Devils 2, Penguins 1

14 shots. What else is there to say? 14 shots!!! Ugh. That's really not good. I didn't get a chance to see much of this game, but I did catch bits and pieces. Fleury seemed to be playing well. Crosby seemed to get beat up pretty badly, with the refs doing nothing, of course. You wouldn't want to protect the future of the NHL, would you? Sometimes the lack of vision of the zebras is astounding, both on the ice and in the bigger picture. Last night I saw Crosby take a knee to the head and an elbow to the head - no call either time. Kind of disappointing. Would be interesting to see how much penalties are being called now versus earlier in the season, and see how the rate of change compares with other seasons.

Anyway, the Pens still had a chance to win (or at least tie) this game, but just couldn't get things going. They had tired players on the ice at the end of the game, and couldn't get the clock stopped to call timeout. They never really threatened once they pulled Fleury.

Next up are the Habs on Saturday, followed by Toronto on Sunday.

Game #66 - at Devils

I haven't been doing previews as much lately, mainly due to time constraints. However, when I noticed that this was game #66, how could I pass it up?

Tonight, the Penguins go for three in a row. They couldn't have picked a worse goalie to go against. Brodeur has been chased from two straight games, by the Pens and Islanders. He's going to be ticked. He's the best goalie in the world. I'd love to see the Pens beat him tonight, but I'm thinking it's more likely we'll see the Brodeur we saw in the first game of the season. To get some past him, the Pens will have to do it the ugly way - get lots of shots with traffic and put in some cheap rebounds.

The Devils as a team are slumping a bit right now. They've lost three of four games against non-playoff teams. They're not going to be much fun to play tonight. Of course, the key is always to stop Mighty Mouse!!

For the Pens, Colby Armstrong will try to continue his point streak. It's currently at 8 games (5 goals, 7 assists). Leclair and Malone will try to get back on the board after having their point streaks stopped in the win over the Flyers.

The Pens haven't won three in a row all year. They're picking a good time to play better - not only are they building momentum for next season, but they're also not really gaining ground on the Caps or the Blues for the fewest points in the league - both teams have earned some points recently, with the Blues going 6-1-3 in their past 10 games. Best of both worlds if you ask me (though nobody did...)

Let's Go Pens!

Rendell has arena plan?

According to KDKA Radio, Gov Rendell said that there is a plan he hopes to announce within a few weeks. Of course, this would involve public money in the form of tax dollars, which is something that would not be required under the Isle of Capri plan.

Looks like hearing people chant "Let's go Pens!" each time he comes to Pittsburgh is starting to help him understand the quandary of giving a slots license away to repay political favors. What will be interesing will be the fallout from any plan that is proposed. My biggest question for the Governor would be "why are you proposing to build an arena with public money when the issue of the slots license hasn't even been decided yet?"

Penguins 2, Flyers 0

The Penguins played their best game of the season tonight, in my opinion.

The team took advantage of the chances they had, got some great play from Marc-Andre Fleury, were the beneficiaries of a little bit of luck, and killed the penalties they had to kill.

Both goals by the Pens were in close to Esche. The first one, scored by Armstrong, was a rebound that he stuffed in. He was in the right place at the right time and took advantage of his chance. The second one was a result of a poke check steal by Rita. He poked the puck away from the D (Pitkanen, I think), raced down the right side and handed the puck off the Crosby. Sid waited and found Armstrong trailing the play. He passed the puck to Armstrong, who buried the shot on the far side of Esche. Great steal, great pass, great goal.

The Pens then killed off a minor + major penalty with about 10 minutes left in the third. Andre Roy was the recepient of a cheap shot by Dimitrakos and immediately retaliated the only way he knew how - by attempting to bludgeon the Flyers defensemen with his fists. Needless to say, this was not popular with the skating zebras, and Roy was given two for roughing and five for fighting ("It's not easy... to be... me" - bonus points to anyone that gets that reference). The Pens not only killed off seven straight minutes of short-handed hockey, but I think the Flyers only had a handful of shots the entire time.

Anyway, it's great to see the Pens playing well. They've won two in a row, and appear to be building some momentum in playing their system. I'm kind of conflicted about that right now, however. I'm not sure I wouldn't rather see them finish last and have the best shot at the top pick. I guess there's nothing like winning, however, so we should be happy while we have it.

Next game is Thursday against the Devils, who I'm sure will be oh-so-happy to see the Pens again. I'm not sure yet how much I'll see of this game - it is the opening night of the NCAA tourney... though Pitt doesn't play until Friday (boy - did they get rooked with a #5 seed, or what?)

Penguins 6, Devils 3

I saw a graphic during the game that said that this was the first time the Penguins have won two games at home against the Devils in the same season since 93-94. That goes to show you how bizarre statistics can be.

I didn't see much of this game - I was busy developing my ulcer watching Pitt lose to Syracuse. I did get to see some of the beginning (up until the Pens were up 3-1) and a few other assorted parts.

The new guys played tonight - Hilbert, Nordgren and Nasreddine (just called up from Wilkes-Barre). Nordgren didn't play all that much, but Hilbert stepped right in and played over 15 minutes. He contributed too, earning the second star for the night and two points.

The Pens continue to build for next season too, getting goals from Crosby (2), Malone, Ouellet and Armstrong. Even Surovy chipped in two assists. Gonchar continued his improved play with two helpers of his own. All of this bodes well for next season, in my opinion.

The only really telling statistic is that the second leading scorer on the team is still Palffy, and for the season, it will likely be Gonchar. The Pens have some big time scoring problems with their forwards, and that will need to be addressed. Hopefully Ouellet and Armstrong can turn into solid players (not sure what to think of Surovy yet), and the arrival of Malkin will get things going in the right direction. I just can't help but think that this team could really use a few veteran wingers that can score. Unfortunately, the Pens have either traded them or had them retire. The off-season will be interesting to be sure.

Tonight the Pens play the Flyers in the second half of a rare home-based back to back.

Let's go Pens!

Trades, Trades Everywhere!

Ya know, I come home and make dinner, and the next thing I know, two more trades were announced (thanks, Will for pointing that out in the comments). Here are the deals:

Ric Jackman to the Florida Panthers for center Petr Taticek.

Cory Cross to Detroit for a fourth round draft choice.

Neither of these trades are significant for what they bring back. Looking at Taticek, he is a former first round choice (9th overall) who has never done much. He's still young, but I'm going to guess that he will be in Wilkes-Barre for some time to see if he can turn into something.

The trades are significant for what they send out. The Penguins roster for defensemen currently looks like this:
Gonchar
Orpik
Melichar
Whitney
Scuderi
Cairns

They didn't trade for any D, and we haven't seen Cairns play more than eight or nine minutes all year. What does this mean? I'm going to guess that we're going to see Noah Welch here in Pittsburgh. Looking at the roster for the Baby Pens, I'm not sure who else would be coming up. You'd think they have to recall at least one D, maybe two.

Mark Recchi traded

The Penguins traded Mark Recchi to the Carolina Hurricanes today for two players and a draft pick. Before I say anything about who the Pens received in return, I do have to say that it's disappointing to see a player like Recchi be traded. He was producing and playing at a fairly high level, and apparently wanted to be here in Pittsburgh. They won't be able to replace him easily. (Thanks to Will for the heads-up in the comments!)

In exchange, the Pens received 26 year old winger Niklas Nordgren, 24 year old center Krystofer Kolanos, and a second round pick in 2007.

Nordgren just came over to America this season, starting in the AHL and making his way to the NHL. He's a little bit older for a rookie (26), but he did just come over from what I'm guessing was the Sweedish Elite League. More importantly, he has good offensive skills and is a right handed shot, something the Pens are a bit short on lately.

Kolanos is a story we've all heard before (it's quite familiar to the Pens) - former first round pick that hasn't panned out. He's been in the league for four seasons (and he's just 24) with Phoenix and Edmonton. His playing time and productivity have trended downward since his rookie season. He has good size, but simply hasn't been playing many minutes. He'll go into the mess the Penguins have at center behind Crosby and Malkin.

You have to wonder how the organization feels about Erik Christensen, given that the team has traded for a center in Kolanos and picked up a second center via waivers in Andy Hilbert from Chicago.

Capitals 6, Penguins 3

First off, I'm sitting here watching Pitt kick the stuffing out of Louisville in the first round of the Big East Tournament. Go Panthers!

Okay, now about the Pens game...

The game was entertaining, and the Pens certainly made a contest out of it. However, they were thwarted by themselves too many times. Caron made several big saves, but also allowed several softies, including maybe the softest goal I've ever seen. When Ivan Majesky took the puck on the penalty kill in his own zone and heaved it up into the Penguins zone, it rolled and bounced towards the net. Caron, instead of coming out and playing the puck, stayed back and waited for it to come to him. What could happen did happen and Caron was eaten up by the bouncing grounder (it rolled gently to his left and into the goal). It was incredible, and not in a good way.

Couple the goaltending woes with the tendency to take minor (meaning dumb) penalties, and the Caps were able to win the day. The Pens were able to stay in the game and compete pretty well (I thought) despite being outshot by 41-25.

Other positives I saw included:

• Shane Endicott winning 9 out of 10 faceoffs... but still only playing 7:35. I think he's still skating around on one leg. Next year is when his time will come.
• Jani Rita is showing signs that he can be the next speedster to play for the Pens, following in the proud tradition of Rico Fata and Koltsov. The puck seems to stick to him a little bit better.
• Speaking of Koltsov, can someone work with him on his skating and puck control this summer? He has world class speed and seemingly unlimited energy, but he can't stay on his skates or keep the puck on his stick. He was called for diving tonight, when he was really just skating normally. By the way, how can you have a trip AND a dive? If it was a trip, then it wasn't a dive, right? And vice versa, one would assume. More great intelligent work from the incredible braintrust that are the NHL referees.

Did I mention Go Panthers? Back to the second half in hoops. Next Pens game is Saturday, I believe.

