If any of our readers built up dreams of zany pranks, we apologize. Prank was the only word we could think of. We have realized that we basically have to trick these shows into talking about the Penguins. We aren't trying to be wise-guys or trying to get attention.
We understand we live in a football-crazy town, and we are behind the Steelers as much as the next guy, but the Penguins are 4 days from starting a new season and they have gotten limited exposure.
Well, the Subway Nightly Sports Call was hosted by Mike Zirrone, who I think is a robot. I'm not sure about the spelling of his name because the guy doesn't even have a bio on the KDKA website. I'm not even sure his name was Mike.
The Pensblog's good friend, Mike from Bridgeville, almost got through, tricking the producers with a Tyler Palko reference. The producers would have none of it as they shut him down.
Another good friend, Jim from Castle Shannon, used the old "Pitt beating up on bad teams" line to get on the air. For some reason, the producers let Jim on the air. Jim was gracious for the exposure and the Pens finally got some recognition.
Towards the end of the broadcast, they realized they had a Pens-heavy show on their hands, and let some guy (not of the Pensblog) on who talked about Marc-Andre. Excellent. This was all that we wanted. But we're not stopping here.
Bob Pompeani won't know whether to cry or wind his watch when he tries to job his way through talking about the pros and cons of Pens defenseman Kristopher Letang.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Pranks? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Pranks.
Buffalo Sabres 4 - Pens 2
When Marc-Andre Fleury took his place in goal tonight, he was most likely aware of the rumors swirling around him. He might get sent down. He might get traded. He's dating Hilary Duff.
Legal.He stared this adversity in the face...and lost. The Penguins, though, were without all of their top guns. We can't really judge his performance from listening to game on the radio, but the Pens lost and Fleury was in net.
Michel Oullet scored a power play goal for the Pens for a 1-0 lead. Buffalo scored a power play goal of their own towards the end of the period. Ryan Malone scored for the Pens in the second and they took a 2-1 lead going into the third. We all know what happens next.
It took Buffalo three minutes to tie the game up. Chris Drury scored for Buffalo with nine minutes left in the game to take a 3-2 lead. An empty net goal sealed the deal and that was it.
Stats
- Henrik Tallinder (BUF) - 1 G, 1 A
- PowerPlay: (BUF 1 for 6) (Pens 1 for 3)
- Shots: Buf (29) Pens (22)
- Fleury - 25 saves
- Kristopher Letang: 20:43 ice-time, -1
- Malkin participated in the morning skate.
PENS NEXT GAME: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5. PHILADELPHIA. MELLON ARENA. OPENING NIGHT.
One Baaaaaaad MAFer
So, who IS Marc-Andre Fleury?
He was drafted first overall by the Penguins in the 2003 entry draft, becoming the third goalie in history to have been taken with the first pick (Michel Plasse, Rick DiPietro). He made his debut on October 10, 2003 against the Los Angeles Kings at Mellon Arena, where he underwent the goaltending equivalent of a colon exam. He faced 48 shots (46 saves) and stopped a penalty shot in a 3-1 loss.
He ended up playing 21 more games for the Pens that year, finishing with a 4-14-2 record.
Instead of working at Chick-Fil-A during the 04-05 lockout, Fleury spent the season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins where he posted a 26-19-4 record.
When 2005-06 rolled around, everyone in Pittsburgh thought it was going to be Fleury's coming out party as the Pens revamped their roster with some veterans and The Kid. Instead, Lemieux retired, Palffy quit and the Penguins faltered. Marc-Andre finished the season with a 13-27-6 record. His 3.25 GAA and .898 Save% were admirable considering he was playing behind the worst defense in the NHL.
Nah...
Fleury looks slick when he makes a save with his picture-perfect technique, and looks like a terd when a third line doofus beats him over the left shoulder. We hope he makes some strides this year, but we also hope he doesn't get traded. Watching him dominate a playoff series in an Avalanche jersey is not something I'm ready to deal with.
MAF Career Game Log
Why I Hate COMCAST
The Pensblog isn't even a month old and, visitor wise, it's become more popular than we thought it would be. We are gracious to our early readers, and invited our early commenters to send us some rants. Here's one from a Pens fan in Hershey, PA.
I live near Hershey (grew up near Pittsburgh) and last year, I couldn't wait for the hockey season to finally start back up. I was a Comcast Digital subscriber and to be able to watch the Pens, I bought the NHL Center Ice package. (Otherwise I would be force fed those a-hole Flyers and the world's worst homer announcers-Coatsey and Jackson. Those two are idiots, but that is another story).
The season started and it was great. I was able to watch every Pens game the first three weeks of the season. Then one day, turning to the channel the Pens game was supposed to be on, a message across the screen read "This game is Blacked out" or something to that effect. I thought, ok, maybe it wasn't sold out. I checked the paper the next day, and it was sold out. The next game day came, and sure enough, another blacked out message. I called Comcast and the high school drop out they had answering the phones couldn't tell me why the games are being blacked out. Next game, same blacked out message. Now I am pissed. I paid all that money to see the Pens and they are blacked out. I called Comcast again, but this time the guy said that because I live in an area that FSN Pittsburgh is available, the games are blacked out. Well here's the kick in the balls: Comcast refuses to carry FSN Pittsburgh. It would take viewers away from watching the goons in Philly(my opinion).
I ended up writing a letter to both Comcast Customer service and the NHL and voiced my complaint. Comcast said they were in a contract dispute with FSN Pittsburgh. Comcast refunded all of my money and allowed me to cancel the center ice package. I guess in the long run, it saved me many aggravating nights watching the Pens get blown out with Thi-bound in the net.
This year I now have DirecTV and have FSN Pittsburgh, and am looking forward to this season. I must say I am disappointed I will not be able to hear Mike Lange (unless I listen to XM while I watch the game). I think Mike Lange's voice is synonymous with the Pens. Watch the "Crosby's Goals Part One" post. His sayings are classic. I will miss listening to him. I know not everyone liked him, but to me, his voice and sayings always remind me of the glory years.
I'm sure Comcast is somehow responsible for the Pens dropping him from their telecasts.
Here's a math equation I learned in high school:
Tomorrow's News... Pensblog Crusade
I watched SportsCenter last night. Not one mention of hockey.
To the defense argument, The Pensblog thinks the BG insider sucks. No way they send Welch down.
We are going to find alot out about Shero in the next few days.... and by the looks of things, it might not be that great.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Quack... Quack... Quack. NUMBER ONE
The Mighty Ducks is The Pensblog number 1 movie of all time.
Your first love, your first seventh game, your first gut-wrenching playoff loss. All of these moments stick with you wherever you go in life.
But our number one hockey movie, the movie that makes you see the light...that's something more. That's greatness.
That greatness is the Mighty Ducks.
The importance of all these movies (yes the third one counts, you take the good with the bad) cannot be taken lightly.
To my generation, the Triple Deke, Gordon Bombay and Charlie Conway are like the
Breakfast Club, Clint Eastwood, and the Corleone Family to other generations.
But, the first movie was amazing.
The story of Gordon Bombay, played by Emilio Estévez: Unreal hockey talent (think Crosby), becomes a washed up nothing after blowing his knee out.
He then somehow puts himself through Law School, and becomes the white Johnny Cochran...going 30-0 on his first cases.
(If only Johnny were white and could skate, he may still be alive today)
Bombay then gets a DUI, and is sentenced to community service.
The court orders him to coach a peewee hockey team, the worst in the league. Gordon is at first very reluctant. However, he eventually gains the respect of the kids and teaches them how to win, gaining a sponsor on the way and giving the team the name of The Ducks.
