Penguins Prospect Jagger Joshua: Now That’s What I’m Talkin’ About
Perhaps it was kismet.
A day after I wrote an article bemoaning the Penguins’ lack of muscle, one of the very few players in the organization with an aggressive bent had a huge impact yesterday at the Prospects Challenge.
Forward Jagger Joshua (No. 23 pictured above) delivered a booming neutral-zone hit on an unsuspecting Senators prospect on his opening shift, then proceeded to lather, rinse and repeat throughout the contest. Jolting foes with bodychecks totaling in double figures according to one observer’s unofficial count and drawing at least one retaliatory penalty.
The result? The Pens’ prospects won by a landslide, 8-3.
A far cry from the previous evening, when we lost to the Bruins’ prospects by a 4-2 count with a lineup described as “plain vanilla.”
Can anyone in a position of authority (ahem…Mike Sullivan) not see the difference some physicality makes?
To digress, I would love to have been a fly on the wall and watched Sully’s reaction to Jagger’s forceful play. If I had to guess at his expression? Bitter beer face.
Fortunately, Baby Pens and prospects coach J.D.