Sticking up for teammate: (change out Max LaPierre for Crosby!)
Watch the entire vid:






Scoring a great goal against Shultz and Murray:




Article by St Louis sports guy from a few days ago, arguing why protecting Reaves over D. Perron was the right call:
https://www.stlouisgametime.com/2017/6/ ... vid-perron

Me thinks Sid's taken one too many cross checks from hacks like Brandon Dubinsky.
Me thinks Sid and Geno (maybe through Sully) asked JR for some protection.
Me thinks JR's #1 objective now is to WIN whilst having Sid/Geno/Phil/Letang/Murray/etc.

Plus, JR ain't exactly getting any younger himself. A 3-peat might get JR a ticket to the HOF given his success in Carolina.

I like both videos, especially the break away goal. Nice speed for a man his size, plus nice puck protection before the shot.
I like his being a right-handed shot also. Pens have a lot of lefties already.
How would you like to be a goalie with that behemoth about to crash your net.

check out that article too from a few days ago-- what the writer says about Reaves/Crosby -- Prescient!

Let’s be honest, the Blues need a guy like Reaves to climb onto the ice, immediately putting the other team on notice for having their ass handed to them. He doesn’t just hit the other guy; he runs them the fuck over. He is feared on the ice, and is the only Blue who can police opposing players out there. If Pittsburgh had Reaves, Sidney Crosby may not have six concussions during his career

I did. I also like how Reaves worked hard to improve as a hockey player when he could have found work somewhere as only an enforcer.

All the critics miss something else -- Gary Roberts, Mike Rupp, Bill Guerin, Eric Fehr -- all tough guys with some skills.
Protection in the regular season. Grit in the playoffs.

yep, great point -

I'll bet Reaves scores 12-13 goals for us next year, while protecting Sid & Co.

Also, for all the St Louis fans gloating about "stealing from the Pens" -

I think it's a little ironic that:

1. Reaves was PROTECTED by St. Louis for the expansion draft
2. Sundquist was NOT PROTECTED by the Pens (ie, he wasn't in our future)
3. We didn't "give up" a 1st rounder -- we basically flipped 2nd rounders. Drafting at 31 this year is like drafting in the 2nd round. We moved down 20 spots in the draft -- but saying that we "gave up a 1st rounder" fits the narrative that Blues fans are trying to sell to convince themselves this was a great trade.

As JR said, when you go out and get the guy who is the best at what he does, you have to pay for it. Reaves is the best at what he does, and it's something we need - toughness and grit and striking fear in the opponent.

This trade blows dick and it doesn't surprise me steel supports it.

St. Louis Blues: Why Protecting Ryan Reaves Makes Sense

https://bleedinblue.com/2017/06/15/st-l ... ing-staff/

u know a lot about giving blow jobs, but you don't know dick about hockey, you fucking douchebag

Reaves is a bad mother fucker




Knocking out Tom Wilson

The real benefit in having an enforcer like this isn't that they can go get vengeance for Sid. Not that Reaves can't or won't do that. It just that isn't a night in and night out sort of thing for an enforcer in today's NHL. The real benefit is the preventative in that we can now put a hurting on your stars too. Bullets don't fly in a Cold War.

Man you have fallen on hard times.

Even the dig on steel doesn't rescue this from being one of your dumber posts.

My initial response is that we gave up too much for Reaves but I trust Rutherford and his vision. It is nice to have a physical presence on the club that isn't ancient.

Probably means that Kunitz is all but gone-Reaves is a younger stronger version(of older Kunitz). Since Kunitz can't score much anymore all he brought was the physical aspect.
Sundqvist seemed to regress through the year and when last called up he was invisible. Is Dea going to be the fourth line center? Are the Pens going after Thornton as a third line center? Will they overpay Bonino if not?

Is Reaves a winger for Crosby some of the time or strictly a fourth liner?

Glad they got Ruhwedel locked up for the next two years.

Fs beat me to this. Reeves is essentially Kunitz replacement at a far far lower cost and an upgrade in the skating department

What I don’t like about the trade is that we gave up sunny. Not saying he is going to amount to much but we are EXTREMELY thin at C. Realize moves are to be made but we've now lost 3 centers :bones, sunny and Cullen. Knowing that Centers have significant value I'm not sure how we're going to address that easily

came here to see what u knowledgable folks thought..more I see bout this the more I like..dude is tough bad ass!...watching pens in playoffs I kept wondering where our bad asses were to kick some ass and stop the mauling of sid!! I welcome this cat! dude looks fast too when needed.. I bet he turns into good scorer on pens instead of the laboring st louis offense too.like some here suggested I bet sully sid and gino all exspressed we need a bad hombre to help out at times! should be fun to watch!!

We've lost neither Bonino nor Cullen yet. Not saying it's not likely, but they're still on the team at present.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Cullen come back though. His play was phenomenal in the postseason...logging all those minutes the last four games because he was the only one who could win a draw...and still playing at a high level...impressed the shit out of me.

punks like subban wont be fucking with sid with reaves patrolling!

Just to be fair yooous guys sure love the goons

All true...if I had to predict, I think it's more likely that Pens re-sign Bonino, Cullen retires and Kunitz goes elsewhere. Kunitz though....scores the OT game-winner in Game 7 of the ECS and assists on the Stanley Cup winning goal.

not true -- I'd rather see the goonery legislated out of the game

But the playoffs this year made clear that the NHL loves goonery, so it is necessary to add this element to our lineup in order to protect our superior assets from constant abuse

I'd much rather see the NHL protect its players like the NFL is doing, but no such luck

This is a "goon" that can also actually play.