Bombay starts to come around, as do the kids. They pick up Coach Jack Riley's superstar Adam Banks.
Coach Jack Riley, of Son-In-Law fame.They also pick up Fulton Reed, a big time defenseman that will own anyone.
After Hans (below) breaks the news and reports the "Panthers have the measiles", the Ducks are playoff bound.
He did not molest any of the players.
Once there, they stun District Five and make it to the championship game.
Setting up one of the more dramatic endings of all time.
After Banks gets run by his former teammates, breaking up the Oreo Line, Charlie Conway puts the team on his back. With his team tied late in the third, he goes coast to coast but is pulled down from behind.
The clock ticks to zero.... A Penalty Shot
Imagine how you felt when Charlie Conway smoked the Hawks goalie on a breakaway, using the move his Coach and former Hawk, Gordon Bombay, once failed to use for the Hawks. It is the stuff of legends.
Charlie Conway. Too bad he grew up to be a douchebag.
I originally planned to name all three Mighty Ducks movies to this list, but there is just too much. So look for a review of Mighty Ducks 2 sometime later....
But to really capture the greatness of the Mighty Ducks franchise...here is the best video ever:
Almost Forgot...(News, rumors and links)
...Marc-Andre Fleury is being shopped around by GM Ray Shero. No link for you...as it is a rumor in the Pens Message Board Nation.
...Hurricanes traded their boy-toy Jack Johnson to Los Angeles because the Hurricanes need defensive help.
...Avalanche forward Steve Konowalchuk retires after a 13-year career of having a long name.
...Hold onto your testicles as Sports Illustrated picks the Pens to finish 9th in the conference.
...Pick up a copy of said Sports Illustrated this week, which features a Crosby/Ovechkin article.
"Go Steelers."Buffalo Sabres 4 - Pens 3 (OT)
ESPN Game Recap
Well...crap. I listened to this game with the PittsburghPenguins.com streaming feed of Mike Lange and Phil Bourque (it was great to listen to Lange again). Lange was drinking, I believe. But, nonetheless, it was still great to sit back and visualize the game as Mike Lange announces it/talks about his old neighbor's dog whose nickname was Max.
Colby Armstrong scored the lone first period goal, with Crosby and Ekman getting assists. In the second Daniel Briere scored to tie it up, but John LeClair scored about a minute later to give the Pens a 2-1 lead going into the third period.
Ron MacLean, longtime National Hockey Night in Canada host, helped officiate the game tonight. The third period was the period that special teams play built. Teppo Numminen (yes, still alive) scored thirty seconds in, shorthanded, to tie the game up. With eight minutes left, Army scored a power play goal and the Pens started to caress their narrow lead's breasts. 3 minutes later, Maxim Afinogenov scored a pretty goal (shorthanded) to tie the game up.
In overtime, Adam Mair scored for Buffalo and that was it.
Stats
- Crosby - 2 A
- Armstrong - 2 G
- Thibault - 25 saves
- Shots: BUF - 29 PIT - 18
- Faceoffs Won: BUF - 23 PIT - 34
- Powerplay: (Buf 1 for 9) (Pens 1 for 8)
- Buffalo - 2 shorthanded goals
Thursday, September 28, 2006
"Old time hockey...just like Eddie Shore"
There are movies...and there are movies that truly transcend time. I give you number two on the all-time hockey movie list.
SlapShot
The movie is based on a fake team called the Charlestown Chiefs.
In a town where the mills are closing, the team seems to be not far behind.
Paul Newman plays Reggie Dunlop, the coach/former star player.
Reggie is not above using a dirty trick or two to manipulate his teammates or psyche out opposing players, and cheerfully gets physical when he has to.
Even Reggie recoils in disgust, however, when his tightwad manager brings in the Hanson Brothers, three thick-lensed, thicker-headed goons who are more interested in fighting than playing Reggie's brand of "old-time hockey".
The language is often extremely brutal, and thats what makes it hilarious.
Dennis Lemieux scene is an alltime favorite of mine:
I could write a novel on this movie, but lets face it. We don't have that kind of time.
I'll leave you with this:
Reggie Dunlop: It's their rink, it's their ice, and it's their f*ckin' town. But tonight we got our fans with us!
[other players cheer]
Reggie Dunlop: They spent their own dough to get here, and they came here to see us! All right, let's show 'em what we got, guys! Get out there on the ice and let 'em know you're there. Get that f*ckin' stick in their side. Let 'em know you're there! Get that lumber in his teeth. Let 'em know you're there!
Ned Braden: Bleed all over 'em. Let 'em know you're there.
Reggie Dunlop: Give 'em a good warm-up, Denis. Come on, fellas.
Tomorrow...Number 1......
Ducks New Logo Christens New Team Strategy
Apparently, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks...errr Mighty Ducks of Anaheim...errr the Anaheim Ducks have a new game strategy for 2006-07: Bore the opposing team into submission with their logo.
(Never had a problem with it)To this:
(high-res pic)
All I want is a line streaking across the bottom of DUCKS with a hockey puck at the end of it. Or the part of the K that is below everything else to have the blade of a hockey stick on it. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, looking for some semblance of a duck in the "D". Some people say it looks like the webbed foot of a duck, but all I see is the bat signal.
"I gotta go. The Ducks are on the Power Play."
Finally, look at the Minnesota Wild logo. Do you see an animal in the logo?
Found an awesome site: SportsLogos.net
7 days til face-off.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Enemies of the State
I was attempting to call Mark Madden's stupid show (ESPN Radio 1250) today to talk about Malkin, and dispute some things hanging around the internet (like people worried about the Penguins rushing Malkin back to action) when the guy answering the phone said we aren't talking about the Penguins.
Thanks, Mark, for that incredible insight. You know so much.
If Madden knew so much, wouldn't he be able to make his own opinion about Letang?
I won't link it because his site sucks.
Therrien The Pens A New Butthole
In case anyone forgot about this...
January 10, 2006: Following a 3-1 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Coach Michel Therrien goes into "Reserved Jim Mora" mode. (Chris and I went to this game, like anyone cares.)
The Kovalchuk incident that he talks about is here.
Enjoy.
"Hey, go hump your Saint Bernard, scum-nuts"
Movie number 3 on the best hockey movies of all time is: Youngblood.
(As you can imagine from the title of this post, its a must see.)
(Warning: The gayness emanating from this movie poster made my computer freeze. Twice.)
I am not going to lie, folks. Rob Lowe sucks.
In Youngblood, Lowe plays Dean Youngblood , a sensitive young farm boy, who fights against the odds as he struggles to succeed in the brutal sport of ice hockey. He falls in love with the daughter of his no-nonsense coach, and is at odds with the fighting which is a necessity in the sport for him to be noticed by professional hockey scouts.
Really...if Michel Therrien has a daugther, nothing seperates this movie with Jordan Staal's fight to make the Pens team.
The cast of this movie is unreal. Included with the wildly untalented Lowe are:
Patrick Swayze, a veteran of the team who is trying to make the leap into the big time.
And Keanu Reeves, the Thunder Bay Bombers Goaltender.
Youngblood faces test, after test, after test. The first is falling in love with the coach's daughter
(he scores a goal, and she falls in love with him). Things just happen this way in Canada. Its ok.
The second is my favorite. Swayze's character gets steamrolled by this jobber named Racki.
Think Cam Neely getting hit by Ulf. Forward to 2:28 of this video to see Ulfie smoke Neely.
(Cam Neely's cameo performance in Dumb & Dumber rivals Lowe's performance in this movie.)
Like a chicken, Youngblood is stunned by his mentor getting lit up like a white guy walking through Homewood.
Youngblood retreats to his family farm, where he learns to fight, and comes back and owns Racki in the ending fight.
