Bubs: Are the Penguins hitting their version of a midseason, post-championship slump?

Seth Rorabaugh: @ Bubs, I'm not sure there's ever any sort of designated time for any team to just hit a slump. You just hit it regardless of your previous success. I think there's definitely some elements of the supposed "Cup Hangover" in play. It's tough to get excited for January games in Florida after two consecutive years of being in the Cup final. Regardless of the circumstances, the Penguins aren't playing as well as they probably can.

James from Elmsford, NY: Do you think the Penguins might rent a winger this year and, realistically, which players could be available/would make the most sense for the Penguins?

Seth Rorabaugh: @James I never say never with Ray Shero, especially since he's gone about finding wingers his first three seasons running the team. If their teams continue their poor play and slip further out of playoff contention, I could see players like Paul Kariya or Ray Whitney, both of whom are UFAs after the season, become available.

JK: Seth, what are your thought on being able to resign Gonchar and Letang for next year? I know there will be some UFAs that will need to be replaced, but is it possible and/or probable?

Seth Rorabaugh: @JK, First, unless things really go sour, Letang's not going anywhere. He's a RFA after this season and unless some team is willing to give up first-round picks, no other team is going to sign him. Regarding Gonchar, I have to believe the Penguins are making every honest effort to keep him for a short-term deal within a reasonable price range. We saw Saturday how much he means to this team. He might be 35 and he's been very beat up over the past two seasons, but he's still very valuable to this team in the short term. And he seems to like the environment and stability in Pittsburgh. If that means he's willing to come down off his $5 million per season price tag, I don't know.

Mike: Seth should we expect to see Lovejoy in the line-up tonight?

Seth Rorabaugh: @ Mike, I'm not sure. I'm not in Minnesota so I didn't get to see the morning skate. But given Orpik's injury, and some of the spotty defense on the blue line as of late, It's hardly improbable to suggest he might be inserted into the lineup tonight.

Guest: The Pens seem to catch a lot of teams coming off a game the previous night, and we dont seem to have many back-to-back games. I'm not one to cry conspiracy, but when you have people claiming the Pens are Bettman's darlings, and they cite that as a stat - that is a hard one to come up with a rebuttal against.

Seth Rorabaugh: To say the least, the schedule maker has been kind to the Penguins, relatively speaking. But the schedule is pretty tough for everyone this season due to the Olympic break. Lots of games are being mashed together on back-to-back nights for every team. As far as the Penguins getting an break, they sure as heck haven't taken advantage of it as of late.

mike: Any chance the Lovejoy recall is him playing and Skoula riding the pine (fingers crossed)

Seth Rorabaugh: @ mike, It's possible. Skoula hasn't been strong as of late. But neither has Goligoski. That said, I would bench Skoula before Goligoski.

Phil, New Kensington: Any word on Orpik's injury? Didn't see anything happen during the game.

Seth Rorabaugh: @ Phil, as always, the Penguins are pretty tight-lipped with most injuries and they've been very hush-hush with Orpik's ailment. Considering they saw a need to recall Lovejoy, I'm a little concerned that Orpik's issue is a little bit more serious than "day-to-day."

Journeyman: Eklund threw Selanne's name out there recently, so you know that isn't happening. Would be awesome though.

Seth Rorabaugh: @Journeyman, considering the source of that rumor, you might as well be wondering what Mike Bossy or Maurice Richard could do with the Penguins. ;)

Joel: What is with the call up of Curry? is there a move coming? or maybe sickness?

Seth Rorabaugh: @Joel, Not sure what's wrong with either Fleury or Johnson that would prompt Curry's recall, but Dave Molinari did make a mention of Fleury suffering a cut on his left arm/shoulder before the morning skate Saturday. Considering how well he played that night, I'd be shocked if that was the reason for Curry's call up though.

The Confluence: How's it going Seth ... Do you agree with me in that Pascal Dupuis should be nowhere near the #1 line?

Seth Rorabaugh: @ The Confluence In an ideal world yeah, he's a third/fourth liner. But with Kunitz's injury, he's kind of forced into that role as of late. Again, I'd rather have him on the third or fouth line, but the team hasn't exactly struggled the past two seasons with him getting regular minutes on the first line.

TD: Seth, does it seem that the Pens are trying to get too many pretty goals? I think they need to take a lesson from Rupp and get more of the ugly ones.

