The Confluence

I mentioned a few days ago that there would be some minor changes coming.

Well, now I can let you know what those are.

I have graciously been offered the position as Penguins blogger at the Most Valuable Network, or MVN.

The link for my site there is http://mvn.com/nhl-penguins/. I still have some fixing up to do over there, but I'll get it up and running smooth within the next few days.

You'll notice that the name of my site there is called "The Confluence of the Three Rivers". I did that to avoid any potential legal mumbo-jumbo that could arise with the same site name.

Just kidding, I did it to confuse the shit out of you.

So what will happen from now on for my Penguins posts is that I will make the post at MVN, and will have it's subject with a link to MVN on this site.

My Pirates and Steelers posts will NOT be affected at all with this move, at least right now. Once they see that I'm the Pens blogosphere's version of Mickey Spillane, maybe I'll start doing Bucs and Stiller articles too, but that's for a later time.

So please add http://mvn.com/nhl-penguins/ to your bookmarks, and don't delete this one.

Once again, thanks to everyone who's made these first five months fun as hell to do, and with hopefully the Pens playoffs on the horizon, I will counterbalance the doldrums of the Bucs' 15th consecutive losing season.

Just a hunch.

Pens Gameday; Will history repeat itself ?? Is "Smoke" coming back to the 'Burgh ??

2007-02-22T17:12:00.000-05:00

The Pens visit southern Florida tonight for what has historically been a lousy experience in meeting the Florida Panthers.

Just something about facing the Panthers, no matter how good or bad they've been in the past, they've just had the Pens' number.

Jokinen needs to pull a hammy in the pregame skate, not that I wish harm upon him.

But I wouldn't shed a tear if it would happen.

That goes for the Lightning on Saturday night.

As most Pens know by now, Thibault gets the start in goal tonight.

I would expect a better defensive effort tonight, it's been widely reported in the press that Therrien has been hammering home the defensive drills for the past few days.

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Got some hot rumors going around today (no, not simply Eklund, a few other places as well) that the Pens are close to reacquiring former Pen Bryan "Smoke" Smolinski. I have no idea who is being offered as going to Chicago in the deal.

In addition, I'm also reading that the deal to move badass George Laraque to the Pens is heating up as well.

Who knows how close to authentic these deals end up to be (I'd like to see some D-man rumors, although I saw some Brent Sopel rumors a couple of days ago). But I think it's pretty apparent that Ray Shero is not going to stand put through Tuesday's trade deadline.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Therrien benches Fleury for Panthers game

2007-02-21T20:15:00.000-05:00

As we've all seen this year, Michel Therrien is not a shy man when it comes to making changes.

Well, just to show everyone that he's an equal opportunity unemployer, Therrien benched the slumping Marc-Andre Fleury for Thursday night's game in Florida, and Jocelyn Thibault gets the start.

But really, when you come to think about it, considering how lousy the Pens have played in the state of Florida (that being 1-17 at both Florida and Tampa Bay in recent years), it may not even matter who's in net both tomorrow or Saturday nights.

However, in a "pick your poison" point of view, I guess that I'd want Fleury back in net for the Tampa game anyways.

Whatever the goalie lineup, the Pens are gonna have to get right back up and dust themselves off after the Islanders loss. The schedule gets no easier after the Pens get back from Florida, as they're only home for one game vs. Jersey next Tuesday before going back to back on the road at the Rangers next Thursday and Carolina next Friday.

The Carolina game next Friday will be The Confluence's third road trip of the year, the second to Raleigh. It sure as hell looks like since the Pens will be at MSG the night before, I'll be sure to see Thibault against the Canes again. Hopefully it won't be a similar outcome like the last 6-2 debacle.

Bucs full squad workouts begin; Hope springs eternal...

2007-02-21T19:53:00.000-05:00

The Buccos took the field today for their first full squad workouts of the year.

Of course, during the 40 day or so adventure commonly known as spring training, you're gonna see a lot of different combinations of players, playing all kinds of positions.

Most of which you don't give a second thought to, until at least mid-March anyways.

But perhaps it was a little more than interesting to see that for the entire day Jose Castillo was taking ground balls at third base as opposed to second base, which was where Freddy Sanchez was parked.

Should anyone read anything into it ?? Well, in my opinion, the only way you should read anything into it is if you're looking at the positioning of Castillo at third strictly as a psychological move on Jim Tracy's part.

And nothing more.

Hey, it couldn't hurt, ya know ?

In the past 45 days or so, Castillo has been called out by his double play partner and has been told by his manager that he must beat out Jose Bautista to keep his starting job.

Maybe a little more motivation is gained by sticking him at third base on the first day of practice.

Besides that, I sure hope all of the soap opera bullshit between Laverne and Shirley is put to rest.

Think that Shero should "stay the course" at the deadline ?? Read this first....

2007-02-20T19:00:00.000-05:00

Those who think the Pens' loss yesterday in Long Island was just an aberration, a bump in the road, or whatever clique you want to throw at them, take a quick glance at the following stats and tell me if you think that Ray Shero should keep the team as is (as a lot of fans have speculate), or if they should make some moves.

Even though fans have been steadily clamoring for a right-handed D-man all year, they should be yelling from their rooftops now. Since the streak started on Jan. 13th, check these stats out;

Jan. 13th at Philly: Blew 3-1 2nd period lead in 5-3 win
Jan. 18th at Boston: Blew 2-0 2nd period and 4-3 3rd period leads in 5-4 shootout loss
Feb. 1st vs. Montreal: Blew 4-2 3rd period lead in 5-4 shootout win
Feb. 8th at Philly: Blew 4-2 3rd period lead in 5-4 shootout win
Feb. 10th at Toronto: Blew 3-0 2nd period lead in 6-5 overtime win
Feb. 14th vs. Chicago: Blew 3-1 2nd period lead in 5-4 shootout win
Feb. 19th at Isles: Blew 3-1 2nd period and 5-4 3rd period leads in 6-5 loss

The defense's play has been so poor that I'm reading fans' pleading for the quick return of career minor leaguer Alain Nasreddine. Are you people serious ??

And those defensive gems don't exactly help out the goalie's stats, as witnessed by Fleury's dropping totals;

At least 3 goals given up in 10 out of the last 17 games since streak started.
7 out of 15 games Fleury started in which his save percentage was under 90%.

So if Shero's goal is to make the playoffs, OK sure, keep the team as is.

And even that's not guaranteed, not at all.

But to make noise in the playoffs, a move for a righty-Dman is a must.

Isles 6, Pens 5; Well deserved loss....

2007-02-19T16:07:00.000-05:00

It was just a matter of time.

Defensive lapses up the wazoo and a poor performance from MAF, including giving up the soft game-winning goal with 23 seconds to go, were enough to spell defeat for the first time in over a month today for the Pens.

Ironically, in my view anyway, today was the first game since the Pens defeated Nashville in which I thought they were very responsible with the puck and did not make many poor passes at all.

But defensively, the Pens played one of their worst games in quite a while. Both goals which got the Islanders back in the game within 15 seconds were caused by poor defensive coverage.

And MAF arguably gave up 2 or 3 soft goals today.

But let's face facts, and I've been saying it game by game for quite a while now, they've been winning games and getting points in 16 straight games, which of course for Pens fans has been fantastic, but their lack of intensity, their poor defensive play, and their mediocre goaltending lately have made them skating on thin ice for wins (no pun intended).

It simply caught up with them today.

And now the Pens must go to Florida on Thursday for a quick 2 game road trip, Florida being a place that has never historically been kind to the Pens.

So the Pens must forget about this game. They must realize that this day was going to come quicker rather than later, based on their play as of late, and work on their lapses.

Let's also not forget, the GM's are meeting now until Wednesday in Florida. While most of the "meetings" will be discussing various league issues, you can bet your ass that their will be trade talks galore as well.

Don't be surprised if the Pens have a new teammate or two by Thursday's game in Sunrise.

Pens Gameday; No rest for the weary....

2007-02-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

This should be quite the test for the Pens.

Not because the Islanders will be any more a difficult opponent than they usually are (although they are playing better lately).

But because by the time the Pens and the Isles finish today's game on Long Island, the Pens will have played three games in 68 hours.

Fortunately for the Pens, they have relatively younger legs than just about any other team, so that will no doubt assist them in getting through today's game.

MAF will be back in goal today after Thibault filled in admirably yesterday against the Caps.

We'll see if the Pens can continue their remarkable point streak without the aid of Sid scoring goals, which now stands at 1 goal in his last 10 games.

LET'S GO PENS !!!

Pens 3, Caps 2; Redundancy in its true form...

2007-02-18T20:37:00.000-05:00

Is this getting absolutely ridiculous, or what ?!

In yet another mediocre effort, the Pens did just enough to defeat the Caps Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 win.

That's 16 straight games with a point for the Pens, with a 14-0-2 record over that stretch.

You have to give props to the Caps. They came out strong, delivering punishing check after check. The vast majority of those were not reciprocated by the Pens.

The Pens sure looked like they were going to blow the Caps out today, especially after the early powerplay deflection goal by Recchi.

They quickly gave up the tying goal in the 1st, and it stayed that way until Malkin uncorked a laser from the right goal line on a one-timer to make it 2-1 in the 2nd.

Talbot continued his strong 2nd half play by scoring on a one-timer to make it 3-1. The Caps scored with about 40 seconds remaining in the game with an empty Caps net, but that was all they could muster.

I'm really trying not to sound like a broken record here (showing my age on that one), but I think that most knowledgeable Pens fans would concur that although the Pens continue to win, they're showing considerable chinks in the armor, so to speak.

The Islanders are up next on Monday afternoon at 1PM.

Bucs Spring Training; Must be baseball season, another pitcher hurt

2007-02-17T10:31:00.000-05:00

Here we go again. The Bucs didn't even make it to the first workout of the season before they had their first pitcher injury of the season. Brad Lincoln, the Bucs' 2006 1st round draft pick, has what the Bucs are calling "irritation" in his right elbow, and although they don't believe it to be too serious, it could force Lincoln to miss all of spring training. Great, just great.
As probably should've been expected, Japanese pitcher Masumi Kuwata, he of the whopping 83 MPH fastball, has made Bradenton look like they kidnapped Ichiro in the offseason. The Bucs' PR people have stated that they have issued 50 credentials for the Japanese press contingent. Kuwata is expected to be headed for AAA Indianapolis.
We'll see if the weight that Jose Castillo is rumored to have lost in the offseason will relate to any reduction in bonehead plays he's made in the last couple of years.
Call me crazy, but don't the same visa delays happen EVERY year with the Central American players ?? Couldn't one time, for a change, the management and the players actually be proactive, and start these visa proceedings more in advance so that by the time they're resolved, they can actually report ON TIME ??
Neil Walker is permanently moving from catcher to third base. I'm sure Neil is a great athlete, but I have to admit I'm not very thrilled about this. As is the case with Ryan Doumit, the Bucs are too happy with Walker's defensive liabilites behind the plate, so they felt moving him to third gives him a better shot to get to the big club in a quicker timeframe. I'll believe that when I see it.
The Bucs start their spring training schedule on March 1st vs. Cincinnati, unless you count the annual slaughter vs. Manatee CC on Feb. 28th.

Pens 5, Devils 4; Flirting with Disaster....

2007-02-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

On behalf of all Pens fans, let me exclaim, "we'll take it".

Another game, another game with a big lead, another game with a blow....

Not so fast.

The Pens combined some fortunate deflections with a less-than-Brodeur-ish effort, and then held on for dear life in defeating the Devils 5-4 in front of thousands of empty seats at the Meadowlands. The official attendance was 15,404, but obviously the weather played a part in many of those paid ticket holders staying home.

MAF let his share of bad goals in tonight. The shot from the blue line from Zajak that went in the net off of MAF's glove was really bad.

Sid finally got off of the schnide tonight with his 26th goal of the season when he beat Brodeur by the 5-hole.

Next up are Ovechkin and the Caps on Sunday afternoon on NBC.

Pens Gameday; Another mediocre effort won't do tonight...

2007-02-16T16:58:00.000-05:00

You'll have to excuse me, I've been feeling like dog shit for a few days, so this may be short-winded.

The Pens roll into the Jersey swamp tonight on that amazing 14 point game streak.

But one thing's for sure, if the Pens play a sloppily as they have recently, they won't get close to overtime against Marty Brodeur and the Devils.

The Devils are gonna be without a couple of their starters in Colin White and Brian Gionta. In addition, defensive forward John Madden took a nasty hit to the face with a puck the other day. Madden is expected to play, but his face was awfully swollen recently.

With the Devils usual boring defensive style of play, it's gonna be difficult to get a win (or at least a point) without Sid having a good game. Sure, you can have Sid go pointless and win vs. the Caps, but you won't be able to do it vs. the Devils.

Looks like MAF will be in goal again tonight, with Thibault getting a start either Sunday against the Caps, or Monday vs. the Isles.

LET'S GO PENS !!!

Some changes coming your way....

2007-02-16T16:47:00.000-05:00

There's gonna be some changes, specificially in my Penguins posts, coming in the next few days.

Nothing too drastic, but I'll let you know when everything's ready.

Pens 5, Blackhawks 4 (SO); By the skin of their teeth...

2007-02-15T17:18:00.000-05:00

Statistics can be a deceiving thing, ya know ?

Certainly, the Penguins' 14 game point streak is a remarkable feat for such a young team. They've earned points in those 14 games in just about every way possible.

They've had their share of blowouts and comebacks. They've had games in which their special teams were outstanding, as well as games in which their special teams were absolutely lousy.

But one common demoninator remains; They've earned points in all 14 games.

But there's one more demoninator, and this is really the reason why the Pens' streak is so remarkable;

This team is not playing good hockey at all right now.

Their power play is in complete "cutesy mode" right now, wanting to make the pretty pass for the one-timer.

Which, of course, leads to 2 on 1's the other way, because the Pens don't seem to want to backcheck in their own end.

They've completely sat back on their heels after getting 2 and 3 goal leads lately.

Sid is starting to show a resemblence to Jan Hrdina, he's not shooting on some absolutely great scoring opportunities.

If it weren't for the muckers, this team, instead of having home ice advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs, would still be fighting for the 8th spot.

But, they ARE contributing, and that's a great thing.

And let's not forget, MAF has made some incredible saves to save games late in the last several games for the Pens. That save he made on Havlat in OT was amazing.

So I really can't believe how they're surviving playing this mediocre and not only getting points, but winning most of the games.

Well, one thing's for sure, this type of effort won't do against Marty Brodeur and the Devils on Friday night.

Cowher to join CBS in the fall...