All and all this movie is good times....But watching more than once could cause you to want to contemplate killing yourself...
Tomorrow's Movie
Slapshot
The season cannot come soon enough
Penguins Claim Karl Stewart Off Waivers
TSN.ca reports:
The Pens claimed center Karl Stewart (5' 11" 185 lbs.) off waivers today. He's played 13 NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers...recording one point. But his OHL and AHL stats aren't too shabby.
TSN.ca also unveiled their "players to watch" list. They abide to our previous post about Linda Cohn's article, although they have a couple boring ones, too.
Here's the list from TSN.ca:
- Evgeni Malkin - Good pick
- Tomas Vokoun - Good pick
- Chris Pronger - Ehhhh.
- Roberto Luongo - Good pick
- Jonathan Cheechoo - Was he a one-hit wonder? He's from a town named Moose Factory.
- Cam Ward - Defending Stanley Cup champion...a requisite on a list like this
- Alex Tanguay - New scenery in Calgary
- Brendan Shanahan - I hope he pulls a Palffy on the Rangers.
- Saku Koivu - Gotta appreciate Koivu
- Todd Bertuzzi - I think a lot of people just want him to go away
Found this bad-ass pic of Jocelyn Thibault of when he was with the Nordiques.Killer uniforms.
Maury Povich Sends Pens To Boot Camp
The Pens are enjoying some "down-time" this week as they participate in a four-day boot camp at West Point Military Academy in New York state. The whole idea is to build teamwork and trust and to drag each other across a football field. Not much to say here. That article is self-explanatory.
(Terrible Photoshop Job)Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Jaromir Jagr vs. Mario Lemieux
2001: Kissing Pittsburgh good-bye.We aren't Jagr haters. We understand why people boo him at games, though. I think they just forget what Jagr did while he was here in Pittsburgh. He made the transition to Lemieux-less hockey easy for us. Not much to talk about here. Everyone knows the memories. We can't hate him just because he wasn't personable.
He jumped at the chance to score a big contract and secure financial peace of mind. If I was a hockey player from the Czech Republic, I would have done the same thing in 2001. I just kinda wish he didn't semi-tank in the 2001 Conference Finals against the Devils.
In case you were wondering:
(as of 9/26/06)
Career Goals: Lemieux - 690, Jagr - 591
Assists: Lemieux - 1033, Jagr - 841
Points: Lemieux - 1723, Jagr - 1432
Art Ross Trophies: Lemieux - 6, Jagr - 5
Playoff OT Goals: Lemieux - 0, Jagr - (Can't find the exact stat, but I can think of 4.)
Mullets: Lemieux - 1, Jagr -1
Just lettin' ya know.
Its a Bird, its a Plane.... Its Russell Crowe playing hockey?
Wasting no time tonight folks.
If it were about High school football, it would of made $181 million.
We usually wanna stay focused on hockey, but this was too good to pass up.
Monday, September 25, 2006
It's A Movie Night in Pittsburgh
During the calm before the Penguins season storm, and with all the fanboys jumping off the Steelers Bandwagon (I like the Steelers more than anyone, but we're just more concerned with the Pens right now), I've decided to release my list of top 5 hockey movies of all time.
Drum roll please...
The year is 1993.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Pens Make Cuts..
Pens cut 8 Guys tonight
More importantly, Erik Christensen was one of them.
Some would think that this could mean that Malkin may be better off than expected.
And it might make sense, but you never know. But now, the Pens have only 4 centers.
Centers: Crosby, Malkin*, Moore, Talbot, Staal
Left Wings: Ekman, Malone, LeClair, Roy, Carcillo, Stone, Pivko
Right Wings: Armstrong, Recchi, Ruutu, Ouellet, Petrovicky*
Defense: Eaton, Gonchar, Orpik, Welch, Whitney, Melichar, Scuderi, Letang, Cairns* Goaltenders: Fleury, Thibault, Sabourin
(thanks to Letsgopens.com for the list)
The Pulse of the Pens message board nation is that the Christensen cut is a message Malkin is good to go.
Here at the Pensblog we will only be sure when we see Malkin opening night.
Penguins 2 - Philadelphia Flyers 1
Roughly seven hours driving time from PittsburghThe apocalypse is upon us. Roy recorded an NHL point when he assisted on a goal by Ryan Stone in the second period of the Penguins 2-1 victory over Philadelphia.
Whachew gonna do when Andre Roy runs wild on youAfter a scoreless first period, Ryan "Kidney" Stone got the Pens on the board. Later in the second, Philly's Geoff Sanderson scored on the powerplay to tie the game. Our old buddy Petr Nedved assisted on the goal.
The third period looked like it was a snooze-fest until Johnny Chocolate LeClair scored on the powerplay with 5 minutes left. The most appealing thing, looking at the box score, is the fact that Penguin Daniel Carcillo got a double-minor for high-sticking with 2:40 left in the game. Hitchcock probably pulled his goalie at the 2:00 mark, and the Pens effectively killed off a two-man advantage for the last two minutes of the game. That's intriguing, if that's the way it went down.
Stats
- Nice to see a Pittsburgh sports team that can win.
- Sid Kid Did not play
- Jordan Staal - 1 A
- Jocelyn Thibault - 18 saves, improves to 2-0 in preseason
- Shots: PHI 19 - Pens 12. 12 shots.
- Powerplay: PHI (1 for 6) - Pens (1 for 6)
- Less than 11 days until the season opener against the Flyers
9/29 - vs. Buffalo
9/30 - @ Buffalo
Crosby Projected To Win Art Ross Trophy
http://www.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/feature/?fid=10825
TSN Canada projects Crosby to win the scoring title this year with 48 G, 71 A, 119 Points.
Armstrong - 27 G, 38 A, 65 Points
Gonchar - 12 G, 48 A, 60 Points
Nils Ekman - 22 G, 36 A, 58 Points
Mark Recchi - 22 G, 36 A, 58 Points
Ryan Malone - 25 G, 26 A, 51 Points
John LeClair - 21 G, 23 A, 44 Points
Ryan Whitney - 18 G, 24 A, 42 Points
Mario Lemieux - 0 G, 0 A, 0 Points
Lemieux shows disapproval of his TSN Canada point projection.Being Uwe Krupp
The Mark of the BeastThe game wasn't televised, so I resorted to listening to the game on the radio. At the end of the radio broadcast, it felt like someone stabbed me in my five year-old scrotum. Penguins announcer Mike Lange thanked fans for a season of support and then, done. Radio broadcast over. Season over. My life over. I refused to watch the highlights on the local news that night and I've only seen footage of the goal once, during a Penguins game broadcast in 2005-06. The footage of that goal will be used against me like rats were used against Winston Smith in George Orwell's 1984.
Uwe Krupp's 16-year was quite an eventful one. He was a man of March.
- March 22, 1989 - Uwe Krupp is chasing St. Louis Blues forward Steve Tuttle towards the Buffalo net. They collide with Buffalo goaltender Clint Malarchuk and Tuttle's skate blade nicks Malarchuk's jugular vein. The footage below is kinda gruesome; not for the faint of heart (or wimps).
Here is Clint Malarchuk's story. WARNING!!! Gruesome photo in that article (and in this post).
- March 20, 1993 - Uwe Krupp is only New York Islander player to record 5 points or more in a game during the 1992-93 season. Nearly two months later, on May 14, his New York Islanders squad upsets the heavily-favored Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the playoffs.
- March 1, 1995 - Uwe Krupp (Quebec) is only NHL defenseman to record a hat trick during the 1995 strike-shortened season.
- June 10, 1996 - Uwe Krupp scores the Stanley Cup-winning goal in the third overtime of Game 4 against the Florida Panthers.