Game #63 - at Capitals

Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals

Pittsburgh - 14-36-12 - 40 pts - Last in East
Washington - 21-33-6 - 48 pts - 14th in East

The Penguins have a chance tonight to sweep the season series against the Capitals. They've won each of the three previous times, kicking around Ollie the Goalie in the process.

The Caps, on the other hand, look to continue their decent play of late - they're 2-1-1 since the Olympic break.

Of course, the real reason to watch this game is to see Ovechkin vs Crosby. The matchups thus far this season have proven to be quite good (for the Pens), and any questioning I had about Crosby hitting the rookie wall is gone after last night's performance. Let's see if he can put up two in a row.

Let's go Pens!

Erik Christensen sent down

Yesterday, the Pens sent Erik Christensen back down to Wilkes-Barre.

It's probably better for him to get some more experience in the minors so he can develop consistency and confidence. I think he could be a good offensive player in the NHL, especially with the puck handling skills he's displayed and the shot he has. Hopefully he keeps building on that and returns to Pittsburgh next season ready to win a job.

Shane Endicott was in the lineup tonight in Christensen's place.

Lightning 5, Penguins 4 (SO 2-0)

This was the third straight game where the Pens were down early and had to come roaring back in the third period. Tonight they were down 4-1 and scored three to send the game to overtime, where they finally lost in a shootout. They had several nice chances throughout OT to try to put the game away, but could not do it.

Why was Jani Rita the first shooter in the shootout? Was Therrien trying to catch lightning in a bottle or something?

Did anyone see the play that Sidney Crosby made late in the third? The Lightning were threatening and Fleury was caught out of position, so Crosby came flying in behind Fleury and stacked the pads against the goal pipe behind Fleury. Turns out that the shot hit the outside of the net, but maybe it hit the outside of the net because the shooter tried to say a little wider with Crosby sliding across. No matter - it was inspiring to see. It tells me that this team (or at least Sidney Crosby) still has heart.

The Pens play again tomorrow night in Washington. There's been nothing like those Capitals to cheer the Pens out of a slump this season... will tomorrow be the same?

Hurricanes 7, Penguins 5

Five

First

Period

Goals

Allowed

Other than that, it was a great game! Of course, that's like saying that if not for those pesky atomic bombs, the Japanese came out of WWII in great shape.

Nice to see Recchi get the hat trick. Also nice to see the offense generate some consistent pressure.

A few other things that jumped out at me:

• Ryan Malone really is starting to play better. He just seems so much faster on the ice now than he did earlier in the season. His development really bodes well for the Penguins for the future.
• Cam Ward really isn't terribly good yet, is he? I know he kept the Pens off the board early in the first, but he also allowed several softies that got the Pens back into the game.
• Speaking of softies, neither Fleury or Caron was ready to go last night, but I don't think Caron should have been yanked after allowing the two power play goals in the first. Neither one was really a bad goal.
• Crosby doesn't seem like the same player right now. Maybe he's hitting the rookie wall a little bit.

This game really spoke to the lack of consistency shown on a regular basis by this team (at least they're consistent about something). Hopefully this is something that will come with time.

Up next is a game on Tuesday against the Lightning.

Game #61 - vs Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes at Pittsburgh Penguins

Carolina - 41-14-4 - 86 pts - First in East
Pittsburgh - 14-35-11 - 39 pts - Last in East

At first glance, this would look like a huge mismatch. The Hurricanes should stomp the Pens, right? Except that the Penguins went into Carolina and beat the Canes just before the Olympic break. Plus, the Hurricanes could be a little bit overrated. They are tremendous at home (26-5), but of their remaining 23 games, just 9 are at home. Their road record is much more human (15-9). This is a team that will need to prove it can win on the road. They'll be looking to do that beginning tonight in Pittsburgh.

You should watch the game tonight, if only for a chance to see two of the best young players in the game in Sidney Crosby (of course) and Eric Staal of the Hurricanes. Should be exciting.

Let's go Pens!

Senators 4, Penguins 3

Wow - this one was exhilirating, yet frustrating. To summarize somewhat quickly (since this is being posted late):

• The Pens spot the Senators a four goal lead going into the third, only to come roaring back, thanks to... Andre Roy and Jani Rita? I can honestly say that's a sentence I never thought I'd write.
• The Pens outshot the Sens 30-26, though how many shots do you need to take when leading by four goals?
• The Pens didn't take many penalties - they faced just four short-handed situations. They allowed goals on two of the four. Not cool.

Overall, it was an exciting third period to watch. You could feel the energy the team was playing with and sense that they had the momentum. Why can't the produce like that for an entire game? When they figure out how to put it all together, they could be scary.

As for the lateness of my post, work is nutty. Clearly, I need to rethink my priorities if work is getting in the way of posting on the blog...

Next up are the Canes on Saturday night.

New arena plan proposed

According to this article in the Post-Gazette, the Allegheny Institute has come up with a plan, supposedly, to fund an arena with private money. Check out the article, but basically it goes like this:

1. Gather private investor money either through partners or incorporating and issuing shares. Add this with naming rights and get $100-150 million.
2. The remaning $150-200 million needed "could be generated through the sale of seat licenses, luxury box rentals, concessions, in-arena advertising and event fees".

Not to sound harsh, but did someone really get paid a salary to come up with this?

The Penguins, to their credit, are basically saying "look, our plan is with Isle of Capri, and it doesn't use public taxpayer money", which is what they should be saying.

Myself, I have no such illusions of nobility, so I'll take issue with a few things:

• Where the heck were all of these plans when the Pens were telling anyone who would listen that they need help with this? All they were told was "There is no public money". There was no impetus to work on other private arrangements. Now that they're in an exclusive agreement with IOC (Isle of Capri), every Tom, Dick and Harry (replace with Dan and Ed as needed) has a "great idea".
• Naming rights, accoring to the article, won't really generate much. Last time, Mellon paid $18 million for 10 years. Assuming they can get that again (which is a big assumption since hockey isn't what it was back then), they still would need $80-130 million in private investment funds. Easier said than done.
• Even dumber (if that's possible) is the suggestion to use all of the things that would make the team financially stable and competitive to pay for an arena.

It's getting tiresome watching all of the local figures and organziations cover their butts on a regular basis, just so they can say "We tried to keep the team here, but they just wouldn't talk to us. We did everything possible."

Oh - forgot to mention - I did a bit of investigating on my own about the concerts at the Chevrolet Amphitheatre. I have a bit more to do, but I'll have a post up in the next day or so about it.

Game #60 - vs Senators

Ottawa Senators at Pittsburgh Penguins

Ottawa - 37-14-5 - 79 pts - Second in East
Pittsburgh - 14-34-11 - 39 pts - Last in East

The last time the Pens played the Sens, it was obvious just how wide the gulf was between one of the best teams in the league and one of the worst. Tonight, we get to see how much difference a month (almost) makes. I'm guessing the difference won't be much.

The Pens are at full strength for the most part, with no significant injuries, and Michel Ouellet returning after missing a few games. Erik Christensen will also be with the team.

For the Senators, the big news is the injury to Dominik Hasek. The Pens will face Ray Emery tonight in net. The Senators also had seven other players in Turin, so they may be a little tired.

The Pens start their final stretch of games - they have 23 remaining. Last year, the team went 12-5-3 in their last 20 games. Is there a similar stretch coming this year? I wouldn't be surprised, but then again, I've been guilty of unfounded optimism in the past...

Let's go Pens!

Midseason Review - Michel Ouellet

Michel Ouellet

28 Games
13 Goals
11 Assists
-6 +/-
10 PIM

Grade: A-

Michel has been playing quite well for a rookie. He was the first callup for new coach Michel Therrien, and he hasn't let his coach down. Michel has contributed on a fairly consistent basis in his short career so far. He has a great, heavy shot and has that knack for being in the right place at the right time, especially on the power play.

Eventually, Michel should turn into a good two-way player who can contribute regularly on the power play. He'll probably hit the rookie wall eventually here, but so far he's shown no signs of losing his confidence or his physical skills.

The main thing I'm looking for from Michel is more consistent play, along with more offensive pressure, at even strength. Most of his scoring has come on the power play. Would be nice to see him step up and create in a 5 on 5 situation as well. He's obviously talented enough.

Midseason Review - Ric Jackman

Ric Jackman

45 Games
5 Goals
21 Assists
-16 +/-
42 PIM

Grade: C-

It's tough for me to watch a game and judge how well each player is playing. It's kind of like evaluating the offensive line in football - if the quaterback gets sacked, you know someone screwed up. Until then, you can only assume they're doing okay. Ric Jackman, for much of the season, hasn't been doing okay. He was a seemingly frequent scratch for both Edzo and Therrien. When he's in the game, he's the Pens second leading point-getter from the blue line. Until recently, he was the leading point-getter. That means that he must have been screwing things up pretty badly in other areas. I know from what I see that he doesn't look terribly fast, and doesn't play a very physical game (though this has changed a little bit under Michel Therrien).

When he's playing well, Jackman can contribute to the offense. He needs to get his shots on net. He also is someone that I can remember a few times being guilty of shooting without any traffic in front.

Recently, Jackman has asked to be traded if the team was going to keep scratching him. I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave town, and that would be disappointing since he his young and obviously has talent.

Midseason Review - John Leclair

John Leclair

50 Games
12 Goals
20 Assists
-16 +/-
49 PIM

Grade: B-

John Leclair has given the team decent effort, especially of late. He, along with Mark Recchi, are leading by example and playing with some intensity and desire.

At times, he's been great when positioned in front of the net. Most of his goals have been of the rebound variety. When he's hustling and parking himself just in front of the crease, he's still pretty effective.

Some of the limited productivity would have to be attributed to his age and some more to the speed of the game. However, I'd also put a bunch of it on the poor power play (and offense in general) that the Penguins have deployed so far this year. When you're not getting shots on net from the defense, it's tough to get any rebounds to stuff in. The timing of the shots that are taken seems to leave something to be desired as well - it's like taking a long jumper in basketball without looking to see if you have any teammates around the hoop to get the potential rebound.