2007-02-15T16:34:00.000-05:00

He's back with his headset.

No, not back on the sidelines, but in the studio.

Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher signed on to be a NFL analyst on CBS' "The NFL Today" pregame show.

In a curious twist, Cowher's hiring creates an additional slot on the show, along with Marino, Sharpe, Esiason, and Brown. Doesn't look like they'll be removing anyone from the show.

Let's just hope that it shuts Shannon Sharpe up for a while.

Pens Gameday; Trap Game with a capital "T"

2007-02-14T17:25:00.000-05:00

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger.

Sorry to say it, but tonight's game at the Igloo vs. the Blackhawks has all the makings of a trap game.

The Pens have been off for four days, and are playing at home, where they've historically not have been as focused.

They're playing a non-conference team with a poor record, but a team who has played better recently, beating teams like Calgary (twice) and Vancouver.

They've got one of the hottest players in the NHL in former Senator Martin Havlat, with 8 points in his last 4 games.

So one thing's for sure, they can't take this team lightly, like they did against the Blackhawks' divisional rivals, the St. Louis Blues.

On the positive, I look for Sid to get off of the schnide tonight in his 7 game goalless streak. It's not like the kid's not shooting, but just hasn't gotten the breaks in hitting the twine lately.

Looks like Fleury will start again in goal. It was speculated that Thibault may start tonight to get him some work. Let me say this, I'd rather have Thibault start tonight than against New Jersey on Friday. Maybe on Sunday against Washington.

Appears that Malone is back on the 1st line with Sid and Recchi. I really think that Therrien and Shero are preparing eventually to trade Malone, and are lofting him again to the 1st line to showcase him. Of course, I could be dead wrong, just a gut feeling.

Gonna need a strong start tonight, let's keep the string going.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

New Pens Blog

2007-02-14T17:21:00.000-05:00

Welcome aboard and good luck to Seth and the gang at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on the new Pens blog that they fired up today, "Empty Netters".

I like what I see so far, a nice blend of Pens information and some well-deserved sarcasm.

A Sunday statistical look at the Pens, for better and for worse

2007-02-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

As has been the case all year long, the young Penguins are producing some eye-opening stats.

Some, as you will see, are simply amazing, considering how young they are.

Some, however, may show us some not-so-good trends that are creeping up on them.

Of course, we have to lead the stats post with Sid's 87 points, a full 15 points ahead of a 3-way tie for 2nd place between Ovechkin, Hossa, and St. Louis. And that's been with Sid "only" getting 5 points in his last 5 games.

Malkin is starting to pull away with the rookie scoring race over LA's Anze Kopitar, leading him now 63 points to 50.

But his teammate Jordan Staal is quickly catching up to him on the rookie goal scoring race, with Malkin only leading Staal now 27 goals to 23. Staal has 7 goals in his last 5 games.

Sticking with Staal for a minute, maybe the most impressive stats for a Penguin, outside of Sid's impressive NHL points lead, is that Staal is leading the entire NHL in shooting percentage. After Staal's hat trick last night in Toronto, he now has 23 goals in only 82 shots, for an amazing 28.0% percent, easily ahead of Calgary's Kristian Huselius at 22.9%.

Other individual Pens' stats among the league leaders are Staal's 5 and Talbot's 3 short-handed goals (#1 and tied for #3, respectively) and Malkin's 13 powerplay goals ares tied for 7th.

On the team side, the Pens are tied for 8th in the league with allowing only 1.14 5-on-5 goals per game. Their powerplay is now 4th with a 20.6%. They also are 9th in the NHL with a 38.5% win percentage if they're losing after one period. But consequently, they are only 23rd in the league with a 69.2% win percentage is they're leading after one period.

But on the other side of the tracks, the plus/minus stats are somewhat revealing. Staal now leads the team at a +14, Crosby at +13, and Nasreddine at +12. But they also have several players in a minus rating, including Ouellet at -1, Gonchar at -2, Christensen at -6, and the injured Nils Ekman at -13. Kinda surprising for a team 11-0-2 in their last 13 games, huh ??

Their PK is now down to 24th in the league at 80.5%. Their faceoff percentage is dead last at 30th in the league at 46.6%.

Also, the amount of time that Crosby and Malkin are off the ice has been a topic of discussion this year as well. While Gonchar is 8th in the league in ice time per game at 26:38 per game, you have to go way down to 104th to find Crosby at 20:41 per game and 154th to find Malkin at 19:41 per game. Crosby is 206th in the league with 24.1 shifts per game, while Malkin is 263rd at 22.8 shifts per game.

Dominic Moore "leads" the Pens in faceoff percentage with 50.9%, ranked 43rd in the league. Crosby is 53rd in the league with a 49.6%. Malkin is 82nd with 44.2%.

So overall, one can't complain about the great streak the Pens are on. There no doubt that if the Pens continue to play at anywhere close to this level, they'll not only make the playoffs, but will have home ice advantage for the 1st round.

But, you're seeing signs, as indicated by the negative plus/minus ratings, the PK%, and the falling faceoff percentages, that the team needs to tighten up on it's defense.

Pens 6, Leafs 5 (OT); Staal's Hat Trick bails out Pens' defense....

2007-02-10T22:12:00.000-05:00

It really shouldn't have come down to Jordan Staal nailing the wrister in overtime for his first career hat trick to win the game for the Pens in Toronto tonight, 6-5.

After a very methodical first period for both teams in which the Pens led 1-0, the Pens took a 3-0 lead courtesy of Staal and Malkin.

But once that happened, the Pens defense basically stood stationary while the Leafs grabbed every loose puck, put shots on net, and were wide open for the tap-ins.

And before you knew it, the game was tied at 3-3 after 2 periods.

Make that 4-3.

Malone tied it up after a nice feed from Recchi to make it 4-4.

After yet another Leafs goal in which McCabe was wide open from the point to make it 5-4, Max Talbot scored on a nice wrister to the top shelf to tie it at 5.

Ron Petrovicky knocked Newbury clean out cold in a fight with a little over 5 minutes left in the 3rd period. I'm not really sure if Newbury was out old before he hit the ice, or when his head hit the ice. Either way, that really brought the crowd down to a hush.

Which leads us back to Staal's heroics in OT.

You can't help but be impressed with the Pens' determination and willingness to not give up, especially in a hostile environment like Toronto.

But the Penguins defense, especially around the net, is definitely not protecting Fleury as well as they have been since the Pens' hot streak began, and it needs to change.

The Penguins, The NHL Trade Deadline, and the hype it causes; One schmuck's opinion....

2007-02-10T09:52:00.000-05:00

This is one of those posts that I feel a blogger, webmaster, journalist, or whomever should tread lightly on.

Blogging in itself has skyrocketed in popularity the past few years. It must have, it brought my hairy ass out of the woodwork to do it.

The matter of those people jotting down ideas or opinions online, or even those who simply type a couple of sentences then just cut and paste other website's posts on their own sites (and I really dislike those, you know who you are), open themselves up for opinions coming back at them (unless they don't allow comments, and what fun would that be ??).

Then you get to pro sports blogs. What a different animal these are.

The thing that separates these from other blogs is the speculation aspect of them. You know, free agency, trades, drafts, contracts, and the like. That portion of the sports world has exploded over the last several years, so now there are these types of speculation shows in all venues of the media, TV, radio, newspapers, and now, the Internet.

And of course, that has further caused the formation of those types of shows/blogs to focus more intensely on the opinion and rumor aspects of the sport. Unfortunately, it has also caused more and more people in that business to become too wrapped up in their own opinions and causes them to speak more in "absolutes", or shall I say, their own perceived absolutes.

The best example recently came in the days prior to the Superbowl, when ESPN blowhard #1 Sean Salisbury boldly exclaimed "If Devin Hester runs back a kickoff for a touchdown, I GUARANTEE that the Bears will win the Superbowl".

We saw how far that prediction went, huh ??

Moreover, who in the hell do you think you are even to suggest a guarantee on national television ??

Anyway, the hockey world is no different, although understandably, as hockey is next to breathing in Canada, the NHL trade deadline annually causes speculations in the thousands as it leads up to this year's Feb. 27th deadline.

The Canadian big media boys, like TSN, Sportsnet, CBC, and the others all have big plans heading into that day.

Sportsnet has even gone one step further this year, enlisting the often-discussed anonymous hockey blogger Eklund into it's trade deadline special on the 27th. Of course, in true Bruce Wayne-ish fashion, his identity will be hidden, all the while on the phones behind a Wizard of Oz-ish partition to his supposed contacts around the NHL.

I'm not going to turn this into an Eklund post, I tire of it, to be honest. I personally enjoy reading all rumors, not just from Eklund, but from the others as well, like Spector (Lyle Richardson), but just as personal speculations that I like to think about myself.

In the States, I haven't read anything specifically that ESPN will be doing, but I'm sure that they'll have some sort of special that afternoon on ESPNEWS, such as having Barry Melrose and E.J. Hradek on there. Nothing too elaborate, as compared to what TSN and Sportsnet will be having (I mean, let's not get carried away, this IS the States after all), but they'll have all of the big deals listed just as much as their Canadian counterparts, just without as much speculation on them, that's all.

So anyway, that leads us to a discussion on how this year's trade deadline will affect (or won't affect for that matter) the Penguins.

This will be most difficult trade deadine for a Pens GM in several years, arguably since the Cup years for Craig Patrick.

These Pens are close, THIS close, to being a Stanley Cup contender.

Hell, if you consider last year's Stanley Cup playoffs, when the #5 through #8 Western Conference seeds all advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs, and the #8 seed, Edmonton, went all the way to Game 7 of the Cup finals against Carolina, this makes the trade deadline for Pens' GM Ray Shero even more enticing.

He's got the best player in the game in 19 year old Sidney Crosby. He's got the overwhelming choice for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year in Evgeni Malkin. He may have the Calder runner-up in Jordan Staal, although LA's Anze Kopitar will have something to say about that. He's got the hottest goalie this side of Martin Brodeur in Marc-Andre Fleury. He and head coach Michel Therrien have the team's chemistry flowing at a rate not seen since Mario's magical return in '00-'01.

So the question becomes, do you disrupt that chemistry, and if so, how much ??

In my opinion, for as much (or little) as that's worth (emphasis on the little), I say you need a few tweaks to this club.

If I were GM on the 27th, my priorities at the trade deadline;

Scoring winger for the 1st line - Sorry, but I'm continue to not be impressed with Ryan Malone, in terms of having him on the 1st line with Crosby and Recchi. He does not generate hardly any scoring opportunities, and while he has done a good job at penalty killing and freezing the puck again the boards when it's needed, the Pens need more production out of that slot on the 1st line. Rumors a couple of months ago indicated that the Pens and Rangers were talking about a Malone-Prucha swap, possibly also involving Brooks Oprik. While Prucha may not be the ideal choice, his type (that of a right-handed young sniper), certainly would be better on the 1st line than having Malone clod his way around the ice. I don't feel that Malone specifically needs traded, as I think he'd also be good on the 3rd line, or 2nd in a pinch, but Malone, in my view, is expendable.
Right-handed defenseman - While the Pens' overall defense is no doubt one of the primary reasons for the team's improvement this year, mainly due to the addition of Mark Eaton, it certainly is not without it's liabilities. Nearly all of the Pens' D-men have had their times in the spotlight of making horrendous defensive lapses. The Pens' penalty killing is starting to hurt them. The lack of a right-handed D-man restricts their ability to put more shots on net from the point. It's for these reasons that I believe it would do the Pens good to acquire a right-handed D-man for the postseason run. I'm not talking about a Pronger-like, who would cost the Pens way more than they'd be willing to take, but simply a decent D-man who can also play the powerplay. Who to give up ?? In my view, I think there are several players on the team right now who are realistically expendable. Malone, Ouellet, Welch, Petrovicky, Thorburn, even Armstrong should be considered if the right D-man or scoring winger is offered.
Enforcer - This is the controversial one. Does Sidney Crosby really NEED an enforcer, one that can pummel someone on the opposition, because of Crosby's nightly muggings on the ice ?? Or do the muckers that just so happen to be able to throw a few punches after the fact, such as Malone, Ruutu, Petro, Army, or Thorburn suffice for the retaliations ?? Well, going back to the chemistry of the team, if you do acquire one, you bench someone off of the 4th line most likely. In that respect, I have no problem with someone such as Phoenix's George Laraque (my #1 choice) replacing Petrovicky or Thorburn. Moreover, with 20 points in 51 games in Phoenix, Laraque would be MUCH more of an offensive asset to the Pens than any of the current 4th liners. As a matter of fact, if the Pens were to acquire Laraque, not only would they have arguably the top enforcer in the league, but he would be the 9th highest scorer on the team as a "goon", with his scoring totals higher than players such as Malone (17 points - 1st line), Christensen (18 points - 3rd line), and Dominic Moore (13 points - 3rd line). If I'm Ray Shero, I pull this trigger, and pull it quick.

Of course, we have literally no idea how many, if any, of these types of ideas are going through the minds of Shero and the Pens' front office. I'm sure that with the stable of young stars the Pens have (the majority of which are untouchable), a lot of calls will be made to the Igloo over the next 17 days.

In addition, how much leeway do Lemieux and Burkle give Shero in terms of future payroll ?? If the right deal comes along, but will require adding a few million to the payroll, will Shero get the go-ahead, or will the ownership reject it due to the instability of the franchise and the eventual change in ownership ??

All of which leads to much speculation, which always makes the NHL trade deadline day so exciting.

Pens 5, Flyers 4 (SO); Don't be fooled by the wins...

2007-02-09T21:03:00.000-05:00

It's true in every sport, professional and otherwise.

Good teams will find a way to win games in which they played poorly.

So in that respect, yes, it's nice to see that for the first time in six years, we're getting confirmation that indeed, the Pens are a good team.

But while they continue to win and get points, they've won and/or gotten points in three out of the last four games in which they've played quite badly.

The Pens 2-0 win vs. the Caps last Saturday was just as much a result of a lousy Caps offense (less Ovechkin and Semin) as it was the Pens performance.

They then went to Montreal the next day and for the most part should have walked out of there with zero points. They played that poorly, especially the defense.

The Pens rebounded on Tuesday against the Predators, leading the NHL in points. After a very sluggish first period, they refocused and played inspired hockey, dominating the Preds.

But then they went right back to their lackadaisical play last night against the Flyers.

Constantly trying to make the pretty pass, the Pens were fortunate to get two of their goals on tips, not deflections, but tips that made their way into the net.