- 1999-2000 Season - Detroit suspends Uwe Krupp without pay for going dog-sledding while recuperating from a back injury. I couldn't make it up if I tried.
- Mid-March 2003 - Uwe Krupp announces his retirement from the NHL.
(Some people think this Clint Malarchuk.But it's actually me in my bedroom, shortly after Krupp's OT goal in '89)
Saturday, September 23, 2006
New Low for ESPN
Happened to be browsing the net tonight,
found this on espn.com.
Look. We all know ESPN hates the NHL.
But Linda Cohn writing a hockey column?
Ouch.
Quick breakdown of it:
Here are the five people to watch in hockey this season according to Linda:
- Dominick Hasek
- Brendan Shanahan
- Chris Pronger
- Scott Walker
- Ted Nolan
Take it in......
Ready.....
Go.....
Hasek is mud. I am sure when the Pensblog brain trust gets together for a preview of the hockey season, we will go more into detail. But I can think of three goalies I am more interested in seeing:
1. Andrew Raycroft - Is there bigger pressure than being a Leafs player? Not to mention goalie?
2. Kari Lehtonen - Will he help Atlanta to the first playoff run?
3. Jose Theodore - The Avs go as far as he takes them.
Honorable mention: Roberto Luongo - Although I am already rethinking him being at number one this list. He finally gets a good team in front of him... Would anyone be surprised if he turns into the latter day Kirk McLean?
And by Penguins standards: Will MAF finally rise up?
When I think Hasek...I think this ... oh and this too
Next up.
Brendan Shanahan
I really don't even want to respond to this. Who the hell cares about him. He's old, and he isn't even the best player on the team. Rangers go as far as Jagr goes.
Plus how many young players are worth talking about???
AO, Crosby, Malkin(pre-Leclair), Phil Kessel( do not sleep on this guy)... there's so many others it makes me sick.
And while I like Chris Pronger...Whats there to watch about him? He proved all he had to last year in the playoffs.
Linda Cohn sucks.
Yes Scott Walker plays for Carolina. He's good. But of all people...Scott Walker? If she writes another column I am going on a 5 state killing spree.
And Ted Nolan. The real guy to watch is Charles Wang, the Islanders owner. Because he is nuts.
Funny story about Ted Nolan. When the Pens announced the whole casino thing. How many of you thought it would have been funny if the Pens hired Nolan as Head Coach/ Greeter. Come on you laughed.
This can still happen.
Linda Cohn should stop trying to be Carrie Bradshaw....
Buffalo Sabres 3 - Penguins 2 (Shootout)
3.5 inches from Pittsburgh.1 centimeter from Buffalo.
Pensblog refuses to recognize the new Sabres logo. We took this opportunity to not recognize the goat logo, either.Nils Ekman and Kristopher Letang (PP) scored the Pens' two goals in the first period, both assisted by Sidney Crosby.
In the second period, Henrik Tallinder scored to make it 2-1. Jason Pominville scored for Buffalo in the third to tie it up and the game slid into OT. A scoreless OT period took the teams into a shootout.
The shootout went a Pens-Islanders-esque 11 rounds. Crosby (second shooter) scored. The Pens were a save away from winning it, but Buffalo's third shooter, Thomas Vanek, scored. The teams then traded saves for 7 rounds until Clarke MacArthur scored for Buffalo and that was it.
Stats
- Sidney Crosby - 2 A
- Kristopher Letang - 1 G, 1 A
- Shots: Buffalo 46 - Penguins 19. Read that again.
- Dany Sabourin (Pens) - 44 saves
- Powerplay: Buffalo (0 for 3) - Pens (1 for 4)
- You only need one guess as to why the Pens played an exhibition game in Hamilton, Ontario.
- Dany Sabourin is handed poop and makes lemonade, turning away 44 shots tonight.
London, Ontario
Keep the Horse in the Staal
Per the NHLPA CBA
Article 9.1 (d)
In the event that an 18 or 19 year-old player signs with a club, but does not play in 10 games in the first season, the period of the entry level system will be extended (1) year.
Above is a summary of the rule by me. You can read the whole thing because it wouldn't let me copy and paste it, because Adobe Reader is gayer then Governor Jim McGreevey .
There are tons of things that bother me.
But right up at the top has to be programs for women. What am I talking about?
What does this have to do with Jordan Staal you ask?
Well let me explain……..dammit let me explain!
So, I am watching one of the greatest shows of all time ER. And over on ABC, Greys Anatomy just got done with another bullcrap show.
And having to watch this lady on TV is gross.
She is one of the top ten ugLiest people on TV right now. Her face looks like an old catcher's mitt.
Dr. John Carter( The young and upcoming doctor)
Dr. Peter Benton( The hard ass black guy doctor)
Dr. Doug Ross( George Clooney if he were a doctor)
Dr. Mark Greene ( when he died was one of the most surreal moments of TV ever)
Dr. Luka Kovac (tough Crotia who is as unstable as Theo Fleury)
Dr. Kerry Weaver (The crazy Lesbian we all know)
The list could go on and on.
Point Being: ER is like the Penguins pre-2002.
The Pens and ER were alike. A factory of winning. ER won a Golden Globe. Another 105 wins & 229 nominations, Penguins 2 Stanely Cups. 11 straight years in the playoffs.
But then ER, like the Penguins, got tired. Forced storylines,(bad draft picks, poor development), no leader of the ER (Lemieux retires) lead to unrest.
But last year, ER, after some new casting, and the Pens with Crosby, are headed back to winning terrority.
This is were Staal comes in. Shows like Greys Atamony have copied ER success, and the public's thirst for medical dramas(shows like Chicago Hope on CBS) has grown.
But see, these shows never last. Everything happens so quickly, and you don’t have time to see the evolution of characters.
Don’t do it Shero, as a young Heath Ledger once told Mel Gibson in the Patriot:
Stay the course.
Please Shero. Stay the course.
1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins
Winning the Stanley Cup in 1993 would have cemented this team's place as having the best single-season performance of the 90's in the National Hockey League. The team is always mentioned by NHL.com and ESPN.com when they do their team of the decade tournaments.
The 1992-93 season marked the beginning of the pigeon logo era. It marked the 100th year anniversary of the Stanley Cup. It was the final year that the Patrick, Adams, Norris and Smythe Divisions...AND the Wales and Campbell Conferences were in existence. (Seriously, looking back on it, there was simply no reason to scrap these division names from the ledger. They gave hockey that unique aura. Now, we have stupid geographical names. And we have home teams wearing their dark jerseys...stupid. We get robbed every year from seeing Montreal coming to the Mellon in their reds (below). I made it a point to go to a Canadiens game every year.) Teemu Selanne burst onto the NHL scene with a rookie-record 76 goals. The Gary Bettman era began. NHL record was set for most 100-point scorers and 50-goal scorers in a season. The Ottawa Senators' expansion year resulted in a 10-70-4 record. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings in five games to win the Cup. Guess who scored overtime goals in consecutive games for Montreal during the Finals?
John LeClairPenguins Statistics
- Record: 56-21-7 (119 points, President's Trophy)
- Lemieux, Stevens, Tocchet and Francis reached the 100-point mark
- Lemieux misses 24 games after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. He returned in early March, 12 points behind Lafontaine in the scoring race. What ensued was the most ridiculous scoring-binge in the history of Western Civilization: 30 G, 26 A, 56 Points in 20 games. Lemieux (60 Games: 69G, 91A, 160 Points, 2.66 Points per game) wins the scoring title by 12 points.
