The sight of Evgeni Malkin on the ice brought a smile to many in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ locker room.
Even knowing they wouldn’t have him in the lineup for Game 1 of their second-round series against the Washington Capitals on Thursday night
Womens Cam Newton Jersey , the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions could glean some optimism that the skilled Russian center won’t be out long with his apparent leg injury.
”It’s always nice to see a guy like him out there,” winger Bryan Rust said Thursday after an optional morning skate.
”He’s a guy who’s obviously really important to our team and brings so much. Just to see him out there and see him getting closer is nice.”
Coach Mike Sullivan said Malkin skating ”means he’s that much closer” to playing, even if the 31-year-old was wearing a white no-contact jersey. Malkin traveling with the team to Washington plus the progress he appears to be making could put him in line to return as soon as Game 2 Sunday afternoon.
”It’s great for our team, great for Geno that he’s on the ice and skating,” Sullivan said. ”He’s a big part of this team. He’s a difference-maker and not an easy guy to replace.”
Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia in Game 6 without Malkin
http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/marcus-cooper-jersey , who was injured in Game 5 on April 20 and hadn’t practiced since. Absent the 2009 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP, the Penguins rely more heavily on superstar Sidney Crosby and fellow centers Derick Brassard, Riley Sheahan and Tom Kuhnhackl.
”We have the depth on our roster,” Kuhnhackl said. ”We’ve showed that before. At the end, it doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup and who’s out. Everyone’s capable of playing the right way.”
Few in the NHL can play like Malkin
http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/tarik-cohen-jersey , who has three goals and two assists in five playoff games so far. General manager Jim Rutherford acquiring Brassard at the trade deadline certainly helps Pittsburgh’s depth down the middle, but it takes more than one or two players to fill the void without Malkin.
”One of the best players in the world, almost 100 points this year,” Brassard said. ”You can’t really replace a guy who scored 40 goals, but I think as a team we can do a better job and are trying to do a better job.”
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The NFL has a new kickoff rule. Whether the NFL will still have a kickoff remains to be seen.
After multiple attempts to make the so-called “most dangerous play in the game” less dangerous by using it less frequently
Kenneth Dixon Jersey , the NFL has made the play less dangerous by making it safer. Which is fine, but one question remains: How safe does the kickoff have to become in order to save it?
Packers CEO Mark Murphy recently explained that players are five times more likely to suffer a concussion on a kickoff than during a play from scrimmage. So what does the new ratio have to be? Saints coach and Competition Committee member Sean Payton didn’t have a specific response when asked that question during a recent visit to PFT; the goal for now is to simply make the play safer.
Still, someone surely has an idea as to how safe it will have to be. If the revamped kickoff doesn’t address the broader goal of reducing the overall physical risks associated with the play, the play will not survive.
And at a time when football fans should be far more concerned about the impact of the rule regarding the lowering of the helmet when initiating contact on the sport as we know it, the potential elimination of the kickoff could be the thing that does far more to alienate fans than players taking a knee during the national anthem.
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