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For the Penguins, the skating never stopped

By Jason Mackey / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 7 years ago

The legs feed the wolf.

It’s that line, plucked from the movie “Miracle,” that keeps bouncing around inside my head as I watch the Penguins close practice with a whole bunch of skating.

If you were here at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you know what I mean. It’s been intense. Looked like four laps in 40 seconds, then something different today. Wasn’t exactly able to pin it down.

“I don’t know what it is exactly,” Trevor Daley said. “All we know is go as fast as you can go.”

The Penguins do. If these two days have shown us anything, it’s that preparing to play this way is not an easy process. Nor does it come as a surprise.

“It’s a reflection of what our team is,” Daley said. “We want to be a quick, high-paced, play fast, play quick and do it for the longest (period of time).”

Coach Mike Sullivan was asked today whether it’s reasonable to expect the Penguins to play to the identity he helped them carve out for a full 82-game season.

Sullivan absolutely believes they can. And maybe do more. I don’t want anything to get lost in context, and we’re obviously not bound here by print guidelines, so here’s his whole response:

I really believe it was a comfort zone for our team. I think that’s the strength of this group — their mobility and their desire to play a speed game. I think that’s our competitive advantage. I think our players believe that. I think they want to play that way. I do think it’s repeatable. I think this group has another level that we’re going to push ourselves to get to. We’re going to challenge these guys right from Day 1. We’re trying to create a competitive camp here. We’re trying to have an emphasis on conditioning because if we’re going to play a skating game, we have to be in shape to play that type of game. I think what allowed us to play that type of game night in and night out was our ability to use the bench, use four lines. We were able to keep certain players’ minutes in a reasonable timeframe that gives them the ability to recover. To have that luxury of the depth that we had and we have, I think gives us the opportunity to play that speed game.


Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan works on the ice during training camp Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)

• I talked to Leland Irving about a few things. Will have more in a few days, but he’s an easy one to root for. Lives in British Columbia in the offseason. Has two kids, one more on the way. He’s 28, a former first-round pick who never quite lived up to that potential, here on a PTO trying to stick around.

He’s played 13 games for the Flames. With Marc-Andre Fleury needing a backup as Matt Murray sits with a broken hand, his development wouldn’t be damaged the way Tristan Jarry’s would by sitting around. Have to think he gets a chance. But he also has to be capable should something happen.

“I’ve got a lot of experience in the eight years that I’ve played,” Irving said. “I’ve been able to get a couple years in overseas, one in Finland, one in Russia. Nice to be back in North America last year with the Iowa Wild. Looking forward to what the season has to offer.”

Teddy Blueger has a couple goals early in camp. Has looked quite good at times, more skill than I remember. On Saturday, he got a puck from behind the net and went five-hole with it.

Blueger is an intriguing prospect. A second-round pick in 2012, Blueger had 11 goals and 35 points in 41 games for Minnesota State. Then when he made a 10-game cameo with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, his did nothing. Like literally nothing. No points.

So far this camp, Blueger has been noticeable on the offensive end and reliable on defense.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s been fun,” Blueger said. “It’s a steep learning curve my first camp like this. I think there’s still a lot to learn. It’s been good. Just trying to work hard and do my best.”

Blueger doesn’t have the same sort of speed as, say, Carl Hagelin. In reality, it’s probably not even close. It’s a weakness in Blueger’s game and, with Sullivan calling the shots, one Blueger knew he had to improve.

“It’s definitely something I wanted to improve upon and something I want to keep working on,” Blueger said. “The style of play, especially when you’re in Pittsburgh, is a lot of pace and a really fast game. It helps when you can get up and down the ice. Working on your skating and speed is a big part of that.”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.