- Penguins reel off 17 consecutive victories at the end of the season
- Tom Barrasso: 43-14-5 (3.01 GAA)
Friday, September 22, 2006
Washington Capitals 5 - Penguins 4 (OT)
ESPN Game Recap
From what I've read, the Pens played a pretty good game tonight sans Sidney Crosby. Also, the Capitals were without Alexander Ovechkin. One can easily picture Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin drinkin beer/banging chicks in the press box.
The game was tied at 3 going into the third period. Sergei Gonchar scored to make it 4-3, but the Capitals' Jakub Klepis tied the game with about a minute left. In overtime, the ghost of Penguins past came back to haunt us as Matt Bradley(pictured at bottom) scored to send the eight people in attendance home, dejected.
Capital Alexandre Giroux giving LeClair a present from Malkin.- Sergei Gonchar - 2 PP Goals
- Ryan Whitney - 2 A
- Dominic Moore - 1 G
- Jakub Klepis - 1 G, 2 A
- Marc-Andre Fleury - 19 saves on 24 shots
- Powerplay - WAS (3 for 10) PIT (2 for 13)
- Sergei Gonchar with two more goals.
- Dominic Moore scores. We saw the goal on the news. It was nasty. He was looking solid against Philadelphia, too.
- Fleury with some weak stats, but it's hard to comment on him without seeing the game.
Next Game: Tomorrow night (9/23). Against Buffalo. Hamilton, Ontario.
Flip The Breakers At The Mellon
The Penguins are rolling out the brown carpet tonight as they kick off another season of hockey at the Mellon Arena. Tonight's pre-season game against the Capitals (7:30 PM) will not be on the radio or television. Crosby is not dressing for tonight's game, either.
When we talk about the Capitals, the following topics cannot be ignored:
- The flocks of Pens fans making the trip to Washington for playoff games.
- The Penguins' dominance: 6 playoff series wins in 7 tries (since 1991).
"We Suck."- Randy Gilhen jumping on as an extra attacker during a delayed penalty call and scoring late in Game 2 of the 1991 Patrick Division Finals to tie the game up at 6. Kevin Stevens ended up winning the game in overtime.
- 1/26/92 - Ron Hogarth, esteemed NHL referee, hands out game misconducts to Lemieux, Stevens and Jagr in a 6-4 loss at Washington.
- Down three games to one in the 1992 Patrick Division Semi-Finals, The Pens come roaring back to force (and win) a Game 7.
- 4/24 - 25/96 - EPIC GAME. Petr Nedved scores with 45 seconds remaining in the 4th overtime of Game 4 to tie the series at two. Mario Lemieux had slashed Todd Krygier earlier and received a game misconduct. Lemieux spent the overtime periods setting up food for the players between periods. The Pens eventually win the series in six games.
The look on Sergei Gonchar's face is priceless.
- 2001 - The Pens ride Johan Hedberg's sterling goaltending past the Capitals in six games.
- Future: Ovechkin vs. Crosby/Malkin. Game 7. Eastern Conference Finals.
The Enigma That Is Tom Barrasso
Picture: Tom Barrasso getting slammed with rats in the 1995-96 Eastern Conference Finals. Florida Panthers fans would celebrate goals by throwing plastic rats onto the ice. Barrasso took it like a man while continuing his penchant for wearing stupid goalie masks:
The small print on my cell phone battery is more exciting.
Doesn't look like a two-time Stanley Cup Champion to me.
The latter years had him using elaborate designs as a way to disorient shooters.
Who is Tom Barrasso? I won't go into his career/life story, but he was an all-time great goaltender for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He grew weary of media attention here in Pittsburgh, eventually abolishing all contact with the media, and thus became a player that most fans loved to hate. He was traded to Ottawa in 1999-2000. He jumped around to a couple different places until he retired.
He is mostly remembered for the David Volek ball-breaker and the goal that Tom Fitzgerald scored from the parking lot. However, he also backstopped the Pens to our only two Stanley Cups. At the end of his career, he signed with the Penguins for one day, just so he could retire as a Penguin.
Couple all that with never really seeing the personal side of him, and what you have is a mythical figure of Pittsburgh sports lore.
Tom Barrasso's stats
The Pensblog salutes Tom Barrasso on, what better be, a Hall-of-Fame career.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Experience the Embarrassment
Pro-Set Hockey Cards didn't even bother with spelling his name right.He was a role player on a team that needed some goons.
His career stats indicate as much.
He scored some big goals for the Pens.
He scored the first goal that started the comeback against the Blackhawks in Game One of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals.
Donations start today !
We will be collecting donations starting right now for Mr. Malkin. Its official. The fear that was so eloquently poeticized in a previous post has come to fruition: Evgeni Malkin has dislocated his shoulder. In what could only be described as icing on the cake for the continuing struggle of seeing Malkin play in a Penguins uniform has some now raising doubts on the Penguins' ability to do much this coming season. A dislocated shoulder is nothing to laugh at. Here is a quote from shouldersolutions.com regarding a dislocated shoulder...
Yeah, John Leclair is definitely crapping his pants right about now!
Hockey Cards
I woke up today, hoping it was all a terrible nightmare. Instead, I go to the Post-Gazette Penguins section and see a picture of Malkin getting owned.
Early indications are that it is a seperated shoulder, although he was not seen with his arm in a sling when he returned to the arena last night.
Here's some hockey cards:
Go and check out Mondesi's House Blog.
It is a widely popular blog and the author was kind enough to write a post about ThePensblog.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The Sum Of All Fears
The air was crisp.
This was our night.
For those of us who have rode the highs and lows of the Malkin roller coaster this summer, this was the descent, the way back down on the Steel Phantom. Instead, it turned into the day some lady was killed by the Whip at Kennywood.
All day...check that: More like 2 YEARS, we waited. Then 62 seconds into the second period….
I thought of Kevin Stevens breaking every bone in his face against the Islanders in the '93 playoffs.
I felt the pain of Graves on Mario. I felt Volek score that damn goal again.
I saw Craig Patrick pumping his fist somewhere.
I saw Jagr leaving all over again, and Kovy right behind.
I saw a weight machine falling on Marty Straka.
I saw Robert Dome getting drafted.
I saw nothing but bad things.
As Paul Steigerwald pointed out:
“This really took the fun out of it.”
I still like Mike Lange better.
But now we know Malkin will be fine. But for a moment, we all thought it was just another step back.
Are the Penguins cursed?
Does Ray Shero look like John Mark Karr?
I don’t know either, and quite frankly I am scared.
Penguins 5 - Philadelphia Flyers 4
(Game stats are hard to come by, because these Maritime arenas don't have the internet, I suppose.)
Mark Recchi also went to the hospital, after taking a stick to the eye.
Update: Pens GM Ray Shero is calling it an upper-body injury and refuses to speculate on it anymore.
Oh yea, there was a game, too. Malkin assisted on an early Sergei Gonchar goal and the Pens led 2-1 after the first period. The second period saw Malkin go down and the Pens jump out to a 3-1 lead before the Flyers came back and tied it.
As expected, the Flyers scored first in the third to take a 4-3 lead. However, 18 seconds later, Crosby went coast to coast and banked a shot off of Flyers goalie Martin Houle that found its way into the net. A little bit later, Crosby fed a no-look pass to Colby who buried it into an open net and that was it.
Tie Domi Retires
A sad day for hockey fans...in Toronto. Tie Domi has retired from the NHL after 16 "solid" years. Although not the flashiest of players, every hockey fan knew his name. He leaves the game ranked 4th all-time in penalty minutes with a little over 3,500. His name has 3 syllables, which comes in second to Jim Paek for smallest number of syllables in a hockey player's name.
(Pictured: Paek, dominating)
Domi started off his career with the Rangers...