Maybe Leclair's biggest job right now would be to tutor Ryan Malone. Ryan needs to play more like Leclair does, in my opinion. He'd do well to pay attention to John while he's around.

Leclair can fill a valuable role on this team when they're good. He could also be valuable to a contender. Until then, he can do what he's doing now - lead by example with grit, hustle and determination.

Injury updates

Lyle Odelein is out for the rest of the season at least to undergo knee surgery.

Michel Ouellet is fully recovered from his knee bruise and is ready to play.

None of this news is really all that bad. You never like to see someone get hurt, but Odelein not playing will mean more time for the other defensemen to develop. It could even mean more playing time for a player like Noah Welch, should they choose to call him up to the big club.

Ouellet's impact will be felt. He has 24 pts in 28 games this year, which translates to a highly successful rookie season.

Midseason Review - Sergei Gonchar

Sergei Gonchar

54 Games
7 Goals
28 Assists
-16 +/-
82 PIM

Grade: C

Sarge has struggled mightily this season. He's currently sitting at a -16, third worst on the team. It's difficult to give him too bad of a grade, because he still has averaged over a point every two games. Of course, this is far below what was expected of him entering the season, fairly or unfairly.

He has been playing better of late, and shows promise for the rest of the season, not to mention the rest of his contract. I've read articles that say that the expectations placed on him were unfair, and that he's not really the puck-toting defensemen that everyone in Pittsburgh seemed to expect. I think he's starting to adjust.

The biggest disappointment for him, aside from his seemingly aloof play on the ice sometimes (something somewhat common here in Pittsburgh in the past), has to be the number of penalties he's taken. I think that it's only a matter of time before he adjusts. Of course that time could be next season.

Overall, I'm not going to call him a bust... not with how the rest of the Pens season has been going. If he continues the same performance once the teams starts to perform better, then I'd be willing to reassess.

The fix is still in?

Remember from one of my previous posts that the Chevrolet Amphitheatre hadn't posted any information about summer concerts? In 2005, they had an entire list of possible concerts on their website (see the link in my older article) by the end of January. Well, it's now getting towards the end of February, and what plans have been rolled out? Well, check out the main site for the Chevrolet Amphitheatre. Looks like they're not doing much.

With Governor Rendell telling anyone who will listen that the Penguins need a Plan B (and O'Connor and Onorato following suit), coupled with some circumstantial evidence surrounding this, it really is starting to look like it's predetermined who will get the slots license, and it isn't the Isle of Capri.

I hope I'm wrong...

Arena circus goes round and round...

So, the latest developments in the Arena saga have seen Gov Rendell, County Executive Onorato and Mayor O'Connor talking about how the Penguins need a Plan B. More insultingly, they've been saying that they'd love to talk to the Penguins to work with them on a plan, but the team won't talk. Of course, the reason the team won't talk is that they're in an exclusive agreement with Isle of Capri and can't talk. It's wonderfully convenient for our elected leaders to suddenly want to talk AFTER the team put together their own plans.

The politicians are playing us badly. Let's give a little bit of perspective to these moves. In Pennsylvania, there have been some very interesting things happening that have made many politicians stand up and take notice. I'll chronicle a small list of events:

1. In the middle of the night, and without debate, our state politicians vote themselves a 16% pay raise. They do so at a time when the state is in financial difficulty and also has the second largest legislature in the country. PA also has more state congressmen and senators per capita than any state in the nation. To further thumb their collective noses at their constituents, they allow their raise to be taken immediately, via "unvouchered expenses", which basically means they can submit expense reports without any kind of substantiation for the money that would be in their raise. By the state constitution, any raise voted on by the legislature cannot take effect until the beginning of the next session. The defense to the unvouchered expenses? They did it last time they got the raise, and it survived a challenge by being upheld by the State Supreme Court. The problem with that? The judges on the Supreme Court also received the pay raise!! This time, there appears to have been some backdoor wrangling with the judges to get this deal to go through.
2. The pay raise kicks off a firestorm of public outcry, especially in any part of the state that's not Philadelphia. It persists for far longer than anyone thought it would. Lawmakers are called on the carpet publically here in Western PA, and while some are defiant, most capitulate and state that they will not use the unvouchered expenses (though the pay raise would still stand).
3. An election to reconfirm two of the State Supreme Court justices happens. This is usually just a formality - never in the history of PA has any justice not been confirmed. This time, one is booted and another one is nearly booted. This is absolutely historic and unheard of. The people have shown their displeasure and anger.
4. Within a few weeks, the pay raise has been overturned and repealed. Lawmakers are frantically searching for any other issue to take the public eye off of them.
5. The furor hasn't died yet. Organizations like PA Clean Sweep start up, with the goal of removing every legislator in the state (yes, this is maybe a tad extreme). PA Clean Sweep manages to bring about 80-90 (I think) candidates to challenge incumbents in the upcoming elections. Suddenly the incumbents, who in PA usually have a re-election rate over 90%, are fearing for their jobs.
6. Lynn Swann announces his candidacy for Governor and wins the Republican nomination.
7. During the parade and rally after the Steelers Super Bowl win, the public is heard chanting pro-Penguins slogans (like "Save the Pens" and "Mario") when Mayor O'Connor is talking.

So what does all of this mean for the Pens? It means that Governor Rendell is afraid for his job, and needs the votes in the Pittsburgh area. He's now starting to make noises about getting an arena built. He recognizes that if the Pens don't get the slots license and leave Pittsburgh as a result, his political career could suffer.

This will be interesting to see where it goes.

Penguins hockey blog? What Penguins hockey blog?

So, it's been a nice little break from blogging for me for the past week or so. The Pens will be back in action in another week, so it's about time to start writing again. I was going to start posting the reviews I've written for the players, and then I heard Mayor O'Connor being interviewed on ESPN Radio 1250. That was inspiration enough. I'll be posting later on tonight with some arena news, and then maybe follow that up with player reviews.

Been enjoying the Olympics?

Penguins 6, Capitals 3

The Pens were able to accomplish several things tonight that they either hadn't done this season, or hadn't done for quite a while. Among them are:

• Win back to back games on the road
• Win the second half of a set of two games in two nights
• Keep a team from scoring on the power play for the first time in forever (okay, it was 19 games, but it felt like forever)
• Have six different players score goals. The last time this happened? Last time out against the Caps!

So, the goal is to arrange the schedule for the Pens so they play the Caps 82 times. The way they're going, they'll win the Presidents Cup in a walk.

Overall, tonight we got to see some very good things against the Caps. Of course, that's not unusual against a team like the Caps. The encouraging thing is that the last two nights we've seen the Pens team we thought we'd get all year. They are working hard, getting good goaltending and netting some timely goals. Tonight, their power play worked really well. They didn't get the best start, but overall showed no ill effects from playing on the second night of a back to back.

Next up are the Olympic. I'll probably do a brief post about that, and maybe cover some of the Pens as they play, but mostly I'll be posting the rest of the midseason reviews that I have written. It'll be some good content for the 2+ weeks away from the NHL. If you get a chance, however, make an effort to watch the Olympic hockey. There's nothing else like it in the world, and it's usually leagues better than the level of play in the NHL. It will be interesting, however, to compare it to the new style of play in the NHL.

Two wins in a row! Let's go Pens!

Penguins 4, Hurricanes 3

Last night was a great game. The Pens did what they needed to do to get the win in an extremely tough place to play. The Hurricanes had lost only four home games all year until last night.

The Pens kept the pressure on all evening. They scored first, on a goal by Boguniecki. Every time the Hurricanes tied the game, the Pens were able to come up with an answer to take the lead again. The Penguins scoring (and their success tonight) was the result of hard work. This the kind of effort and hustle that the team needs to show every game.

When the Hurricanes scored with .3 seconds left in the first, all I could think was "here we go again...", but the Pens came out in the second and scored quickly to put things back in their favor. That's when you knew that they had a chance.

Of course, the refs had to have something to say about the outcome. The call that put the Canes up by two men late in the third was justified - Jackman certainly interferred with Justin Williams trying to get to the puck. However, the first call on Whitney (hooking) was awfully weak. The ref didn't even put up his arm until after he saw that Staal didn't score. I'm not sure that Whitney ever touched him with his stick. While I'm talking about the refs, does it seem to anyone else that they're allowing the play where the defensemen impairs the progress of the forechecking forward while his partner goes for the puck? I could have sworn I saw that a few times last night with no call.

Anyway, I was really impressed by the play of Ryan Whitney (and Ric Jackman to a lesser extent). Whitney is really starting to play like a top player on the blue line. He'll be one to watch for next year. Even Jackman seemed to be getting smarter about getting off his shots on the power play, skating laterally to open up shooting lanes instead of just standing back there and blasting it. It will be fun to watch these guys develop.

Wow. Skip the preview... the Pens win. Looks like I'll try my luck again today by skipping the preview for the game tonight against the Caps.

Let's go Pens!

Bruins 3, Penguins 1

The game was not as close as the score would indicate. The Pens were outshot 28-10 over the first two periods, and just in case you thought that the lack of offense might make them play with more urgency, they only registered 7 shots in the third, with four or five of them coming in the last few minutes of the game. In fairness, they did have an accuracy issue last night, with some of their shots not finding the net. But, on radio Steigerwald was saying that Thomas almost looked like he was playing in a pee-wee game in that most of the "shots" were just trickling towards him.

I'm not sure what it's going to take to fix the Pens offense to generate consistent scoring. I keep thinking of the line in Hoosiers, where Gene Hackman describes his approach with his team - "I'm going to break 'em down and build them back up". I'm hoping that is what is happening here. In fact, if anyone hears Therrien yelling "FOUR PASSES!", please let me know. :)

Two more games before the break - Carolina and Washington - back to back on Friday and Saturday.

Game #57 - vs Boston

Boston Bruins at Pittsburgh Penguins

Boston - 23-23-9 - 55 pts - 10th in East
Pittsburgh - 12-33-11 - 35 pts - Last in East


Boston is four points out of the last playoff spot in the East. They've been playing well lately, going 6-2-2 in their past 10, though they have lost their last two games (one in OT).

