This House...Is Clean. PENS WIN.

[ Bruce Bennett/Getty Images ]

[ NHL.com RECAP ]

Nothing clever needs to be said here.
Everyone knows the count.

Games like this one serve as a stark reminder of how the journey to Lord Stanley's Cup is the toughest road in team sports.

When Tom Clancy writes his next book, it will be based on the second period of this game.

The old Penguins captain, Double J, tying the game with his 75th career playoff goal for the Rangers.
The young Evgeni Malkin winning the game with his 5th career playoff goal.

The Penguins are a win away from the Eastern Conference finals.
But the Rangers ain't dead yet.


[Jschiff]

Do it.

:::::::::::::::::: ANTHEMS :::::::::::::::::::

[ Andrew P. ]

:::::::::::::::::: FIRST PERIOD :::::::::::::::::::

The Pens third unit started off the game.
It was looked like TK could have got a holding call, but the Pens got a break.

Now, if we'd come out and guarantee that we'd finish typing this sentence, our power would go out or the entire internet would shut down.

But when it comes to Hossa, we don't even know.
It wasn't "the kind of goal we all envisioned back in February," but we'll take it.

1-0.
The Pens capitalize on an early Ranger turnover.

But you have to give it to the Rangers.
They were not deterred.

They generated their best chances of the series after quickly regrouping from that early balltap.
Straka somehow missed the net, probably because he saw a weight machine in the stands.

Later, Marian Hossa takes a dive on a Jagr hook.
Yes, that was a dive, Rangers fans. It was a solid try by Hossa to embellish the call.
Jagr flips out. Most passion he has shown since the craps table at Atlantic City back in 2000.

[Zach]

4-on-4 blog.

All this Staal vs. Staal crap we've heard about the last couple years.

Finally, it meant something.
Marc Staal annihilates Jordan along the boards.

It was back-and-forth hockey when the penalties expired.
Straka missed the net again because he thought he heard a dumbell, and then Sykora and Malkin almost connected.
But it was Malkin's turn to miss the wide-open net.

By halfway through the first, it was obvious that the Rangers were bringing the kitchen sink to the Penguins net.

An odd-man break for the Rangers brought a big clusterjoke.
Never mind Jagr being all over MAF. The issue was whether the puck crossed the line.
And it counted.

1-1.

They almost forgot what it was like to score a goal.

After some jobbing, a reminder of what playoff hockey is about came with about 3:30 left in the first.

And it all started with many a Pens fan saying, "Where's Malone?! Why's BGL out there?!"

And the answer came in beautiful fashion.

BGL goes out to talk to his secretary.

2-1.

Flashbackblog:

6:14 pm --Talk-show host Mark Madden blasts BGL up and down the radio waves.
"Therrien doesn't know what he is doing," he shouts.
"BGL didn't even beat up Avery after he cheap-shotted MAF at the end of game 2," he proclaims.

[Even though Avery was clearly on the ground already,
and why would you take a cheap shot anyway???]

"BGL should sit," he says. "BGL isn't good for the team. All he does is fight."
"The team doesn't like him." Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah

Mark Madden -- 0 goals in these playoffs.
BGL -- 1

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
done

"Okay, let's get out of the first period with the lead."
That thought became even nicer when the USS Hal Gill gets struck with a long-range missile.
Four-minute power play on the way.

And BOOOOOM. Malkin with the laser one-timer.

3-1.

And then the second part of the Pens power play commenced.

A sign of the Rangers losing their will to live came during a Malkin dump on the second PP.
Nobody cared as Malone retrieved it on the boards.

Whatev. Period.

:::::::::::::::::: SECOND PERIOD :::::::::::::::::::

Both Lundqvist and Fleury had to survive some quick storms early in the second.
The Rangers were desperate as balls.

The Rags were gonna get their chance to crawl back into the game, as Sykora headed to the box.

When Scoods cleared the puck during the PK, did Bob Errey say "that was a job by Scuderi"?
If so, hell yeah.

An icing call against the Rangers during their PP brought out the boo birds.
The Rags were saved by MSG playing the Ramones for the 80th time of the game.

Things got more interesting when Pascal Dupuis saved a great scoring chance by jobbing Jagr.
42 seconds of a 5-on-3 on the way.

That 5-on-3 went out the window fast.
Jordan Staal was unreal with some clears.

But another 5-on-3 kill was on the way, this time for 33 seconds.
That PP turned into a M*A*S*H unit.
Scuderi was down. Talbot was down and out after putting his life on the line.

Chris Drury got hurt in the dumbest way possible.
He actually got hurt celebrating the goal early.

Video Evidence:

Drury waiting for the pass:



Drury getting a shot:

Drury putting his hands up in the air:

Drury hurt:


Need more proof? NHL.com has the [ highlights ]
That is really sad.

There was a skirmish around the Pens net.
Hal Gill brought it into port, dropped anchor, and kept it out of there.

As the time expired on the Penguins penalties, the boos came raining down when Crosby carried the puck through the neu--
Oh, wait, it was the Rangers fans booing their own team.
That sucks.

[ Michelle McG ]

Crosby did, in fact, carry the puck up the ice later in the period, but nobody cared.
Such hapless fans.

And just as this series looked over and done with, the Rangers get a big one on the board.
Tommy Callahan gets on past MAF. 3-2.

They weren't done yet.
Jagr, who had been on acid all game long, finally puts one home.

3-3.

What a horrible feeling.
It was an incendiary situation, code red.

The Pens started the period killing off penalties and just couldn't get back into the groove of things.
Lord Therrien settled the troops after the JJ goal with a good timeout.

The Rangers were all business at the tail end of the period, hitting posts, getting solid shots.
The Pens were on the ropes.

It was like watching your girlfriend/boyfriend cheat you on, your house burning down, finding out your dad is Roger Clemens, and having cybersex with Dear Abby all in the same hour.

Another Rangers goal was inevitable.

But that's when the series became clearer.
Wyatt Earp checks Sykora from behind at the end of the shift.

The stupidest penalty in the history of the Rangers franchise.

The Penguins' top guns, who hadn't even sniffed the Rangers zone all period while penalties were being killed and the Rags were taking momentum, jumped onto the ice pissed as shit.

And the Rangers were tired. They got a couple clears.
The Pens eventual goal all goes back to Malkin keeping the puck in the zone with an unreal effort.

The trigger was Malkin at the left point. It was coming.
But it wasn't even on a one-timer.
He just lined up like a penalty shot on Blades of Steel. PING.

[Will Smith]
4-3.

And that was it for the second.

:::::::::::::::::: THIRD PERIOD :::::::::::::::::::

The series came down to this third period. Everyone knew it.
After the first minute, you start looking at the clock, hoping it will go faster.

As you're browsing Cblog comments, Ryan Malone redirects one past the Queen.

5-3.

After some jobbing, Dupuis was headed to the box for something.

Whatev.

But that power play brought us this gem:


[Credit goes to John for posting that on YouTube]

That PK was the first of probably a couple moments during this third period that made you say, "This is the series."
Jordan Staal continued his PK dominance. Killed.

The Pens were headed back on the PK when Adam Hall jobs Sjostrom.
What a dive.
"This is the series."
It was killed.

Steiggy drops a couple USS Hal Gill references while Gill sends off cruise missiles.
If this is in fact the last hurrah for FSN this season, solid job, boys.

[Trevin S]

After a bizarro non-icing call, Father Time pulled into Penn Station and made his way up to the Garden.
Jagr seemed to be the only Ranger playing.
He tries to put a few shots on net. But it gets shut down.

This guy kills himself:

[ Thanks to Willowtip for the pic of Jacques Cousteau's gay brother.
Must have been fun walking home wearing the scuba gear. ]

As time gets to under three minutes, the Pens just start dumping and getting to the bench.
MSG is slient as the Rangers call a timeout.
There is still time, but that is needless worry.
The Rangers try to job out of frustration.
No dice.

Game


Us against the world on Thursday.

MISCELLANEOUS

• The refs did a good job tonight.
  
• Double J was out of his mind.
• Marty Straka is annoying.
  
• Chris Drury = What a playoff performer.
  
• Jordan Staal. Good God was a force.
  
• Funny how the Pens have home-ice advantage, and then go on the road where there are faster ice surfaces that complement their team speed.
• Did Ranger fans know it was a playoff game?
• Who is number 14 for the Rangers? Did he play tonight?
• Where was Avery? Pathetic. What a sideshow.
  
• Earl Mann should be narrating Commentorblog. Unreal display.
• Have to finish the job on Thursday.
  
• Hossa.

Go Pens

GameDay (2.3) -- Pens @ Rangers

[ Wilsmith ]



7:00

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


[ Nate B. ] -------------------- [ Pav ]
Do you hear that rumbling? That's a Photoshop Expo on the way.

Here we go.
We find out tonight whether this is a series or a speedbump.

It's a Game 7 for the Rangers.
Steve Avery will feel at home in MSG.
The Rangers will come out smokin'.

And as many astute Pens fans have already said,
the Rangers may be a little desperate and want to come out with guns blazing in front of the MSG crowd.

It'll be up to the Pens to stick to their own gameplan
and take advantage of the mistakes, because the opportunities will be there.

And let's not forget:



The return of Steiggy, Errey, and Potash.
Maybe their swan song for the 2007-08 season.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Here are links where displaced Pens fans can watch games online.
[ Credit goes to the community that is C-blog ]

We've actually lucked out for this playoff series.
A dependable outlet to see a game is at [ Justin.tv/Rags2Riches ]

He is a Rangers fan, and it's already guaranteed that the game will be there tonight.
There is a live chat during the game right beside the embedded video.
As mentioned in Cblog, don't do anything that will get you banned.

Other sources:

[ ChannelSurfing.net ] -- Very highly regarded

[ MyP2P ]
[ Sports Talk World ]
[ Yahoo NHL ]
[ Hockey Webcasts ]




[ Pensblog Chatblog ]


[ PensUnderground Chat ]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


[ Ian ]

:: Gary Roberts is a healthy scratch. [ PG ]
It's unbelievable that we're saying this, but we're indifferent on the matter.
Adam Hall has been winning some huge faceoffs, killing penalties, and hitting 3-pointers.

:: Will Avery pay for slashing Bing?
"I'm working on that right now." -- Therrien [ Trib ]

:: Henrik Lundqvist: "The pressure is all on the Pens." [ PG ]
What

:: Geno Malkin is an MVP Finalist. [ PG ]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Check out this bag of pubes:


This is Mike Ozanian.
Never heard of him? Join the club.

If the smugness permeating from that picture isn't enough to make you punch yourself,
he spewed an unreal amount of garbage on the Forbes.com webshite.

We had to post the entire article because it is just too great.

Who is the greatest diver of all-time? Greg Louganis? Any member of Italy’s last World Cup soccer team? My vote goes to Sidney Crosby, the young superstar of the Pittsburgh Penguins who has tallied 294 points in his first 213 National Hockey League games. He flops, he falls, he scores! Crosby, who is an awesome skater, playmaker and shooter, might be the most complete player in the league. But, amazingly, the 21 year old loses all sense of coordination any time an opposing player gets within five feet of him.

Crosby’s dive in game one of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Rangers when Martin Straka barely touched him would have him a unanimous 10 in the Olympics. It had great timing (only minutes remained in regulation) and was choreographed beautifully (eloquent head first slide). On television the hockey pundits were quick to point out that, technically, Straka did interfere with Crosby. PLEASE! I know the NHL is desperately seeking its next Gretzkey. But does the Versus network actually believe its coverage does not lose credibility when former hockey players Brian Engblom and Keith Jones ignore reality? Since when are playoff games decided by acting ability?

The only analyst who got this call right was MSG analyst Stan Fischler, who has never been one to be intimidated by the league’s political correctness squad. Fischler correctly pointed out that for greatly embellishing the supposed foul Crosby should have been giving two minutes for diving—even if Straka did commit interference.

When the referees do not call the other team for being in the same area of the ice as Crosby, Mr. Penguin whines like a 12 year girl old shut out of a Hannah Montana concert. Up next: a guest appearance on Oprah. Shame on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman for allowing this sham to ruin the game and, if the center iceman’s academy award winning performances continue, Crosby’s legacy.

If you were counting factual errors, your abacus probably broke.
The dude can't even spell GRETZKY.
Jesus.

[ He has comments ]
Thanks to Brian C. for that link.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



:: DVE Morning Show unveiled some more musical greatness about the Rags.
[ DVE MORNING SHOW ]

:: Another clandestine shot of the FREE CANDY van on CMU Campus.


[ Sean G. ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




Do it

We approached Hacksaw early on Tuesday morning and asked him if he was ready to go.
He adamantly refused to get the nod.

" I WANT GAME FOUR, DICKS "


If you're at all concerned with this pick,
find solace in the fact that we're headed into New York City.

And Mr. Dufresne is no stranger to crawling through rivers of shit.

GO PENS

Hold Your Tongue. The Big Apple.

We're starting this off the only way we know how.

j

Not only will he score. He will BURY it.
The kind of goal we all envisioned back in February.

GUARANTEED

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Signblog

First things first sort of.
Last year, long-time C-blog member [Adrienne A] got some nice pictures in MSG.


We had to edit the picture, because Charlie was worried about little kids seeing it.
But click [here] to see it.




[Ben] found a nice sign in the crowd outside the Mellon.
Once again Charlie [ edited ]

A more family-oriented sign.
[Phil and Tom Quinn] spotted this in South Park.