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Ottawa Senators 5 - Penguins 2
ESPN Game Recap
Well, the Pens first preseason game (in Halifax, Nova Scotia) was exactly that: their first preseason game. Besides some Ottawa jobber (Cody Bass) scoring by shoving the puck in with his glove, there really wasn't much to write home about. After a scoreless first period, Ottawa scored 3 goals in the second. In the third, the Pens coughed to remind Ottawa that there was still a game going on, but Dany Heatley crapped in their mouths to make it 4-1 and that was basically it.
Stats
- Sidney Crosby - 1 G, 1 A, 3 F-Bombs
- Dany Heatley - 2 G, 1 A
- Powerplay: Sens (1 for 6) - Pens **(0 for 10)**
- Shots: Pens 39 - Sens 26
- Kelly Guard - 1 pair of gold pads
Miscellaneous
- Marc-Andre Fleury had a smooth glove save in the second period.
- Nils Ekman looks like he's gonna fit in well this year.
- Erik Christensen didn't look too shabby.
- Marc-Andre's mask has a new paint-job for 2006-07.
- Judging by tonight's performances, Noah Welch and Jordan Staal should make this team.
- Senators goalie Kelly Guard bought his gold pads at the Dollar Tree.
- Jordan Staal's nickname is the 'pterodact-tile'. Steigerwald will make for a fun year, my friends.
- Senators goalie Rick Emery's mask has either Bruce Lee, a sumo wrestler or Alec Baldwin on it. (Actually, Emery is a boxing fan)
- www.NovaScotia.com
- We better not have to sit through Phil Bourque commercials all year.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Captain's Blog...
http://www.pittsburghpenguins.com/team/features/arts/2019.0.php
Lord Therrien has decreed that the Pens will not give out the "C" this year, in respect to Mario Lemieux. The Pens will rock 3 or 4 assistant captains for the 2006-07 campaign. Crosby, Recchi, Gonchar, Leclair perhaps?
...And Then There Were Two.
The Penguins raised their first Stanley Cup in the 1990-91 season. The number of players from that season's roster still playing in the NHL is now down to two (Jagr, Recchi), as Scott Young has walked away from the game of hockey.
Scott Young? He was drafted in 1986 by the Hartford Whalers (#11 overall). After a few seasons, he was traded to Pittsburgh for Rob Brown. Though Pens fans were upset over seeing Rob Brown leave, Scott Young stepped in and was an effective role player. He held out for more money before the 91-92 season, thus sitting out the entire campaign. At the end of the 91-92 season, the Pens traded Scott Young's rights to Quebec for Bryan Fogarty.
Scott Young proceeded to bounce around the Western Conference for the rest of his career, winning another Cup with Colorado in 1995-96 (game winning goal in OT Game 4 to clinch the cup was scored by none other than Colorado defenseman Uwe Krupp). Young exploded with a 40-goal season in 2000-01 with the St. Louis Blues.
After the 2004-05 lockout, Young wanted to prove to himself that he could still play in the NHL. He turned in a 2005-06 performance that was on par with the rest of his career, and now, after 18 years, it is time to walk away. Excellent career, Scott Young.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
It's Training Camp For Us, Too
On Tuesday, 9/19, our beloved Pens will take to the ice in Halifax to battle the Ottawa Senators. We will cover this game as if it were a regular season game. We're feeling ourselves(?) through this, so hopefully no one is disappointed. If you ARE disappointed, then leave a comment saying that we suck.
6:30 PM - FSN (Televised, bitch!)
"It Looks Like A Slug; A Toupee. A Bandana On Steroids."
USA Today Sabres Uniform Article
This news slipped somewhat under the radar, but the Buffalo Sabres are going to be sporting new uniforms for 2006-07.
They are dismissing the red and black color scheme with the logo that no NHL fan could get used to(Buffalo Goats?), and using a hybrid of the red and black scheme and the original blue and gold uniforms. I always liked that original logo.
Buffalo Sabres fans are signing petitions, saying the new logo looks like a toupee. Some fans have even resorted to boycotting the team for one year. One fan, however, expressed her loyalty by saying that "the uniforms could be a pile of dog doo" and it wouldn't matter to her. (Here's some concept logo designs by Sabres fans.)
All I know is that I didn't boycott the Pens when they came out with the pigeon logo in 92-93.
I don't know how you can hold your head up high when you look like a piece of crap.
Rick DiPietro
http://www.newyorkislanders.com/pressbox/archive.asp?id=1015 
Sometimes, a story comes along that makes me fall out of my computer chair when I see it.
Rick DiPietro, the New York Islanders goaltender, has become the face of the franchise by signing a 15-year, $67.5 million contract. At the end of his contract, I will be 37 years old.
The contract pays him $4.5 million per year. We wanted to break down his contract (using his 2005-06 stats):
$2,782 per save.
$1,259 per minute played.
$71,428 per game.
$4.5 million per shutout.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
NHL 07 (XBOX) Review
Wow. Chris and I played this game for an hour or two, and it left us searching a thesaurus for the word that would aptly describe the 2007 version of EA's NHL series. The word we have settled on is 'aberration'. It is probably all a part of their strategy to sell us an XBOX 360, but NHL 07 for XBOX is the most disappointing gaming experience of my life.
It felt really sluggish. The graphics are the same as last year. The player animations are the same as last year. The animations between face-offs are exactly the same. The only thing different, of course, is the team rosters.
Speaking of rosters, NHL 07 (on ALL platforms) will feature a Pittsburgh Penguins team that is, by all accounts, extremely pathetic and full of inaccuracies. Sidney Crosby is listed as a sniper, Colby is said to be a power forward and Shane Endicott (third line center!!) is listed as a playmaker. My dead uncle knows that Crosby is a playmaker and Colby is a scorer. And I guess when they say Endicott is a playmaker, they are referring to all the giveaways to the other team that lead to odd-man breaks. Oh, and the Pens fourth line center is Petr Taticek(?). I had to HockeyDB.com the guy to find out who he is.
As soon as I get time, I am returning this silly game.
Friday, September 15, 2006
...As The World Turns
So...according to this article on 9/15, a Russian court has banned Evgeni Malkin from playing in the NHL. Metallurg's (Malkin's Russian team) general director Gennady Velichkin refers to the U.S. stealing Russia's best players as 'pure sports terrorism'.
Here's an article from a Russian news source.
And here's TSN Canada's article.
How I long for the days when we won't have to worry about arena deals and player soap operas. Drop the friggen puck already.
Maybe We Should Call You...Thibault.
1 Win. 9 Losses. 3 Ties. 4.46 Goals Against Average. .876 Save Percentage. Wipe the vomit off of your Marc-Andre Fleury jersey and we'll move on.
The one victory was the glorious Crosby-shootout-water bottle-Theodore's vas deferens is on Center Avenue game. (Video below)
Possibly Thibault's worst game was also the Penguins' worst game of the entire 2005-2006 season: the December 8, 2005 balltap given to us by the Minnesota Wild...AT the Mellon.
The Wild scored a minute into the game. The Pens had 11 shots through two periods. One of THOSE games. That game also brings to mind the Dany Sabourin Columbus Massacre of 1/11/06. Forget scoring a minute into the game. How about 10 seconds?
Anyway, here's hoping that Jocelyn Thibault resembles a backbone in net this year.
Blackberrys Are Gay...Unless You Keep The Pens Here
http://post-gazette.com/pg/06258/722032-61.stm
The co-CEO of Research in Motion, the company that feeds us Blackberrys, is Jim Balsillie. He's from Ontario and has shown interest in re-locating the Pens. Paraphrasing the article here would be dumb, but this is just another chapter in the never-ending saga.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Curve your enthusiasm...