Boston's recent success has come on the back of an unlikely source - a 31 year old rookie goaltenter named Tim Thomas. He has a 1.88 GAA and a save percentage over 94%. That's pretty incredible for anyone, much less an old rookie.

Other than Thomas, I'm not sure how the Bruins are so successful lately. Their power play hasn't been especially effective, scoring more than one goal in a game only twice during 2006. Their penalty kill has been pretty decent, and they certainly have been taking a relatively small number of penalties, especially compared with the Pens. They're not really generating a ton of shots, or outshooting everyone either. I guess we'll have to chalk it up to things going their way right now... and that goaltender.

The Pens are playing Boston for the final time this season - they're 0-2-1 against them so far. It would be nice to finish with a win.

I haven't seen anything on Michel Ouellet's status for tonight. He was helped off the ice with a knee injury on Monday.

Guillaume Lefebvre was sent down to Wilkes-Barre on Monday.

Let's go Pens!

Senators 5, Penguins 2

No time - work is crazy. Just one word to describe that game -

blech

Game #56 - at Senators

Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators

Pittsburgh - 12-32-11 - 35 pts - Last in East
Ottawa - 35-12-5 - 75 pts - 2nd in East

Wow - the Pens make it until February without playing the Senators and then play them twice in three games. They also play the Sens twice in March, including the first game after the break.

The Senators were held in check by the Pens last time out for about 30 minutes. Then came the all-too-common letdown where one critical sequence costs them the game. This one, if you remember, was particularly painful, since they allowed two shorties on the same power play. This allowed the Senators to tie the game and completely take momentum away from the Pens.

Tonight, the task will be harder. The Pens will need to do the usual - stay out of the box and play great at even-strength. If they can do that, they'll have a chance. Of course, despite Michel Therrien's influence, the Pens haven't been able to avoid the penalties, even though some of them would seem simple to avoid (like, if you're behind the player, DON'T USE YOUR STICK). Hopefully they'll be able to strike the right balance between agression and playing it safe before too long. At this point, it's all for next season anyway.

Crosby should be active for this game, so that will help. I'm looking for a good road effort and either having the score tied or a single goal differential to start the third. That would give the Pens the chance to pull out some points.

One more thing - don't look now, but the Blues have pulled ahead of the Pens in overall points. Pittsburgh is currently the most likely to draw the #1 overall pick.

Let's go Pens!

Islanders 5, Penguins 4 (OT - SO 2-0)

Satan has done it again against the Penguins. This time, he had a hat trick and a goal in the shootout. Rick DiPietro also played well, stopping 41 of 45 shots. Yes, you read that right - the Pens generated 45 shots.

Overall, the Pens played well enough to win. They were bitten by poor penalty killing and a goalie, who by his own admission, didn't have his best game. Hopefully the effort level stays where it is, because the team will get better and will start to win if this becomes consistent.

One interesting thing from the game yesterday is that Therrien really shortened his bench. This is the first time I've seen him do this. Boguniecki, Rita, Lefebvre and Endicott all played limited minutes. Jackman and Orpik played relatively limited minutes as well. Part of it was probably the amount of power play time the Pens had. All four of their goals were on the PP. That hasn't happened for a long time... (scoring four on the power play).

Next up is Ottawa on the road on Monday.

Sent response to Mr Molinari

I sent the following as a response to Dave Molinari:

Thanks for the reply. I was pretty surprised by the tenor of your remarks. I wasn't attacking you personally - I was really just dumbfounded as to why an event that has a pretty high visibility, and is important to the Pens didn't warrant any mention that I could find. I did a search on the Post-Gazette website for Penguins and rally before sending you any communication via your Q&A, but didn't find anything. I do see that it's part of your Penguins' Notebook for last Tuesday. I'm still left wondering why an event dealing with the slots license, with fairly high local interest didn't receive any more than a few brief mentions in summary-style articles. Maybe it's just my personal opinions here...

We'll see if there's any kind of response forthcoming...

Response from Dave Molinari of the Post-Gazette

So, I asked Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a question via his Q&A. I mentioned this earlier today, but I'll reprint my question here, just so you can judge the question and the response that I received from Mr Molinari.

Why didn't the Post-Gazette have an article about the rally outside of the arena, organized by local groups, before the national telecast against the Islanders on Saturday? Was it more important to hear about Gonchar trying to overcome the boo-birds? Considering that SlotsForMario.com has a petition with over 30,000 signatures supporting the drive for a new arena, don't you think it might have been worth mentioning in advance?

I received a quick response from Dave - here it is:

Perhaps you should read the newspaper and our website before firing off an e-mail like the one you sent to me. Below are copies of an item that appeared in our newspaper on Tuesday and a reference to the rally in Friday's Q&A. I assume you also failed to notice that it wasn't my name on any of our Penguins coverage in the Saturday paper.

So, I'm kind of shocked at the response from Dave. I wasn't attacking him personally in my question, so attacking me was kind of unexpected. Do you think that a mention in the paper on Tuesday (four days before the rally) was good enough? Would mentioning the Steelers pep rally at the county courthouse once four days before the event have been good enough? I'll be responding to Mr Molinari shortly. It will very interesting to see what his response is.

By the way - the Q&A item he refers to is the one I linked to the in the previous post. The Tuesday item he refers to didn't appear when I did a search on the terms Penguins and rally on the Post-Gazette web site. I'll repost the Tuesday item here:

A slots license rally

Several groups that back the Penguins/Isle of Capri bid for a slots license plan to demonstrate their support with a rally outside Gate 3 at Mellon Arena Saturday at noon, two hours before the Penguins face the New York Islanders.

In addition to fans who support the Penguins' bid -- which would lead to Isle of Capri getting the license, in return for putting up $290 million for an up-to-date arena -- several elected officials who previously expressed support for the team's plan are expected to attend.

I still say that it's weak to write a little two paragraph blurb about the rally four days before the event, and then not mention it again, other than as part of an answer to a Q&A, but I'm repeating myself now.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette bias against Penguins?

Is the Post-Gazette biased against the Penguins? Consider this:

There are two local groups, the PA Interscholastic Hockey League and the web site SlotsForMario.com, that are organizing a rally outside of Gate 3 before the Penguins nationally televised game with the Islanders today. They'll have local politicians speaking about the Isle of Capri and the future of the Penguins. Sounds like a good thing to maybe publicize, right? Especially considering that these websites have an online petition that has over 32,000 signatures (make sure you go to SlotsForMario and sign the petition if you haven't already)!

There is no article about the rally on the Post-Gazette, though they clearly know about it. Dave Molinari talks about it briefly in his Q&A from yesterday. Why not mention it as part of the game day preview? The lead Penguins article today is about Gonchar trying to play through the booing.

You can't seriously tell me that leaving out a mention or article about the rally in today's paper was anything but intentional, and that's a shame. When the people that are supposed to be reporting the news are deciding what we get to hear about because it suits their agenda then something is really wrong. (and yes, I am well aware that it happens all the time on a national level... but it really shouldn't be happening here with a sports team)

I think the next thing I'll be doing is going through the letters to the editor to see how many positive Penguins letters were published versus negative letters... I recall Mark Madden saying that he had copies of letters that were supportive of the Pens being sent to the Post-Gazette, and that the paper simply wasn't publishing them.

EDIT - Just for documentation's sake, I sent the following to Dave Molinari via his Q&A request form... we'll see if he chooses to answer it -

Why didn't the Post-Gazette have an article about the rally outside of the arena, organized by local groups, before the national telecast against the Islanders on Saturday? Was it more important to hear about Gonchar trying to overcome the boo-birds? Considering that SlotsForMario.com has a petition with over 30,000 signatures supporting the drive for a new arena, don't you think it might have been worth mentioning in advance?

Game #55 - vs Islanders

New York Islanders at Pittsburgh Penguins

New York - 23-26-3 - 49 pts - 13th in East
Pittsburgh - 12-32-10 - 34 pts - Last in East

So the Islanders are only six points out of the last playoff spot in the east. Seems whoever gets that eighth spot can't wait to give it away. The current holder of 8th place, the Maple Leafs, are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games. Suffice it to say that they Islanders have something to play for this afternoon at the Igloo.

Once again the Penguins will have the chance to go up against the Prince of Darkness. Hopefully this time it will turn out better than it did last time, when Satan scored the game winner in the shootout.

There is a rally outside the arena today at 12:00, being sposored by SlotsForMario.com and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League outside of gate 3.

Let's go Pens!

Senators 7, Penguins 2

Tonight the Pens came out and played a great game early on. They didn't have Sidney Crosby, who was out with the flu (he had it last night too in New York). They took a 1-0 lead in the first on a nice goal by Michel Ouellet. They then extended the lead to 2-0 on a power play goal by Ryan Malone. Through 30 minutes, the Pens had held the Sens to just 10 shots and held a 2-0 lead. They were playing well and containing the high powered offense. Then Ryan Malone had a great individual effort and drew a penalty on Schubert, putting the Pens back on the power play with the chance ---!!!! INTERRUPT----

Sorry, but we now interrupt this blog entry for tonight's edition of:

How to Lose a Game in One Minute and Seven Seconds

As performed by:

The Pittsburgh Penguin's Power Play Unit

The method is simple (and I apologize for the shouting in advance). When your team psyche is fragile, you have a lead on one of the best teams in the league, and you're on the power play (thus putting your best players on the ice), just ALLOW TWO SHORT-HANDED GOALS ON THE SAME POWER PLAY.

---!!!! END INTERRUPT----

Ahem. Sorry about that.

Once the Sens tied the game, you knew it was probably over. After they scored on the power play late in the period, you knew it was definately over. The third period was highlighted by two more power play goals allowed, and another shortie allowed.

Allowing three short-handed goals in the same game is unforgivable. Allowing two of them on the same power play is even worse. Bob Errey mentioned that he was playing the last time the Pens allowed three shorties, and that he was on the ice for an hour skating the next morning. I hope Therrien is able to do something to get the team's attention, because it certainly seems that many of them don't care.