[ Matt C. AKA BlackNGold66] snapped this pic up in Cleveland on Monday:




We are all for these KISS signs,
although we've never been too crazy about the question mark.


[ Thanks to Tom and Phil Q. again with the pic ]

Dedicationblog

[Thanks to JKS]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



All quiet on the Penguins Front

:: [ Taking One For The Team ] takes a look at the series.

:: According to [ WhoWins.com ],
teams in the Penguins current position have won 90% of their series.

:: The Pens didn't win in MSG this year. Blah blah blah. [ PG ]

:: Solid Article on Scuds. [ NHL.com ]


[Hutch]----------------[Marcie W]


:: The Rangers have to win. [ Yahoo ]

:: JJ/Crosby Aftermath [ TSN ]

:: A PSA for the Rangers. [ The Confluence ]

::MAF ain't no sucka. [ London Free Press ]


[Michelle]

Sick.

:: Remember this Shanahan crap from Game 2?


The Pens were told the goal would have been disallowed if one went in.
[ Globe and Mail ]

:: Sabu takes home the win over at [ NHLToL ]



::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Last year, we got panned when we made fun of Marty Straka.
But a year older, a year less wiser.

Being that Straka has turned into a big baby,
it is worth bringing up what our joke about what the weight machine is about.

Don't let Milan Kraft be your spotter. [ PG 2002 ]

The workout, Kraft said, placed an emphasis on exercises to increase leg strength, and had been proceeding normally.

"We were doing the squat, our third or fourth exercise that day," he said. "We were supposed to do eight squats with 300 pounds. Marty did two, and then, on the third one, he went down and was on the way back [to an erect position] when the machine moved and he couldn't hook the bar up."

That sent the bar, which was supporting 300 pounds, slamming off Straka's back.

Luckily, to illustrate what happen, we have a [Jschiff] joint.





Photoshops like that are why we run a blog.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



[ CuseAdelphia ]
[ Four Habs Fans ]

Carey Price let in some more weak goals and was eventually pulled.
Bad times up in Montreal.


[Kraftster]

A few in Cblog said it was gonna take a miracle
for the Habs to erase a 3-0 deficit going into the third.

And it was looking like the miracle was gonna come in the form
of a boneheaded 5-minute boarding penalty on Derian Hatcher.


The Habs capitalized twice on the major penalty, but couldn't finish it off.
Flyers take the 2-1 series lead as Martin Biron has been on acid.

Flyer fans booed the the Canadian anthem.

We're usually against that.
But it was warranted, under the pretense that many fans may had seen this:



Props to [ Fanhouse ] for that video.

[The700level] has more info on the incident.


The Stars are taking a 2-0 series lead back to Dallas.
Dallas is playing unreal hockey.
[ TheShootout ]

Sharks fans go to the way of the prayer. [ WeBleedTeal ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Speaking of playing unreal hockey, the Pens have been doing just that.

And [ pensfan100 ] knows why.




The bastard pigeon has been the primary crest or on the shoulders
since the Pens won their cup in 1992.



They finished that playoff season on an 11-game winning streak.

Fast-forward blog to 2007-08.
The new RBK Edge uniforms mark the end of the pigeon.

Pens = 6-0 in the playoffs.

*********************************************

ON ANOTHER CBLOG NOTE

The all-time record for comments USED TO BE gameday post is 278.
[ GameDay (80) -- Pens @ Rangers ]

That all changed with 365 comments in the most recent post,

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Do it

Go Pens

Dive Right In. PENS WIN.

[ NHL.com RECAP ]

There is no whining...no excuses.

Losers whine,
Winners go home and pretend to be Gary Roberts.

What will New York complain about today?

Unfortunately, referees can't "steal" a game from you if you can't even score a goal.

The black cloud surrounding this game was the quick whistle late
when the Rags thought they had the game tied.

In a solid NHL playoff game.
The Pens beat the Rangers at there own game.

But remember. Don't get too high or too low.

You would feel good about the Pens chances if they lost the first two in MSG
and then were coming to the Mellon for Games 3 and 4.

Game Three is make-or-break for the Rangers.
The referees will be intimidated in the Rangers' home rink.
The crowd will be whipped into a frenzy.

It's why home-ice advantage is so vital, and the Pens still have it.

And that's all you could ask for.

:::::::::::::::::: WARMUPS :::::::::::::::::::

According to Pensblog Charlie,
the Rangers were "loose " after playing with some balls before the game.



Sean Avery was in a little discomfort.




:::::::::::::::::: ANTHEMS :::::::::::::::::::


[ Chris F. ]


[ Brad Berk ]


[ Dave S. ]


[ Gregg T. ]


[ R. Richter ]


[ Tristan B. ]


[ Tyler L. ]


:::::::::::::::::: FIRST PERIOD :::::::::::::::::::

After 11 commercial breaks, it was time to drop the puck.

The Pens were on the hunt early.
Crosby did some work, and then Staal brought the first stoppage with a sneaky shot on the Queen.

The Rangers got their turn, and they were able to draw a penalty.
Ryan Whitney heads to the box.

The power play gets crushed when the refs somehow saw Scott Gomez interfere with Orpik.
If anything, it was a penalty on Orpik.

The Pens were able to set up on a PP for about 1:20.
Somehow, the Rangers let Hossa get behind them. No dice.

Hossa gets another chance, no dice.
What a great power play for the Pens.

After the game settled down for a while, Ruutu was headed to the box for hooking up Double J.
There were some tense times, but the Pens killed it.
The USS Hal Gill destroyed Double J with a missle attack.

Fedor Tyutin takes Crosby down, and the Pens had a 4-on-3 PP on the way.

It didn't stop Jagr and the Ranger bench from crying.

Asked afterward what he had said to Crosby, Jagr was reluctant to discuss the matter
with reporters and only replied: "Just play hockey."

Crosby was similarly tight-lipped.

"Just ask him," Crosby said. "I wasn't the one talking."

[CBC]

The Rangers got the job done, though
Chris Drury killed the penalty almost by himself.

Ruutu was headed back to the box at the end of the first for putting the elbows up on some joke.
The Pens killed it off with relative ease.

Malkin did some magic at the end, and that was it.
Solid first period.

:::::::::::::::::: INTERMISSION :::::::::::::::::::

For some reason you wind up online, buying 350 dollars worth of Dockers pants online
and booking a flight to San Fransico.

How many times do we have to see that commercial?



:::::::::::::::::: SECOND PERIOD :::::::::::::::::::

A highly anticipated second period finally got under way.
Staal got away with a penalty after he made a hockey play with a broken stick.
Just like Avery got away with a vicious slash on Bing at the tail end of the first.

The early stages of the second period was all about the Pens getting shots on Lundqvist from Center Avenue that he handled with ease.

After a lot of back-and-forth hockey, the Pens third line started buzzing on a great shift.
The action went the other way, with MAF stopping Jagr on his doorstep.

As the second period dragged on with the Rangers refusing to play hockey, the lull was broken when Chris Drury heads to the box.

Cue the JAWS theme.

[ JFronz ]

It wouldn't be right to say that the pulse of Pens Nation lies with this site and the commentors.
It would be pretty naive and ignorant.
We all make up a tiny portion of Pens fans, not even 3% of the fanbase.

But someone from the Pens' Department of Game Operation and Video Production is watching.
And we salute them for turning the JAWS PP into a reality again.

All we need now is 17,000 signs with the fin on it.
If it helps, we could print out 20 or something from our computer.

The first unit was just unreal, but couldn't connect.

The second unit jumped on.
And it all started when Petr Sykora tracked down Marc Staal behind the Rangers net to keep the puck alive in the Rags' zone.

After Malkin made a sick move, he got it to Jordan Staal in front.
He makes his brother pay.

1-0.

STUNNED

[ Tristan B. ]

The intensity picked up after that.
It resulted in a holding penalty on Marian Hossa when Chris Drury dove.

Pathetic display

The Rangers got their chance to get that Staal goal back.
20 seconds of the power play goes out the window in a loose-puck scrum in front of MAF.

The story of that kill was Pascal Dupuis.
He made a huge shot-block and then thwarted a Jagr one-timer in the slot.
What a performance.

And that was gonna be it.

:::::::::::::::::: THIRD PERIOD :::::::::::::::::::

You could argue that the rest of the series depended on what this third period was gonna bring.

The Pens were given an early power play when Crosby dove over the glass and the Rags got a delay-of-game penalty.
What a play by Crosby.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

The Rangers stifled the top unit, and the second unit was stopped with an offsides call.
A big kill for the Rags.

As the first quarter of the third period disappeared, it became apparent that the Rangers were gonna have to come out of their shell and try to actually score a goal.

It was gonna have to wait, though, because Blair Betts Graves'd Kennedy.
The Pens had another PP on the way.
But the Rangers had all the answers.

The Rangers started pressing after that PK.
And the disturbing trend of the Pens not being able to get possession in their own zone started to annoy you to no end.

But MAF continued his all-business ways.

After a couple icings, the Pens were finally able to change lines.

The game reached 8:00 left, and Father Time was pulled over for speeding on the Parkway.

Father Time showed up in time to see Joe Girardi get whiplash when Sykora's stick gets him in the face.
Yeah, it's a penalty. Could have done without the theatrics, though. Pathetic.

A minute of the PP was gone before you knew it.
Talbot laid his life on the line to block a shot.

And then came the fun part...

The Rangers thought they had a goal, but Crosby blew his whistle from the bench to stop the play.
What a play by Crosby.

Picture: Dubi from [ Blueshirt Bulletin ] begins to gather supplies
so he can make a big post about the tough call.

Renney's tears paid off for the Rags at the end, when the USS Hal Gill sinks Steve Avery.

Gill goes to the box.

So, it was even. The Pens got their "questionable" late PP in game one.
And now here were the Rangers with their own.

It was here amongst 17,000 screaming Mellon Arena fanatics that the Pittsburgh Penguins discovered who they were.

Besides Jagr lurking, there really wasn't much to be nervous about.
Shots were being blocked, the puck stayed to the perimeter.

Renney for some reason decided to wait till there was about 30 seconds left on the penalty to give his team a 2-man advantage by pulling Lundqvist.
Therrien did that with about 2 minutes left in a game earlier this season against Montreal.
Whitney tied it with a goal.

Whatev.
Just as the Hal Gill penalty was expiring, Adam Hall harmlessly gets it out of the zone.

With the USS Hal Gill in its wake, the puck floated down the ice and split the posts. 2-0.

But good God, it wasn't over.
Tom Renney wants Sean Avery to exhibit his bad sportsmanship and sends him out at the end to start some crap.

After some lovetaps on MAF, Fleury gives him the how-do-you-do.
Avery turns at slashes/spears Fleury...right in front of Hal Gill.
Mistake. A big scrum develops.

Check out what Rob Scuderi did.
He turned his back to the scrum and held the fort against the next Ranger to jump in.
Scuderi has been on fire.

GAME.

MISCELLANEOUS

• Did Brendan Shanahan play?
  
• We've contacted the Academy to see if Chris Drury and Joe Girardi can be up for nominations.
• The Pens countered the neutral-zone clog of the Rags with some nice stretch passes.
  
• The Penguins themselves shutting the Rangers down for the third period was unreal.
  
• GET IT OUT OF THE ZONE!!!!LKNFDNGJFNHJNRAHHH
• SCOOOOOOOOOOOOODS
  
• Kennedy, Staal, Ruutu, Talbot, Hall = Out of their minds
  
• All game pictures courtesy of Getty at [ Yahoo Pictures ] -- Best in the business
• Tuesday night in MSG. Get busy livin'.
  

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Go Pens

GameDay (2.2) -- Rags @ Pens

2:00

Game One had more bad bounces than when Sean Avery's mom jumps on a trampoline.

Both teams benefited from it while neither played their best game of the season.
The last thing the Rags want is to go down 2-0 right out of the gates.

Telling you the Rangers have to win this game would insult your intelligence.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Here are links where displaced Pens fans can watch games online.
[ Credit goes to the community that is C-blog ]

We've actually lucked out for this playoff series.
A dependable outlet to see a game is at [ Justin.tv/Rags2Riches ]

He is a Rangers fan, and it's already guaranteed that the game will be there tonight.
There is a live chat during the game right beside the embedded video.
As mentioned in Cblog, don't do anything that will get you banned.

Other sources:

[ ChannelSurfing.net ] -- Very highly regarded

[ MyP2P ]
[ Sports Talk World ]
[ Yahoo NHL ]
[ Hockey Webcasts ]




[ Pensblog Chatblog ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


[ J. Boyle ]

Blueshirt Bulletin has stuck their nose up at us for incorporating photoshops into posts.
But look what we found on their subscription page:


Uhh...

[ Subscribe ]
You can subscribe to 70 issues for the low price of $30.
What a ripoff.

[ Bulletin ]



[ Wilsmith ]

Our refusal not to talk about this ridiculous Crosby-diving stuff still stands firm.
It's such a waste of everyone's time.

But we will talk about the Rangers diving,
because that point will be conveniently ignored as the Crosby stuff gets all the attention.

Shanahan is an expert. Jagr's done his fair share.

And Sean Avery is no stranger to doing the triple:





But then again...
we found footage that proves Crosby is a diver:



**********************************

It looks like we're not the only blog out there who's had a run-in with the Bulletin.

[ Four Habs Fans ] made a list of 10 things they hate about the Rangers,
which Bulletin didn't like and provided a long-winded rebuttal.

[ Here ] is the chain of all the posts regarding the issue.