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=177493&hubname=nhl
This rule change means pretty much nothing for the majority of the NHL with the exception of Jagr, and maybe Kovalchuk.....but nobody really cares about him because he is a tool. Jagr's history of "curvey" sticks is a quite amusing one....back to a game in Toronto where he was challenged, and then so discretely switched sticks with Francis...earning them each penalties on top of the illegal stick curve. Haha. Oh well, I'm not too concerned with this rule change, even if it will help out Jagr, because Kip Miller is playing for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL(haha). We're O.K.
National Aviary Stops at the Mellon
http://www.pittsburghpenguins.com/team/features/arts/2009.0.php
African penguins Simon, Elvis, Patrick and Stanley stopped by the Mellon Arena on Tuesday this week. Not on a national tour, but rather to participate in the rookie camp drills. These four birds playing ice hockey will bring more people to the Arena than Lyle Odelein ever did.
Keith Primeau Hangs 'Em Up
http://www.philadelphiaflyers.com/pressbox/archive/2700.asp
Need we even be reminded...? We were up 2-1 in this series, having won the first two games IN Philly.
Flyers Suck.
Le Magnifique says "No Thanks".
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2586198
This news article talks about Mario Lemieux declining the Penguins' offers to give him an elaborate number-retirement ceremony this year. Classy guy. However, the Pens will unveil a banner that will be hanging from the Mellon Arena rafters on opening night.
With Jagr assuredly retiring as a Ranger, all we have left is Kip Miller. When the Pens retire Kip Miller's #37, we can only hope he acts the same way Mario did.
"Kippy knows how I go about my number-retirement ceremony."Too Sexy For The Northwest Division
The Pens will not play the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames this year.
They're all gay anyway. Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Bryan Trottier = Grizzled Veteran
This may be ad nauseam, but still hilarious.
This occurred in game 1, 2 or 5 of the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals. Kevin Stevens on left. Bryan Trottier on right.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Photoshop 2007
We undoubtedly missed a few.
JASON SCHIFFHAUER
JEFF HARR
Very nice. Look at the detail.
TYLER LOVEJOY
TOM QUINN
( Photoshop God in the West Indies. Staal was one of the firsts we ever received. )
TIFFANY WALTERS -- TIM ERICKSON
TEE JAY -- EVAN GODFREY
RYAN PATSKO
RICK SABELLA
RANDY LONGO
(The Penguins of the Caribbean photoshop started it all.)
RACHEL F.
PETE DANIELS
PATRICK JACKSON
Alex
MIKE COSTA
MATT MANGIS
MATT FELSER
KYLE JACKSON
KEVIN DOBSON
JOSHUA BROMLEY -- JOE F.
ERIC GONDOSH -- GRANVILLE KRIS
ERIC MIRCHICH
DEREK AUSK
DAVE. P
CHRIS YARBROUGH
BRANDON HANLON
ANTHONY COSTA
ANDREW McDONALD
ANDREW WEITZEL
ADAM KNOR
.............................................
UNCLAIMED
Resident OCD sufferer Adam is a joke and forgot to label these files with the people's names.
Help.
Wow.
The Oil Well Conspiracy
We found this site, via The Battle of Alberta .
What happened?
It looks like a trustworthy news personality in Edmonton was on the radio and broke the story that the Oilers signed Micheal Nylander.
Within hours, another Edmonton radio station picked the story up.
Think of it as if Bob Pompeani broke a story, and everyone else started picking up on it.
"On Sunday, July 1, 2007, Kevin Lowe, Oilers general manager, and Mr. Mike Gillis, certified agent for Michael Nylander, negotiated and agreed to a multi-year NHL Standard Players Contract, starting in 2007-08. Mr. Gillis confirmed same to the Oilers in writing," the Oilers' statement read Tuesday."
As morning came ( July 2), the press conference never came.
While everyone in Oil Country was waiting for the news,
The Capitals announced the signing of Nylander to a huge deal.
Edmonton = Stunned
"The Oilers then proceeded with preparations to announce Mr. Nylander's contract agreement on July 2, and concurrently continued with the process of negotiating with other free agents based upon Mr. Nylander being an important roster ingredient for the future."
Yeah, we are confused, too.
It looks like Nylander had a change of heart.But the Oilers are pissed.
And they should be.
They wasted a whole day focusing on Nylander and missed out on some other targets.
Why did Nylander change his mind?
Who might have the Oilers gone after?
We may never know.
Reporting for Unsolved Mysteries,
This has been Robert Stack
Gold
.........................
...................................
Around the NHL
....The Rangers introduced their big signings.
Photoshop me
...JR calls it quits
Even if you hate him.
Have to admit he was a good player.
But way better interview:
(If you watch one thing on YouYube today, make it this.
Number one and number two are unreal.)
.......Crosby Contract news..
"[The NHLPA] is a group," Crosby said. "We're in that group. So, yes, for sure, it's important. But, at the same time, I have to do what's right."
Let's just hope that for once, just once, we as fans can experience something easy for the Pens off the ice.
But if you aren't expecting a breaking story two weeks from now about contract talks breaking down, then you just haven't been around long enough.
......Some Pens are also going to face arbitration.
First up Colby Armstrong.
And finally.
Petr Sykora celebrated his July 4th in style
Should be the first of many Petr Sykora photoshops
(J-Schiff)
.........................
A Winter in the Sun
Game #37
That's What We're Talkin About. Pens WIN.
There was definitely a fever pitch in the air tonight. Staggy and Errey alluded to it at the top of the broadcast, and for good reason. The puck was dropped, and you have to admit you were a little nervous. Nervous might not be the right word. Nervous is reserved for playoff time. But this felt like a playoff game. What all happened in the first? Nothing much except Ekman going all Mark-Eaton on us. Fleury was making some big saves, and so was J.S. Aubin. With time ticking down at the end of the first, our boy (TM) Erik Christensen snapped a shot past Aubin on the powerplay to give the Pens a 1-0 lead. The second period was the best period of hockey in a while. End-to-end action. Halfway through the second period, Malkin was robbed on a nice save by Aubin... Before you knew it, Toronto was flying back the other way on an odd-man rush. A delicious rebound landed on Sundin's stick, and his Mellon Arena goal-count is now 145. Thankfully, that would be it for the Maple Leaves (Leafs?).
Commentorblog said:
...................
Day Number:
+
Add it up
Paul Coffey was so dominant he needed to go back up.
Go Pens
JOBBERS -- CHAPTER THREE: NEALITY SETS IN.
The boys learned that a lot of things are different.
Ravenstahl had information that he felt Adam and Derek had to know about.
"The Secret Lies With Stan" is the message Ravenstahl relays to the boys.
Us: Mario left? What?! What happened?!
.....................................
........................
Luke: In 1998, Mario Lemieux went out drinking one night on the South Side.
He stopped into St. James on 18th street to get a few Blue Moons.
Someone took pictures of him and submitted them to Mondesi's House.
Adam: The site that delivers sports and entertainment with a sarcastic, Pittsburgh twist?
Luke: Yeah.
Mondesi's House posted pictures of him drunk.
Lemieux demanded a trade the next day.
Us: But that's a website that targets the 18- to 34-year-old male demographic.
It wouldn't try to gain publicity by spreading personal pictures around.
Luke: Welcome to the 21st century.
Us: Where'd Lemieux go?
Luke: Montreal. The start of it all. His hometown.
Us: Did they win any Cups with him at the helm?
Luke: Yeah, one.
Us: Why not more?
Luke: Two words -- Gary Roberts.
Roberts would've taken over the world if it wasn't for him.
Us: Who?
Luke: I told you. I can't say his name.
He played quarterback for the Steelers.