On the plus side, we did get to see how nicely colored the seats are in the Igloo, since there weren't many people in them during the third period. Great job by the arena staff.

On a slightly more serious note, the team also may have found their middleweight fighter - Guillaume Lefebvre. He took on Wade Redden and pretty much kicked the stuffing out of him. Redden isn't known as a fighter, but neither are most of the Penguins, so I'll take the positives where I can get them!

On Saturday the Islanders come to town for a matchup that NBC must be thrilled to be carrying.

Game #54 - vs Senators

Ottawa Senators at Pittsburgh Penguins

Ottawa - 32-12-4 - 72 pts - 2nd in East
Pittsburgh - 12-31-10 - 34 pts - Last in East

Can you hear the call? Imagine you're living in Kansas... and you're out in the fields before dinner, playing with your friends. You know that if your mom opens the door, she's going to yell "Boys! Dinner! C'mon!". You also know that if your Dad opens the door, the chances are decent that he'll be yelling "Boy! Come and get your whuppin'!" (Dad usually doesn't seek out the boy unless there's a problem).

Well, the Senators have opened the door to yell, but it's Dad that's doing the talking.

Ottawa leads the NHL in two important categories - goals scored and goals allowed. They've scored the most and allowed the fewest. They're also best in the East on the PK and second best in the East on the PP. They have struggled a little bit lately, having lost two games in a row on the road, but I'm thinking that will just make them angry. You know what happens when Bruce Banner gets angry, right?

Anyway, the Sens did just play last night, and Hasek is an old man, so with any luck we'll see his backup, Ray Emery. Emery is slightly more human in his stats than the Dominator, though given the Pens ability to make any goalie look like Patrick Roy... I'm not counting on anything.

It will take a great effort, along with putting some pucks in the net, to get any points out of the Senators tonight. Let's cross the fingers... but don't hold your breath - I'd hate to see anyone have to visit the hospital.

Let's go Pens!

Quick Talbot note...

Michel Therrien has said that Maxime Talbot was sent down to Wilkes-Barre so that he could continue to play during the Olympic break. I believe there are only a few players on the team that qualified to go down and play, and Talbot was one of them (I want to say the others were Fleury and Whitney... but I'm not positive). Players had to be demoted by January 31st. Therrien wants to recall Max after the Olympics.

Let's hope he's back here - Maxime is one of my favorite players.

Rangers 3, Penguins 1

Headline! Read all about it! Pens play better but still lose! Headline!

What?

You've seen this headline before?

How many times?

Really? THAT many?

Yeah, I guess it's been used at least a dozen times this year, if not more. The story seems to be the same... the Pens play a good game, but make a few critical mistakes. The shortie they allowed last night was bad, but you can't really get very upset with Crosby, even though he made the pass that was intercepted. The team also took way too many penalties again. This is becoming a fairly consistent event. Some of it I'm willing to attribute to the players being young... but some accountability is needed too.

Anyway, it doesn't get any easier tonight - the Senators are coming to Pittsburgh. The Pens will need to find some offense. Preview up later today.

Game #53 - at Rangers

Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers

Pittsburgh - 12-30-10 - 34 pts - Last in East
New York - 29-15-9 - 66 pts - 5th in East

So the Pens are happy to be facing the Rangers again so soon. It's a character game for them. It would be nice to see them bounce back from the beating they took on Saturday. The players at this point are trying to establish some consistency. They're also playing for jobs next year. Players like Ouellet and Surovy have a great opportunity to play on top lines and show that they belong in the NHL. Veterans like Leclair and... um... who else do the Pens have that would be available and tradable (Odelein is the only one I can think of)? Anyway, whoever else there is would be trying to show their worth either to bring back next year or to a contending team down the stretch.

The Rangers are looking to solidify their playoff position. They're not in much danger of falling out of the playoffs (okay, it is the Rangers - I guess they're ALWAYS in danger of falling out of the playoffs), but they would probably like to move up a few notches and have home ice for at least one round of the playoffs. They'll be coming strong against the Pens.

Look for Fleury in net. Also look for lots of chippiness if the Pens get down early by a goal or two.

Let's go Pens!

Pens lose Rico Fata

Rico Fata was claimed off of re-entry waivers by the Atlanta Thrashers. He was recalled by the Pens, presumably to replace the demoted Maxime Talbot, but had to clear waivers upon his re-entry into the NHL.

Fata is another fast player that hasn't had much success in the NHL. He's still relatively young (he'll be 26 in February), but he's a very similar player to Talbot or Koltsov. The Pens gave him his first big chance in 03-04 when he played in 72 games. He was a first round draft choice of the Calgary Flames in 1998 (sixth overall) and played in 20 games that year. Good luck to him.

Ric Jackman wants to be traded

According to this article, Ric Jackman has asked to be traded if the Pens are going to keep scratching him. He's been scratched for 12 out of 52 games this year, including 8 straight around the time that Edzo was fired and replaced by Therrien and four of the last five games.

Jackman has said that the team isn't happy with his defensive skills, and would like him to improve in that area. I think it would be a shame to see him go. He has a great right-handed shot with good offensive skills in general. Plus, if he follows Tarnstrom out of town, that will leave Gonchar and Whitney as the only "offensive" defensemen.

That said, maybe the Rangers would take him for Poti...

Maxime Talbot sent down

The Pens sent Maxime Talbot back down to Wilkes-Barre last night. Personally, I'd rather see Talbot here. He'll mix it up with anyone, has good speed, and kills penalties. Unfortunately for him, he's only 5'8" and the Pens penalty kill is either the worst in the league or close to it (sort of like the Pirates philosophy - we can finish last without you as well as with you).

I'm not sure if there's something missing about his game that is a glaring hole, or if he's just not that good. The effort certainly seems to be there. Let's hope he's back here soon.

Thanks to the anonymous commenter for reminding me about Talbot.

Rangers 7, Penguins 1

Crunch!

Stomp!

Destroy!

You know, this was a game that was tied at 1-1 halfway through the second period. It was only 3-1 after two periods - certainly not out of the realm of experience or possibility for the Pens. They had been badly outshot during the first and second periods, but previously this season the Flightless Birds had shown a resiliancy and an ability to come back with a better showing.

Not tonight.

Of course, it doesn't help when you take four penalties in the third period. For the game, the team was outshot FIFTY-ONE to FOURTEEN. That's truly pathetic. Not only could the offense not get going, but the defense couldn't get the Rangers out of the Pens' end of the ice.

New additions Cross and Rita stepped right in and played fairly significant minutes. Cross was a -3, along with other big minus players Melichar, Surovy and Scuderi at -3. Recchi, Leclair and Talbot were at -4. Ugh.

Not much more can be said. Fortunately (or not), the Pens will get another shot at the Rangers sooner rather than later - back at the Garden on Wednesday. Let's hope it's not "second verse, same as the first!"

Dick Tarnstrom traded

The Pens traded Dick Tarnstrom today to the Edmonton Oilers, acquiring forward Jani Rita and defensemen Cory Cross.

Jani Rita is a 24 year old 1999 first round pick, 13th overall, who hasn't had much success in the NHL thus far. He wasn't receiving much ice time in Edmonton, even though he appeared in 21 games. He's been a decent goal scorer in the minors, and has some great numbers in the playoff series he's been involved in (most recently 7 G, 4 A in 10 games last season).

Cory Cross is a 35 year old veteran with 637 career games played. He's another big defensemen (6'5") to go with Eric Cairns on the blue line. He hasn't accumulated many points over his career, but has generally acquitted himself pretty well. His minutes are also down this year, which hopefully isn't any indication about his ability to play in the new NHL.

Islanders 4, Penguins 3 (OT, SO 1-0)

This is a tale of the powers of light versus the powers of darkness.

It doesn't have a happy ending.

But that doesn't mean there weren't miracles along the way.

Satan, representing the powers of darkness (like anyone else would?), struck first, extending the Islanders lead to 2-0 on the power play.

Following that, one of the miracles of the game happened. Eric Cairns, who spent all of 3:37 on the ice, for some reason wanders down near the net in the offensive zone, puts his stick on the ice, and has Mark Recchi's beautiful pass deflect off of his stick, and into the net. You knew it was a miracle, because Cairns immediately looked to the heavens, as if to say "Thank you!"

Later in the second, the Lord of Darkness did his own dirty work, showing some of the power he possesses. He knocked over a man (Brooks Orpik) who is 30 pounds heavier than he is. Satan earned a trip to the sin bin (you could say he was going home for a short while) for boarding.

In the third, the Pens got a goal early from Recchi, who deflected a shot by Gonchar. The entire sequence was made possible by a great move on the part of Sidney Crosby, who almost scored. In the ensuing melee, the puck was sent back to the point, where Gonchar unleashed the shot that Recchi deflected.

After that, it was time for another miracle. Crosby takes a penalty with 2:26 left in the game. The Islanders go on the power play. Towards the end of the two minutes, the Pens get the puck into the Islanders zone and pull Caron to even the sides at 5 on 5 (with an empty net!) Leclair is the player on for the Pens. He immediately goes down the left boards, making a beeline for Satan himself, who has the puck, along with designs on getting it out of the zone. Leclair makes a great play to knock the puck away from Satan, and the Pens proceed to work their butts off. Why we can't see this kind of effort on a more regular basis, I'm not sure. Anyway, the hard work pays off, the angels sing, and Leclair nets the tying goal (officially a short-handed goal), sending the game to overtime.

The OT is scoreless and the teams go to a shootout. In the shootout, Satan establishes supremacy over the flightless birds, using his dark powers to score the only goal of the shootout, giving the Islanders the win.

Penguins 8, Capitals 1 + game #51 preview

Wow. Where has this output been? Of course, the Pens haven't been playing teams like the Capitals. This is going to be really short, since Blogger was down and I'm trying to write this on the tail end of my lunch break.

Last night, Sidney Crosby showed why he is a worthy successor to Mario Lemieux as the next player to be the face and heart of the franchise. He had an insipired performance. Marc Andre Fleury also played a great game, making some nice saves. For the most part, it's hard to criticize anyone for their play in this one.