Apparently, we recently had a cup of the tea with the Bulletin. [ Four Habs Fans ]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

ROBERTS UPDATE

[ Post-Gazette ]

Therrien listed him as "day-to-day,"
and responded, "We'll see," when asked if he expects Roberts to dress today.

Roberts was out of sight when the locker room was opened to reporters after practice
and thus offered no update on his status.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Wilkes-Barre sealed the deal in their first round series with Hershey.
Eric P. came through with a solid [ YouTube ]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Here's the Pens intro for Game One.
[ Matt C. ] with the footage.

A couple people asked for this screenshot

[ PenguinsVideo.blogspot.com ] is running all cylinders.
Ringtones of Mike Lange goal calls there.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Avalanche d-man Cody Mcleod is indifferent to octojokes. [DetriotFreePress]



In case you missed it...

He took the octopus that Wings fans throw on the ice, picked it up,
taunted the Red Wings with it, and chucked it down the runway behind Colorado's bench.

We tried to find a video of it.
But nothing yet.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



First off, God came down and gave us all a sign that something special is happening.

We were out jobbing the town on Saturday night
and saw something that shook us to our very core:



Look familiar?


If you're new around these parts, whenever we go to a site to job someone,
we take this bus, the Jobber Tour Bus.

We stood there mystified for two minutes before realizing we should take a picture.

AND NOW TO MORE PRESSING MATTERS...

Hacksaw was simply out of gas following the Game One victory.
Rather than run him on fumes, we're turning to a proven home-ice performer for Game Two.


Salvation lies within the Mellon.

Go Pens

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH

[Jay H.]

WE ARE DONE WITH CROSBY AND DIVING. NO MORE LINKS, NO MORE ANYTHING.
Whenever an opponent loses from now on,
the trendy thing is to blame Sidney Crosby for diving.

From [Going Five Hole]. this is all that needs to be seen.

A breakdown of the penalty against Martin Straka

A couple shots after this, he is down on one knee for a split-second and gets back up.

How is it a dive when said player doesn't dive?

We never liked Brendan Shanahan anyway.
But didn't he push for these rules?

As for Crosby, Shanahan said, "all the guys on this team - and in the league, for that matter - have a lot of respect for Sidney, and the work ethic he brings. There were a couple of calls that were made that were not necessarily dives on Sidney's part, but ... it's ice hockey. It happens. We fall. He's around the puck a lot, and he makes second and third efforts that are going to sometimes drop him down to his knees, and that's just the way he plays. I don't think he's necessarily diving, but he's the kind of player that will dive for loose pucks, and I think he plays an all-out, all-effort style that sometimes referees can confuse with someone fouling him."


What an ass.


And Marty Straka?

Who cares what he says. He should spend more time lifting.


[J Schiff]


And finally...

Don't you think people who have touched naked hockey players
know what the sport is all about?

[ Blueshirt Bulletin ] apparently doesn't.

They are letting all this Crosby/diving nonsense dominate their brains,
much like they want Sean Avery crap to dominate ours.

All they are doing is crying and whining and moaning...
and the best part:

Every goal the Rangers scored was great.
Every goal the Pens scored was because the Rangers let it happen.

Fortunately, Pensblog Adam went undercover and planted a seed.



We used the old "nothing bonds people more than a common enemy" trick.
"Hey, this guy hates that blog? Hell yeah! Posted."

It was too easy

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Flyers vs Habs going on tonight.

Hopefully the Habs fans throw more beer on Mike Richards. [Mirtle]





Short postblog.

Funny Scary Banana - More bloopers are a click away

Go Pens

Gone In 60 Seconds. PENS WIN.

[ NHL.com RECAP ]



STUNNED

What was going through your head after Madonna scored 3:37 into the second period?
Were you looking up coupons for golf clubs?
Were you making ill-advised comments on message boards?

We don't blame you. Things weren't pretty at all.

But that is the thing about playoff hockey.
It is about overcoming adversity.
We could write all the cheesy things in the world.
But in the end, this game was the essence of playoff hockey.

With the Pens left for dead, Jarkko Ruutu gives everyone a shot of adrenaline with a goal.
You think "Okay that,s one."

14 seconds later, Pascal Dupuis changed everything.

The big knock on the Pens is their lack of playoff experience, as compared to the Rangers.
You would think oodles of playoff experience wouldn't let a three-goal lead evaporate.

It wasn't the best game the Pens have played all season.
You can argue that they only played for about a minute all game.

But during that minute, they scored 5 goals.

It's a crushing defeat for the Bullshits, and it propels the Pens' confidence to another level.

NBC on Sunday.
Roberts is waiting in the wings.

God help us all.

::::::::::::::::::::::: ANTHEMS ::::::::::::::::::::::::::

[ MATT M. ]


[ SOFA ]


[ BNG66 ]


[ BRAD BERK ]


[ BROOKS ]


[ DAVE ]


[ DUSTIN M. ]

[Andy]

[DaveyD]

[JT]----------------------------------------[zlancia]

[Adrienne A]

::::::::::::::::::::::: FIRST PERIOD ::::::::::::::::::::::::::

And then the puck was dropped.
You almost forgot you were a Pens fan.

But then you remembered when good ol' Double J cross-checks Gonchar from behind.
Are you kidding? First play of the series?

Besides the puck getting out of the zone once, it was a great early PP.
But a goal would have made it nicer.

The second PP unit was done when Ryan Whitney couldn't hold the puck in.
You could actually hear the Pens fans wondering if they should boo.

The game refused to get a flow early on.
It started to get moving, with the help of Dupuis leveling Sean Avery.

King Henrik was tested early. Big saves.


[Matt in N.C.]

But the Pens would not stop coming.
The Rangers had to take another penalty.

The biggest power play in 10 days got under way.
As was the case during the regular season, the Rangers shut the PP down.

After some jobbing, Ryan Whitney put an exclamation point on a dismal first period when he went to the box.

You knew it was coming.

1-0.

After that, the first period consisted of wondering what life was all about.

Sykora headed to the box at the tail end of the first, but it didn't last long.
Brendan Shanahan, the cagey veteran, tries to job Max Talbot.
Penalty.

As usual, the game has to be stopped so the penalty can be explained to Brendan Shanahan.
Just go to the box, dick.

::::::::::::::::::::::: SECOND PERIOD ::::::::::::::::::::::::::

And then the second period began.
And the Pens were working with an abbreviated PP. No dice.

And the worst thing that could happen, happened.
Drury puts his stick out to deflect the dreaded shot from the point, and it goes in.

2-0.

But hold the phone and use it to call Toronto.
It stands.

We knew the Pens were gonna be in this position.
Every NHL team will be in this hole somewhere in the playoffs.

The hole would soon get deeper and more queer than Siegfried and Roy.

You know they made out ten seconds after this picture was taken.

Gonchar pinched, and no one went back to support him.

Gonchar's shot got blocked, and away the Rangers went on a 2-on-1.
Steve Avery carries it into the zone and strikes out Jay Bell. 3-0.

He poses for Vogue in celebration and promptly disappears for the rest of the game.

As the game drifted towards the halfway mark, you didn't know what to do with yourself.
But a shot of adrenaline came out of nowhere.

Besides losing your virginity, in April/May/June, if you do something in 14 seconds, it is going to be a big deal.

Ruutu comes into the Rangers zone and just gets it front.
It hits Rozy and gets in past Lundqvist. 3-1.

How good has Ruutu been?
Unreal.

Okay, a breath of fresh air.
If we can just muster another chan-- 3-2.

That guy we picked up from Atlanta at the trading deadline puts home a one-timer.
What a play by Bing to outwork that dude.

After the Pens continued a frenzy, trying to tie it up, everything got settled down again when Orpik went to the box for tripping.

The Rangers had a huge chance to eliminate some of that Penguin explosion.
But MAF did what he had to do and made some huge saves.

The Pens got rewarded at the end of a great second period with a power play.
When a player is hanging by a thread on the edge of his skate, don't put your stick on his skate.
He will fall, and that is called a tripping penalty.

Hossa get set up beautifully with a one-timer on the PP, but no dice.
That was it.

It was all Pens since their explosion,
and the Rangers were finally able to catch their breath as the second-period horn blared.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

COTTON CANDY HERRRRREEEEEEEE????

The cotton candy man was not at the Penguin game.
Where was he?

--Evan M--

Pirate game?

Not a good omen.

::::::::::::::::::::::: THIRD PERIOD ::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The first five minutes of the third period were as pedestrian as it gets.
The next 15 were running.

It all started with the puck in the Rangers zone. Ryan Malone jumps on the ice, gets the puck.
He makes two sick moves. The puck gets to Hossa.
Hossa and Scuds play catch. Hossa throws it to the net.

3-3

Time to settle in.
Looks like an OT Ga-- 4-3.

--Will Smith--

-- Jonathan M. --

Another sick pass by Malone springs Malkin.
Malkin waited until the last possible second to get the puck to Sykora.
Sykora buried it.

After then you wait for Father Time to show up.
But he doesn't.

And then things changed again.
Double J comes flying in.
He makes a pass out in front of the net.
Scott Gomez doesn't miss often.

4-4.

We made fun of Scott Gomez early this year.
He was the real deal tonight.

And then every play was magnified.
Every dump. Every pass. Every line change.
Father Time was on standby as the game reached 5:00 left.

Late in the third, a loose puck was up for grabs.
Martin Straka interferes with Crosby trying to get it.
Interference is a penalty.

Picture: Gracie Mae, who has worked AT&T switchboards for 35 years,
says it's the best call she's ever seen.

Huge power play. Bigger than anything.

It didn't look like it was gonna happen.
Passes weren't connecting.

But great players aren't always great.
They're just great when they have to be.

The Pens were finally able to set up shop, and the big boys set up for one last time.
Whitney jobs it over to Bing for a one-timer.

5-4.



Refs call Toronto.
Turns out the puck went in off Malkin.
Whatev.




Ranger fans stunned.

[ 6545 ]

[ BNG66 ]

[ MATT M. ]

Father Time comes out of nowhere.
Time to buckle up.
The Rangers job around and force a stoppage.

Timeout

Before you know it, a faceoff is going down to the left of MAF.
Pens get it cleared, but the threat is still there.
Scott Gomez is the fastest human alive.
With under 20 seconds, he gets the puck to Ol' Double J.
Time stands still. The game on his stick.

Double J hits the post.

No idea how it didn't go in.
The puck goes into the corner. Time runs out.

Game.


--Jamisen--


Stunned:

--Dave--

--StockeyD--

--272--

MISCELLANEOUS

• Ruutu, Staal, Scuderi, Malkin, Crosby, Malone, Sykora, Hossa, Dupuis, Whitney, Orpik all got at least a point.
• Power play comes through when it had to.
• The Penguins organization did a great job making the whiteout a reality.
  
• USS Hal Gill was full speed ahead.
• Heart attack city.
• The Rangers are still a hell of a hockey team and played a great road game until the meltdown.
• Marc Staal is sick.
  
• Marty Straka got an unsportsmanlike penalty at the end of the game:

He was mad about his penalty.

Maybe if that weight machine would not have fell on him,
he could have caught Bing, instead of holding him.

The Rnagers were whining after the game.


--Chris A.--


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Go Pens

GameDay (2.1) -- Rangers @ Pens

FINALLY



ROBERTS IS OUT TONIGHT

[ RangerPundit is all business ] -- Great Rangers blog over there.

We were running out of steam, so the list isn't as long as we wanted:

Pens in 7 -- [ Hockey.com ]
Pens in 7 -- [ Rick Fox at Yahoo ]
Pens in 7 -- [ Buccigross at ESPN ]
Pens in 6 -- [ Scott Burnside ]
Rangers in 6 -- [ John Dellapina ]
Rangers in 7 -- [ Larry Brooks, NY Post ]

But the heartbreaker comes from a dear and close friend:


[ James Mirtle ]


You're still cool with us, James.
As long as you take the Pens in the East Finals.

P.S.
The only comment-jobbing we condone is over at [ Bullshit Bulletin ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Here are links where displaced Pens fans can watch games online.
[ Credit goes to the community that is C-blog ]

We've actually lucked out for this playoff series.
A dependable outlet to see a game is at [ Justin.tv/Rags2Riches ]

He is a Rangers fan, and it's already guaranteed that the game will be there tonight.
There is a live chat during the game right beside the embedded video.
As mentioned in Cblog, don't do anything that will get you banned.

Other sources:

[ ChannelSurfing.net ] -- Very highly regarded

[ MyP2P ]
[ Sports Talk World ]
[ Yahoo NHL ]
[ Hockey Webcasts ]




This isn't our creation.
Commentor Lloyd came through in the wake of GameDayChat's disappearance.

[ Pensblog Chatblog ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



:: Sabu vs. Price [ Goalie Mask Tournament ]

We have stiff competition from [ Your Habs.com ] -- Solid Habs blog.


SABU IS DOWN BY 10 VOTES AS OF 6:15 PM.
TREMENDOUS EFFORT BY ALL.

:: Do you have any pregame rituals and/or superstitions for the Pens?
If so, NHL.com's [ The Hockey Show ] wants to know.

E-mail us about your rituals and good-luck charms (any pics would be solid),
and we will forward it to the The Hockey Show.



We crapped the bed and messed up on Steve Haber's iGoogle theme link.
[ Here it is ]


10 Penguin players currently use Easton sticks.

Easton sticks accounted for 122 goals in the first round of the playoffs,
a staggering 47.7% of the 256 goals scored.

Thanks to Ben from Easton for sending us that info.

[ EASTON ]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




10:00

:: In the AHL Thursday night, Albany and Philly went 5 OT's,
with Philly finally putting in a goal.