He went to college at Maryland.
Judging by how much you guys have jobbed history, you might not even know who I'm talking about.
Adam: Neil O'Donnell?
Adam's testicles fall to the ground.
Adam: Holy hell.
Luke: I told you.
Guys, we only have a few moments before the Police get here to retrieve those balls and ---
Adam: My balls are on the ground.
Luke: I know. I've seen it happen before.
Listen! I think you guys need to go back in time to stop something from happening.
Luke: No, not that!
How was the 2007 that you left?
Derek: Oh, it was glorious.
The Steelers had just won their fifth Super Bowl.
Roethlisberger took the NFL by storm. He went 15-1 his rookie year.
The Pens were on the cusp of achieving dynasty status.
The Pirates were mud, but it was still enjoyable to go and experience a baseball game.
Luke: Fifth Super Bowl?
The Steelers won their eighth Super Bowl in 1998.
Adam: Eighth? Holy hell. How did that happen?
Luke: I don't know where to begin...
Wait a minute. Something doesn't make sense.
Adam: What?
Luke: Roethlisberger.
You're right. He went 15-1 in his rookie year.
Derek: Then he threw that pick to Harrison in the AFC Championship Game.
Luke: This is unbelievable.
That is exactly what happened in our 2004.
Adam: How can that be?
Luke: This is crazy.
Your 2007 sounds pretty good, especially because I'm the mayor.
But something went awry, and I bet it can all be traced back to him.
Derek: Neil O'Donnell?
Derek's testicles hit with ground.
Derek: Crap.
Luke: Guys, get out of here!
Take my laptop. I bookmarked some important stuff for you.
Adam: Damn, Luke, you should definitely get a Mac. Do you guys have iPhone yet?
Luke: A what?
Adam: You know, Macs and the iPhone.
Luke: Sorry, man. No clue what you are talking about.
Adam: [Vomits]
Derek: Let's go man!
Adam and Derek jump out of the window and land on the roof of Eat'n'Park.
They slip into the restaurant and collect themselves in a back booth.
Adam: Wow.
Derek: Do you believe what the Mayor told us?
Adam: Yeah, man. He has no incentive to lie.
He just risked his life apparently to tell us that crap.
Derek: "A Secret Lies With Stan."
Adam: No clue what that means.
Derek: Well, obviously, it has something to do with "Stan."
It's gotta be the Stanley Cup.
He said the Pens won like 80 in a row.
Wait. Why do you think we'd have to go back and stop N.O.?
Adam: I think we can say his name now. We don't have any more balls.
Derek: Stopping O'Donnell doesn't make any sense.
But that would be simple.
We just go back to before he was born and punch his mom in the face.
Adam: That is dumb. Too many things could change.
Derek: Well let's see what the hell's going on.
Waitress: Would you fellas like some food?
Us: Salad bar.
Waitress: Help yourselves.
Adam: Was that Sonny Abatta?
Derek:: Yeah. Looks like people in this 2007 are better judges of talent.
Derek and Adam dominate the salad bar and get back to business.
Derek: [ Opens laptop ]
Okay. What do we do?
Adam: Google search that message he gave us.
Derek: Google exists. Nice.
No results.
I'm gonna check those bookmarks he mentioned.
Adam: Wait. Go to ThePensblog.com.
Derek and Adam watch in awe as the URL leads them to a gay activist site.
Derek: Well, at least that's still the same.
Adam: What are the bookmarks?
Derek: Here.
Adam: That is mud. He only gave us Neil O'Donnell's Wikipedia page and Mondesi's House.
Derek: Mondesi's House delivers sports and entertainment with a sarcastic, Pittsburgh twist.
Derek and Adam leave Eat'n'Park and take a cab back to the Boulevard.
They walk up to where they left the DeLorean.
A tall, dark figure awaits them.
Man: Boys, I am here to assist you on your journey.
I have a message for you.
"A Secret Lies With Stan."
Adam: Oh, God. Here we go again with that crap.
Just tell us what that means.
Man: Listen, we don't have much time. I know what you did.
Now you must go back in time so you will be safe from him.
Us: Neil O'Donnell?
Man: [ Stands in silence ]
Where are your balls?
Us: Ask your mom.
[ High five takes place ]
Man: Nice.
Us: Who are you?
Man: It is me -- Franco Harris.
Listen!
N.O. wants the DeLorean so he can go back in time and DDT Terry Bradshaw.
Us: What? Why?
Franco: He wants to solidify himself as the best quarterback in Steeler history.
Us: The best? Don't you remember Super Bowl XXX?
Franco: You boys really are from another time.
I don't want my legacy jobbed in any way.
You must stop Neil. Find where everything changed.
Stop him from attaining greatness.
Derek: [ Walks over to the edge of the parking garage and looks down upon Pittsburgh. ]
What if we screw up even worse?
What if this laptop in my hands doesn't provide us enough clues?
Franco: You were given the message.
That's all you need to know.
Suddenly, tires squeal in the parking garage.
Rhythmic marching and chants of "Neil" grow louder and faster.
Hang on to that!
Derek: Don't worry. I'm not Jerome Bettis.
Adam and Derek strap in.
Derek: Wait. Where the hell are we going?
Adam: We got to see when the Pens win that first Cup.
The Secret Lies With Stan.
Derek: Kick the tires and light the fires.
They direct themselves toward Oakland on the Boulevard.
They set the DeLorean to June 1985 as they slam on the gas.
66 MPH.
Chapter Four:
July 12.
Midnight.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Carson Shananigans
We're on Carson Street tonight, around 2am, trying to remember where we parked. We tried to start Lets Go Pens chants...but to no avail. However, a couple people would just say "Yea Malkin!!" So I guess when everyone jumps off the Steeler bandwagon, and that will happen when they lose 3 in a row, everyone will jump onto the Pens. I have no intent to make this a personal blog, but little stories like this must be told.
Saturday, September 9, 2006
NHL 07
The long anticipated game will be in stores on Tuesday, September 12...with Alexander Ovechkin on the cover. Considering the stick-handling features in this year's edition, I think he's a pretty good choice.
I saw a video that showed the producers of the game playing it, talking about all the new features. He was using an XBOX360 in the demo. Some of the sick stuff in the game includes using the right analog to shoot, deke, pass, speed burst, hit, etc. The face buttons have become obsolete. Gary Thorne and Bill Clement will call the action ONLY on the XBOX 360. The rest of us jobbers have to suffer through another season with Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson (the video game versions of Steigerwald and Bourque). All that is missing on the 360 is the ESPN National Hockey Night theme.
Some guy on the internet mocks up covers for video games using popular suggestions. This looks sweet.The Islanders Shock The World
With Glenn Healy in goal, stopping the Pens shots with everything but his erect penis, David Volek scores in overtime of Game 7 in 1993 to send the New York Islanders to the Wales Conference Final...and the Penguins to the golf course. Uwe Krupp was smiling somewhere.
(Why Kjell Samuelsson doesn't play the pass on the 2-on-1 is beyond me.)
Malkin Tent
See the crap-red seats behind him? Yup. That's the Mellon all right.This is the first EVER post on The Pensblog. Exciting stuff.
Evgeni Malkin skates on Mellon Arena ice. Exciting stuff.
Evgeni Malkin watches the Steelers season-opener. Hey...cool.
Penguins training camp commences in 5 days. Glorious.
Penguins take the ice against the Philadelphia Jagoffs in 26 days. Enough said.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Monday, September 4, 2006
Friday, September 1, 2006
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wooo
This is a really random observation, but does anyone notice that Crosby looks up during O Canada, but never during the Star Spangled Banner? Not that it's a bad thing or anything, just an observation.