Of course, the Blues also won last night, so the Pens are just four points out of the cellar in the NHL. They need to develop some consistency, especially on the offensive end. Tonight they play the Islanders. Should be a fun one to watch to see how much the team has left in the tank after the game last night. The Islanders aren't a very good team, and they've struggled lately (3-6-1 in their last 10).

Let's go Pens!

Game #50 - vs Capitals

Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington - 17-25-5 - 39 pts - 14th in East
Pittsburgh - 11-29-9 - 31 pts - Last in East

Are we at game #50 already? Wow. Seems like the season is still young. It's really not.

I'm not sure if there's a better way to start the official post-Mario era than by having a game with Ovechkin playing against Crosby. These two guys, right now, are the future of the NHL. The way Malkin is playing, he may factor into that equation as well before everything is said and done. Pittsburgh seems to be on the verge of an era that could be really similar to when Lemieux and Jagr played together. Crosby and Malkin would seem to be on a path to develop into a wonderful duo.

Anyway, enough with the happy talk. The Capitals have been hot lately. They had won four in a row before their home loss to Boston on Monday night. They've been showing some signs of life, which is something that can't be said for the Penguins. Yes, the Pens have been playing better recently, but they haven't been able to score enough to give themselves a chance to win.

The main difference between the Pens and the Caps is the home record - Washington is 11-12-4 at home, while the Pens are 6-14-5. The Caps are equally bad on the road as the Pens are at home, so you know that something has to give.

The Pens fondness for allowing goals on the penalty kill has a decent chance to come to and end tonight, as the Caps are pretty bad on the power play. Of course, Columbus was bad too, and that didn't stop the Jackets from scorching the Pens.

After tonight, there are games against the Islanders and Rangers... then the real thrashing could take place - two out of three games against the Senators. I'm not looking forward to seeing that right now.

Look for more fights as Therrien continues to emphasize toughness, hustle and heart. Let's hope that someone actually knows how to fight one of these days... though you can't help but cheer for Max Talbot, no matter the outcome.

Let's go Pens!

Retirement press conference recap

Just listened to the Mario Lemieux press conference. Basically, here are the points he made:

• This is largely due to the heart condidtion. He made a few statements about the game being for the young guys, but the biggest reason is that he can't play the way he wants to... largely due to the heart.
• He said he started thinking about this when the team played Buffalo and he had an episode in the third period.
• He said the game of hockey was far better off now than when he retired last time in 1997.
• The Station Square group has announced their plans for the slots license. When asked about it, Mario said that he thought the Pens plan was the best by far (no surprise there).
• When asked if he thought the distribution of the slots license would be handled fairly and honestly, Mario said "I hope so".

This team belongs to Sidney Crosby now (and Marc Andre Fleury to a lesser degree). Let's see where it goes.

Press conference at 2:00

According to reports, the press conference to announce Mario Lemieux's retirement is at 2:00 - you may be able to listen to it on ESPN Radio 1250 - they have an internet feed.

Midseason Review - Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux - 26 G - 7 G, 15 A, -16, 16 PIM

Grade: B

You know, I'm either going to hurry up and finish writing these, or stop althogether. I had Mario's review written, and then he retires! Last week was the same problem with Palffy. Ugh. Well, make sure you especially relish the numbers from 88-89 - we'll likely never see numbers like that again. Here's the review I wrote about a week ago, unedited.

Mario obviously has missed a large number of games recently, but when he was playing, he was averaging almost a point per game, most of those points coming on the power play. His presence is sorely missed right now on the Pens woeful power play. He may not be the best back-checking forward, but he also probably shouldn't be playing center at the point in his career either, in my opinion, unless you pair him with someone that can cover the defensive end from the wing postion. That probably wouldn't work too well in Michel Therrien's system. He certainly shouldn't play center at the expense of Sidney Crosby, as the team really needs Crosby to develop at the center position. With the hopeful arrival of Malkin next year, the transition of Lemieux to wing will be even more critical, as the Pens will be stacked up the middle.

The biggest disappointment for Mario has to be the -16 rating, along with the under 10% shooting percentage (he's currently at 9.1%). Taking a look back over his career, he was only in the minus column a few times, and it's more a function of the team he was on than anything else. I think it's the same way this year too. The shooting percentage is a different problem, though. I think he's just slowing down a bit. Prior to his comeback, he'd never shot lower than 15% for a season. The first year he came back, he shot 20%. Since then, he hasn't broken 12%. I'm guessing it's because his hands aren't quite as fast as they used to be.

Just to wax nostalgic, take a look at the stats from his immortal 88-89 season -
76 Games
85 Goals (31 on PP)
114 A (49 on PP)
+41
100 PIM
13 Short-handed goals
8 Game winning goals

End of an era - Mario Lemieux retires... again

According to numerous sources, Mario Lemieux will announce his retirement from the NHL this afternoon at a press conference.

It is mildly surprising, considering that he had been working out with the team of late, and all reports were that he was going to play again soon. However, when you're dealing with issues around your irregular heartbeat, it just isn't worth the risk. Supposedly, the medication he's taking causes him to become fatigued.

Personally, I'm just glad I had the chance to see him play. He's one of the best.

Flyers 4, Penguins 2

You know, I'm getting tired of typing scores with the Penguins second, especially where the Flyers or Rangers are concerned. At least they're staying in the hunt for the number one overall draft pick.

The losing streak is now at 10 games, the longest this season. This one doesn't have any games in overtime either.

Tonight, the Pens stayed out of the penalty box in the third period, though they still allowed a goal on the power play. They also tied the game in the third, but a late goal went in for the Flyers. The Pens are living proof of the phrase "you can't win for losing"...

Tarnstrom must have been hurt again, because he only played a little more than nine minutes. Other players on reduced playing time were Endicott, Lefebvre and Cairns. Cairns only played 9 shifts for 3:42, an average of about 25 seconds per shift. Hopefully he's just rounding into game shape, or we may have overpaid for him.

This week is a busy one for the Pens, with games on Wednesday and Thursday.

In case you're wondering, the Blues have the fewest points in the NHL, with 27. The Pens have 31, with Columbus next at 36. The Blues have also played three fewer games than the Pens.

Game #49 - at Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh - 11-28-9 - 31 pts - Last in East
Philadelpha - 29-11-8 - 66 pts - 3rd in East

So the Pens played the Flyers tough on Saturday here in Pittsburgh. Tonight in Philadelphia, they'll need to not only duplicate that effort, but get some pucks in the net to have any chance.

They'll also have to be more aware of the rules - how can Lefebvre not know that clearing the puck over the glass is a penalty? More importantly, how bad had the officiating become, when a delay of game (as throwing the puck over the glass is) was a common defensive tactic that was generally accepted? It's no wonder the league has tried to take some of the decision making out of the hands of the referees on the ice.

Anyway, Fleury is expected in goal tonight. Esche should be back in there for the Flyers. For the Pens, the formula is simple - keep doing what you've been doing at even-strength, take advantage of your power play opportunities (especially since Philly isn't that great on the PK), and for heaven's sake, shut someone down on the penalty kill. How long has it been since we've given someone a goose-egg on their power play? The last time was in the team's last win - against Montreal. For nine straight games, the Pens have allowed a power play goal. They've also score more than two goals only three times in those nine games. That's not going to win many games.

Let's hope for a different performance tonight.

Let's go Pens!

Flyers 2, Penguins 1

I didn't get to see any of this game, but from what I can gather, it would seem to be more of the same stuff. The Pens got down early, played well enough, outshot the Flyers but couldn't put the puck into the net. Fleury played well, and the team did everything but score. The took too many penalties again and it cost them (especially in the third), as both Flyer goals were on the power play.

A few notes from the stats -

• Why not play Koltsov on the penalty kill? Give Recchi a break and let Koltsov have his minutes on the PK. Maybe Konstantin isn't physical enough... and we know his hands aren't that great, but I'd like to see some extra depth developed for the PK, and let Recchi save his legs for when it might matter (like next year).
• Brooks Orpik led all players with nine hits. Want to guess who was second? Tomas Surovy.
• Sidney Crosby had a great night on faceoffs, winning 13 out of 20.
• Eric Cairns had as many penalty minutes as he did minutes played (5).

Next up for the Pens is a game Monday night in Philadelphia. I don't see things getting much better...

Game #48 - vs Flyers

Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins

Philadelphia - 28-11-8 - 64 pts - Third in East
Pittsburgh - 11-27-9 - 31 pts - Last in East

No time today for an extended preview. The Pens will have to be at their best to beat the Flyers. There's been little evidence that they can be at their best for 60 minutes (as shown the other night when the played well for about 55 minutes). I'm not looking for a big win, but it would be nice. I'm with Will on this one - the only team I like less than the Rangers is the Flyers.

Brooks Orpik will return to the lineup today. Look for Fleury in goal. National broadcast on NBC - woo hoo!

Let's go Pens!

Midseason Review - Mark Recchi

Mark Recchi - 46 Games - 13 G, 23 A, -23, 32 PIM

Grade: B

I know this grade might seem high, but Recchi has been the workhorse for this team. He regularly leads the forwards in minutes played (he's over 1:30 above the nearest forward in Average Time On Ice - ATOI). He plays even-strength, short handed and on the power play. He plays tough, and with a high level of skill. His offensive numbers aren't that great, but they are in line with what he's averaged over the last three seasons. One area that is an abberation is his plus / minus rating. He's never finished a season below a -5 before in his career. Right now, he's at a -23. I would attribute that more to the team he's on than anything else.

He's one player that the Pens could deal, but likely will not, due to his close ties to Mario and the city. I think that's the right way to go - he's popular here and works hard. He'll be very valuable in the next few seasons when the Pens get things turned around.

Rangers 4, Penguins 2

I hate the Rangers.