I know I counted at least five turnovers for Malone alone. I don't care what anyone says, his presence on the first line is hurting this team. His ability to freeze the puck along the boards just doesn't cut the mustard to keep him with Sid's line.

Even after the Pens scored twice in the 3rd period to make it 4-2, they still found plenty of time to play on their heels to allow the Flyers to tie it up to force overtime and the shootout.

Speaking of the shootout, I think it's time Christensen gets a new move. The league has seen him plenty by now.

Malkin's move was decent, and I think he had Nittimaki beat, but he just shot it wide.

And FINALLY, Sid puts one past the goalie, and combined with MAF's goose egg, sealed the win for the Pens.

But make no mistake my friends, this team had better take it up a notch, or they WILL get blown off the ice by the Leafs tomorrow night.

New Pens Blog

2007-02-09T21:01:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the latest Pens blog around the blogosphere, Faceoff Factor.

Some of the guys from Let's Go Pens have started it, and have gotten off to a good start.

Welcome aboard, boys.

Pens Gameday; Let's keep the goose egg going...

2007-02-08T17:37:00.000-05:00

Might as well keep a good thing going, ya know ??

The Pens visit Philly tonight in search of their 7th straight win against the Flyers without a loss.

That in itself is such a remarkable statistic, considering the Pens' absolutely horrendous record in Philly over the last 15 years.

The Flyers might be dragging a little tonight, especially early on, since they played (and got shutout) against the Islanders last night.

It's because of that we may see Esche tonight instead of Nittimakki as well.

The Flyers gameplan, you may be asking ?

Let's see if we've heard this one before; Hammer Crosby everytime he touches the puck.

Well, it's a good thing that the Pens are very used to this type of physical play.

And it's even better that they've adapted a retaliatory attitude themselves, 'cause tonight they'll be sure to get plenty of practice.

Earlier in the year, this post would have been filled with sayings like "trap game" and "letdown".

But I really think the Pens are extremely focused now as they realize that they're in a prime playoff position, and they can't afford to blow two points because they took the night off against Philly.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!!

Pens 4, Preds 1; Landmark win, or a telling sign ??

2007-02-07T19:49:00.000-05:00

Gotta admit, I was not a happy Pens fan after the 1st period.

It might have been the Pens' worst period in a looooong time in terms of their tentativeness and lousy passes all over the place.

Combine that with the obligatory goal from the point, and the Pens were down 1-0 after one period.

I really thought it was gonna be a long night for the Pens.

But give the Preds your thanks for pumping up the Pens, courtesy of Darcy Hortichuck, who absolutely leveled Nasreddine, which prompted Max Talbot to jump in and at least make an attempt to fight, which failed for both players.

After that, things sort of went easy for the Pens.

Jordan Staal got a nice lucky bounce off of the D-man's stick and then the post to tie the game at 1.

Geno nailed a one-timer from Recchi on the power play to make it 2-1.

Recchi got would be construed as a soft goal by Mason to make it 3-1.

Ruutu's empty netter finished the scoring at 4-1 Pens.

But having said that, I like the way Nashville plays, really very similar to the Pens. The only major difference is that I believe their defense is much faster.

Certainly, one can see why their record is so good.

However, there is one statistic that could very well be a telling sign for the Predators.

The Preds are 16-2-1 against Columbus, Chicago, and St. Louis. Those are 33 big points in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Now I don't think there's any doubt that Nashville was a playoff team even without having the luxury of playing weaker divisonal opponents.

But now those same complaints that people used to say about Detroit's record in prior years is now being said about the Preds.

The Flyers are next up on the Pens schedule on Thursday night. I won't say anything about a letdown because I think the Pens realize that every game is a playoff game now, and also the fact that Philly is playing much better nowadays.

Pens Gameday; Preds present potential speed bump for Pens...

2007-02-06T16:06:00.000-05:00

I could very well be wrong, but the Nashville Predators coming to town for tonight's game doesn't come at the best time of the season for the Pens.

The Preds don't have the best record in the NHL by sheer luck.

The combination of a very speedy, talented team along with the Pens returning home from an exhausting trip to Montreal may not bode very well.

Fortunately for the Pens, they've got one of the hottest goalies in the league in MAF. So if they come out flat (for the 3rd game in a row), they've still got a shot at staying in the game if MAF is still standing on his head.

It's reported that Army will be back in uniform tonight as well.

The Preds do have a couple of significant injuries to two of it's main players, D-man Shea Weber and winger Jordan Tootoo, which will keep them out of tonight's game.

Should be an exciting one, let's keep the momentum going.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Confluence Soapbox; Don't look now NHL, the "garbage league" is making a comeback...

2007-02-05T20:30:00.000-05:00

You'd have thought the NHL would have earned their lesson by now.

You all remember those times, the quite often boring, clutching, hooking, grabbing, holding, slashing, tripping and cross-checking game of hockey that came to prominence in the mid '90's.

The same type of game that was a primary reason that the greatest hockey player (notice I didn't say "scorer" Gretzky fans, don't start whining just yet) in NHL history, Mario Lemieux, hung up his skates (the 1st time anyway) at the early age of 31. Lemieux famously referred to the NHL during that time as a "garbage league".

So when the NHL and it's players finally came back after it's yearlong absence in '05, the league took the opportunity to tweak many of it's rules, such as eliminating the redline and allowing the tag-up offsides.

But more imporantly, both the players and the league agreed that they would finally start enforcing the rules concerning hooking, holding, and the like.

But after a season and a half, and this is not only me opining on it, I've heard it on several different media outlets, but the NHL is slowly but surely going back to it's old ways.

You do get your officiating crews that call a tight game from time to time that call the penalties that should be called.

But the majority of games you watch nowadays has plenty of no-call hooking, holding, interference, you name it.

And now, the NHL is turning a blind eye to the game by game mugging of the best player in the league, Sidney Crosby.

It's not an exaggeration.

Nearly EVERY GAME now, Crosby is getting speared, buttended, slashed, high-sticked, and cross-checked to the head.

And that's just within the last two weeks !!!!

To make matters worse, when the NHL reviewed the spearing of Crosby by Jason Blake a couple of weeks ago, the league tapped Blake on his ass and fined him $1000, which is equivalent to a night's tab for he and his Islanders buddies at one of the NYC titty bars.

Moreover, the sentiment (not officially stated by the league, but inferred) was that Crosby was embellishing the spear, therefore that resulted in the low fine, and no suspension.

Last Thursday, at center ice on the opening faceoff of the game, Canadien goon Max Lapierre buttended Crosby in plain view of the referees.

Again, no penalty, no suspension.

Then yesterday afternoon, Crosby was high-sticked to the face by the Canadiens' Francois Bouillon.

You guessed it, no penalty.

We can even go back to last year, when Darian Hatcher high-sticked Crosby to the mouth, chipping 3 of his teeth and gashing his mouth.

I shouldn't have to tell you that there was no penalty.

I'm not stumping for preferential treatment for Crosby, hell that would be the day.

But for Christ sakes, Crosby not only is receiving physical abuse that should be warranting many more penalties than have been getting called, but some of these not only should be getting penalties, but warranting suspensions.

But so far, not a damn one.

So if you're Ray Shero, what do you do ??

Go out and get a goon of your own (he's got Eric Cairns, but he's out indefinitely with post-concussion symptoms, so he doesn't count) ??

Do you make a trade like the recent rumors indicated like George Laraque or Brian McGrattan ??

I'm sure it's tempting for Shero, but I doubt he'll pull the trigger. Here's why;

There's no way that a goonish teammate will be playing on the same shift as Crosby if/when he gets roughed up
Who do you remove out of the lineup to put the goon in ??
Do you really want to trade away a player and/or draft pick for someone for realistically 30 games or less, since playoff fights are a rarity nowadays ??

But it's not just Crosby, Brendan Shanahan recently aired similar remarks in reference to the nightly abuse that Jaromir Jagr is taking.

The NHL has enough problems as it is, and with the renewed Versus contract, they're just digging the grave deeper with bonehead moves like that.

But if they continue to allow the "garbage league" antics to continue, and it's stars to get Hack-a-Shaq'd every night, you might as well yank it off of Versus and the regional networks too, 'cause no one wants to watch this horseshit again.

Habs 4, Pens 3 (OT); Flat-footed defense dooms Pens

2007-02-04T16:44:00.000-05:00

Be glad they got a point out of it.

After leading the game 2-1 going into the 3rd period, the Pens defense did nothing to combat the Habs' crashing of the net, giving up two quick goals and nearly cost them a regulation loss.

But a late powerplay goal, by Ouellet on the second unit, tied the game up with 2 minutes and change left in the game.

The Pens looked like they had a decent chance to win the game in overtime, as Sid was controlling the puck for several seconds around the net, but held onto it for one second too long. The puck was batted away, led to a 3 on 1 break, and Souray nailed a one-timer.

Ballgame.

I have no doubt in the post game interviews that Sid will accept full responsibility for the OT loss.

But once they look at the game tape, the defense better look in the mirror.

Super Bowl XLI; Take the Colts, and the points....

2007-02-04T10:34:00.000-05:00

I would have said "Colts in a blowout" before today.

But now, it's due to be raining on and off all day, including during the game tonight.

If it does rain, it will (amazingly) be the 1st time that it rained during a Super Bowl.

So, with the wet conditions, I'm still going with the Colts, and they'll still cover, but no longer in blowout.

Let's see, let's go with Colts 27, Bears 17.

Pens Gameday; Intensity should be no problem today...

2007-02-04T10:18:00.000-05:00

This is gonna be a difficult test for the young Penguins.

Going into the hockey hotbed that is Montreal, only 3 days after a highly-energized, highly-physical game between the two teams, the Habs and their rabid fans will no doubt take their intensity up a notch when they take the ice at 2PM today.

If the Pens win today, they'll move up to 5th in the Eastern Conference. It could've been for 4th place, but the Leafs blew a 2-0 lead against Ottawa and gave the Sens a point in the Leafs' shootout win.

[ By the way NHL, thanks for scheduling this one in the afternoon, so I don't have to listen to 3 hours of "expert" blowhards on ESPN, including the newly Hall of Fame inducted crackhead criminal Michael Irvin. ]

If the Pens are smart, they need to focus on playing a DEFENSIVE game in the 1st 10 minutes or so of the game.

You know the Habs are gonna be pumped. You know they're going to be hitting everything that moves in a Pens uniform.

Withstand the emotion, play a good defensive game, and keep the puck out of your net in the 1st period.

If they do that, the Pens have got an excellent chance to win this game.

Let's not forget, both teams played yesterday. Both teams are playing in the 3rd game in 4 days. If the Habs expend so much energy early in the game simply to throw elbows, they'll be pooped by the 3rd period.

Sorry to say for Habs fans, they won't have a chance to exact their revenge on Colby Armstrong, who'll miss his 2nd straight game after twisting his knee sometime during the Habs game.

This should be a good one. Sid was shutout yesterday by the Caps, I'd lay odds that it won't happen for a 2nd game in a row.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Crosby selected as Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year...

2007-02-04T09:50:00.000-05:00

To those outside of the Pittsburgh area, winning the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year is probably sounds like Michael Corleone winning the Meucci Foundation's Man of the Year in Godfather, Part III.

Ya know, big frickin' deal.

Au contraire, monfraire. (No, never took French, stole that one from George Carlin)

The Dapper Dan award is no doubt the ultimate honor for a Pittsburgh athlete, and this year's award recipient is none other than Sidney Crosby.

Especially for a 19 year old young man.

So for Sidney Crosby, winning this award at this point in his career (hell, his life) is certainly a noteworthy achievement.

Just another of what will no doubt be many, many awards for this young man.

Steelers and Saints to play in 2007 HOF game...

2007-02-04T09:43:00.000-05:00

Hey, another home game for the Stillers.

Well, sorta.

The NFL announced yesterday that the Steelers and Saints would play in the 2007 Hall of Fame game in Canton on Sunday, August 5th.

However, next year's game will be televised on the NFL Network, so the regular griping that has taken place this year concerning it's limited viewership will no doubt take place once again.

Bucs sign Kolb, avoid arbitration with Freddy...

2007-02-04T09:33:00.000-05:00

The Bucs added some more insurance to their bullpen after the trading away of Mike Gonzalez by signing Dan Kolb to a minor league deal.

If he makes the team, he'll earn 1.25 million, plus the possibility of earning an additional 1.3 million in performance bonuses.

Also, the Bucs avoided arbitration with Freddy Sanchez by signing him to a one year, 2.75 million clam contract.

It appears that the Bucs and Sanchez's agent were close to a 2 year contract, but couldn't finalize it.

I'm not a big fan of this one year deal, but also not a huge 5 or 6 year deal at the same time. I would have thought that a 2 year deal would have been perfect. Freddy obviously had a great year last year, but I believe it's fair to see if that performance is going to be the norm for Freddy, or a one year wonder.

Pitchers and catchers report in 12 days.

Pens 2, Caps 0; Muckers bail out flat Pens....

2007-02-03T15:31:00.000-05:00

I could've sworn that was the Devils out there as the Pens opponent today.

An obvious flat effort this afternoon, combined with a good defensive effort by the Caps, aided by new arrival Milan Jurcina from the Bruins, really turned this into a snoozer.

But we'll take a 2-0 win as a snoozer, as opposed to a 2-0 loss.

MAF registered his 2nd shutout in his last 3 games, as well as the Pens winning their 6th straight, with points in their last 9 games.

In addition, I believe I also recall the stat that this is the 1st game that the Pens have won in which Sid has not scored at least one point.

And oh by the way, as of this writing, the Pens are a paltry two points away from the Habs and Senators in 4TH PLACE in the Eastern Conference (the Habs lead 2-1 right now late in the 2nd period against the Isles as I type this).

Speaking of defensive efforts, the Pens played an excellent defensive game themselves. I would also give high marks to Ryan Malone, who really did a great job today against the boards.

Ron Petrovicky's wrister kinda fooled Ollie Kolzig for the Pens only main goal. Jordan Staal had an empty netter in the final minute to close the scoring.

Well, the Pens got away with one today. There is no way that they can have that type of effort tomorrow afternoon in Montreal and come away with a win.

And I don't think they will. That place will be jumping tomorrow, and I'm sure that the Habs will be throwing plenty of elbows to wake up the Pens really quickly.

-----------

UPDATE: Montreal lost 4-2 to the Islanders this afternoon. If the Leafs beat Ottawa tonight, and the Pens beat the Habs tomorrow afternoon, your Pittsburgh Penguins will be in 4TH PLACE in the Eastern Conference.

Pens Gameday; Alex and the boys pay a visit...