Seth Rorabaugh: @TD You've read my mind. Especially on the power play. They don't have anyone that's a jerk and will just take the shot. If you look at the Capitals, call players like Ovechkin, Semin or Green selfish all you want, but the reason they're power play works is because they just shoot the puck. Even if it's a low percentage shot, chances are it creates a second-chance rebound someone like Knuble or Laich can clean up. Granted, Ovechkin, Semin and Green are probably more natural shooters than their counterparts on the Penguins, but they just take the shot and create chances that way. The Penguins just pass and move the puck around to create better chances.

Guest: Do you think with the Olympic break looming, and the number of games increasing, we'll start seeing even more call ups from WBS? We've played a lot of hockey the last 3 seasons.

Seth Rorabaugh: @Guest, Actually no. Only five players from the Penguins are going to the Olympics (assuming Orpik's healthy). All those other players will get that two plus weeks off. Obviously a lot can happen between now and next month, but that's roughly 18 players who will get to rest their bodies.

jd: Do you think Caputi will still be on the 2nd like with Malkin when the playoffs start?

Seth Rorabaugh: @JD, if he keeps playing they way he is, it'll be tough to take him off. He's provided a presence around the net that the really haven't had much of the season. But he's played all of three games. That's hardly a large enough sample to see what he can do at this level. Considering he's a bit on the small side for a player with a power forward game, he could wear down at the NHL level as the season moves along. But so far, so good.

723fan: What is your assessment of Kris Letang lately?

Seth Rorabaugh: @ 723fan, I thought he's played pretty well as of the past three games. Previous to that, he wasn't too sharp. He got the goal int he Atlanta game, but beyond that, he was very good defensively and even shut down Kovalchuk a few times. He was strong early in the Philadelphia game, but the roof caved in on him and the rest of the team late. And I thought he was solid in Toronto, especially considering everyone on the blue line had to pick up minutes with Orpik out.

jd: I know how everyone views the need for a scoring winger but do you think we will make a move at the deadline to improve the defense. We won the cup last year because of team defense not scoring wingers. Not that we couldn't improve on the top 6 as well.

Seth Rorabaugh: @ jd, As I said earlier, I never rule anything out with Shero. Considering Orpik and Goligoski are the only ones who are signed after this season, Shero might actually look at picking up someone who has could be in Pittburgh beyond this season. That said, I still think finding a complimentary winger for Malkin is a bigger concern.

Jim W: I know it's a Penguin chat but how about a shout out to Robert Morris for "sweeping" the No. 1 team in Men's Div. 1 college hockey two games in a row!

Seth Rorabaugh: @Jim W I hear that. What they did this weekend was tremendous. I know theyv'e beaten some traditional powers like BU or Ohio State in the past few seasons, but to beat the top-ranked team in the country in back-to-back games is insane. They've really taken some serious strides as they move into a bigger and better conference next season.

uli: Hi Seth, why do some many people complain about Fleury??s performance this season? His numbers are solid and getting no shutouts is far less important than getting wins.

Seth Rorabaugh: @ uli, I think some people look at him from a statistical standpoint and notice his goals against is a little high or his save percentage is a little low and rate him on that. But the bottom line is that he just wins. And he wins when the games mean the most. He's hardly perfect. He's not a great puck handler and he'll let in the iffy goal more often than you'd like, but the dude just wins games. And that's all that matters.

Matt Hauger: Seth, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Evgeni Malkin's performance as of late. As you probably know, Ron Cook laid into him in a fairly scathing article. Does Geno deserve to be raked over the coals?

Seth Rorabaugh: @ Matt Hauger, He's definitely in a slump. At least by his own lofty standards. So he's certainly open for criticism. "Raked over the coals?" I'm not sure he deserves to be slammed. He's still working his butt off and playing with passion. The effort he made that set up Caputi's goal against Atlanta is evidence of that. He's a tough guy to get a read one considering English is not his first language and he's not terribly comfortable with media-types. I'm not slamming him for his English. I have great admiration for anyone who can converse in two dialects. I'm just saying he's probably not all that comfortable all the time with it. Frankly, at least around the media, he pretty much acts the same way after hat tricks as he does after minus-3 games.

Seth Rorabaugh: Alright folks, I have to jet. Good chat. Hopefully we can do it again sometime soon.

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