This was a strange game, as Bob Errey and Mike Lange said several times. It was a 1-0 game for two periods, and then the Pens rallied to tie the game in the third. In the third, the Pens had a power play. Crosby clearly gets pushed into the net, and Surovy scores with Crosby in there. The ref doesn't blow the whistle when Crosby goes in (even though he watched the whole thing), but rather once the puck goes in (a few seconds later), he called interference on Crosby. Bob Errey was particularly harsh on Don Marouelli, basically saying the call was total horsecrap, which I'd have to say that I agree with - not that I'm biased or anything... :)

Anyway, the Rangers score after the penalty to Crosby expires, while the Pens have two centers on the ice. Endicott doesn't cover Rozsival properly, and Michal scores. That was a save the Pens really needed Fleury to make.

Gonchar has started to play better, and the young guys continue to do well. Armstrong and Ouellet in particular were solid. Crosby was great too, but I guess I don't consider him one of the "young guys", since he's never played in the minors. I guess it just goes to show how much the team relies on him already to be a leader. He's filling the role quite nicely, if you ask me.

Next up is a game Saturday afternoon on national television against the Flyers. Forsberg has been hurt (he missed his game tonight), but is expected to play on Saturday. Joy.

Midseason Review - Zigmund Palffy

Zigmund Palffy - 42 Games - 11 G, 31 A, +5, 12 PIM

Grade: B+

Okay - I wrote this before he retired. That doesn't change my assessment (though some of the comments are somewhat ironic), so here it is.

For a player on this team to be in the plus column in plus / minus rating is incredible. There are currently three of them, and the other two (Pirjeta and Christensen) aren't with the club right now. Palffy has produced while keeping up the defensive duties quite well. Before he arrived this year, I thought he had the reputation of being someone who would float out near the red line, waiting for one of his guys to get the puck out of his end. I may be mistaken, but either way, he's been a pleasent surprise in this regard.

Offensively, he's been weak in the goal scoring area, but I'd still say he's a good bet for 30 goals. He also hasn't been able to flourish on the power play like he should, with just 2 G, 9 A on the power play. I think once he hits a groove, he'll be hard to stop.

This is one guy with a bigger contract that the team should not even consider dealing. There will certainly be teams that would take him, but the Pens should make him a fixture here for years to come.

Player moves

The Pens have placed Matt Murley on the injured reserve with a bad shoulder. They also have recalled Guillaume Lefebvre from Wilkes-Barre.

Murley sounds like he could be down for awhile. That's a shame, because he worked hard with the Pens. The results weren't always there, but he was an excellent penalty killer.

Guillaume is the latest in the parade of Baby Pens to make the journey to the big club. He played briefly with the Pens and Flyers previously.

Pens for sale

According to this article, Mario Lemieux has said that the team is up for sale. This is basically a "strike while the iron is hot" line of thought. Given that the team will likely get an arena from the slots licensee, regardless of who it is, owning a hockey franchise in Pittsburgh is suddenly not a bad proposition. The article basically says that they have had some inquiries over the past few months, and that anyone that bought the team would be bound to the city as long as the Pens group (meaning, Isle of Capri) is awarded the slots license.

My personal opinion is that this is terrific for Mario. He deserves to get the money that was promised to him, and he's stuck his neck out for the team and the city far beyond what anyone could have resonably expected. If he (and his ownership group) can make a profit and sell the team (hopefully to someone who can spend up to the cap), then I hope it happens.

There are big changes happening with the Pens before our eyes, and the next few months will shape the team for years to come. Let's hope they turn out well for the team and the city - I hope to be able to attend Penguins' games for years to come (in Pittsburgh!)

Game #47 - vs Rangers

New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins

New York - 25-14-7 - 57 pts - 5th in East
Pittsburgh - 11-26-9 - 31 pts - Last in East

Back to the grind in the Eastern Conference. The Pens have finished up their games against the West until next season. Like everything else this year, they weren't very successful.

With Palffy's retirement, Koltsov will fill the open spot on the top line. I'm not sure how good that is, given the way that the puck seems to avoid Koltsov's stick, but now is Konstatin's time to shine. That line will be blazing fast, that's for sure.

The Rangers have lost two in a row, including Monday night at Columbus. Their power play has been weak lately, going 2 for 31 in their last seven games. Jagr was held scoreless as well on Monday. All of this does not bode well for the Penguins, given their ability to make even the worst offensive clubs look like dynamos. I can't think of a better situation for the Rangers to break out of their slump. Maybe I'm being too negative.

When Petr Prucha has the puck for the Rangers, get ready for a shot. He has only six assists to go with 21 goals and a shooting percentage over 26%!! He doesn't always get a lot of shots, but he's one to be aware of.

Petr Sykora has four points in four games, and is +3, since being acquired from the Mighty Ducks. It's been a little while since he's been in the East, but he has always been a decent contributor.

Michal Rozsival is a wonder in New York so far. He leads the Rangers in average time on ice (over 22 minutes per game) and plus / minus. I'm not sure why the Pens gave up on him, but he sure would look good on our blue line right now, wouldn't he?

The Pens and Rangers have split their four games this season, and the Pens have generally played well against the Rangers (heck, if they won two games against any team this year, we'd have to say they're doing really well against them, right?). Fleury should be in goal tonight, given that he is staying in town for the rest of the season.

Let's go Pens!

Pens acquire Eric Cairns

The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired Eric Cairns from the Florida Panthers for a sixth round draft choice. Here's the official announcement from the Pens website.

You can't imagine that Cairns is going to come in and play a big role, other than maybe to protect Crosby. His resume this year isn't that great - he has only played in 23 games all year, and not with much frequency lately. If he's really being brought here to upgrade our toughness, then the team is pretty poor already, since Cairns only has three fighting majors all year. He also has averaged less than 8 minutes of ice time per game, which is extremely low for a defensemen.

Craig Patrick does seem to love those tall players, though. Think about McKenna, Leroux, heck, even Hatcher. I'm just not sure Cairns is really going to help. I hope I'm wrong. The Pens didn't give up much for him, so I guess it's worth the shot. Maybe it's an effort to be able to trade players like Andre Roy and Lyle Odelein, since they might be valuable to a team in the playoffs, but here all they do right now is protect Crosby.

Fleury will remain with team

The Pens have announced that Marc Andre Fleury will remain with the team for the rest of the season. This might have something to do with Ziggy Palffy's retirement, but it's the right call to make.

Ziggy Palffy retires?!?!?!?

Wow - talk about a surprise - Ziggy Palffy has announced his retirement at the age of 33, citing personal reasons.

I have to say I'm completely shocked. Wow. This one will hurt - wonder if the contract is guarenteed, or how it will impact the salary cap?

Edit - Here's an additional article that has more information from the AP - Palffy evidentally has had shoulder problems (he's had two operations), and was looking at a third operation, which his doctors didn't recommend. I didn't know he was hurt again.

Midseason Review

Over the next week or so, I'll be posting quick midseason reviews of each player. Some will get their own entries, while others will be grouped. Comments are welcome!

Midseason Review - Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby - 46 Games - 22 G, 29 A, -9, 70 PIM

Grade: A

Sid is not just the top offensive threat on the team, he also leads them in penalty minutes. In fairness, that title would go to Brooks Orpik if he hadn't been hurt, or Andre Roy if he played more. However, Sidney has been everything the Pens thought and then some. He has shown that he not only has the amazing skill, but also the grit and toughness that we're not used to seeing in Pittsburgh (think about all the soft European players that we've had here in the last 10 years). Defensively, when his line is on the ice, they seem to be prone to being stuck in their own end, trying to get the puck out. Once they do, however, they've become proficient at attacking the offensive zone with speed.

Sidney has earned the A on his jersey, though we still need to see some maturing out of him. Overall, I'd say he's been more than could be reasonably expected in his first year so far.

Though he may hit the rookie wall later in the year, for now he's still going strong. This is a great warm-up for next year when Malkin joins him here and they form a lethal one-two punch.

Canucks 4, Penguins 2

I didn't get to see most of this game. I did watch the majority of the third period, however. It seemed to be more of the same old stuff. Not sure where else to go with that... so let's take a look at a few somewhat random facts about the game...

• Ric Jackman wasn't playing on the power play. Just a question, but if you're not going to play him on the PP, why put him in the lineup? Why have him on the team?
• Do you know how many shots we got from defensemen not named Gonchar (who had five, btw)? TWO!! And they were both from Scuderi and Melichar. Not a single shot from Tarnstrom, Whitney or Jackman on the net. That's unacceptable.
• Talbot, while he did play over five minutes on the PK, only played 2:24 at even strength. You can't tell me that you couldn't run him out there on a shorter basis just to use his speed and hustle. Send Murley out there with him to create havoc (Murley only played 3:13 at even strength).
• Tomas Surovy's ice time continues to drop. He only logged a bit over 10 minutes tonight. If I'm him, I'm probably looking over my shoulder to see who is playing well on the Baby Pens... though I'm not sure who else they'd bring up at this point. He really needs to play with confidence.
• Speaking of confidence, Colby Armstrong and Michel Ouellet are both playing with it. They make rookie mistakes, but you can see that they have the chance to be solid NHL players. I don't know that Armstrong will continue to get all the ice time that he's receiving, or even play on the PP, but he's a solid contributer. Ouellet, on the other hand, has a chance to be special. He just seems to have to scoring knack.

The team is off until Thursday, when they welcome the Rangers to town. I'd love to see them stop the losing streak in time to kick New York around a bit. Here's hoping.

Game #46 - vs Canucks

Vancouver Canucks at Pittsburgh Penguins

Vancouver - 25-15-5 - 55 pts - 7th in West
Pittsburgh - 11-25-9 - 31 pts - Last in East

The Pens wrap up their games against the Western Conference tonight at home against the Canucks. It is their fifth game in seven nights, so we'll see who has taken Michel Therrien's conditioning program to heart.

Vancouver has been a streaky team lately, losing eight out of nine games (three in OT) before winning four of their last five. They are coming off of an 8-1 blowout of the Islanders in Long Island, so they're certainly capable of embarassing the Penguins if the team isn't ready to play.

The Canucks are led by Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi, though they're both in the negative in plus / minus, which tells you they're either bad defensively, or they like to stay towards the offensive zone. Either way, the Pens may be able to make some hay while they're on the ice.