Albany goalie Michael Leighton made 98 saves during the game.
[ AHL.com -- Video of the goal ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

There was an attack on street signs in the Mt. Lebanon area on Friday.

We would have higher-resolution pics,
but the ones we found somewhere on the internet were 2.5MB each.

We sacrificed time and are bringing you the thumbnails.

But you get the idea:

The culprits wanted to only be credited with their initials.
The cops are on the hunt for these little bastards.

But whoever did it knows who they are.
Even the initials are too much information.

And whenever the cops are jobbing you,
the less people who know you're guilty, the better.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



The people have spoken.

Hacksaw's only defeat this season was at the hands of the New York Rangers.
It was an overtime defeat in Madison Square Garden.

He will be given the opportunity to exorcise those demons later in the series.
For now, it's a huge Game One start to build confidence.

We feel it's a must to use yellow font to offset the colors that lay with Duggan.


HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

GO PENS

Blame It On The Renney

We'll be honest.

Even after learning we'd be playing the Rangers in the second round,
we still couldn't grasp the concept that it's the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
We were flat.

The Pens haven't played in a year, and it feels like Game One tonight
is nothing but a game after an Olympic break.


But then you see a picture like this.

And then it hits you that the pent-up frustration of Pens fans over Jagr's departure from Pittsburgh could not have a better climax.

Slowly, your hatred for Sean Avery seeps out of your body as you stare at a wall.

You remember that Sidney Crosby is on the biggest stage of his career.
You remember Marc-Andre Fleury is red-hot.
You remember when Dick Tarnstrom was the Pens leading scorer not to long ago.

It's probably hit you before you read this.

You rolled out of a bed, groggy from sleep,
and it hit you when you flipped the bathroom light on.

And your day got 100% better right there.

It's Game One of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
We've missed this.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




-- a la Zordon, leader of the Power Rangers --
[ Nicky V. ]

Lost amidst Averyblog is the big question
of who will win the coaching matchup between Tom Renney and Michel Therrien.

We don't know. We've never coached a hockey team before.

We found some actual nice Rangers fans.

[HockeyBird] emailed us to wish us good luck in the series.

Also another solid Ranger blog is [RangerPundit], we have been reading since back before we even started a blog.
We cannot say enough good things about him.
He has been blogging since 2004.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

AVERYBLOG


[ Stinky Harry ]

We're saving a bunch of the Sean Avery photoshops for game recaps.
The opportunities will definitely present themselves.


Mariosmilitia over at [ LGP ] found that Avery's ex, Elisha Cuthbert, is a Pens fan:



Wikipedia edits are in full swing:


[ Matthew K. ]


[ Valblog ]


[Dr. Turkleton]

:: More Avery talk.
Basically everyone on the Pens knows he is a joke. [TSN]

When it was pointed out by a reporter that another difference was the fact
Avery got into Vanity Fair this season and Ruutu did not, the Finn didn't flinch.

"Those things are for girls," said Ruutu.

[Eddy Spaghetti] has the audio of the interview.


[Franklin S]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



:: If you're heading to games this weekend,
keep your eyes peeled for people from NHL.com's [ The Hockey Show ]

They're working on a report about fans and their pregame rituals and such.

:: Roberts will bring the pain if he is 100% [ PG ]

:: Soild article on Double J. [ PG ]

::The 1992 series between the Pens and Rangers will never be forgotten. [ Trib ]

Does anyone remember the 1996 series?
Wregget was nearly unbeatable.

:: Sabu vs. Price [ Goalie Mask Tournament ]


He's only down by 200 votes as of 5:30AM. We can make a difference.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

MULTIMEDIA BLOG


Steve Haber's Penguins iGoogle theme has like 1,700 users. Sick. [ iGoogle Theme ]


And a couple ringtones, brought to you by Eric P. and Steel City Assault, respectively:

[ Therrien's SOFF rant ]
[ Look at Roberts drinkin' the water ]


Marian Hossa plays for the Pittsburgh Cubs, apparently.
[ Randy L. ]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



If you visit us via [ thepensblog.blogspot.com ], Charlie will be your new favicon.





It doesn't work if you use [ www.thepensblog.com ].


We lost 10 pounds in sweat, worrying about whether or not these wristbands
were gonna be delivered to everyone in timely fashion.

It looks like most people in the Greater Pittsburgh Area have already gotten them.
We may have an unreal WWGRD picture on the way.


We added these shirts to [ Storeblog ] a week ago
and completely forgot about them.



A new search engine powered by Yahoo is making a difference.
The Mario Lemieux Foundation will make a penny per search when you use [ this link ].

And finally...

We're rusty, so we need a vote for Game One:





:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Pretty good hockey game. Wings take it 4-3. [ AbelToYzerman ]


That Dennis Franz guy scored twice.
The AV's made it close at the end, but Osgood made some great saves,
including one with under 10 seconds to play.



The Flyers had the game won. [ Cusadelphia ]
But Mike Richards got called for a suspect kneeing penalty with about a minute to play.

Kovy tied it with under 30 seconds left on a 6-on-4.
Former Penguin Tom Kostopoulos ended it 48 seconds into OT.


Flyers fans =Not happy. [The700Level]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Hitler reacts to the Canucks missing the playoffs:



You almost forget that the subtitles are fake.
Thanks to [ DC ] for the find.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

GameDay 2.1 at 6:30pm

We will try to get a list of where you can watch the game on the internet if you don't get Versus.
If you know of somewhere, leave it in c-blog.


Go Pens

No Sleep Till Manhattan

Tues. 10/23 -- PENS WIN 1-0. [ Recap ]
Thurs. 11.08 -- PENS LOSE 4-2. [ Recap ]
Sat. 11.17 -- PENS LOSE 4-3. [ Recap ]
Tues. 12.18 -- PENS LOSE 4-0. [ Recap ]
Mon. 1.14 -- PENS WIN 4-1. [ Recap ]
Tues. 3.18 -- PENS LOSE 5-2. [ Recap ]
Sun. 3.30 -- PENS WIN 3-1. [ Recap ]
Mon. 3.31 -- PENS LOSE 2-1. [ Recap ]

Are appearances deceiving?
Well...

The Pens were 3-0-1 at the Mellon this year.
They were 0-4 at MSG.

With both teams possessing some nice firepower,
it's gonna come down to the goalies.


Speaking of which,
Lundqvist found a spot on [ ESPN's ] second-round preview goalie montage.

MAF = Pissed

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

WHITEOUTBLOG

The Pens will be giving out white t-shirts for Friday's game, with the aim for a whiteout.
[ Penguins.NHL.com ]

If you still want to wear a jersey, wear your white one.
Or don't. Whatev.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

DonBrennan v2.0


Arthur Staple

This guy isn't calling for a Ranger to injure a Penguin, so he's still all right.
He's just spewing his nonsense, like any other human.

If the Pens have had a little too long of a layoff...
if you're having trouble getting up for this series...

This will get you going.

If the Rangers were convinced that Marty Brodeur loved to flop when they skated by his crease, they should be absolutely certain that Crosby will whine to the refs every time he's bodied off a puck or otherwise interrupted.

At even strength, the Penguins don't have the consistency top to bottom the Rangers have.

Long-range history is not so kind, and Rangers fans, who have bad memories always accessible, can recall 1992, when Adam Graves slashed Mario Lemeiux in Game 2 of that conference semifinal and things went downhill soon after.

The Rangers were arguably the better team 16 years ago,
but Graves' unintentionally dirty play broke Lemieux's hand and got the Penguins going.

Unintentional? Are we splitting hairs about something that happened 16 years ago?

Let's go to the videotape:




At the 1:34 mark is the guy who roars defiantly into the air in angst.
Easily one of our top 10 favorite Penguin fans of all time.

Subsequently, Ron Francis's performance in Game 4 of that series is prayed to in 14 countries.

Speaking of Rangers/Pens playoff history:
The Penguins are 12-3 all-time against the Rangers in the playoffs.


[DelPen.]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



MAF is currently facing Craig Anderson in the Tournament of Goalie Masks.
He already has it in the bag, but you can still go [ here ] to vote.

Speaking of that great website,
it is always taking user-submitted concepts for NHL uniforms:

Hmm

And just when you thought a collection of pixels couldn't entice you to jump out of a window:


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Here are the results from the first-round playoff predictions.


7 - 1


6 - 2


6 - 2


6 - 2


5 - 3


5 - 3


4 - 4


4 - 4

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Banksville Express Printing Company:

[ Sarah L. ]

Who did you vote for?


[ Shall remain anonymous ]


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Look, we come across as dicks to other fans and shit that read stuff here.
There's no questioning that. And that's fine with us.

But one thing we are proud of is the good people we have been able to talk to from other blogs and the community we are a part of.

So usually, we like to have some good-natured fun with other teams.

But even we were stunned at the response we got from [ Blueshirt Bulletin ]
when we asked them if they wanted to do a little cross-linking and such for the series.

We think it is in bad taste to release e-mails between people.
We never do. We know everyone trusts us with their information.

But this is the playoffs.

"...Blueshirt Bulletin is a print publication first and foremost, with the online site designed to promote and augment the magazine. The magazine's top writer is John Dellapina, who has been covering hockey for the New York Daily News for nearly two decades. John also happens to be a good friend of mine and the person who mentored me through the Rangers' dressing room and taught me how to be a reporter. So considering the way you treated him on your blog a few weeks ago, I guess you know what my answer is.."

Pensblog = Stunned
A simple NO would have been fine.

The fact that he admits another man mentored him through a dressing room...wow.
Who even talks about that stuff? Big deal, you saw Mark Messier's unmentionables.


Who hasn't?

And quite frankly, we don't want to deal with people that use the word "augment," anyway.
Or use seizure-inducing bright red and bright blue as the background on their blog.

And what did we ever do to John Dellapina?



Oh yeah. That. Oops.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The adventures of the Pink Ranger

Sean Avery is going to intern with VOGUE over the summer. [ ABCNEWS ]

"He is ridiculously obsessed with fashion," Avery's publicist Nicole Chabot told ABCNews.com. "He loves it more than anything in the world. It's something he has always wanted to do."



[Thanks to everyone who sent this story in.]

We'd make a classless joke, but really what even can be said at this point?

[Notman1]


The only way Sean Avery is even a difference in this series
is if the Pens make him out to be one.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

You stay classy, Washington:




Thanks to [ Empty Netters ] for the find.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Now here is the part where we steal all of Greg Wyshynski's stuff. [ Yahoo NHL Expert Blog ]
If you haven't checked that out yet, you're missing out on life.

Patrick Roy's son is a singer.

And not just any singer.
He is like Nick Lachey, but only about 1,000 times more homoerotic.

Just check out his [ MySpace ]
Just be prepared to get blasted with perhaps the worst song of all time.

Even that Tom dude took this guy off his friends' list.

But it gets worse...



...and worse...

Celine Dion is helping him get his CD out. [ Canucks and Beyond ]

Listening to the song "Just Too Far Away," is he from Brooklyn?
Before it is all said and done, this may be the most important hockey issue in 2008.
Wow.

But, hey, at least the girls who wear weird bathing suits like it:


That girl's about to be on the business end of something no one wants to talk about.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Speaking of morons that can't sing:



No idea what is even going on.
You won't spend a stranger two minutes of your day.


[Thanks to CrosbyFreak for the heads up]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:: Snoop over at the [ The Sidney Crosby Show ] is backing a good cause.

:: A.O didn't waste anytime. [ The 700 Level ]


[Thanks to Jay for the heads up]


:: The Blackhawks have two Calder finalists. [ Face-off Factor ]

:: Evgeni Malkin's audio diary. [ DVE ]

:: WWGRD song. [ B94 ]

:: Solid photohop thread over at [ LGP ]


[ DelPen = Beast ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



:: Double J and the Pens. [ Trib ]

:: Pens signed prospect Luca Caputi. [ PG ]

He is sick.



[Thanks to Eric P.]


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



TONIGHT


7:00


7:00 ( Not on Versus )

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Go Pens

P.S. Blog..... Happy Birthday to Pensblog Adam

Start Spreadin' The News

Game 7's can change your life.



What an epic battle in Washington D.C.
[ CuseAdelphia ]
[ The700Level ]

All our lives, we have known nothing but hatred for the Flyers and Capitals.
But as hockey fans, you can't help but feel respect for the performances of both teams.

After being deadlocked at 2-2 through regulation, the game went into overtime.
And in vintage Capitals conspiracy fashion, the Caps' Tom Poti got called for a penalty.

That set up Joffrey Lupul:



That kid will never be the same.


[Mike G]

Just another heart-breaking loss for the Caps.

[JapersRink]


Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Great find by [ DC Sportsblog ]

-- By the way, did the Washington crowd have any idea this was a Game 7?
No atmosphere.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The off-week is over, and it is set.

Friday night, Mellon Arena:



[Dr.Turkleton]

It seems like the Pens haven't played in months.
But the Rangers will be equally as rested.
So the rust, if there is any, will be on both sides.

What a series it is going to be.

It won't take long for the hatred to start.

[Notman1]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




Game 7's are about legends.

Jeremy Roenick could have been playing his last game ever.
What does he do?
Scores the game-tying goal and game-winning goal.
Four-point night. [ WeBleedTeal ]

Roenick can do all that.
But he can't open a water bottle:

[Thanks to Phil Q]


For Calgary, Mike Keenan may have blew the game.
He pulled Miikka Kiprusoff after Kipper gave up his fourth goal of the game.