2007-02-03T11:44:00.000-05:00

For as much as the prospect of Alex Ovechkin and the Caps visiting the Igloo this afternoon should be enticing to the Pens, I'm a little concerned about the Pens overlooking the struggling Caps while looking forward to the rematch in Montreal tomorrow afternoon with the Habs.

I firmly believe the Caps look forward to facing the Pens nowadays much like they would face a divisional rival.

In fact, I would love to eventually see the Caps and Pens back in the same division, like the old Patrick Division days.

But if the Pens overlook the Caps today, and aren't as mentally sharp as they've been the past week, I have no doubt that the Caps will take advantage of that and pounce.

This will not be an easy game.

In much the same way that opposing teams have recently turning up the heat and applying physical pressure to Sid, I would hope that Therrien will call out the dogs and start doing the same to their opponent's stars, starting today with Ovechkin today, and definitely tomorrow with Koivu or anyone else they deem necessary.

Also gonna be interesting to see if Therrien plays MAF in both games today and tomorrow, or if he'll play Thibault for example tomorrow.

I'd also expect now that Chris Thorburn is back from his personal departure from the team that he'll be back in the lineup to apply more muscle.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Buccos negotiating with Dan Kolb

2007-02-03T11:39:00.000-05:00

Hey, it can't hurt.

The Bucs have been talking for a few days with Kolb's agent.

Kolb's a hard throwing righty reliever, previously an All-Star closer with Milwaukee, and recently has bounced between Atlanta and back to the Brewers.

And while his numbers have not been as good as compared to previous years, his signing can do nothing more than fuel more competition with an already good bullpen.

Let's see if Littlefield can actually get Kolb to sign on the dotted line.

Guy Carbonneau = Contradict much ??; Malkin visits Sportsbeat

2007-02-02T20:38:00.000-05:00

You can't have it both ways, Guy baby.

Canadiens' coach Guy Carbonneau still has his panties in a bunch after Colby Armstrong's vicious, but very clean, hit on Saku Koivu last night.

In what may be the most contradictory comment of the year (and it takes a helluva comment to grab that title), Carbonneau said "I know it was legal, he hit him with his shoulder, but when a guy's battling one-on-one and (another) guy comes from a blind spot and hits him, I don't like that. It should have been called. And I don't see how they got seven minutes on the power play out of that. It was definitely a cheap shot, I'm not afraid to say it."

So it was a legal hit, but it was a cheap shot ?? Is that what you're actually try to tell us mortals, Guy ??

Uh, how about the buttend to the sternum of Crosby, Guy ?? What say you on that ??

Been doing a lot of reading about last night's game. I'm really getting tired of every non-Pens fans claiming that Crosby embellishes every cheap shot he gets.

One thing's for sure, Sunday's rematch should be another outstanding hockey game.

-------------------

Malkin made his appearance on Sportsbeat tonight. Pretty bland interview because of the translations going back and forth, but Geno appears to be just a normal 20 year old kid, just one that can't speak English very well just yet.

They're giving away 20 Malkin bobbleheads for the 1st 20 responders who correctly answered that Malkin's 1st NHL goal came against Brodeur. Of course, I jumped on that, and I know I was among the 1st 20 people. That email was gone within 10 seconds. I sent them a 2nd email later on with my mailing address, so I hope that didn't screw up my chances.

Bucs sign Armas Jr., avoid arbitration with LaRoche + Grabow

2007-02-02T20:21:00.000-05:00

You'll have to forgive me if I'm not making plans to grab playoff tickets just yet.

The Pirates signed that elusive contender for the 5th starters job, that would be Tony Armas Jr., signed for about 3 million clams, with a 2008 option for $5 million.

Uh, hooray.

I guess this is the horrendous state of MLB economics nowadays, that a sub .500 pitcher with a history of arm trouble still gets 3 million a year.

In more positive Bucs news, they did avoid arbitration today with both Adam LaRoche ($3.2 million) and John Grabow ($832,500). That only leaves Freddy Sanchez and Jose Castillo as being arbitration-eligible.

Pitchers and catchers report in 13 days.

Pens 5, Habs 4 (SO); Now that was a hockey game....

2007-02-02T02:00:00.000-05:00

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Sunday's rematch in Montreal will be, shall we say, physical.

Tonight's game had just about everything you'd want in a great hockey game, including ferocious hits, end-to-end action, and most importantly, a big 5-4 Penguins win.

Yeah, I'm still pissed off that they gave the Habs a point by playing on their heels for the last half of the 3rd period.

But give them credit. They got it to overtime, killed a penalty in overtime, and for the 2nd time in row, won in a shootout.

By the way, how many spears does Crosby have to take before 1) the other guy at least gets a penalty, and 2) he gets suspended ?? It's absolutely ridiculous the shots that Sid is taking nearly every game now.

Army's vicious hit on Koivu was completely clean, and Souray deserved every minute of the penalty that he got, although I believe he was right for standing up for his captain.

But like I said, the Pens should have never been in that predicament late in the game, I hope they'll learn from it.

Next up for the Pens is Ovechkin and the Caps on Saturday afternoon.

Pens 3, Panthers 0; Arena deal by Friday ???

2007-01-31T19:46:00.000-05:00

If you notice, this sort of stuff is starting to become a habit.

Pens blank the Cats last night for their first win against them in a long time.

Earlier in the year, it was the Leafs.

Before that, of course it was the Flyers.

Common demoninator; The Pens are starting to beat the teams that they've had big problems with in the last several years.

I'd say that's a good sign.

Have to say though, the Panthers sure put the pressure on for most of the game. If it were not for Fleury's solid game (again), last night's outcome may have been quite different.

In addition, the Panthers played a clean but physical game against Sid as well, holding him to only one assist. Of course, that one assist may have put the game away, on yet another backdoor goal on the power play by Whitney.

And once again, the muckers had a good game, contributing with a goal that was a result of great hustle by Ruutu combined with a nice backhand to the 5 hole of Belfour. Maybe Eddie would have had that in his late 30's.

Big, big game on Thursday, as the Canadiens come to town. The Pens turn around and travel to Montreal on Sunday afternoon. Sandwiched between the two is Alex Ovechkin and the Caps on Saturday afternoon at the Igloo.

-----------------------------

KDKA's Andy Sheehan is now reporting that the new arena deal between the government officials and the Pens could be completed by Thursday, with an announcement possibly by Friday.

Continued great news. Outside of a catastrophic collapse in negotiations, put this one in the books.

Then I'll be interested to see all of those "I told you so" experts. Yeah, right.

Pens Gameday; Negative vibes emanating from the Igloo...

2007-01-30T18:17:00.000-05:00

No, not because of the arena talks.

Moreover, I continue to read that talks are progressing very well, and a deal could be on it's way soon.

But back to the on-ice product, I don't like the quotes that I'm reading from the Pens as they prepare to face the Panthers tonight.

Seems apparent to me that the success of the Panthers when they face the Pens has gotten into the Pens' collective heads.

Brooks Oprik says "It seems like we lay an egg against them every time. Maybe some of the teams that are ahead of us that we always play well against, [we] just match up well against them," Orpik said. "Maybe we just don't match up well against [Florida]."

Not exactly ringing in confidence, eh ??

So it would behoove the Pens to get off to an early lead, 'cause if they don't, you might be hearing a lot of those "we don't match up well against them" quotes after the game.

Something tells me that tonight may be different, though.

The Pens are playing their best hockey of the year now, their most complete hockey anyhow.

They're also becoming very difficult to play against, both because of their obvious offensive talent and speed, as well as starting to really play a physical brand of hockey as well.

Tonight starts a tough stretch, with 4 games in 6 nights, including two against the Canadiens.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!!

Meadville in Da House; Steelers hire Fichtner as new WR coach

2007-01-29T20:57:00.000-05:00

Remember during the cheesy rock movie Rock Star with Mark Wahlberg, when Wahlberg's character "Izzy" gets the gig with Steel Dragon and is holding their press conference ??

Then they go back to his old bandmates in the 'Burgh and his buddy simply says, "Holy Shit !".

Well, I have to admit, that was me this afternoon.

I checked my regular sites after getting home from work today, and I came upon KDKA's story about the Steelers finishing up with their assistant coach hires.

And it was there when I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Steelers have hired Randy Fichtner as their new wide receivers coach.

The reason for the "holy shit", you may ask ??

Well, you see, Randy is a friend of mine, we both graduated from Meadville H.S. in '82. We were also teammates on several baseball teams before we went our separate ways, him to Purdue on a full ride and me to the Navy on a full ride.

Go ahead, Google it.

WANNABE BUDDY OF A PRO FOOTBALL COACH DISCLAIMER: Let me admit right now, I have not spoken to Randy probably since I left town in '83. So it's not like I have his cell number or something like that. It's not like I have visions of 50 yard line tickets for life.

But you have to admit, this is some cool shit.

Stan reported it briefly on Sportsbeat tonight, only mentioning that this will be Randy's 1st pro coaching job.

OK, noted.

But it's not like this is his 1st rodeo.

Randy was an outstanding athlete, certainly the best one that my sorry ass had the pleasure to be around. He earned the scholarship to Purdue, even though his dad Russ went there (as well as playing for the Browns in the '60's). His college career was just starting to blossom, but he had to hang up his cleats after a couple of years due to back problems.

His coaching jobs that I've found are as follows: Fichtner, 43, spent the last six seasons (2001-06) as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at the Memphis, where he had also previously coached from 1990-93. Prior to joining Memphis for the second time, Fichtner was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas State (1997-00) and the wide receivers coach at his alma mater Purdue (1994-96). He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Purdue (1985-86) and Michigan (1986-87), before joining Southern California as a volunteer coach in 1988. In 1989, Fichtner earned his first full-time coaching position when he coached tight ends at UNLV.

But it's the Arkansas State job that's the key right now, 'cause it was there that he coached with, you guessed it, one Mike Tomlin. According to this Memphis online site, "Tiger offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner also worked with Tomlin at Arkansas State during the same period and played a role in getting Tomlin on the Indians staff after he'd served a brief stint at UT-Martin".

Nice to see that Mike's rewarding those that helped him along the way.

Anyway, congrats to Randy and his family.

KDKA; Arena deal may be reached this week....

2007-01-29T20:50:00.000-05:00

According to KDKA's Andy Sheehan, who's done a great investigative job on the Penguins arena and ownership issues, talks between the Penguins and the government official are very close to a deal and if all goes well, they could have an announcement in the next few days.

Of course, I think we all won't be content until we see Mario and Gov. Rendell together in the press conference, but if it holds true, and there's no reason not to believe Sheehan, this is obviously great news.

In addition, Sheehan quotes Mayor Ravenstahl as stating "it's my hope that sometime this week we can get back to talks with the Penguins and ultimately reach a deal".

Great timing as well, with the Pens starting a three game homestand tomorrow night vs. Florida.

Pens 7, Yotes 2; A complete team win, to be sure...

2007-01-28T11:34:00.000-05:00

For all of the sensational headlines about Gretzky and Crosby that preceded the Pens/Yotes game, it turned out that the game was turned into a laugher by the muckers.

And yeah, the Crosby kid helped too.

The Pens played a great team game last night in Phoenix, especially with the contributions of the 3rd and 4th lines, in their 7-2 win.

Goals by Ruutu and Petrovicky (sandwiched by just another highlight goal by Sid) turned a tight game into a blowout.

I don't expect guys like those two to be bigtime scorers, but if the Pens start getting occasional goals from those lines, watch the hell out.

I also liked the fact that the Pens did not back down from the physical play that goons like Laraque and Jovanoski were inflicting. And all the sucker punches that Gratton laid on Petrovicky got him nothing but an early shower.

Ryan Whitney is really starting to impress me on the power play. Opposing teams better start being aware of Ryan going back door on those passes from Sid. What a nice problem to give them !! Overall, after another impressive 3 for 6 on the PP last night, the Pens are now 5th in the NHL on the PP with a 19.7% success rate.

Thibault didn't really face too much action at all, with 22 saves. The second goal may have been construed as soft, but there was so much traffic in front of him, that would be a tough assessment.

And then there's Sid.

Ya know, for as great as his backhanded goal was last night, nearly all of the reading I've done this morning almost glosses over his great diving feed to Malone 24 seconds into the game.

But that goal is just another one for the highlight reel this year. He's had, what, seven or eight of those types this year. Just incredible.

Pens fans, we are truly going to be a spoiled bunch, if we're not already.

The Panthers come back to the Igloo on Tuesday night.

Poll Results; Interesting, to say the least

2007-01-27T17:45:00.000-05:00

So I've had the latest Confluence poll up for a couple of months, "What do you think is the Penguins most pressing need ??", to gauge the opinions of fellow Pens fans.

And the results were pretty interesting.

Out of 52 votes, 28 of them, or 54%, voted for a "Decent defenseman, preferably right-handed".

15 votes, or 29%, said the Pens need "Scoring winger to play alongside Crosby".

And finally, 9 votes, or 17%, said a "New backup goaltender".

I'm wondering if I kept the poll up longer, now that Eaton is back, if those numbers would change percentage-wise.

But, nah.

Time to change it up.

Let's make it a relatively easy question, but I want those who vote to tell me what you THINK, not what you HOPE.

Thanks again to those who're participating.

Pens Gameday; The Next One visits the land of The Great One

2007-01-27T17:17:00.000-05:00

This should be a great atmosphere tonight, at least if you're going to the game anyways, on a number of fronts.

First and foremost, from what I heard on XM Home Ice anyway, this will be the 1st sellout of the year for the Yotes. Good for them.

But the obvious motivation in this one is the first time that Sid and Geno "match up" against the Yotes head coach, some dude named Wayne.

I guess it really shouldn't be an extra motivating factor to get pumped up to play against your opponent's head coach.

But when that coach is Wayne Gretzky, and you don't play against the team he coaches for what seems like a decade, that rule goes by the wayside.

And I think we all "know" Sid by now, you can just imagine how internally he's licking his lips to have a big game tonight in front of #99.

Let's not forget though; Both teams played last night on the road (Yotes were in Denver), both teams had to go to a shootout, with both teams winning.

So we could also see some tired legs out there.

In addition, we could also see some backup goalies out there.

Uh oh.

I would think that it makes it imperative that the Pens get off to a fast start tonight, and build a decent lead for Thibault, assuming he gets the start.

This trip also for the first time involves the Pens' fathers. I think that is a great idea, just to show appreciation for what had to be hundreds of hours of sacrifice during their son's upbringing.