Fleury in net for the Pens. He has now appeared in 22 games. He has to be getting close to those bonus clauses. Something will have to give soon, because I can't see the team sucking up the kind of financial loss they're projecting in a season like this.

Hopefully the Pens can get over the hump tonight.

Let's go Pens!

Predators 5, Penguins 4

Wow. The trifecta almost happened. I have to say I was really surprised. I thought the Penguins were done for, going down 5-1. Then, the play that seemed to turn the tide occurred. Ziggy Palffy was skating horizontally just inside the offensive zone, when Darcy Hordichuk lined Ziggy up and absolutely plastered him. Ziggy went flying, and so did Maxime Talbot... right at Hordichuk. Yes, Tomas Surovy was skating near Hordichuk, getting ready to call him nasty names and perhaps think about getting close enough to bump fearsome Darcy. Talbot didn't really think about anything, except maybe "KILL, KILL, KILL". He skated all the way across the ice, discarding those silly gloves on his hands once he was within about 10 feet of Hordichuk. The fight was over in about 15 seconds, and I'm not sure Maxime won, but the point was made. Talbot had done more to inspire the team in those 15 seconds than they had been able to do for themselves in 25 minutes.

After the fight, the Pens started to play better. They evened up the shots advantage in the second, adding two goals to make it 5-3 along the way. One of the goals was of the flukey variety that usually bites the Penguins (much like the goal earlier in the evening that hit Scott Walker in the head and went in - henceforth known as the Pele Goal).

The Pens continued the onslaught in the third, outshooting the Predators 17-5 and fairly well dominating the play. Leclair, Armstrong, Malone and (of course) Crosby all acquitted themselves quite well. Unfortunately, despite getting to within one goal, they couldn't get the game tying tally. Truthfully, it didn't really feel like they were going to get it either.

The question is, why has it been taking the team so long to get going? Why do they have to get kicked around before they respond? Maybe the team needs one of those inflatable punching dummies in the locker room so they can get themselves fired up. Um... okay, having thought about what I just typed, that might not be a good idea - we've seen this team fight. Too many players would wind up with bruises from when the punching dummy bounced back up. That's all we'd need, to have Bob Errey have to say that someone was missing the game due to the concussion they received from the punching dummy.

Fleury had to come in to relieve Caron, who didn't play very well. The last goal (the Pele Goal) probably wasn't his fault, but he was yanked nonetheless. The real tough question is going to be what to do with Fleury. The team can finish last just as easily with Fleury in the minors, and save a bunch of money in the process. This leads to two problems, however. First, Fleury really needs this development time in the big leagues. He's ready, in my opinion, and I'd love for him to be ready for the next step when the team is in better shape (ie, next season). Secondly, is there anyone else that they can go with? Thibault is possibly out for the year, and Caron or Sabourin haven't shown that they can keep up. Maybe they could limp through with Caron... but I think they need Fleury up here.

No rest for the weary - tomorrow's game is against Vancouver at the Igloo. Preview up tomorrow.

The perfect trifecta?

So the Panthers and Steelers both win nail-biters, unexpectedly and over great teams. If the Pens win, it might be an even bigger upset. Can it happen?

Notice I'm not holding my breath. But I am hoping.

Let's go Pens!

Game #45 - at Nashville

Pittsburgh Penguins at Nashville Predators

Pittsburgh - 11-24-9 - 31 pts - Last in East
Nashville - 27-12-5 - 59 pts - 3rd in West

Nashville is winning with smoke and mirrors. They have to be. How else do you explain a team that has only scored 12 more goals than they've allowed to have won 27 games? They're also incredibily streaky, having win streaks of 8,6 and 4 to go with losing streaks of 5,4 and 3 (some of the losses were OTL). Right now, they've lost two straight in OT. With any luck, they'll be slumping and the Pens can take advantage.

The home attendence has been inconsistent for the Predators, to be nice. If I were being a little bit less considerate, I'd say it was weak. For a team that has produced all year long, they've had games in the not too distant past with only 11,000 people there.

Player-wise, the Preds are led by Paul Kariya. They also have Steve Sullivan and Yanic Perrault (wouldn't he have looked good in a Pens uniform this year? But no... we had to pay twice as much for Andre Roy...) Their main goalie is Tomas Vokoun - he's probably the main reason their record is as good as it is. His numbers are really pretty good.

For the Pens, it's time to buckle down and work hard again. Therrien was pleased with the effort in the first two periods in Chicago, but the Pens couldn't seem to get over the hump. I just saw Star Wars recently, so I'm getting my Kessel Run jokes ready for sure now. The shame of it is that if the Pens had stayed hot, come back to beat Atlanta and rode that to a winning streak over some dubious oppostition this week, they would have been right back into the playoff chase. Instead, they're just trying to score more than one goal in a game.

Maybe this is when they right the ship.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention that I hope the Steelers and Pitt Panthers win tomorrow. It'll be a busy day for the TV here.

Let's go Pens!

Blackhawks 4, Penguins 1

Let's play a game.

It's called "What did we learn tonight?"

You want to take a few guesses? Go ahead - I'll wait.








waiting.....










waiting....






still need more time? 'cause there certainly are a few things we learned.... i'll give you another few seconds.



tick... tick... tick....






Okay - so here's what we learned, in no particular order:

1. The Penguins really suck right now.
2. The power play looked terrible, their lone goal aside.
3. Colby Armstrong is starting to come on and play well, though we've seen this in spurts from Christensen, Ouellet and Surovy. Let's see if he can sustain it.
4. The Penguins really really suck right now.
5. You cannot give referees discretion when making calls*, because they suck (that's my word for the night).
6. When challenged (like, say, by their coach), the Pens backed into a corner and whimpered. Look at the two games since Therrien let them have it - outscored 10-2, outshot, out-hit, out-worked, out-hustled, out-everything!!
7. The Pens really really really suck right now.
   

So... what did we learn? Just so I'm not accused of being overly pessemistic (because I'm usually quite the optimist at heart), please note the use of the phrase "right now" when discussing the suckage that is the Penguins currently. We've seen them play better this year, and I know they'll get better this year. Right now, however, in case you're just joining us... they suck.

*What am I talking about with the refs? In the second period, while killing a penalty, the Blackhawks deliberately batted the puck over the boards in their own end with their hand. A penalty, right? WRONG! Because the rule is that a puck hit with the stick is automatic, a puck with the hand is only a penalty at the referee's discretion. So does he blow the whistle like he should? No! Why not? Who knows? To continue, later in the same penalty, a Hawks player this time hits the puck over the glass WITH HIS STICK. The refs then decide that "it scraped the top of the glass" - I have Tivo, and we slowed it down and watched it - it didn't come close to the top of the glass. No call. Both of these would have given the Pens a 5-on-3, and since they were only down 3-1 at the time, a good chance to get back into the game. What a joke.

Anyway, enough venom for one night. Sunday is a game against a good team on the road - Nashville. If the Pens can't beat two teams that looked worse then they did, what are they going to do against a really good team?

Sunday could be great, or it could be horrible. There's a little football game going on at 1:00 where the Steelers are big underdogs. Pitt basketball is undefeated, but playing a real test on the road at Louisville, and the Pens are at Nashville. A perfect day would be all three teams winning, but truthfully, considering the opposition, I'd take even one.

Game #44 - at Chicago

Pittsburgh Penguins at Chicago Blackhawks

Pittsburgh - 11-23-9 - 31 pts - 14th in East - 14 pts out of playoffs
Chicago - 14-25-4 - 32 pts - 13th in West - 21 pts of out playoffs

Tonight we'll get to see how the team plays after their great "come together by beating the snot out of people (or trying to)" party. The Pens don't fight very well, but maybe the sticking up for each other, as Michel Therrien calls it, will give them something to build on. Either way, it will make for entertaining hockey.

Chicago is almost as bad as the Penguins. They're 1-7-2 in their last 10 games, and have an anemic power play (but didn't the Blue Jackets have the same thing?) Offensively, their leading point-getter, Tyler Arnason, has only 31 points in 43 games. Mark Bell does have 16 goals, so there's someone on that team that can put the puck in the net.

The strength of the Blackhawks has been their penalty kill. They also roll their lines well, as only one forward (Kyle Calder) averages more than 18 minutes per game (the Pens, for contrast, have four that average over 19:00 per game - Crosby, Palffy, Recchi and Lemieux).

Other than that, you can read the Pens Notebook on the Post-Gazette web site to refresh your memory about Matthew Barnaby and his longtime feud with Lyle Odelein. You probably remember when Odenlein was with the Devils and Barnaby was with the Penguins in the playoffs, when we first learned about "Cornelius". Don't forget that Barnaby also has some offensive skills too.

From the same article, Brooks Orpik separated his shoulder while practicing. No word on how long he'll be out. Adrian Aucoin will miss the game tonight for the Blackhawks. That's good news for the Pens.

Today is Friday the 13th. Let's hope the Pens do something truly weird an blow out an opponent on the road.

Let's go Pens!

Dany Sabourin sent back to Wilkes-Barre

As expected, since Caron cleared waivers and is now with the Penguins, Dany Sabourin has been returned to Wilkes-Barre. This is probably good for his development, and we've already seen that Caron can be a competant backup in the NHL. Things will get really interesting soon, as Fleury is nearing the bonus threshholds. Will the Pens keep him here?

Don't tell me the fun is all gone!

Michel Therrien didn't really have much to say publicly after last night's game. The only thing he really said was that he was happy that the team stuck up for each other, and that this might... um... wait - I'll let him tell you himself -

"For the first time this year, that team seemed to stick with each other," he said. That's a good start. Even if we're in January. I like the way the guys responded. It's a positive thing that the players stuck [up] for each other, and we're going to build on that."

Hard practice in Chicago today... game tomorrow night. Haven't seen any player news yet - they currently have three goalies on the roster, Ryan Malone didn't return after his um... fight (can we really call that a fight?) last night, and Murley and Tarnstrom were healthy scratches. Preview up by tomorrow in the early afternoon.