He brings Curtis Joseph into a hostile situation.
Joseph gives up a weak goal, Sharks lead 5-2.

The Flames would score a goal to make it 5-3 in the third.
If Keenan doesn't make that change...

Flames fans have 3 months to ponder.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::






:: Sergei Gonchar gets snubbed from Norris Trophy consideration. [PittsburghPenguins.com]

They should just rename the award the Nicklas Lidstrom award.

But the other two finalists:
Zdeno Chara and Dion Phaneuf.

Both are solid, Gonchar had just as good of a season.

The real travesty is Gary Robers not even getting named a finalist.

:: Evgeni Malkin gets a nice write-up from SI. [SI.com]



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sean Leahy asks the important question.

What is growing on Double J's face? [Yahooblogs]




:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Finish Line = Joke

They are now selling Mason Crosby shirts that looks a lot like Sidney Crosby's.


Thanks to [Josh B] for the tip.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jobbing Wolf Blitzer?

Pensblog Charlie found this one.

Apparently our friend Wolf Blitzer has a blog.
[Blitzerblog]

The link is down on the right hand of the page.
But he disables the comments after awhile.

But he does post somewhat often.
So if you happen to notice his blog is accepting comments...

Do it.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



The wristbands have all been sent.
If you missed the confirmation list, it is the post below this one.

Handling the WWGRD's is in our past now, barring the stray F-up here or there.
It has consumed a lot of our time recently, resulting in lackluster content around here.
It all changes Thursday.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Flashblog is getting a 21st-century upgrade for the second round.
We will be getting second-round predictions from the hockey world.
Bulletin-board material will be in full force starting today, most likely.

If there is another Don Brennan controversy,
may God have mercy on the NYC Media's soul.


Go Pens

APRIL 2008 WWGRD CONFIRMATIONS

This is pretty self-explanatory.

If you're not on the list, then either you're a joke or we're a joke.

This list was done on the fly, no double-checking.

The packaging of the wristbands themselves was triple-checked,

so if you're number is wrong on here, it doesn't necessarily mean you were jobbed.

E-mail us with any concerns.

Don't e-mail us poop.

APRIL 10TH

AARONMIT1
ADAMCLA6
AMYRAP1
ANDREAFALC5
ANITACHANN2
ANNIESEA1
ANNVRAB5
ASHLEYMASS3
BARRYGERM1
BENJAMINHA2
BENJAMINSONN2
BENWAL1
BERNADETTEDEG4
BRADLEYZIM2
BRANDONARM4
BRANDONELL2
BRANDONMORG1
BRASSTA2
BRIANPER1
BYRONBLEV2
CAITLINHAM2
CAMERONKOP1
CHADBAL1
CHRISLOEF2
CHRISTOPHERMEA2
CHRISTOPHERSTAN1
CONNIEAMOR2
DAMONATH1
DANIELMAK2
DANIELTHE2
DARLAHAN1
DAVIDCLA1
DAVIDKEI1
DAVIDKOV3
DAVIDLIV2
DAVIDSARR2
DIANEFRI3
DREWSPA1
EILEENMAH1
FREDRICKLING1
GILBERTHAU3
GREGCAMP2
IANDEA2
JACKIESCHAE2
JAMESADK2
JAMESGIL2
JAMESKLIN1
JAMESMON1
JAMESPEK1
JASONBEND5
JASONMAST4
JASONWALD1
JEFFREYPET1
JIMPOO1
JOHNBRAW5
JOHNDZU1
JOHNHUTCH3
JOHNLUS2
JONATHANARCH2
JONATHANHOWA1
JONATHANLAU1
JOSEPHWAG4
JOSEPHWEU4
JOSHUABAK2
JOSHUABRO1
JOSHYO1
KARENPIOT2
KATHYSAN1
KAYLAJO1
KEVINCRA1
KEVINDOUB1
KIMBERLYSTIG1
KURTHACK1
KYLESID1
LAURAGRA3
LAURIEWOOD5
LINDABRO2
LUKECOURT1
MARCBISH3
MATTHEWGROS2
MATTHEWMCK2
MATTHEWNES1
MATTHEWPOP3
MATTHEWRICH4
MICHAELBRIT5
MICHAELRIEK1
NATHANEVANG1
NATHANGRAY1
NATHANTUR2
NICHOLASEVAN2
NICOLACUN2
PAMELASOP4
PATRICKHEA3
PATRICKKEN1
PATRICKMCC2
RAYMONDCYGR1
RAYMONDMCK1
ROBERTBRAH2
RONALDBIE4
RYANBEAU2
RYANGEB1
RYANPETE1
RYANSTEV1
SAMLIB1
SARAHKIE2
SCOTTRE2
SHEKITASAN4
SHIRLEYOK1
STEPHENGRA4
STEPHENPOUL1
STEPHENVO1
STEVENPA2
STUARTWILK1
THOMASAND2
TJMILL1
TONIHAR1
TYLERSCHM2
VICKYSHOE2
ZACHLAN1

APRIL 11TH

ADAMHIN7
ALECIAMORR1
ALJON1
AMANDABRAU2
ANDREWDUNC2
ANITASLA1
ANTHONYEDW1
ANTHONYPAPA2
ASHLEYMCK1
BENGW2
BETHTAM1
BRADALLE2
BRADRIF2
BRANDONWAR3
BRENDANLEAS2
BRENNACAI4
BRETTCOLG2
BRETTHENS1
BRIANBILL2
BRIANDAUGH1
BRIANJACK2
BRIANJSMI1
BRYANTSMI2
CAITLINLY2
CASEYGUSK4
CASEYWAL3
CHADWAL1
CHRISCAM1
CHRISHEFF2
CHRISMOM4
CHRISTOPHERMCC2
CODYGRI2
COLINWAL1
CRAIGCRO2
DANIELKWIT1
DANILL4
DANSTOC4
DAVEMILA4
DAVEYBELAS2
DAVIDHUDZ4
DAVIDRAT2
DAVIDSTINS3
DAWNHAP1
DONALDCANO6
DOUGLASHILD2
DOUGLASMIEL4
ELLENSENG7
ERICFARR1
ERNIEFRANC1
GARYHECH10
GREGGTHOM1
GREGORYGAST5
GRETCHENJO1
HEATHERUND2
HOLLYSMI2
IMAGIC6
JACLYNIE1
JAMESFRI4
JAMESTAR1
JANSHU2
JARODBOW1
JASONMURR2
JEFFFAU1
JENNIELUP1
JENNIFERSHU2
JEREMYWEIL2
JESSICAAST2
JOHNLAD1
JONATHANBRAD10
JONATHANDO2
JONATHANMILL2
JONATHANRIO1
JOSEPHLEU2
JOSHARC2
JUDITHBYYK1
JULIATAB2
JULIUSECK1
KARAMILL2
KATEGUND2
KATEMCK2
KATHLEENSCHM2
KATHYSTEW2
KENNETHNUT2
KEVINROH2
KIRKROH2
KURTGOLD5
LEONARDDUN1
LINDAHAR2
LISACLAY3
LORIBIED2
LORIBIED2
MARKLANC2
MARKSHU1
MATTHEWFORE1
MATTHEWHAM4
MATTHEWKOL4
MATTHEWKUND1
MATTTHEWCAR1
MELISSAMARSH2
MICAHGREG4
MICHAELBRAN2
MICHAELFED1
MICHAELJAN4
MICHAELMEU2
MICHAELTOPP1
MICHAELYAVO2
MICHELLEMULL2
MIKEWYM2
NATEBUDZ2
NATEWEATH1
NATHANBREI1
NATHANTURN2
NICKLASGERS1
PATRICKFE2
PAULAVEZZ2
PAULBLO1
PAULFELD1
PAULVLAS1
PERSONWHOTOLDUSNOTTOCONFIRM2
PETEMAKS2
PETERPATS1
PHILLIPIER3
REBECCAARD2
RHIANNONHEW2
RICHARDHEND2
RICHARDRIE2
ROBERTSTR2
RONALDKUH1
RYANDAV1
RYANDAV2
RYANERR5
RYANKNOB4
RYANULAN1
SARAHCLA2
SARAHPLO1
SCHUYLERKID6
SCOTTTURN1
SCOTTZELL3
SEANMAD1
STEPHENCOM3
STEPHENYOD1
STEVENHEI1
TAMFERG2
THERESAVEH1
THOMASANIE1
THOMASHI5
THOMASYAN1
THOMASYAN1
THREERIV1
TIMOTHYFRI3
TIMOTHYPET1
TODDKLI1
TODDSZRA1
TRISTANBAR2
VERLEHAI2
VICTORIAJAN1
WILLIAMAUCRE1
ZEBULUNHAWK1

APRIL 12TH

CHRISOPHERTREL2
DAVIDMATL1
JANENICK2
JENNAZDRA2
JENNIFERMESS2
JERRODCUMB1
JILLHALT2
KEVINWON4
LARRYBURS2
LYNCO2
MARTINTWET2
MARYANNEHOW2
MATTREE2
MICHAELGRAH1
MICHELLEBEH1
MICKEYSUR1
MIKEMELL1
NIKIIRW5
PAILLDIL
PAULSHAT2
SCOTTSWE2
SUSANDUF2
TRAVISLONC1
VANCORN1
WILLIAMHAMP3
XTREME1

APRIL 13TH

CAMERONZAPA5
CHADBLY2
CRAIGEV5
DAISYNOCK3
DAWNDEL2
JAMESFARR2
JEFFBIX2
JOHNPI6
JONATHANCURO2
JONATHANMILL2
JUSTINKEL2
KENNETHSHOV4
KIMLAM1
LORIDZU7
LOWELLMURR6
ROBERTBURT1
RYANFID1

APRIL 14TH

AMANDABOS1
BELLECONO1
BRIANCOBB3
CAROLINEBEAT1
CHRISTOPHERGAT2
CRAIGMASL2
DAVIDPOP2
DIANEFRI2
ERICNAG2
ERICPETE1
GREGFRY2
JENNIFERACK2
JONATHANUNI4
MADDISONBRUM2
MATTMANG2
MICHAELSEDO1
ROBINMCK6
ZACHARYSTEP2

APRIL 15TH

ADAMSCHN1
AMANDADUR2
CARAFRI2
ERICAWAR1
MARTINGREEN5
NATEJAC1
RICHARMILL1
SARAHYEO1
SEANCAR4
THOMASVILS2

APRIL 16TH

GARYMILL4
IODI1
JAMESPASQ8
JASONMCF2
JOECASC2
JOHNMCCL2
KRISZIS1
LAURAHUN1
MATTWHETS4
ROBERTROBS2
RONALDKOB1
RYANWASK1
SCOTTCAP1
SEANPAW2
SUZANNERIR2
THOMASWOOD2
ZACKHAR1

APRIL 17TH

ALANWEB2
BILLBAK1
BRITTANYTHOM1
CHARLESPINK4
CHERYLSMI3
DAVIDTRU1
JAMESBATT1
JASONDOUG1
JENLOB1
JUSTINMILL3
LAURELKENN1
LINDAHORN5
MICHAELPOP5
PJSHA3
ROBBOLG2
ROBERTDAP1
SPENCERTHO4
TRAVISMCL1
WAYNEVAND2

APRIL 18TH

AARONHART3
ALANRID2
BECKYMILL3
BRYANJUST1
DAVIDPRED2
JEFFERYHEND1

APRIL 19TH

DEREKFAI1
MARYANNLAW4

APRIL 20TH

FIREBALL1
MICHAELWALK5
SETHTHO1
STEVENSHA1

APRIL 21ST

ANNELAW2
BENMARQ1
BRANDONCOCH3
BRENDANSUR4
CHRISJUL2
DANIELCORK2
DONALDWEE2
ELLIOTLIV10
ERIKBARZ2
HELENDITTR1
JACOBCOFF1
JARODBIL2
JOHNFRIED1
JOHNTARB2
JUSTINGARD1
KELLEYWERN1
MEGANGARD2
PHILIPVO1
RALPHSURM2
STEPHANIEHORV1
STEPHENSPU1

WHEW

Sorry for breaking the cblog string during the Game 7's

Montreal Fans Think You Only Have To Play One Round This Year

Game 7blog

The Habs destroy the Bruins' lives. [ Four Habs Fans ]

The Bruins were in the game, despite the Habs scoring first.
But Zeno Chara couldn't get a shot on net.


[Jschiff]

The shots the rest of the Bruins snuck through were stopped by Carey Price.


Have a nice off-season, dick.



The real story?
Montreal fans = out of control.

The good [ Dr. James Mirtle ] has some unreal pictures of the riots after this game.


What a mistake.

Mirtle also found this:




Rioting is never cool.
If your team wins a championship, maybe go outside and jump around, punch someone in the face.
That is not a big deal.

But after being forced into a Game 7 by a number eight seed?
Act like you have actually been there.

It may go down as the one of the stupidest riots in the history of the world.

WOW.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

WE ARE SOLD OUT
WE ARE SOLD OUT
WE ARE SOLD OUT

DO NOT SEND US MONEY TO PAYPAL
DO NOT SEND US MONEY TO PAYPAL

Shortly after 2pm on Monday, we got the call the WWGRD wristbands had been delivered.
We did a jig.

It was our goal to drop these at the post office before Round 2.
Huge sigh of relief.

At 3:00pm we started addressing, packing, and double-checking all the orders.

As of 2:30am Tuesday morning, after double-shifting and fighting through paper cuts,
every last wristband order has been processed and packed.