It got me to thinking though; I wonder if they've arranged for the dads to meet Gretzky sometime today ?? Would that be cool, or what ?? Also, I don't believe I heard if Mario has followed the Pens to Phoenix. Can you imagine if you're, I don't know, Mr. Christensen or someone like that, and get a Polaroid (dated term, I know) of yourself, Wayne, and Mario. Talk "aboot" priceless.

So it should be an exciting night for the Phoenix crowd, let's just make sure they go home sad.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Wilson throws Castillo under the Bucs' bus; Will signing Armas actually be an asset ??

2007-01-27T10:03:00.000-05:00

Do as I say, not as I do.

Give Jack Wilson credit, he's got some major-league cojones.

Jack appeared on Sportsbeat with Stan last night, along with LaRoche, Snell, and Jim Tracy.

Wilson, he of his whopping 35 RBI's and a career-high 18 errors at shortstop last year, completely bitch-slapped Jose Castillo while talking with Stan. Jack boldly said, "Right now, Freddy is my second baseman, in my mind. He's the guy I can trust to go 100 percent and get the job done. Castillo's got to show me something. You're going to see it in spring training. If he's slimmed down and ready to work, he's going to have a good year. But, if it's the other way around, we're going to have some problems".

Now, let me say this; You won't see me defend Castillo too much at all. I concur with Jack's statements for the most part. He's been inconsistent far too much, his mind wandering off and missing defensive assignments. I would not disagree at all if, as Jack desires, Freddy Sanchez started the season as the starting second baseman.

But Jack Wilson needs to clean up his own house before worrying about Jose Castillo's.

When Jack gets back to playing his game, both offensively and defensively, then he can start making these bold statements to the media. That includes moving runners into scoring position, something he hasn't done as well as he used. In addition, cutting down on those 18 errors would be appeciated.

To his credit, Jack stated last night that he's dropped about 10 pounds, so hopefully that means he'll be a little more mobile out there at shortstop this year.

-------------------------

As most Bucs fans could've predicted, they quickly fell out of the Jeff Weaver sweepstakes, as Weaver signed with the Mariners for 1 year, 8.325 million clams. Forgive me if I'm not too upset over that.

So that reportedly has the Bucs focusing in on Tony Armas Jr. It's not like Armas' numbers are earthshattering, to say the least. Last year, he was was 9-12 with a 5.03 ERA, and he's been quite injury prone.

But the question really becomes, would the signing of Armas actually be an improvement to the pitching staff, or will it turn out to be a liability ?

The alternatives ?? Chacon ?? Burnett ?? VanBenschoten ?? Bullington ??

Part of me just says to pocket that money, and use it to aid in more constructive means, like locking up either Sanchez or LaRoche to long-term contracts.

Pens 4, Stars 3 (SO); There's a first time for everything...

2007-01-26T23:19:00.000-05:00

Yup, that is a correct score.

For the 1st time ever at home, the Dallas Stars lost a shootout, going down 4-3 to the Pens.

MAF stoned Zubov, Jokinen and Ribiero during the shootout, while the most reliable Penguin on the shootout, Erik Christensen, scored again on his attempt, and that was all the Pens needed.

To be quite honest, I'm in a state of shock.

The best shootout team in the NHL, against one of the worst ??

What was that saying about the sun shining on a dog's ass ?? Well, let's not go that far, but this was a great two points to get.

Pretty physical game, some good checks on both sides of the ice. That former Capital punk-ass Jeff Halpern and Sid were sparring quite a bit early in the game.

And congrats to the old man Mark Recchi, who got two more goals tonight for #500 for his career. Class act, and a great role model for the youngsters, some of which are young enough to be his sons.

What a pleasant surprise, and sure to be a great confidence boost to the young Pens, who have to get right back on the plane and head west once again to take on Phoenix tomorrow night.

Freddy close to 2-year deal, and "Bob Walk Bobblehead Night" ???

2007-01-25T20:35:00.000-05:00

I still something's in the water at PNC Park, but at least they're making strides in the right direction.

First was the Laroche trade a couple of weeks ago, now they're reporting that
they're close to a two year deal with NL batting champ Freddy Sanchez.

Of course, they still need to go to arbitration with LaRoche, by the way, but if they're smart, they'll lock him up as well for a few years.

----------------------

Will the Bucs sign Jeff Weaver ?? Looks like the Bucs are among the finalists for a two year deal with him. As is the case with just about every other pitcher out there, Weaver had a losing record last year at 8-14, but he surprised everyone during the playoffs, and was the winning pitcher in Game 5 for the Cards.

Gonna take some dinero, so I'd still be surprised if he signed in the 'Burgh, but we'll see if 'ol Bobby Nutting releases some of the cash strings.

----------------------

Oh boy, those promotional folks who work for the Pirates are really something, aren't they ??

No less than five bobblehead nights.

Including the much-heralded BOB WALK BOBBLEHEAD NIGHT.

Bob, I love ya, but come on.

And another bobblehead night for that crusty veteran Ronny Paulino.

Just enough bobblehead and firework nights to show everyone in MLB that the Pirates have GREAT attendance, eh ??

Well, let's just see how great the attendance is on that Wednesday night in May against Milwaukee.

DB coach Perry, uh, "resigns" from Steelers staff

2007-01-25T20:18:00.000-05:00

You could see this one coming.

As dominant as the Steelers have been defensively over the past umpteen years, the last decade or so (or since Rod Woodson left) has had one common denominator on the defensive side of the ball.

The Steelers' pass defense sucks.

So in addition to the special teams, in which that coach, uh, resigned, the 'Burgh Tribune-Review reported that DB coach Darren Perry has resigned as well.

Something has got to be done with this secondary. No secondary is going to be perfect, but the Steelers' cornerbacks routinely give their WR's way too much room, and if they're not backing off the line of scrimmage too much, they're getting burnt over the top.

So anyway, Gerry Dulac reported on Sportsbeat tonight that new coach Tomlin told Perry that is he didn't "resign", he'd fire him.

It's always unfortunate, especially for a former Steeler like Perry, but if there was one area that the Steelers need a drastic change, it's the secondary, and the coach always get the ax.

Goose Egg for Sid at All-Star game; Pens roller coaster ride coming back up

2007-01-25T17:37:00.000-05:00

Well, hope he had fun anyways.

All of the hype surrounding Sid's first All-Star game, the matching up of Sid and Ovechkin on the 1st line, the new uniforms, yadda, yadda....

Well, it kinda went off like a dud, if you were looking for fireworks anyway.

Neither Sid nor Alex really had any flashes of their collective brilliance during the game, although Alex did get a tap-in goal late in the game.

But Sid was either bottled up or was the subject of poor passes the entire game, and never really got off a good shot.

I read some articles today that said the Western Conference's D-men had already agreed that they would simply clutter up the middle of their own zone in order to eliminate the chance of the usual spectacular cross-ice passes.

Thanks for playing along, boys.

And, not unexpectedly, I thought that the line that had the most chemistry, and therefore looked the best, was the one with Lecavalier and St. Louis.

A lot of the hockey articles today also mentioned that Gretzky had a goose egg in his first All-Star game.

At least Sid's got that going for him.

------------------

It's also been widely reported that Gov. Rendell had a lengthy conversation with Ron Burkle Tuesday night discussing some of the details that had been a sticking point during last Thursday's heated negotations.

Everyone needs to understand, Rendell and Burkle are longtime buddies. They've negotiated business deals for many years.

Does anyone SERIOUSLY think this isn't going to happen ??

----------------------

Demolition will begin in February on 11 buildings that will be cleared in preparation for the construction of the new arena.

I say again, still think it's not going to happen ??

----------------------

And finally, Noah Welch probably has worn out the PA highways (dunno how those guys make the trip, I-79 to I-80 to I-81, or Turnpike to I-81 ? Who knows) going up and down from Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre. So a couple of days after being sent down, he's now on his way back up. I guess the thinking is that they want the extra D-man just in case Eaton isn't quite ready.

NHL All-Star Game; Sid does it once again

2007-01-24T18:02:00.000-05:00

Night one of the NHL All-Star Game festivities was most definitely Penguin-laden.

The NHL Young Stars started the night off in, sorry to say, boring style.

Nice to see Phil Kessel keep rebounding from his testicular cancer treatments with his hat trick.

But boy, I kinda feel sorry for Geno Malkin.

Everyone knows, Geno speaks very little English, so when the coaches told him to stand at the blue line and wait for the pass, well, that's sure enough what the hell he did.

Of course, the Canadian idiots in the press gave him a hard time, as if that was HIS intention. Grow the hell up, and get off of your Canadian high horse.

Staal and Whitney looked pretty good as well.

But overall, the game was really too slow for the majority of the game. It's just that all of these guys don't want to be like Iverson and be a super gunner during these games. But what that does is slow the game down way too much, with too many passes.

Then the big boys came out, and I guess there were some more decent moments.

Ovechkin being the slowest skater on the ice, when everyone said he would dominate, got a good chuckle out of me.

But when I saw Sid come out for the shootout, I was thinking that some demented Leafs fan in the NHL front office must've selected him.

But like Sid just seems to do everytime we think he can't do it, he was the star of the show again, smoking Luongo on 2 out of 3 shots during the final shootout phase. He also beat Kiprusoff on his 1st shot during the initial shootout round.

If we know Sid by now, I think it's going to be a good bet that he's gonna work like a dog to improve on the shootouts for the rest of the year. I'm not worried about him at all.

Gonna be fun to watch Sid and Alex on the top line tonight. Danny Briere is their linemate to start with, but I heard on XM Home Ice 204 that one of the other linemates they'd have sometime during the game is Brendan Shanahan.

Steelers coaching staff takes shape; 'Burgh PG mentions Confluence again

2007-01-24T17:42:00.000-05:00

Well it appears at least the Steelers coaching staff won't look too different, at least in the coordinator positions.

Expectedly, Bruce Arians got boosted up to offensive coordinator. Although history is not on Arians' side in terms of his results as an O.C. for three years with the Brownies, it's the smart move. The last thing the Steelers want to do is start from scratch with the offense. Surely, they are not far away at all in making that offense start clicking again.

Maybe keeping Ben away from motorcycles in the off-season, for a start.

The PG also reports that Russ Grimm may have misread the situation with his hiring status. I'm not so sure with that, although of course it's strictly my opinion. I really think that there was something related to Grimm that just didn't set well with the Rooneys, whether it was his discussions during the interview, or maybe that the Steelers thought that the team's coaching staff was starting to head too much in the buddy-buddy direction. In terms of Grimm, as I've said a couple of times recently, he's had several interviews over the past few years, but no 2nd interviews, and of course, no head coaching jobs yet.

Lastly, my thanks once again to the Blog N' Gold section of the PG for linking to The Confluence's post concerning the Steelers' hiring of Mike Tomlin. Appreciate the pub, as well as your kind words, boys.

Lemieux continues his posturing (to his credit)....

2007-01-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

I really don't want to be portraying my opinions of the arena deal in a denegrating fashion towards Mario Lemieux.

Christ, how could I, or anyone else for that matter ??

He's an incredible role model, and I consider him (along with Roberto Clemente) one of my lifelong idols.

But boy oh boy, Mario is playing his cards like he should be on ESPN on one of those poker shows (don't get me started on that).

Mario used the occasion of media day at the NHL All-Star game to once again portray the gloom and doom of the Penguins' arena situation.

Lemieux said "I heard it wasn't very good. Our people were offended and very disappointed. Now, as always, we have to go out and explore our options. Once we find a deal we like, we'll sign it up."

Pretty strong comments, touche' Mario.

As I said, I give Mario all the credit in the world. He's gonna get the best deal for the Penguins (and his wallet) that he can.

However, having said all of that, in my humble opinion, it is all pure posturing, nothing more.

Get your money Mario, you deserve it.

But you aren't moving the Penguins, sure I'll call you out on it.

You've been living in Pittsburgh long enough, you fully know irregardless of how bad you've gotten screwed over by the politicians, you will get vilified if you move this team.

-----------------------

On a more positive note, Stan Savran reported on Sportsbeat tonight that the majority of the current investment group of the Penguins, plus a couple of other outside investors, are in the process of increasing each of their investments up to $10 million a piece, in order to purchase the Penguins, and get Mario his money due. Of course, this is a separate evolution to the arena issue, so we'll have to see what happens with this as well.

It's Tomlin; Steelers get new boss....

2007-01-22T17:57:00.000-05:00

I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall during Mike Tomlin's interview with the Rooney's.

But one thing is for sure, Tomlin must've blown them away.

After a flurry of speculation, in what has to be described as a major surprise to Steeler fans, Tomlin is the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the press conference this afternoon, Tomlin confirmed that Dick Lebeau would be retained as defensive coordinator, but would not comment on any other Steeler assistants, all of which are under contract for 2007.

He also said that the Steelers would at least go a season or two using the 3-4 defense, but the possibility exists that he may switch to a 4-3 eventually.

The signing of Tomlin throws about 200 questions into the air now, some of them being;

How does this change the offense, specifically the "run first" philosophy ??
Will it get Heath Miller a pass thrown his way more than every 300 throws ??
Does it change the priorities that the team may have had in the upcoming draft ??
If he's eventually considering going to a 4-3, will they draft positions such as defensive ends and middle linebackers in the high rounds now ??

Geez, and a whole lot more. We'll know a lot more over the next couple of weeks.

Congratulations Mike, Steeler Nation expects a hell of a lot from you, I hope you know that by now. If you don't, you'll know it very soon.

For once and for all, is it Grimm or Tomlin dammit !!!

2007-01-21T10:35:00.000-05:00

This is getting ridiculous, especially for an organization run as effectively as the Pittsburgh Steelers.

First, we talked about the SI.com report that stated that the Steelers have picked Mike Tomlin as their next head coach.

Then, ESPN refuted that report, with Chris Mortensen quoting Tomlin that he had not been offered the job.

Then ESPN recanted their own refutement (is that a word ?), stating that they had confirmed with their own Steeler sources that Tomlin was indeed going to be chosen head coach.

However, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review are reporting this morning that Russ Grimm has been chosen as the next head coach. Not only are they claiming that Grimm is the guy, but they also claim that the Steelers have offered Grimm the job, that Grimm has accepted the job, and the decision will be announced Monday at a press conference.

However, ESPN's Chris Mortensen is sticking with his story just now on Sportscenter. Mortensen reports that he is staying with his sources who claim that Tomlin is still the man.

Of course, another wrench could be thrown into this about 7PM tonight if the Bears lose, which would allow the Steelers to interview Ron Rivera again, under the assumption that the Steelers don't make an official announcement today, which I would consider highly unlikely given that the conference championships are today.

