanging over everything. Basically, Lange didn't have a lot to work with for about four seasons. The team's difficulties shouldn't have cost Lange his job.

Listen to those clips and tell us he's lost his passion or intensity. We'll tell you Evgeni Malkin needs to improve his skating.

BringBackMike.com.

EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS

Eastern Conference

Penguins-Senators

-Evgeni Malkin is like good and stuff.

-Malkin has picked his game up from last year's playoffs.

-Don't expect Brooks Orpik to get too many chances in the shootout next season.

-Sidney Crosby recorded four assists Friday. The last Penguin to do that in a playoff game was Mario Lemieux in 1996.

-Even if he's not scoring goals, Ron Cook says Marian Hossa is helping the Penguins.

-Someone shot a video from the pregame projection prior to Game 2:

-The Senators are hoping to get something going at home.

-Martin Gerber has been Ottawa's best player.

-Ottawa fans can't blame Gerber anymore.

-Senators coach Bryan Murray doesn't know what to do about Crosby or Malkin.

-The Senators aren't quitting.

-The fans in Ottawa seem somewhat apathetic.

-Has anyone seen Dany Heatley or Jason Spezza?

-Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly are still unlikely to play in the series.

-Would a sweep by the Penguins actually be a bad thing? Vote on it here.

-Assuming a monsoon doesn't hit again, a broadcast of Game 3 will be available at Mellon Arena. While it's supposed to be dry, things will be kind of chilly Monday night.

-A broadcast of Game 3 will be available through Yahoo.

-B94 (Remember them?) has a new Penguins song.

-Still not as good as "The Mighty Guins" by Kardaz.

-Someone "Rick Rolled" Bob Grove and Phil Bourque Friday night on the Penguins' postgame raiod show.

Canadiens-Bruins

-Former Penguin Alex Kovalev scored an overtime goal and gave the Canadiens a 3-2 win against the Bruins. Montreal is up in the series, 2-0.

-The Bruins benched forward Phil Kessel in place of Vladimir Sobotka.

-Habs coach Guy Carboneau is a worse dresser than Michel Therrien.

Capitals-Flyers

-Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau is his own man.

-The Philadelphia Inquirer has some good headline writers.

-Capitals defenseman Jeff Schultz is ready to return to the lineup.

-There's at least one Capitals fan with too much money for their own good.

-Capitals goon Donald Brashear doesn't exactly think Capitals fans are all that loyal.

Devils-Rangers

-The Devils aren't happy with the referees.

-New Jersey needs to improve its power play.

-Jaromir Jagr is one of the Rangers' hardest workers.

Western Conference

Red Wings-Predators

-Tomas Holmstrom had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings in a 4-2 defeat of the Predators. Detroit controls the series, 2-0.

-The Predators weren't happy with a goal that was called off.

-Nashville defenseman Greg Zanon found out about karma yesterday.

-Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios became the all-time leader in playoff games played.

-Chelios is old.

-Nashville's star players need to start producing.

-He's a star in Sweden, but Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg isn't very well known in this hemisphere.

-Darren McCarty's comeback took another turn yesterday.

-With their AHL affiliate eliminated from the postseason, the Red Wings recalled a few bodies.

Sharks-Flames

-Sharks coach Ron Wilson isn't thrilled with his power play.

-Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray invented a quicker beer tap.

-Ryan Clowe has been San Jose's best player so far.

-The Flames need to cut down on the penalties.

-Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff is seeing too much rubber.

Wild-Avalanche

-Colorado forward Paul Stastny needs to start performing.

-The Avalanche has a bunch of good shot blockers.

-The three months he spent in Colorado earlier in his career weren't exactly the high point of Minnesota forward Brian Rolston's career.

-Minnesota forward Branko Radivojevic is dealing with some sort of leg injury.

-As is the case with most places on earth, it's not wise to wear a Wojtek Wolski jersey in St. Paul, Minn.

-Injured Wild forward Mark Parrish will not travel to Denver for Game 3.

Ducks-Stars

-Someone want to let the Ducks know the playoffs have started? Mike Ribeiro had a goal and two assists and led the Stars to a 5-2 win at Anaheim. With the series moving to Dallas, the Stars have a 2-0 lead against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

-Anaheim wasted a lot of opportunities.

-The Ducks are looking like the last four defending Stanley Cup champions.

-Ducks forward Doug Weight returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch.

-Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been awful. His save percentage in two games has been .866.

-There's something fishy about how they award the three stars in Anaheim.

Smythe Division

-Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun says the playoffs have been boring so far. Maybe he should catch one of the Penguins' games.

-If your team has gone down 2-0 after two games at home, the numbers don't support a comeback historically.

Non-Playoff News

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

-John Curry made 28 saves for Wilkes-Barre in a 3-2 overtime loss to Norfolk.

-In the final regular season game of his career, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton enforcer Dennis Bonvie got into a fight with Norfolk's Jay Rosehill. Afterwards, Rosehill raised Bonvie's hand.