11:00am this morning, we are mailing every last one.
We're sending these out of the Charleroi post office.

If you email us asking about whether or not yours went out, we are sending you a virus.
And we have your physical street address, so we're putting poop in your envelope.

We will have a special GameDay for Game7 Extravaganza tonight.

It will include the confirmation list.

It will be your first name, the first couple letters of your last, and your quantity.
It will be ordered by date of purchase.

**Again, if you e-mail us asking if yours got sent before that list comes out,
we have your street address, and you are going down.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Last night, Philly was crusing.
Up 2-0, Little Debbie Briere scored another goal.
But hold the phone.

Semin exploded on Biron's face.
And then A.O. took over the world. [ Japers' Rink ]


His breakaway goal to break the 2-2 tie is why the NHL playoffs are a big deal.
He added another goal after that.

Game 7, Washington D.C.
7:00pm

[ CuseAdelphia ]

**************************************

We've said it once. We'll say it here and say it again tonight:

If there is a league-wide conspiracy to fix games in order for Crosby to get 100% success, which in turn benefits the popularity of the NHL, expect the Flyers to get hosed on calls tonight.

It's pretty simple:

If the Caps win: AO comes to town.
If the Flyers win: JJ comes to town.

On a side note...

[ Barry Melrose Rocks ] thinks the guy holding this sign
looks like Principal Feeny from "Boy Meets World":


Check out the man-boobs above Biron's head.
If that shirt was any tighter, something.

Feeny Zoomed:

Maybe.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



10:00pm

One of the small pleasures in life is being able to stay up
and watch late West Coast playoff games.

You can just tell this game is going to be special.

Shark fans are saying their prayers. [ We Bleed Teal ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

In between Game 7's:



Bill Pullman guest stars on SVU. [NBC.com]

Someone's TV may explode tonight.

Pullman probably already won an award for this episode.
What an actor.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Orpik's House?


Look at the sign in the right hand corner.
[ERN]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


[Rob M.]

:: Ruutu is a beast. [ PG ]

Surprisingly, this is the first Ron Cook column without a mention of the Steelers in about 12 years.

:: The Penguins 2007 draft class is money in the bank. [ PittsburghPenguins.com ]

:: Hossa Loves Pittsburgh. But not taxes. [ Trib ]

Until then, he can hope Hossa's appreciation for Pittsburgh grows - and that seems the surest bet of all, even if friend and former Penguins player Ronald Petrovicky recently warned him of the city's 3 percent wage tax.

"I talked to him about that the other day," Hossa said.
"For everything I like about Pittsburgh, I'm not sure I like that.

Ronald Petrovicky is a joke.

:: The new arena design isn't good enough for some guy. [ PG ]



"I think we should have something a little more pleasant to look at than just the stone side of the building," said Watson of its east elevation. It's an issue that hits home for Watson, who lives in Crawford Square, the 1990s traditional neighborhood near the arena site.

Whatev.

We want the side of the arena to be a mural made up of nude pictures of Jessica Rabbit,
but that's just not gonna happen.


She even made Charlie look twice

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Go Pens

WWGRDs Are In

On their way to mailboxes on Tuesday.

Thank you all for your patience.

SOLD OUT.

We will contact you if you were on the cut-off.

We will be releasing a confirmation like [ this one ] in the next 24 hours.

That confirmation list is just an example from the first round of bands in October.
We have not done a confirmation list for these.

wooooooooooo

Se7en

7:00


Game 7 tonight in Montreal is a big deal.

This game could throw the Eastern Conference playoff picture into a tailspin.


what a show
(in semi-honor to the cblog on Sunday)

If the 8th-seeded Bruins can get out of Montreal with a win,
they're coming to Pittsburgh in the second round.

And if there is one hockey city that owns another another in the playoffs,
it is Pittsburgh owning Boston.

The most intriguing part of this whole thing is that the Habs did this to the Bruins in 2004, coming down from 3-1 and winning Game 7 in Boston.

And according to the internet's newest great website, [ WhoWins.com ],
this type of format has not happened very often.

The team winning Games 1-2, losing Game 3, winning Game 4, and losing Games 5-6 with Games 1-2 at home, Games 3-4 on the road, Game 5 at home, and Game 6 on the road (Montreal) has the following Game 7 record:

All rounds:
3-2 [.600]

First round:
1-2 [.333]

Montreal is 10-8 all time in Game 7's.
Boston is 9-7.

************************

Up in Montreal, people are quick on the trigger
to compare rookie goalie Carey Price to legend Patrick Roy.



Well, guess what.
In 247 career postseason games, Patrick Roy never surrendered 5 goals in back-to-back games.

Oh wait.
Patrick Roy never even gave up four goals in the third period in back-to-back games.

Carey Price accomplished both feats in Games 5 and 6.

With Game 7 in Montreal, Carey Price is going to be more tense
than the friendship between Melody and Brad from "Hey Dude."


Do it.

We're pulling for the Bruins.

Not because it seems like a favorable matchup for the Pens in Round 2,
but rather because it's always fun to watch people in Montreal jump out of buildings.


The other East series is also in action tonight.
Washington trying to bring the series back to DC for Game 7.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Game 7 blog continues:


With the Sea of Red in full force in the Saddledome,
Calgary forced a Game 7 in San Jose on Tuesday night at 10:00.

[ FiveHoleFanatics ]
[ We Bleed Teal ]

*****************************************


Niklas Lidstrom scored a shorthanded goal on a slapper from center ice.
Sadly, it was the game-winner. Nashville is gone.

What a great showing by Nashville.

Things might have been different if Jason Arnott didn't encur a concussion
when a teammate nailed him during a goal celebration in Game Four.


He's under there somewhere.

...And finally...


The Dallas Stars are moving on. [ The Shootout ]

The Ducks were holding onto a 1-0 lead going into the third period,
trying to rest on their laurels.

Dallas exploded with two goals early in the third, and then it was Survivorblog.
For the last 8 minutes of the game, the crowd was on their feet.
Great atmosphere.



With about 4:00 left, Dallas made it 3-1, sealing the Ducks' fate.

To put a great exclamation point on our hatred for Chris Pronger,
he gets sent to the box for a vicious crosscheck with about 1:30 remaining.

Mike Modano swept the leg with an empty-netter. Game.



[ Battle of California ] = Stunned


[Earl Sleek]

A standing Ovation to Earl Sleek of [ Battle of California ]
for holding the World Championship belt with the class we could only hope to have.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Just the Facts, Ma'am




Ottawa and Anaheim are gone.

The last time both Cup Finals participants from the previous season
got bumped in the first round of the following season:

All the way back in 2005-06.

The 2003-04 Finals pitted the Lightning and the Flames.

In 05-06, the Sens beat the Lightning.
And the Ducks beat the Flames.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



We haven't handed it out in a while.
Don Brennan wasn't even worthy of it.

But Wolf Blitzer is.


smugblog

Courtesy of Shelly Anderson at the Post-Gazette:

Recently, the Penguins star center [Crosby] was mentioned on CNN during, of all things, a political discussion about Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama and the upcoming Pennsylvania presidential primary.

In talking about Clinton, Dick Armey, former House majority leader, told host Wolf Blitzer, "I think if she would get Sidney Crosby to come out strong for her, he could sew up the whole state for her right now. He's probably the most popular person in the entire state."

To which Blitzer replied, "Who's Sidney Crosby? ...
I thought he was talking about Bill Cosby for a second."

To which we reply: "Dude, your name is Wolf."

Here's the video of the incident:
It starts at the 1:40 mark, and the job is dropped around 2:10.



Once again, it's the classic case of someone showing ignorance for ignorance's sake.

It's the syndrome people get when they want to convey the image
that everyone is below them by acting like they don't know a popular figure.

For example, if we said Wolf Blitzer likes women, we would be ignorant to the facts.



We don't know how...
but before summer is out, we will job Wolf Blitzer.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::




Photo: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

:: Shelly Anderson initially told the world
about that Blitzer crap in her recent [ Penguins Notebook ]

Other good stuff in there:

• Therrien missed practice due to illness.
• NCAA Frozen Four may be in Pittsburgh for 2013.
  

:: Mellon Arena is renting coolers for the ice surface
to negate any problems that will arise as the weather gets warmer. [ PG ]

The guy who is in charge of it all -- his last name is Roberts.
Rest assured.

:: Some beards just won't grow. [ PG ]

:: Thoughts on the extended layoff? [ Yahoo ]

Fleury said, “It’s kind of bad to have to wait for that long,
but I’m sure we’ll be ready for the next series.”

:: Expect Game One to be played Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday night.
NBC will probably want the Pens on Sunday, so whatever that means.

:: The Baby Pens are up 3-0 on Hershey. [ Faceoff Factor ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Any day now

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

HITTING THE LINKS

:: HA, speaking of which, the NHL survived a broadcasting scare on Sunday. [ FanHouse ]

:: Winter Classic is signed, sealed, but... [ Yahooblogs]

G-Dubs over at Yahoo is blogging out of his mind.
He's one of our favorites on the internet.
Yahoo made a great pickup for the playoffs.

:: The Homestead Police is haunted. [ BurghBlog ]




:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

If the blogging road wasn't paved before we got on it, we were gonna have a bumpy time.

Tony from [ The Confluence of the Three Rivers ] was one of our first friends on Al Gore.

Solid human.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The National Aviary has a new Penguin in-house. [ KDKA ]

The 8-week-old African Penguin made its debut on Saturday.


Thanks to [War Penguin] for the heads-up.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

B94 pranked the Ottawa Senators front office.

Thanks for [Seeker] for posting it on YouTube.



::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



[Matt W]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


[Sam L]


Sam also sent us the file he made for this.
So all you have to do is print it out.



If that doesn't work, we can post the root file as well.
Let us know.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Go Pens

NHL Purgatory

We don't mention things like this unless it's for a worthy cause.
Anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer knows it's as real as it gets.

The Mario Lemieux Foundation is selling some great T-shirts,
with all proceeds going to cancer- and neonatal-research projects,

There are some nice people working for the Foundation,
and we're always glad to help them spread the word.



[ Mario Lemieux Foundation Shirts ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Huge games took place on Saturday.

A Rangers/Pens dance in Round 2 looked to be inevitable.
But both Eastern Conference games on Saturday veered us away from that destination.




But the Caps won on Saturday, forcing a Game 6 in Tom Hanks on Monday.

Caps: [ Japers' Rink ]
Flyers: [ The 700 Level ]

##########################

Somewhere in these playoffs, the Pens may be down 3 games to 2...
and going into the third period down 2-1.

It won't be the best of times.



That's what Boston faced last night in Game 6 on their home ice.
They fought back and tied it at 2.

The Habs scored, and then the Bruins scored two minutes later to tie it up.



With about 4:00 left, the Bruins took the lead.
The Habs answered 11 seconds later to tie it up again.



Marco Sturm for the Bruins put one home with less than 3:00 left
to give the Bruins the lead and punch a ticket for Game 7 up in Montreal.

MONDAY NIGHT
7:00

[ Four Habs Fans ]
[ The Bear Cave ]

======================================



1) If the Bruins win Game 7 in Montreal, they are bringing their show to Pittsburgh.

2) If the Habs and Flyers win their series, the Rangers come to town.

3) If the Habs and Capitals win their series, it'll be the NHL's wet dream of Ovechkin/Crosby.

*********************************

Anti-Penguinites and Anti-Crosbites always allege that the NHL fixes games in whatever way possible to see to it that the Pens excel and Crosby gets widespread attention, drawing in fans.

A lot of those conspiracy theorists come from our nation's capital.

If in fact the conspiracy is a reality, Craps fans will ironically benefit from it,
seeing as how an AO/Bing series is a distinct possibility, if the Caps can win Games 6 and 7.

An Ovechkin/Crosby playoff series will bring more people to the television set
than the series finale of Full House.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



:: There are rumors circulating that the Penguins may have to play Games One and Two on the road so that all sportswriters in the Greater Pittsburgh area can touch themselves while analyzing Steeler draft picks.

Stay posted.



:: NHL highlights and games are available on iTunes.
The Winter Classic are belong to us.
Thanks to John B. for that heads-up.

:: [ Matt B. ] put together a blog commemorating his road trip to Ottawa for Game 4.

:: All the recent commercials advertising the release of Cloverfield on DVD
reminded us of this gem, courtesy of [ sh0ey ].

Watch closely at the :30 mark.



::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::





:: More fallout from Brodeur/Avery HandshakeGate. [ Barry Melrose Rocks ]

Brodeur shook everyone's hands when he was winning Cups, including his wife's sister's.
But Sean Avery is a worthy challenger of John Edwards for biggest douche in the universe.
So it's a toss-up.

:: Teaserblog -- [ Orland Kurtenblog ] found one of the better all-time NHL commercials.

:: Listen to A.O. closely. [ The700Level ] via [ Japers' Rink ]

:: The janitor guy who twirls the octopus around when someone throws it onto the ice before a Detroit Red Wings home game has been told to knock it off. [ YahooBlogs ]


A big fine of $10,000 will be levied if he does it again.

................................

PETA doesn't want us to wear fur coats or use shampoo,
but do they care when an octopus gets douched onto the ice from the upper level of the Joe?

Yeah, they do.
We dug up this great quote from PETA in a 2002 article. [ ESPN ]

Flinging an octopus is no more acceptable than hurling kittens and puppies,"
said Amy Rhodes, a cruelty case worker for PETA.