If I had to guess, 'cause that's really my only option, I'd say it's Grimm. Seems that the Trib's sources have some pretty specific information relating to Grimm's hiring.

We'll just have to see what happens.

Pens 8, Leafs 2; Good old-fashioned ass whoopin'....

2007-01-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

Now THAT was one fun game to watch.

With probably the best puck movement of the year, the Pens absolutely beat the dog shit out of the Leafs tonight, 8-2.

And it could have been worse, if it were not for Therrien's calling off of the dogs late in the 3rd period, when the pissed off Leafs really got goony.

The game was filled with 34 penalties, which included 19 on the Leafs. The difference in the game was that Pittsburgh was 5 for 10 on the power play, while the Leafs were only 2 for 8, and one of those for the Leafs was directed into the net very nicely by Whitney.

Malkin was a passing machine tonight with 5 assists. Sid was his usual self with a goal and 2 assists.

And oh yeah, Recchi had the hat trick and an assist. He's now 2 goals from 500.

The crowd looked to be the usual mix of a large throng of Leafs fans. It looked in the 3rd period that there were a couple of fights in the stands, based on the entire section of fans near there looking away while the play was going on. Anyone who went to the game, was that the case ??

I did a glance at some of the Leafs message boards before my post tonight, boy those are some whiners on there. Don't you think you should be placing blame with some of your defensive liabilities like Hal Gill, rather than bitching about Crosby every 5 seconds ?? I mean seriously, some of those D-men remind me of Hatcher in Philly.

So now it's onto Dallas and the All-Star festivities for Crosby, Malkin, Staal, and Whitney, and some much-needed time off for everyone else. The Pens travel to Dallas and Phoenix late next week.

Pens Gameday; Sixty-Seven !!! Sixty-Seven !!!

2007-01-20T17:11:00.000-05:00

No motivation needed tonight, boys.

The Leafs and their few thousand fans head on down I-79 to face the Pens tonight.

Fairly big game. Last one before the All-Star break. Pens two points behind the Leafs for the last playoff spot.

The Caps and Rangers have already lost earlier today, so that helped the Pens as well.

So as usual when the Leafs and Pens get together at the Igloo, the sellout crowd should provide plenty of energy.

The last time these two teams played on Dec. 29th, the Pens' power play looked very good, and they need a similar effort to put the pressure on the Leafs.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Breaking News,or is it ??? Tomlin next Steelers coach ???

2007-01-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

You gotta love the world of the "insider", or shall we say, "wannabe insider".

SI.com is reporting that the Steelers have chosen Mike Tomlin as their next head coach.

But hold the phone.

ESPN says not so fast, claiming the report is untrue, as well as a quote from Tomlin that it was untrue.

So who frickin' knows. Maybe SI has a source among management claiming what they going to offer Tomlin

Or maybe it's just a slow sports news day.

Confluence Home/Road Trip; Norfolk 5, Baby Pens 2

2007-01-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

All good things must come to an end, or so they say.

So, for the first time in my seven occasions of seeing the Baby Pens here in Norfolk, they went down in defeat, and went down hard, losing 5-2.

[[ For those of you geographically challenged, Norfolk and Virginia Beach are joined at the hip. ]]

Playing before the largest Norfolk crowd in their AHL history (7,209), the atmosphere was certainly nothing like I had been used to in the dump known as the Norfolk Scope, which basically looks like the Igloo's ugly stepsister. I was amazed as we walked up towards the ticket booths (I never usually buy tickets in advance there) that there was a huge line.

As soon as we eventually got in the building, Dennis Bonvie and his old buddy David Koci were throwing haymakers at each other. Our seats were about 3 feet behind the Admirals penalty box, and Bonvie and Koci didn't stop yakking at each other the entire 5 minutes. Bonvie was really entertaining the Norfolk hicks in the crowd as well, it was pretty hilarious.

But back to the ice action, sorry to say, this Baby Pens squad is nothing like previous years' teams.

Filewich is certainly impressive, I'd have to concur with those who say he would be the next forward to be called up to the big boys in the 'Burgh.

Dupont looked steady as well, I'd have no problem with him coming back up to fill a D-man slot.

And, like father like son, the Baby Pens had a FULL 2-minute 5 on 3, and whiffed on it. What is it about 5 on 3's with this organization ???

By the way, guess who was in goal for the Admirals ?? Our old buddy Patrick Lalime.

In the Baby Pens' net, Jeff Deslauriers basically stunk. Didn't even last one period before he was pulled for Andrew Penner, who was decent the remainder of the game.

So, overall, we had a good time, the crowd was really pumped, and for the 1st time in my 7 visits, they went home happy.

The Confluence's Blurbs from the Burgh

2007-01-19T17:02:00.000-05:00

You have to forgive the Buccos for continuing to be absolute giddy after the announcement of the LaRoche trade. I'll admit it, I was pretty damn excited myself. But let's not kid ourselves; This trade simply makes the Bucs a closer bet to finish .500 or better, and that's about it. At the very best scenario, it may give the Bucs an outside shot at a wild card spot. Come on people, after 14 years of futility, let's not get carried away.
Seems that as soon as the 'Burgh press started mentioning the renewed possibility of signing Trot Nixon, the Indians signed him. Coincidence ??
Speaking of coincidence, isn't it a small MLB when immediately after the LaRoche trade was announced, the Braves signed Craig Wilson. Decent signing for the Braves, I just hope they realize he hasn't hit a curve ball since his wiffleball days.
Bucs also signed Shawn Chacon to a ridiculous 1 year, 3.825 million dollar contract today. Ya know, I knew when I joined the Navy in '83 at the age of 19 I was going into the wrong line of business. I wish I would've known how much they were looking for left-handed junk pitchers, 'cause I would have stuck with it.
Still no news from Steelers HQ after the Round 2 interviews of Tomlin and Grimm. Who knows, maybe the Steelers will be waiting until after Ron Rivera and the Bears are eliminated (which I really hope is Sunday). As I told my buddy Pojo Risin the other day, something seems fishy to me about Grimm. Russ has had several interviews over the last few years, and not only hasn't he gotten a head coach job, he hasn't gotten a 2nd interview yet. That isn't adding up to me, and makes me think that maybe Grimm isn't the #1 choice. I could very well be wrong, we'll see.
Looks like new Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt will grab Steelers special teams coach Kevin Spencer. Two words; Good Riddance.
How about that Michael Vick. What an idiot. Enough said.
I've read a lot of the comments concerning the Pens inability to win shootouts. There's one common theme I agree with, especially thinking back to the Pens' recent shootouts; Get the Puck up. Really seems like the Pens shooters are deking the goalies well enough that the goalies must sprawl, but the shots are simply not high enough. Take a look at Christensen's goals, top shelf. Remember Malkin's successful shootout goal; deke, then roof it. Even Sid's jock drop on Theodore last year; deke, then backhand top shelf.
Shero poo-poo'd the trade rumors for Malone going to the Rangers recently. I'm not buying it just yet. I agree with some of the other bloggers recently who say that Malone was propped on the 1st line to boost his trade value, and even that the trade rumors may have been put out there on purpose as a motivation tool, although I feel that eventually he's going to pull the trigger on the deal.
I was probably a little harsh on MAF last night, trust me it was only 'cause I was pissed off. MAF stood on his French-Canadian head last night.
I continue to love that 2nd line of Staal/Malkin/Ouellet.
Part of me wants to see Petrovicky given more of a shot. It's not like Ruutu is really doing anything recently.
The Pens not cashing in on that 5 on 3 for 1:50 last night absolutely lost them the game. Once again, they're way too reliant on Gonchar on the PP.
More negotiations last night on the new arena deal between the Governor, city officials, and the Pens. More progress, but no new deal just yet. Getting some impatient fans out there, but everyone needs to realize, there's dozens of details that need to be negotiated, one by one. The deal's gonna get done, just be patient.
And when the deal's done, I'm gonna be firing off some emails to some "experts" who were so sure the Pens were gone. I can't wait for that.

Bruins 5, Pens 4 (SO); Another point lost...

2007-01-18T22:08:00.002-05:00

Bad loss. Just a bad loss.

Don't even feel like talking about it.

Frickin' incredible that the Pens are so bad at the shootout, just incredible.

But it shouldn't have gotten to that point. Defensive lapses and a couple of soft goals on MAF proved costly.

The Pens raced to a 2-0 lead after the 1st period, but went back on their heels once again and let the Bruins get the next 3 goals.

If not for the heroics of Malkin, this one might have been a loss for the Pens in regulation.

Oh well, I'm done talking about this one, it stinks.

Leafs back in town Saturday night for what is sure another consecutive sellout.

Buccos FINALLY make the deal for LaRoche

2007-01-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

Better late than never, I guess.

The Pirates finally made the deal, tentatively, to land Adam LaRoche, while dealing away closer Mike Gonzalez. According to our colleagues at Bucs Dugout, the complete deal is Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge for LaRoche and outfielder Jamie Romak. I'll give Littlefield credit (if true) for not giving up players that were reported to be included such as Duffy, Maholm, or Castillo.

Several different stories spawn out of the deal finally being made;

Tough to see Mike go. Good guy, reportedly a good teammate and clubhouse guy. Not a Mariano Rivera-like shutdown closer, but pretty damn close. 24 for 24 last year, obviously perfect, although many of those were pretty hairy during those 9th innings.
Tough to lose a closer like that. However, the Bucs were going absolutely nowhere unless they at least pulled the trigger on this trade. Shit, they still might not be going anywhere. Personally, my goal for the team is just to finish over .500 for a change.
So does this annoint Solomon Torres as the defacto Bucs' closer. Not a bad selection at all. Torres won't be your typical 98 MPH closer, but I love his sinker, that in itself gives the job to him.
LaRoche is the perfect PNC Park hitter. I used to think Brian Giles was that type of player, but in retrospect I don't think he took advantage of it as much as I expected. LaRoche has a little bit more of a golf swing for a lefty, perfect for the short porch in right and the Clemente wall.
I would imagine that puts LaRoche in the cleanup position, with Bay 3rd and Nady 5th. Now if we can only get Jason to cut down on the K's this year....
I continue to wonder if this was spawned by the "Bob Nutting coming out of hibernation party".
Come on McClatchy, quit stalling, when's Adam's bobblehead night, you need another sellout.

Pens 5, Isles 2; Determination pays off...

2007-01-16T21:49:00.000-05:00

Another game that could've swung either way after two periods.

Another game that had you pulling your hair out, as the Pens refused to shoot the puck, again and again.

But the Pens really turned the switch on in the 3rd period, and pulled away for a 5-2 win.

Super-sniper Erik Christensen and Sid both scored two goals each, while Ouellet added a goal for the first time in a long time.

The Isles did their best to play physical, as Witt nailed Sid with a massive but clean hit, in which I was glad to see both Whitney and Malone go after Witt, with Malone and Witt dropping the gloves.

Jason Blake topped off the night by spearing Sid in the last minute of the game, and of course, Sid gets the penalties out of it. Look for a suspension for that one.

MAF played another solid game, and had some key saves in the 3rd period as the Isles started to get desparate.

The Pens travel to Boston for their next game Thursday.

Steelers' Head Coach search down to three

2007-01-15T18:48:00.000-05:00

Well, it's down to three candidates to determine the next head coach of the Steelers.

The finalists are Russ Grimm, still considered the frontrunner, Mike Timlin, and Ron Rivera.

Timlin has his second interview Tuesday, and Grimm will have his on Wednesday. The Steelers will be unable to talk to Rivera again until either the Bears lose Sunday, or after the Super Bowl on Feb. 4th, which continues to make Rivera a longshot.

Chan Gailey only got the one interview last week, and he has a second interview with the Dolphins on Tuesday.

Mike Sherman did not get an interview as was reported late last week.

Steelers 2006; What the hell happened ??

2007-01-15T10:40:00.000-05:00

I've dreaded this post, even contemplated not making it.

But now, the Steeler season is over, my self-imposed Steeler posting hiatus has expired, so now it's time to reflect.

So, to repeat the title, what the hell happened ??

First of all, let's stay off of the field to begin the analysis.

Coaching - As I opined when Coach Cowher announced his resignation on Jan. 5th, he had, in my view, lost his edge. In fact, I believe he'd lost it about 3 years ago. But specifically this past year, Cowher made several questionable coaching decisions, such as going for it on 4th downs that were much more risky than ones he'd done in the past. The continued placement of Santonio Holmes as punt returner, as well as Ike Taylor as starting cornerback, were head-scratchers indeed.
Playcalling - The Steelers playcalling has become so predictable, it's not even funny. Ya know, pass on 1st down, run on 2nd down after the 1st down pass is incomplete, then incomplete pass after the predictable run on 2nd down is stuffed, then punt. But to be more specific, what really irks me is the playcalling when the Steelers are facing the tough blitz-crazy defenses like Jacksonville and Baltimore. Everyone in the free world knew what those teams were doing every snap, blitz, blitz, and more blitz. But what the Steelers didn't do, and in fact what they've NEVER done since the Ravens' defense has come to prominence, is counteract those blitzes with plays to punish those teams, with plays such as draws, screens, and slants. They kept calling the same vanilla plays, as if they were playing against a 4-3. That resulted in some brutal hits this year on Ben, and more importantly, resulted in three embarrassing losses to those teams, that included two shutouts.