Never going to score a lot of goals, but is always where he needs to be.

Absolutely love the trade! He will become a fan favorite the first time he punishes an opposing player for fucking with Crosby. Look for that to happen right out of the gate to send teams a message that messing with Crosby gets your ass kicked. With that said, I firmly believe in eye for an eye. If the other team wants to fuck with Crosby, have Reaves knock their #1 guy the fuck out!

Fuckin A Right -- DETERRENCE WORKS

very true -- people comparing Reaves to Sestito make me laugh -- Reaves is 10000X more of a hockey player/skater than Sestito

From 2010 to 2016, the Pittsburgh Penguins lacked a team identity. That changed when Sullivan took the helm. The team was built on skill and speed throughout the lineup. It showed success. The team won back-to-back Stanley Cups with guys like Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel, Tom Kuhnackl, and Conor Sheary.

Let's forward to the 2017-2018 season. Picture this, Sidney Crosby is in front of the net in the first round of the playoffs against the wild card New York Rangers. Then, a scene all too familiar occurs, Marc Staal cross checks Crosby viciously in the back of the head. But wait! Here comes Reaves off the bench to rescue our captain and violently assault Staal. Oh. Oh wait. You mean a player's presence on a team isn't going to stop Crosby or any other star from getting pummeled? You mean that has been proven the case time and time again? You mean maybe the problem is the league's inability to police and protect their stars? You mean Reaves got a 10-game suspension for leaving the bench? Oh. "Vengeance for Sid"? What a fucking stupid comment. Yes, the Penguins star player is out of the game with a concussion. Don't worry! Here comes our tough guy Reaves to get a 5 minute boarding major! Hooray! Dumb. Clueless.

I'm pretty sure Max Lapierre was on the Penguins when Staal took liberties on Crosby that series. I'm sure Staal was shaking in his skates looking at Lapierre on the bench as he was breaking Crosby's neck.

Does anyone remember the undisciplined slop fest against the Flyers in the 2012-13 playoffs? Remember how much retaliation helped the Penguins just win back-to-back Stanley Cups? Oh. It didn't. I'm actually shocked at the universal praise for this trade on this board, but then I remembered. Welp. Yinzers.

Do ya'll remember Steve Downie? The walking penalty machine? You yinzers have an aneurysm when Geno gets a penalty two games in a row. Imagine Steve Downie's tendency to get penalties in about half the ice time of Geno but with less offensive ability. That's Reaves. If you take into account only Reaves' minors last season (easily he most disciplined), he'd rank 4th on the Penguins last season...in half the ice time.

Remember the possession killing offensive ineptitude of the later years of Craig Adams and Chris Kunitz? Remember how, with the expulsion of Kunitz, the Penguins would be getting rid of all the dead weight?Don't worry, they have Ryan Reaves now. Remember the push for advanced statistics by the Penguins brass? Hell, they just promoted war-on-ice creator Sam Ventura to a more prominent role.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDGA6zjXsAEacRw.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDDRdJaXkAEaKrD.jpg:large

Oh.

Well at least Kunitz could still kill penalties. Same for Adams. Surely Reaves is a great penalty ki....he isnt? Oh.


I don't mind the addition of a guy to the lineup to protect the stars. I can see a need for it in the regular season against the Flyers or Capitals. Tom Sestito can fill that role. Oh, and hey, he wouldn't cost a first round pick and a ok prospect. These players become useless in the playoffs, especially for a speed team like Pittsburgh that wants to roll 4 scoring lines. I sure am going to love when the team becomes a shit show for a playoff game next year.

You know what's not really important for a team like the Penguins? The regular season. You know what is important? The playoffs. You know who has scored one point in 36 career playoff games? Reaves. Oh.

"But he's 4th line. He's not all about points!" Doesn't kill penalties. Doesn't have good possession numbers. Apparently protects star players?

4th line scoring isn't important? Oh, you mean it is for the Penguins? It's their identity? Tom Kuhnackl 7 points in 36 playoff games the last two years. Cullen 15 points in 49 playoff games the last two years. "Cullen took some penalty killing minutes and was able to go up and down the lineup! Unfair!" A diverse, versatile player as a 4th liner who isn't glued to 1 position?!?! Crazy, right?

All at the price of a first rounder. Get em while they're hot! What a shit overpayment. This would have made sense if it was Reaves for a fifth. Hell, I'd even do Sundqvist and a fifth for Reaves and been able to stomach it.


So, what can Reaves do well? He can play defense and suppress shots. He can cycle the puck a bit with the right players. He can skate. He can hit. So, if you love 8 minutes of that every night, while ignoring the fact that he's been a negative player his whole career despite that, good for you! If you love it at the price it came at, even better! I surely love the leeching of draft picks for no reason and the signing of veteran bottom 6 forwards that do nothing to help the team win. Cause that worked so well under Bylsma/Shero.

I'm sure most of ya'll were scrambling to Google "Ryan Reaves" or "I miss Fleury's smile" after this trade was announced, or in the case of Jeemie "original thought", and you're clearly experts now, but this guy is Tanner Glass 2.0. He's a step back from what made this team special. I witnessed the fall of a potential dynasty after the back-to-back cup appearances against Detroit. Yes, this is a small deal in theory, but it could prove quite large in nature. I'm going to reserve ultimate judgement and see what Rutherford does. I hope to god he has a plan. It's a change in philosophy from everything that made Pittsburgh successful these two seasons. It blows dick like retard steel.