All of this makes us think twice about throwing Marty the Chicken onto the ice
the next time we sit in Section F.

thanks

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Avs clinched their series with the Wild.
[ Mile High Hockey ] [ Wild Puck Banter ]

**************************************



The BeeGees have their work cut out for them on Sunday,
with three teams in the West staving off elimination.


3:00 -- NBC

Wings up 3-2


8:00 -- Whatev

Sharks up 3-2


9:00 -- Versus
Stars up 3-2

We all know that playoff scheduling is a minefield.
The NHL and their broadcasting partners don't know how each series will turn out.

But there is no excuse as to why all three games are not televised to the masses.

Put Sharks/Flames at 3:00 on NBC
Wings/Preds and Ducks/Stars team up for a 7:00/9:45 double-header on Versus.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Go Pens

Have A Nice Day

After Sweeping The First Round, Hockey Fans Will Do Most Anything To Keep Their Mind Occupied

Not much going on in Penguin Land...
except to watch helplessly in the mirror as your beard grows.

If there are ladies out there not shaving their legs during the playoffs,
God bless.

:: Speaking of playoff beards, a Pens fan is chronicling his beard at [ Nut Check Videos ]

:: [ Fleury 29 ] sent this along:

Penguins celebrity blogger on NHL.com [ AJ Buckley ]
Who?


Basically, no one has heard of this guy.
Checking his career, most likely you are just as famous. [IMDB]

But he did star in an "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" episode in 1995.

How Donkey Lips got passed up for this, no one knows.

Beast


Here is Buckley's most recent entry:

"Now, I’m a die-hard Canucks fan. And it broke my heart when they were eliminated.

I have to admit, I really like Pittsburgh as well. Crosby being as exciting a player as he is,
and Malkin almost leading the league in scoring.

**Pittsburgh goes after the puck and gets after it. That’s what I like about them.

Before I step fully into my role as the Pens’ blogger,
however, I want to take one moment to talk about Trevor Linden."

And that is where you close your Firefox browser and try jumping out of a window.

:: [ Empty Netters ] has the skills to pay the bills. Solid stuff from Sethblog.

:: [ B94 Morning Show ] keeps Roberts Mania alive with a new song.

John, Dave, Bubba, and Shelly were the the '80s Oilers of radio in the 1990's.

:: Pens tickets sold out faster than you perform in bed. [PG]

[Brad F]

:: Eric P. with a nice recap of the Sens series.



::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Operation Jinx the Penguins is in full effect via the Pittsburgh media.

If you see Lynne Hayes-Freeland, a mircophone, and a tv crew,
don't get all caught up in the moment.

Yeah, it is good to be confident about the Penguins.
But relax. Don't be like the joke at 1:39 of this video.




:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


MSG is cracking down on homophobic slurs uttered by fans. [ Fanhouse ]


That's pretty hard to do when Sean Avery is always on the MSG ice.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Rangers all business.[RangerLand]

Were the Devils gonna stay alive? Nope.
We had the Devils in 7 after Avery's shenanigans, so we're eating crow right now.

EATING CROW?
[ Wiki ]

It is most likely an Americanization of the English “to eat humble pie.” The English phrase is something of a pun—“umbles” were the intestines and other unsavories of a deer. Pies made of this were known to be served to those of lesser class who did not eat at the king’s/lord’s/governor’s table. It may also be the American version of "umble," since the OED defines crow as meaning 'intestine or mesentery of an animal' and cites usages from the 1600s into the 1800s (e.g., Farley, Lond Art of Cookery: "the harslet, which consists of the liver, crow, kidneys, and skirts." Another dish likely to be served with humble pie is rook pie (rooks being closely related to crows). This may be another clue as to how humble pie became boiled crow.

That clears it up. Not.



The Rangers close out the series in New Jersey,
bringing a Rangers/Pens series just that much closer to realization.



Check out what Avery said about Brodeur. [Dr. James Mirtle]

"Everyone talks about how classless I am,
but I guess Fatso there just forgot to shake my hand."

— Sean Avery on Martin Brodeur

With the Flyers a win away from winning their series.
.And the Habs just needing a victory to move on.

We hope everyone is ready for a Pens/Rangers series.
Sean Avery must be stopped.




Detroit, after losing both games in Nashville,
found themselves all tied up 2-2 going into Game 5.

They grabbed a 1-0 lead and held onto it until the last minute.
Nashville pulled their goalie and tied it up.

Dennis Franz for the Wings got free in OT and put it past Dock Ellis for the win.
[AbelToYzerman]


But the main plot going into the rest of the series
is Detroit's decision to bench Hasek and go with Chris Osgood.





Adam Banks came through with two goals to help the Ducks stave off elimination.
[Battle Of California]

They'll be facing the same predicament, now down 3-2,
when they head deep into the heart of Texas on Sunday night.

HUGE GAME

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



We had to assemble the media
to acknowledge that we accept Charlie's apology for his actions during the Senators series.

His [ Facebook Page ] has mentioned that he and Bryan Murray have broken up,
so we will accept Charlie back on the Penguin side of things with open cheeks arms.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

If you have some time, check out our boy Greg Wyshynski.
He has moved on to [The Yahoo Sports Blogs.]

He is owning over there, too.

Great read about a HABS fan getting destroyed in Boston. [GDUB]

"He (Masse) was wearing glasses," [witness Hugo] Contant recalled yesterday. "And he had a red Canadiens shirt on. When he approached them, they began yelling things like, ‘Go home, you French (expletive)' - things like that. I heard (Masse) laugh and say, ‘We don't want to fight . . . we don't want any trouble,' as he tried to pass. Then someone punched him once, maybe twice, in the face. He went down and his eyeglasses came off."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Also contributing to Yahoo's blogs is Sean from [Going Five Hole.]

You know why?
Because he finds things like this:

"Ron Hexall did not shave his pubes."



Tom Mees, unflappable.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Remember when Don Barden was promising things to the Hill District?
Things like, oh, 3 million dollars?

Yeah, not so much anymore. [PG]

"In a filing yesterday with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Mr. Barden's company, PITG Gaming LLC, said it wanted to drop the commitment "due to the grant of the development rights to another party."

The other party is the Penguins.
The whole thing is going to be a big mess.

We blame the politicians.

It is time for a change:


[Josh]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Go Pens

Photoshop Expo/House Cleaning/Your Mom

We have been behind on everything.
So we are trying to catch up.
Thanks to everyone for the Storeblog ideas, photoshops, and basically reading our site.

First things first...


Just an update on the WWGRD shipment.

We have not recieved the wristbands from the company yet.
As soon as we get them, they will be shipped out.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Recent additions to [Storeblog]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::::::::::::::
::::


To kick off the Expo, here are some of Stephen Slesinski's greatest hits...

in 1024x768 Wallpaper form.

We're working on getting them on shirts.

Jschiff comes through with a sweet mural.



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The last thing we want is people thinking we are just about photoshops.
Whatev.

Enjoy...

[ Chris Y. ]

[ Doug S. ]

[ Jocelyn and friend, jobbing the window across from the Wyndham Hotel ]

[ John B. ]

[ Lloyd Jones ]

[Angelo G]


[Bob G]

[DistrubtheWorld]


[Burgh66]

[Chad]


[Chris M]

[DeathByEmu]



[Dr.Turk]

[Ed S]

[Ellvenspire]

[FourthKnox]

[Franklin S]

[Grant H]


[Greg G]


[Guido]


[I.Lieb]


[J.S.]

[Jake A]

[James S]


[Jannah J]

[Jeff H]

[Jerry E]

[Jim B]

[Josh B]

[Jschiff]

[Justin G]


[Kevin D]

[ Ryan C. ]

[ Scotty G. ]


[ Tom ]


[ Rob S. ]

[ Russel S. ]


[ Ryan M. ]


[ Ryan S. ]


[ Pink Phloid ]

[ P.O. ]


[ randy L. ]


[ Paul ]


[ Phil G. ]


[Patrick J. ]


[ Patt S. ]

[ Paul S. ]

[ Nate R. ]

[ Nate B. ]

[ Nick G. ]


[ Pat S. ]


[ Kevin M. ]

[ Kris Pav. ]


[ Malkinian ]


[ Matt T. ]

[ Matt H. ]

[J. Schiff]

[KrisPav]

[Kyle D.]

[Bill]

[Bill J.]


[ thickANDY]


[coren]


[David L.]


[Nick Saia]


[ thickANDY]


[Bill]


[Bill]


[ Hutch]


[JK Jost]

[David L.]


[dappie99]


[dappie99]


[Justin G.]



[ thickANDY]


[dappie99]


[clauer]


[Philip G.]



[Steve MacD]


[ paul s.]


[Lloyd]


[Bill]

[Rob Strong]

[wasko]

[Dustin]

[Matt in NC]

[The Seeker]

[dappie99]

[Jennie L.]


[thickANDY]


[fourtKNOX]


[A. Toy]



[Nicholas]


[krj67]


[Justin G.]


[Andrew S.]


[Doug H.]


[sh0ez]


[Pat S.]


[Hutch]


[Paul S.]


[HAHN]


[stinkyharry]


[charmedCHILD]


[Justin G.]


[Dr. C]


[Dan M.]


[CB]


[sh0ez]


[Jay H.]


[Doug S.]


[McKee]



[RichR]


[Justin G.]


[A. Toy]


[Nate B.]


[Kojo]


[thickANDY]


[Jeff H.]


[Josh B.]


[Nate B.]


[black young]



[Dan T.]


[Ricky H.]


[Dr. C]


[fourtKNOX]


[nuck44]


[Joe A]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Go Pens

Game Four: Sweep Hard -- With A Vengeance. PENS ADVANCE.

[ NHL.com RECAP ]



This is what we were looking at a season ago.
Same arena, same locker room.
This picture haunted us all summer.

Personally, it was our desktop backgrounds until the puck dropped on the current season.

Things were different on Wednesday night:


It's scary to think that this only took a week.
If you think the second round is gonna like this, you have no soul.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: PREGAME/ANTHEMS ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

We didn't even get the doorman for Game Four.
Denied.

[Chloe H.]


[Carroll T]
[Dayna D]

[Dr. Alex Pennycook of OnDeckCircle]

[Matt B]


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: FIRST PERIOD ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Your heart dropped when you saw Kerry Fraser and Dan Marouelli were the referee tandem for the game.
That is like finding out Michael Jackson is performing your prostate exam.

Once again, the expected weathering of the storm doesn't occur.
This time it is because of Laraque's line being all business and drawing a quick penalty on the Sens.

On the Pens second dance into the Sens zone, Hossa was given a free pass down the wing and got a shot off.
Gerberblog.

The Pens were getting good chances, but you could still say the Sens did a solid job on the PK.
Even after the penalty was killed, the Pens kept cycling.
If the USS Hal Gill would have scored there, we don't even know.

The Sens came out hitting early on.
Talbot countered that by simply being possessed early on.

[Bill J.]

After coming back from a commercial break,
the Ottawa Senators put out an official search party for Dany Heatley.

Nothing found.

Volchenkov got douched again with an elbow from Malkin.
God bless Anton Volchenkov.
What a player.

The second half of the first was all Pens, all the time.

The Malkin line had about 15 chances on a single shift.
Sykie hit the pipe.

Hossa was picking pockets like he was a pro.

Crosby was getting the job done.

But Gerber was having none of it.

The Pens ended up out-shooting the Sens 14-5 in the first.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: SECOND PERIOD ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Dany Heatley made his first appearance of the series by taking a slashing penalty early in the second.

The Sens, who have led the league in shorthanded goals every season since 1914, had a great chance on a 2-on-1, but they couldn't do it.

The Pens headed the other way.
The Sens left Malkin all alone in the backdoor.

Gerber splits his sac to make the first save, but Malkin pickle-stabbed the rebound in.

1-0.

[Matt W]

After some jobbing, an interesting play developed.

Sykora's stick deflected a puck out of play in his defensive zone.
We know it wasn't intentional, but that didn't matter during the regular season.

The Stars got jobbed on the same exact play in the Ducks series last week.
But the NHL wants the Pens to win.

Whatev. The Pens were headed to the box anyway.
Ryan Malone took a seat.

Was anyone even scared on that Sens PP?
They did nothing. It was killed in 9 seconds.

That Italian-sounding guy hit Whitney full-blast from behind near the benches, and the Pens jumped on the PP again.

It was all Sens on their ensuing PK.
They were coming in waves.
The highlight came with Mike Commodore got it all alone in the slot.
But then he remembered he was Mike Commodore.

[Dave P]

The Sens waited till after the penalty kill to get one past MAF.
Cory Stillman put the trash home. 1-1.

It was the first sign of life in ScotiaJoke all game.
For maybe the second time in the series, the Sens looked in control.

Wade Redden gave a solid hit on Malkin in the neutral zone.
You don't care about the hit. You want Malkin to get up.
And he does.

Orange Sherbert makes maybe his second appearance of the series when he put the Pens on the power play.

It was a huge PP.
Either momentum was gonna be crushed or bumped to another level.

The Pens had great chances on the PP, but it was killed.
Crosby would have lowered the value of the Canadian dollar if he scored on that backhand.

So, the Sens had another boost, right?
Nope.

Buddy Lee misplays a puck at the blue line, and the Pens had a scrunched-up 2-on-1.
Kennedy waited for shit to happen and fed Ruutu.

Ruutu gets a step, gets jobbed, hits the Y button on his controller, and puts it home.

2-1.

Just a huge goal for the ravishing one.

[ Hutch]

The Senators should have went away.
But they stayed the course.
Soon after, Fleury muffs a loose puck, and the Sens took advantage with a goal to tie it up.
Or so it seemed. Looks like it may have been kicked in.