Now onto the field;

Quarterback - Wow, Ben had, shall we say, a tough year. I mean, the guy was THIS close to being "the late Ben Roethlisberger". I'm still amazed the guy came out of it with only a cracked up mug, and moreover, I'm still amazed that his face is not deformed in some gruesome way, but that is the marvel of today's medical science. Then as everyone is preparing for the opener, Ben is rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. And then the concussion. So I guess in retrospect, it's really not surprising to see what his stats ended up to be. He led the entire NFL in interceptions with 23, while his QB rating, which was easily in triple digits thus far in his NFL career, crashed down to 75.4. But as I've said a helluva lot of times over the years, if you don't have an offensive line to protect you, I don't care if you're Joe Montana, you won't be a good QB, which leads me to the next item;
Offensive Line - I think everyone would agree that this was the worst year for a Steelers offensive line in several years. The O-line gave up the 6th most sacks in the NFL this year with 49. Lots of talk around the Steelers blogosphere concerning the play of the two tackles, Marvel Smith and Max Starks. And while they did assist Willie Parker to the be 6th leading rusher in the NFL this year with 1494 yards, that was greatly aided by 2-200 yard games against New Orleans and Cleveland. While those games were certainly noteworthy, including breaking the Steelers' game record, we'd be remiss if we didn't include the duds against Jacksonville (20 yds.), San Diego (57), Atlanta (47), Cleveland (43), Baltimore (22), Tampa (61), and Baltimore again (29). Want another stat for a poor rushing game ? How about the Steelers being 5th in the NFL in passing for 1st downs with 201.
Wide receivers - I have to admit, I think this group shows a helluva lot of promise in the years ahead. Hines Ward, well, is simply Hines Ward. Clutch as clutch can be. Blocks his ass off. Plays hurt. I also think that Cedrick Wilson could be a good receiver as well, if he's stop bitching after every ball that he doesn't catch. Nate Washington had several big drops, but he made good strides this year. Santonio Holmes, after a slow start, really came on strong at the end of the year. I'd be really surprised if he isn't a starter next year. What we didn't get to see is what Willie Reid can do, both as a WR and as a PR. This group as a whole gets a pass (no pun intended) this year, they didn't win many games, but in the same respect, they didn't lose games either.
Running backs - As I said earlier, Willie Parker had a good year, statistically, with 1494 yards. But whether it was due to poor playcalling, or poor offensive line play, or whatever else, Parker did not deliver in the important games of the year vs. conference and division opponents. And while it's not fair to completely point the blame on Willie for those poor performances, it cannot be discounted that the failure to run the ball as a whole most definitely was a prime factor in several games this year. Elsewhere, count me as one who thought that Najeh Davenport had a pretty good year, I love this guy's running style. He's as close to Bettis as the Steelers are gonna get, and they'd be stupid for letting him leave. Verron Haynes got hurt and was put on IR pretty early in the year, and after the signing of Davenport, I don't think that was as big a loss as it could have been.
Defensive Line - This group did what they were paid to do in a 3-4 defense, that being stopping the run. The Steelers were 3rd in the NFL in rushing defense, averaging 88.2 yards per game. Also, two of the three D-linemen got their fair share of sacks as well, with Aaron Smith getting 4.5 sacks, and Brett Keisel getting 5.5. This unit isn't the problem.
Linebackers - For all of the notoriety and press this group gets, they're full of holes now. First and foremost, they're getting long in the tooth, NFL-wise. Farrior's 32 now, Haggans' 30, Porter will be 30 in March, and Foote is the baby of the group at 26. In my view, that has resulted in more missed tackles, more times of getting blocked vice shedding tackles, and wider gaps in pass coverage. And while they've certainly still done a good job in sacks, with 22 among the group, their pass defense has become a liability. Porter makes $5 million next year, counting $6.6 million against the cap, in the last year of his contract. Gonna be interesting what they do with him, 'cause I don't see him taking any pay cut at all.
Secondary - Oh boy, I saved the best for last. Personally, I continue to be shocked at the lack of negative coverage that this group gets in the Pittsburgh press. How many times have we seen, not just this year, but for the last several years, a QB throw seemingly at will, at wide receivers that are completely wide-open, all game long. How many times have we seen Ike Taylor or Deshea Townsend bite on the double move ?? How many times have we seen the cornerbacks rush the line, only to miss a makeable tackle which leads to a big gain ?? The Steelers have used 3 high draft picks since '03 on cornerbacks (Taylor, Colclough, McFadden), and yet they still are porous as they've ever been on pass defense. I hate to say it, but this upcoming draft the Steelers need to expend yet another high draft pick on a CB. Probably not a 1st rounder, 'cause I think they need to go LB, but I wouldn't be surprised if they go CB in round 2 or 3.
Special Teams - Kevin Spencer should be proactive and box up his belongings while he has the chance, 'cause he needs to be GONE. Terrible coverage on both kick and punt returns. In addition, sorry to say, I think BOTH punter Chris Gardocki AND kicker Jeff Reed should be released. Gardocki was 4th from the bottom of the league in gross punting average with only a 41.3 yard average. And although he's a fan favorite, Reed didn't do much better. Reed only got 4 touchbacks out of 76 kickoffs this year, tied for 4th from the bottom of the league. His kickoffs routinely averaged between the 5 and 10 yard line. In addition, his 74.1 pct. average on successful field goals is near the bottom of the league as well. The Steelers should be able to do much better with this group next year.

Well, that's it. Are the Steelers that far away from a playoff team next year ?? Hell no. If they wouldn't have blown the Atlanta, Cincinnatti, and Oakland games last year, they would have been a playoff team this year.

Breaking News: Whisenhunt takes Arizona job

2007-01-14T13:02:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Now that the Bears have escaped by the skin of their teeth today in their OT win vs. Seattle, I would think that eliminates Ron Rivera from any chance to be the next Steelers head coach.

NFL hiring rules prohibit teams from interviewing prospective coaching candidates while that candidate's team is still in the playoffs, UNLESS that team is in their bye week, or in the first week prior to the Super Bowl. That is how the Steelers were able to interview Rivera last week. But now that the Bears are alive for another week, I would think the Steelers would have their next head coach by next Sunday.

The PG's Ed Bouchette, widely regarded as the #1 Steelers beat writer, speculates that Russ Grimm may be offered the job soon.

-------------------------------------------

Well, there goes my prediction.

According to Jay Glazer at Fox Sports, Ken Whisenhunt has been offered and accepted the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals.

This really throws the Steelers' head coaching vacancy into a number of directions, and I don't know if there really is a frontrunner right now.

Sunday tidbits at The Confluence

2007-01-14T10:55:00.000-05:00

Let me just say first of all that today is a little brighter after a day in which the Ravens, Flyers, and Eagles all lost. Not to mention the opportunity to shut Ray Lewis the hell up for another 9 months.
The Colts impressive but surprising defense has me thinking that they just might make it to the SB this year. Well, maybe. Let me say this; If the Chargers win today, the Colts will go to the Dance, if the Pats win, then those bastards will go again.
Speaking of the Pats/Chargers game, I'm just not following the coaches' record angle that so many are. Rather, I'd say the ability to stop LT, and therefore the ability of Rivers to throw the ball will be the determining factor. I think the Chargers' run defense will slow down Dillon/Maroney at home, but give me the Pats by a TD.
I have to admit that I was dead wrong on Deuce McCallister. That guy has done some impressive power running all year, and the Cinderella Saints are one game from the Big Dance.
That early game hit on Reggie Bush may have been the hit of the year. Just brutal, clean but brutal.
Give Jeff Garcia and the Eagles credit, most people didn't think they'd get anywhere close to this point in the season. By the way, I wonder if Jeff is still boinking former Playmate Carmella Decesare. Yeah, he's gay alright, just ask T.O.
Will ANYONE out there be surprised if/when the Bears choke at home today ?? Weather looks to definitely be a factor though, but we'll see if Grossman can "not lose" vs. the Seahawks today.
Some in the Pirates blogoshere are predicting that the coming out of Bob Nutting may preclude the pulling of the trigger of the LaRoche trade. While I'd welcome that, I'll believe it when I see it.
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Cubs are considering trading Jacque Jones to the Bucs for either Duffy or McLouth. So let me get this straight, Littlefield won't include Duffy in the LaRoche trade, but he may trade Duffy to the Cubs for Jones ?? Geezus, just do something for Christ sakes.
The trade winds are also a-brewing in the hockey world, if you believe the NY Post's Larry Brooks, anyways. Brooks is reporting this morning that the Rangers are talking to the Pens on a trade that would trade Malone, and possibly Orpik, to the Rangers for Prucha and possibly another player. Also, Brooks reports that GM Ray Shero himself was in NY on Thursday scouting the Rangers/Sens game. This might very well be the reason that the underperforming Malone has remained on the 1st line with Crosby, when he really hasn't deserved it. My view, if I'm Shero, and I'm not, I do this trade in a NY heartbeat. Prucha is a young sniper, a 30 goal scorer last year, and RIGHT-HANDED. He would be an outstanding replacement on the 1st line.
Mark Eaton looks due to come back after the All-Star Game, when the Pens make their 2nd trip out West to Dallas and Phoenix. The sooner, the better. If anyone needs a reminder, the Pens were 7-3 when Eaton got hurt, he would really shore up the Pens inconsistent defense.
The NHL announced the All-Star reserves and the participants in the YoungStars game. Kinda surprisingly, the Pens got no other players besides Crosby to represent them in the big boys' game, but are well represented in the YoungStars game, with Malkin, Staal, and Whitney selected.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Sid and Ovechkin on the same line in Dallas.

Until next week.....

Pens 5, Flyers 3; Beat them at their own game....

2007-01-13T17:32:00.000-05:00

Boy I would have LOVED to have been at this game.

In easily the most physical game of the year, the Pens went to 6-0 on the year vs. the Flyers in the 5-3 win.

This was a very revealing game to me.

But I was one pissed off Pens fan after two periods.

Not only had the Flyers tied the game up at 3 after the Pens had completely dominated the game, but the Flyers' goonery caused the Pens to lose their composure and get out of their gameplan.

I give the Pens credit though, they didn't turn the 3rd period into one cheap shot after another, because they would have found out that they would lose that kind of game.

Having said that, that was one fun hockey game to watch.

Army's hit on Carter was the hit of the year for the Pens, in my opinion anyway. His hit on Letowski was basically a blind hit, while this one was one in which Army was already pissed off because of himself getting decked by Fedoruk. Kinda surprised that Army wasn't called for charging on it to be honest, he left his feet by a wide margin.

And even Sid dropped the gloves, for a few seconds anyway. What I didn't understand is why Sid got a double minor, while Zhitnik only got 2 minutes. What-ever.

The line combination of Malkin and Staal had another great game, I really like the chemistry that these two have. It's not Malkin/Crosby, but if the goal is to keep Crosby and Malkin off of the same line, Staal is the best linemate I've seen for Geno.

The NBC broadcast was average, nothing earth-shattering.

Meanwhile, some blowhard called The Bellowing Moose on NBCSports.com says that the Pens are considering firing Therrien. I don't believe that for a second. Yes, it's true that Shero was forced to accept Therrien as his head coach. But I do not believe that Therrien has done a bad job at all. You're going to get inconsistent results with a team this young.

And guess who the Pens next opponent is on Tuesday back at the Igloo ?? That's right, it's the Islanders !!!!

Confluence Soapbox; Hey Bob, open the books....

2007-01-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

I just continue to be furious over the sham of a press conference the Pirates pulled on the fans yesterday.

And as I suspected, I'm not alone.

All over the Pirates blogosphere, the same feelings are portrayed, albeit written in bloggers' respective styles.

But it's just the outlandish and completely ridiculous comments that they made that are an insult to me and all other Pirate fans that have put up with this nonsense for so many years.

"I will say this: I am absolutely committed to having the team win,"

"It's a plan that absolutely can work, and I expect it to work,"

Give me a frickin' break.

But here's the one that's got me steamed;

"Ownership is not taking money out of the team and putting it in their pockets. It is going right back into the team."

You want to earn some brownie points with Pirate fans now that you've come out of hibernation with your Daddy, Bob ??

PROVE IT.

Do like your divisional rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, did when they were pressured to do so by their fans.

If you're so confident that your team is doing the right thing, and not spending that money against the regulations that MLB has set forth, open up the books and PROVE IT.

Kevin McClatchy said as much a couple of years ago in an interview with FSN 'Burgh. He admitted that the money that they received from MLB's revenue sharing was going toward paying off debt, completely against the "spirit" of the rules of revenue sharing.

I would love to see fans continue to pressure Pirate ownership to open up the books, and show us where the hundreds of millions have gone over the past 14 years.

But I'm also realistic enough to realize that that day probably will never come.

Pens Gameday; Flyers a welcome sight...

2007-01-13T10:20:00.000-05:00

There have been several good sights so far in the Pens season.

Evgeni Malkin FINALLY showing up in a Pens uniform.

Sid taking it up ANOTHER notch, when a lot of people thought that was not possible.

MAF finally showing signs of goaltender maturity.

The Pens' defense not giving EVERY game away (OK, it still happens from time to time).

But one of the best sights this season has been the continued dominance the Penguins have had over the Flyers this year.

Most of the games haven't even been close, in fact, they've been embarrassingly bad for the Flyers.

So it's certainly a good thing that after the latest 3 game losing streak that the Pens invade Philly this afternoon at 2PM.

This game also is the first of the season for NBC's NHL coverage.

I guess I should take that as a good thing.

But come on, let's face it, short-term coverage on NBC is a nice band-aid (hell, the NHL needs every ounce of U.S. coverage it can get), but as I said when I was on the Confluence Soapbox, until the NHL gets back on ESPN, it's simply a drop in the bucket.

Noah Welch is back with the team again, this time courtesy of Melichar's sprained MCL. Joe is expected to be out 3-4 weeks. Welch will be paired with another one of Therrien's man-crushes, Alain Nasreddine (along with Michel Ouellet, of course).

I'll be interested to see the lines for this one. I can't imagine Malone being allowed to stay with the first line for much longer. He's simply not producing, and outside of one night that he was fortunate enough to get three great feeds from Sid for the hat trick, he's done literally nothing all year.

Oh well, just stepping on the Flyers' ice should provide enough intensity to get another win for the Pens.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!!

Bucs ownership changes; Big Frickin' Deal

2007-01-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

I was like most Pirate fans today.

I saw the headline, Nutting To Replace McClatchy As Controlling Owner, and of course, I completely misunderstood what it really meant.

Because, of course, it means absolutely nothing to Pirate fans.

Why would I give a shit if the Nuttings own more of the Pirates than they used to ??

Bob Nutting showed his face today, let's all run out and buy season tickets !!!

McClatchy still runs the day-to-day operations, so what's the difference ??

Will they all of a sudden produce an influx of money ??

No ?? Then it doesn't mean a f#$king thing !!!!

Littlefield hasn't done a damn thing. If fact, if you count the signing of Jose Hernandez for the 37th time, they've gotten worse.

The ownership does some completely cosmetic crap today, thinking that fans will be gullable enough to really think it's going to make any difference.

I'm so tired of this spew coming from this group of malcontents, and I hope everyone else is as well.

I'll tell everyone this right now, if Littlefield does relatively nothing before the season starts, my Pirate coverage will be maybe once a week.

Lots of folks have given some nice compliments in relation to my Pens coverage, and I had intended of doing the same for the Bucs upcoming season, but not the way they're going now. I've got enough gray hairs as it is, I don't need any more.

If they make the trade for LaRoche, or maybe Chad Tracy, I'll reconsider it. But not with the status quo.

I'll resume my Steelers coverage as well. After all, it's time for draft talk for us non-playoff teams, right ??

Panthers 5, Pens 2; Time to change mindsets, boys

2007-01-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

Pretty pathetic performance down there in balmy south Florida last night.

Thibault was, well, Thibault.