War Room time......

The NHL turns into the NFL, and Fraser addresses the crowd with the news that there was a distinct kicking motion...

...into the testicles of Sens Nation.

Revenge for last year's no-goal on Bing.

The Pens survived another scare late in the period, but no dice again for the Sens. MAF has become the real deal.

The second period was capped off with the USS Hal Gill bringing the ship into port as a huge third period was upcoming.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: THIRD PERIOD ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Sens fans wanted more calls then Sally Struthers to start the third.

Beast

And they were able to get a power play.
That power play looked like someone dumped the contents of a porta-john onto the ice.

Before you knew it, Father Time was in ScotiaJoke earlier than usual, as 1/4 of the period had quickly disappeared.

And then the game dipped past the halfway mark.
And whatever the Sens had left in the tank, it was gonna come now.

[Notman1]

Nothing happened.

And then there were 6 minutes left in the game. It was the home stretch.

And then there was 2:45 left.

And then the Sens pulled Martin Gerber.
Icing call on the Pens.
Muray calls a timeout. But he only wants to talk about where to go for the off-season.

[Adam T]

After the timeout...

The Sens had some big-time chances.
Fleury says no.
And then Bing had the puck in the neutral zone.

From way downtown.
87 buries it.

Scuderi = A Rock
3-1.

Senators stunned.
[Kojo]

[Jay H]

After an exchange of germs that would make a kindergarten teacher cringe,
the Sens were in our rearview mirror.

[clauer]

SERIES.

MISCELLANEOUS

• With the high-sticking penalty in Game 2 and the goal tonight, it can be stated that
• Jarkko Ruutu was a series-changer.
• Brooks Orpik owns Dany Heatley,
• Martin Gerber is unreal.
• We change tense in sentences more than anyone in history.
• ED HARRIS
• Toronto must have been all smiles when they got to disallow that goal.
• First time the Pens have beat a team from Canada in a playoff series.
  

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

SERIES WRAP-UP



Anton Volchenkov, Shean Donovan, and Martin Gerber had their names called every night.

Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza should be embarrassed.
But we can finally put out Amber Alerts for both of them with no danger of repercussions.


Alfredsson came back, yeah, okay.

They most likely will lose Wade Redden to free agency this year.
Best of luck.

**************************************



If the Pens did in fact tank their final game of the regular season in order to play the Senators, they look like geniuses.

10 different Penguins contributed to the 16 goals scored in the series:
Roberts, Malkin, Sykora, Malone Gonchar, Crosby, Hossa, Talbot, Staal, Ruutu.

The forward who didn't score a goal but was still a beast?
TYLER KENNEDY

The Pens' defense looked composed the entire series,
something we haven't seen in Pittsburgh in a long time.

All six guys did their job.
Kris Letang has even stepped it up a notch.

***************************************************

SERIES MVP


For all Penguin fans who have seen every MAF start since 2003,
this series was sweet.

He made great strides last year, had a shaky start to the season, got injured,
and came back in a zone that few goalies can get in.

He has literally transformed into a primetime pressure goaltender before our very eyes.

It had to be disheartening during the handshake
for those Senator veterans to look into the eyes of the 23-year-old they couldn't solve.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Photoshoppers, Brennan assassins, link hounds...

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK.
Enjoy your time off. Don't worry about second-round foes yet.

Photoshop Expo of the year coming Friday.
Clear your browser's cache.

Playoff GameDay (1.4) -- Penguins @ Senators

ScotiaJoke Place

7:00



Roberts is out.
Malone will play.

[ J Schiff ]

So, this is it.

A rest during the playoffs is nothing but 100% good news.
There is never any discussion about whether a team will be rusty when they come back to play.

They are always "well-rested."

**********************************

[ Corey D. ] found out all about the Pens' all-time performance in Game 4's.

The Penguins have an overall record of 16-20 in game four of playoff series,
but have gone 10-9 on the road.

They have lost their last 8 game fours.

The Penguins are 20-19 when they have a chance to clinch a playoff series, and have gone 12-11 on the road in that instance. They are 3-0 in their last three such games and 4-1 in their last five. Their last loss with a chance to clinch was Game Four at Washington in 2000.

The Penguins are 5-4 all-time when they have a chance to sweep a playoff series, including 5-3 on the road and 0-1 at home. They have swept five playoff series all-time.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

[ Post-Gazette ]

:: Malkin-Crosby "battle" is great. [ Ron Cook ]

:: The playoffs are starting for the Baby Pens, as they take on Hershey.
[ Faceoff Factor ] has it covered.


Just like this little boy was covered with something brown
5 seconds after this picture was taken.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

WWGRD BLOG

:: The guys who run TSN.ca's [ Off The Record ] are all about WWGRD.

In a recent video, they asked former Leafs GM John Ferguson who would win in a fight:
Chuck Norris or Gary Roberts.

Ferguson: "Robs."

:: There are [ Urban Dictionary ] definitions for Gary Roberts,
thanks to [ Robert K. and friends ]

:: This comes courtesy of Ethan, who runs Thrift Car Rental in Cranberry:

[ Frito Will with the pic ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

[ bconn20 ]

We are going to break Google's servers when we post all these photoshops.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



Hacksaw is scratched for Game Four.
Red and Andy violated team rules and have been suspended.

If you've been following this saga, you know there's only one person left.

Going into a Game 4 where the Senators may be head-hunting,
we feel comfortable with the pick because this guy has a track record of bringing our boys home safe.

He further cemented our confidence in him
when we overheard this conversation just before Game 4 tonight:

PENS FAN #1:

You gotta wonder if the Pens have enough intensity to complete this sweep.
Roberts is injured, Malone is beat up, the heat shield may be broken.
The odds aren't with them.

PENS FAN #2:

I'm aware of the concerns, man.
This'll be the worst disaster the Penguins franchise has ever experienced.


With all due respect, gentlemen, I believe this will be our finest hour.

Battle With Broomsticks

Before any feelings of over-confidence take over your being,

Just think -- next week at this time, we could still be looking at a Game 7.

We'd say the Ottawa crowd will be in a frenzy tonight.
But after this opening ceremony on Monday, who even knows.



If you need that to get your fans pumped up for a playoff game.
Wow.
[Main link Kudos to Empty Netters]
[Secondary assist to C-BLOG]

Sens Nation, thoughts on the series?

[ Five For Smiting ]

He has erected a tombstone on his site, depicting the end of the Senators season.
We simply refuse to post the pic on here till the series is over.

[ Sens Fan In Toronto ]

This piece of SFIT is honorably accepting defeat.
We like this guy. He jobbed, we jobbed, he jobbed back.
He took cblog domination like a man.

[ Scarlett Ice ]

All you gotta know is they've made a Roberts pillow to take out their angst.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

[Nate B]

Sick

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BRENNANBLOG

One of the worst scribes since the writers of "Caroline in the City" is graciously accepting defeat.

Dark time in television history

The only thing that reminds him of this devastating of a loss
was when the Old Country Buffet near his house went out of business.

In professional fashion, he had to take some shots at Pittsburgh. [ Ottawa Sun ]

There are now 300 people (Pitts-Burgers?) and counting who won't be putting Cheapseats on their Christmas card list. Of all the X-rated (and mostly pointless) hate e-mails we've received from STEALtown, one (yes, just one) struck us as semi-clever. "Gary Roberts doesn't wear a watch," stated Whateverhisnamewas. "He decides what time it is."

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After three days of photoshop e-mails for us personally,
Don Brennan responded Tuesday when we sent [ Dave P.'s ] classic with the subject "It's Been Real".


The response was something along the lines of wondering why we wasted time opening our laptop to do that, and he questioned our creativity.

We responded by wondering if the Sens might dress him for Game 4.

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And here is possibly the last round of Don Brennan e-mail chains.

E-MAIL #1
[ GABNEATBLOG ]

Hey Don,

I keep forgetting that that behind most sports journalists there are
the same angsty high school kids who tried to be the loudest and most
opinionated, only so that he can emphasize the point that they are loud
and opinionated. It's a way of attracting people by making an edgy
scene. There are a lot of gimmicks like this, but not too many,
because more and more people are learning how to get people to read
their stuff without them.

Are you fulfilling a dream of being on tsn or espn by making yourself
the story? Even self-absorbed bloggers have more finesse when they are
clearly being attention whores, but you have no shame in thinking
that your "in-your-face" journalistic whatever deserves as much
airtime as things that are actually news or commentary on the news.

Also, I imagine that most professional hockey players, including most
of the Senators, would rather win by playing the game rather than
hacking down every accomplished player in their way. I'm sure some
of the Sens read the Sun, and I'm sure they realize how little you
understand about hockey.

Go Pens.

Lot of people like my stuff Pete

Thanks for trying.

db

E-MAIL #2
[ J. KNOX ]

"And what about the Pittsburgh scribbler who accused me of being "desperate for a column" when I wrote the Crosby stuff? What does that make him, writing about me? Oh wait, what does that say about me telling you about him writing about me?"

The Pittsburgh writer penning about your suggested 'strategy' is just like any other journalist reporting on a civilian action that borders on the line of what society considers acceptable - be it a crime, or other outrageous act.

Don't try to compare your actions and their actions as similar.

you don't understand humor huh?

thats okay, a lot of people got it ....

db

E-MAIL #3
[ FLEURY29 ]

Mr. Brennan,

"Crosby's got a bad RIGHT ankle? How will it stand up to a two-hander?
The Senators have to find out."

Seriously, you're a joke. "Stirring the pot," is one thing,
but to openly call for someone to be injured, that's bush league.

Here's something you may want to read
since you've obviously forgotten anything you've ever learned concerning ethics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_ethics_and_standards

Next time you think about writing something as ridiculous as that,
why not ask yourself, "What would Gary Roberts do?"

He'd 2-hand somebody. he's a warrior

db

E-MAIL #4
[ JARED E. ]

Ok, I really don't care too much about your opinions going into game three or any other game, but did you know Gary Roberts keeps his eyes open when he sneezes?

riveting ....

thanks for reading

db

E-MAIL #5
[ FORREST M. ]

YOU"RE A DOUCHE BAG

thanks for the intelligent email ...

have a great day Forest

db

Subject: RE: YOU"RE A DOUCHE
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:15:13 -0400

if only i could say the same about your writing

E-MAIL #6
[ MATTHEW P. ]

Mr. Brennan,

I quote, "Crosby's got a bad RIGHT ankle? How will it stand up to a
two-hander? The Senators have to find out."

I'm sorry to see that a journalist of your caliber has lowered your
standards to those of the journalists from FILTHadelphia. I'm confident
that the Penguins chose to play Ottawa, not because of the filthy way the
Flyers play, but because of your excellent reputation as a journalist.

I'm hoping to see a little more class in your next article, jerk.
Good luck.

gee i sure do hope I lived up to your expectations

db

E-MAIL #7
[ ROBERT K. ]

Gary Roberts uses pepper spray to spice up his steaks!!!

yawn

db

***********************************

We can't shake the feeling we missed one.
It'll get preferential treatment in GameDay if we are reminded of it.

GameDay will be getting a late start on Wednesday night.

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When your team is up 3-0, you're all smiles.
But you have to acknowledge the possibility of a comeback.

And that was what happened back in 1975
when the Pens had a 3-0 lead on the New York Islanders.

[ Penguins Playoff Killers ]


Chico Resch dropped acid before Game 4 and was unreal the rest of the way.

[ WhoWins.com ] acknowledges this 3-0 comeback as the greatest ever.
BUT they determined it before the 2004 Red Sox/Yankees series happened.

The Pens were on their way to an ANNIHILATION,
meaning the Islanders had yet to even lead in a game going into Game 4.

Starting with Game 4, the Isles turned the tables,
ANNIHILATING the Pens over the course of their 4 straight wins to close out the series.

***********************************

We dug up an article from 1975,
before Game 7 of the Islanders/Pens series.

The NY Times takes jobbers like us into account,
not letting us simply copy and paste the text to the masses.

Basically it was sickening.

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The following links need no intro.

The DVE Morning Show is all business.
They have tons of great songs and soundbytes for the playoffs. [DVE]

Some of our favorites:

[Not In The USSR]
[Gary Roberts Piano Man]
[LaraquN'Roberts]

If some of those don't get you jacked, nothing will.


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The company has confirmed that the WWGRD's are in production.

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[SI.com] has a great look-a-like feature with players in the NHL and other famous people::

Maybe

No. Half of the country doesn't even know who the "celebrity" is.

Solid

woooooooooooooooooooooooo

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Speaking of A.O...


Philly wins 6-3. [700 Level]
Score was a lot closer than it appeared.
Mike Richards was awarded a suspect penalty shot to put the game out of reach.



Boston is in trouble.
The Habs take a 3-1 series lead. [Four Habs Fan]



The AV's are tough to put away. They win 5-1. [ Mile High Hockey ]


The Ducks pull a 4-2 win out. [ Battle Of California ]
Whatev




Maybe the game of the night.
Joe Thornton wins it with under ten seconds to play. [We Bleed Teal]

How funny is this little kid who does everything Miikka Kiprusoff does?





Picture: The little kid who does everything Don Brennan does.

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Hacksaw Jim Duggan strained a vocal chord Tuesday and will not be dressing for Game Four.

[Nate B.]

[Brandon F.]

[Kyle D.]

[Hutch]

[A. Toy]

[paul s.]

[thickandy]

[Ben D.]

[lionroo]

[paul s.]


[lionroo]

[-CoB-]