That great experiment with Malone on the first line. Jesus H. Christ, when will they learn ??

Just how many centering passes with no one going to the net did they attempt ??

And I have to say, for as great as he looks with the puck, I'm really starting to have a problem with Malkin's impersonation of Jagr on the forecheck, or more accurately, lack thereof a forecheck. Geno, when he wants to anyway, really knows how to use his body and lay solid, clean checks (yes, I know, a lot of times the elbow is too high). And ESPECIALLY since he's getting the vodka knocked out of him on a nightly basis.

But I shouldn't single out Malkin, with the exception of the 4th line, this team as a whole needs to do a whole lot more hitting. I'm not talking about goon-type hitting, but as I just said, Ray Charles (if he were still with us) could've seen the amount of checks that the Pens opponents lay on them EVERY GAME.

But here's the biggest thing, in my view. And the funniest part is, the Pens don't have to do anything about it ON THE ICE.

I have to give credit to this to Jay Caufield, who regularly does Pens postgame on FSN 'Burgh. I think Jay does a very good job, by the way.

And when you see what he says, you realize that right now, the Penguins and the Steelers face the same problem.

Jay hit the nail right on the head last night when he said that from now on, the Penguins are a huge game on opponent's schedule, because now they're facing "the big boys", of course referring to Crosby and Malkin, among others.

It's the same thing that the Steelers failed at miserably this past season. They failed to realize that even as much as their opponents hated them before, as the Super Bowl Champions that hatred and intensity went up a notch. And when the dust cleared, the Steelers are already planning their golf tournaments.

So boys, as said in tonight's post title, it's time to change your mindsets.

You see, the opponents no longer view the Pens as laughable losers.

Penguins opponents know now that they can't skip into Mellon Arena and expect an easy victory, that is if they get a win at all. And with more frequency, those teams are coming out losers. But what that also means is that teams are now coming into Pittsburgh and thinking it will NOT be an easy game.

And when the Pens go on the road, when the Pens themselves admit to have more jump in their stride, their opponents, with usually close to a sellout crowd for a change, are more focused and intense themselves.

So what the hell does all of that crap mean ??

It's pretty simple actually.

For as humble as all of the Pens have been this year, the youngsters that they are, they collectively all need to get one concept in their head; Your opponents now have given you the respect that you've deserved, even as incredibly young the majority of you are.

That means that NOTHING short of the type of effort that they put out recently vs. Toronto, Carolina, and Buffalo will suffice. It's apparent at the halfway point that the Pens opponents aren't taking the night off anymore, so if the Pens do, they're in deep kimchee.

The Flyers are next on Saturday afternoon. They'd better heed what Jay said (I just piggybacked what he said), or even the Flyers, whom the Pens have beaten 5 times this year, will beat them.

Bolts 3, Pens 2; Let's just face facts....

2007-01-10T18:16:00.000-05:00

There are just some things in life that one must simply acknowledge and move on, such as;

1. No one cares about Van Halen unless David Lee Roth is in the band (and if you think otherwise, you've got serious issues)

2. I can't handle my beer as much as I used to (oh, could I tell some stories, but I'd just bore ya)

3. The Tampa Bay Lightning have cursed the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I mean, damn, talk about not matching up well.

Even in games where the team is skating well, defense is playing relatively well (considering the group we're talking about), and they jump to an early lead after ANOTHER sensational goal by Sid, the trio of Lecavalier/St. Louis/Richards uncanningly push the right buttons at the absolute right time.

The lack of goals by anyone other than Sid or Geno is getting ridiculous, outside of the rare one like was scored by Army's elbow last night. Coach Therrien was obviously pissed off, and as usual he didn't mince words, saying "our forwards are doing not such a good job of producing," Therrien said. "We rely on one line. It's pretty simple. Then, we've got three lines that give us one goal every four games. It's not normal. You have to score at least three goals to win a hockey game, and we didn't find a way to score three goals. Defensively we seem not bad, but we don't go hard enough to the net, and we don't do the little things right. It's not normal."

So now it's onto Sunrise, FL and the Panthers. Just to jog your memory, one of the worst losses of the year to date came at home vs. the Panthers with a 3-2 loss on Dec. 5th.

Let's just hope that the Pens have enough legs to be aggressive against the Panthers tonight.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Pens Gameday; Time for some revenge, or so we hope...

2007-01-09T18:27:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the lack of posts, work has been a pain in the buttocks lately.

Going back to the Bolts game in the Igloo, I hate to say I told you so.

But I told you so.

Just reading the Pens' comments after the games reaffirms what I had hoped wouldn't happen, but did.

No intensity, no energy, slow to the puck, you name it.

Another absolutely incredible goal by Sidney, just ridiculous.

Is anyone else besides me starting to get the feeling that Crosby's spectacular goals are beginning to become commonplace, a la Mario, and that is just par for the course for him ??

I'm sure I could have worded that a helluva lot better, but you know what I mean.

So onto tonight, I don't think it would be a stretch to predict that the Pens will have a much better showing in Tampa tonight.

I would say that the Pens might want to think about consistent intensity at home, especially since you read their comments that they're looking forward to their road trip.

No changes to the scoring lines once again, might as well keep a good thing going.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Pens Gameday; Beware of the mighty Letdown...

2007-01-07T16:44:00.000-05:00

Some might say it wouldn't be surprising at all.

Coming off emotional wins against Toronto, Carolina, and Buffalo, the Pens come back home tonight to host Tampa Bay in the first of a home-and-home series.

But unlike the last 3 games, the Lightning aren't the kind of team that the Pens would naturally get pumped up for.

Meaning, the Leafs came into town with their 3,000 fans or so and it created a great atmosphere.

The Canes are the defending Cup champs, and since the Pens played two of their worst games of the year previously against them, a spirited effort was not a surprise, in fact, one of their best games of the year.

And then on Friday night in Buffalo, against one of the best teams in the NHL, another great effort resulted another great win.

But Tampa Bay just isn't the sexy matchup for the Pens. And it's because of that that I believe we might unfortunately see a mediocre game from the good guys tonight.

Beating Tampa means stopping the Big 3 of Lecavalier, St. Louis, and Richards. Unfortunately, in recent games the Pens haven't done a good job at that, including the OT winner earlier this year.

Let's hope they keep their momentum going.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Cowher resigns; Bill, Steeler Nation says Thank You...

2007-01-06T10:09:00.000-05:00

It was a day of mixed emotions, to be sure.

Bill Cowher did the expected on Friday, and hung up his chin.

Well, you know what I mean.

I've been going back and forth on how I was going to draft this post.

I initially was going to go the way of downplaying Cowher's resignation, and moving onto his possible replacements. I've always been one that feels that pro sports coaches are overrated in the overall reasons for a team's success or failure.

But this post shouldn't be about my opinion about pro coaches, and how that applied to Bill.

This post needs to be about Bill Cowher's accomplishments as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 years.

10 playoff appearances, 8 division championships, 6 AFC Championships, 2 Super Bowl appearances, and the Super Bowl XL Championship.

Not a bad run, not bad at all. Matter of fact, no one can touch it in the contemporary NFL.

That equates to a ticket to the Hall of Fame, my friends.

Yes, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention the lowlights;

The 3 AFC Championship losses at home, boy, those hurt, especially the San Diego game in '95
The debacle with the failed Kordell Stewart experiment
Too many kissing incidents (OK, just a joke thrown in there)

But those lowlights are few and far between. You don't get much more successful than Cowher's been in today's NFL.

So why did he go ??

Did money have something to do with it ?? He keeps saying no, and for the most part I tend to agree, but not completely.

I can more clearly agree with the reasoning that he gave during the press conference.

His family.

For you young and single folks out there, if you take anything away from reading this post, don't dismiss so quickly the effect that being away from your spouse and children has on a person.

Ask anyone who has been deployed overseas in the military for several months or over a year what it's like to be away from your wife and kids.

Well I'll tell you, as one who's done it, it's terrible, no two ways to describe it.

Not only in the military, but there are hundreds of pro athletes and coaches who are away from their family, albeit not in a military scenario, but away nonetheless.

So I see exactly where Bill is coming from when he said he wants to be with his family. His wife and youngest daughter now live in Raleigh, in their new multi-million dollar home. So I don't think it's foolish at all to suggest that Bill will be away from coaching until his daughter graduates from high school in a couple of years.

And even though he said it wasn't a reason, in my view, Bill was burned out. I think it was apparent in the last couple of years.

He simply shrugged off the bad losses that seemed to accumulate over the last couple of years, such as when they went 7-5 before they went on the remarkable Super Bowl run, or this past year, when they stumbled out of the gate at 2-6, to finish 8-8. Terrible losses, such as the Oakland loss, would have previously brought out a possessed Cowher, one that would ensure you wouldn't see that lousy version of the Steelers again for a long time. Instead, you just kept seeing Bill shrug his shoulders, and give generic answers like "we just have to keep working hard".

So now, Bill's gone. Who's gonna replace him ??

Who CAN replace him ??

One might say, no one can "replace" Bill Cowher, in an emotional sense. The jaw, the spit, the snarl, gonna be tough to replace that.

So how do you find someone ??

I'm gonna throw this out right now.

NOTE TO THE ROONEY'S; PLEASE DISMISS THE NOTION THAT SOMEONE IS A BETTER CANDIDATE TO BE COACH OF THE STEELERS SIMPLY BECAUSE HE'S A WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA NATIVE.

I say that as a Western Pennsylvania native, for those of you who haven't read my profile.

I'm sick of that, I really am, not only with the Steelers, but the Pirates are just as guilty of it. As if where you grew up gives you an advantage in coaching ability. Please.

Who do I "think" will be the next coach of the Steelers ??

My guess is that it'll be Ken Whisenhunt, if he isn't gobbled up by Atlanta or Arizona first, which I don't think will happen, because Whis will give the Rooney's the courtesy of meeting with them before he makes any decision.

The main reason I think it'll be Whis is because of his interaction with Big Ben. That's huge in my opinion. You give Ben a new coach, and you'll most likely have a new offensive coordinator, meaning a completely new offense. The Rooneys do not want to give the Steelers an overhaul.

Russ Grimm is the secondary choice, to me anyway. Yes, he's Cowher-like, meaning he's got that spunk, that snarl. But as I said, if you hire Grimm, you're gonna lose Whis, and that means a new offense for Ben.

The external candidates are interesting as well; Ron Rivera, Mike Singletary, Kurt Ferentz. All of those guys would be excellent choices, I have no doubt of that.

But to me, it's gonna be Whis, because if anything is apparent, after 38 years of having two coaches, it's that the Rooney's like their consistency.

Farewell Bill, and thanks for the memories.

Pens 4, Sabres 2; OK, so was THAT the game of the year ??

2007-01-05T22:40:00.000-05:00

Hey, I'm flexible.

Third SOLID game in a row, and in today's NHL, beating Toronto, Carolina, and now Buffalo in a row is one helluva accomplishment.

These kids are starting to put it all together.

I have to be honest, I didn't think it was in the cards for about half of the game. The Pens weren't getting any good bounces of the puck, while the Sabres were getting every crazy ricochet off of the boards and every loose puck was landing right on their stick.

MAF played another good game, both goals really couldn't be blamed on him. On the first goal he was basically shielded by the entire Pens defense, the second was a fortunate bounce off of a rebound that Drury planted.

Even though Sid didn't score a goal tonight, he was flying out there, creating havoc for the Sabres' defense. And while their defense was trying to stop Crosby, Malkin took full advantage of that. His laser beam goal to the top shelf with 2.3 seconds left in the 2nd period shifted the momentum, and proved to be the game winner.

So now it's back home to the Igloo for the start of a home-and-home against Tampa Bay on Sunday, then they'll head to Florida next Tuesday.

Trib's Conte: New arena deal may come next week

2007-01-05T17:37:00.000-05:00

Andrew Conte, who has been on top of the Pens arena and ownership situations since day one, reports in today's Tribune-Review that "talks between the Penguins owners, Lemieux and billionaire investor Ron Burkle, and Gov. Ed Rendell, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl went so well there could be a deal as soon as next week, sources said".

This follows comments made from Mario after last night's meeting with local officials which he described as "very optimistic" and "very positive".

Hopefully we'll continue to get more promising news as the days go on.

Pens Gameday; Keeping up the "Big MO"

2007-01-05T17:25:00.000-05:00

This should be a helluva game in Buffalo tonight. Wide-open, to be sure.

As is usually the case, special teams should be the key to the game. The Pens' PP and PK have both been excellent in the last two games. If they can keep it up tonight, I like the Pens chances, at least to get a point.

Looks like Therrien's not making any changes on the top two lines, and that can only be a good thing. The combination of Crosby/Malkin is good for at least a goal or two.

Fleury is in net again tonight. As usual, if MAF is on his game again tonight, as he has been against the Leafs and against the Canes, just gives me more reason to like their chances.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

K.C. offers Mario everything but the kitchen sink, but he's still "very optimistic" about new 'Burgh arena deal

2007-01-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

Five words.

The proof is in the pudding.

All over the hockey 'Net world this afternoon, the only phrase you saw was "free rent", emanating from today's meeting with Kansas City's Sprint Center representatives. The Pens would indeed play rent-free if they accepted the offer proposed in their meeting today in K.C.

Then, the Pens' boys hopped on Ronny Burkle's private plane and headed back to Pittsburgh, were they met this afternoon with Gov. Rendell, County Exec. Dan Onorato, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, among others.

Mario briefly met with the media after the meeting, using terms that he was "very optimistic" after the meeting and that the meeting was "very positive".

Those are his words folks, not mine (I know, I know, hence the quotes, duh).

So what I'm saying is for those who may be making hotel reservations for Kansas City for next October's season opener, ya'll need to chill out. No one outside of those two parties knows what's in the fine print of that K.C. proposal. Unless you're 18 years old, you should know by now that nothing in this world is free.

In addition, and more importantly, anyone paying close attention to the arena and/or ownership situation has seen and read that Mario Lemieux has been extremely careful about how he is wording his comments and his statements to the media. Monsieur Lemieux absolutely would not be throwing out words like "very optimistic" and "very positive" towards the new arena deal just to blow smoke up the collective asses of Pens fans.

He and his ownership group are doing what they need to do in terms of exploring ALL of their options. Although it's unpleasant to see photos of Lemieux in K.C.'s arena and watch press conferences in K.C. discussing a possible timeline of the Pens playing in K.C. next season, it's the necessary due diligence that businessmen MUST DO with a multi-million dollar investment.

But this deal will get done, my friends. Is it possible they're still headed to K.C. ?? Absolutely, I'm not that naive.

But the deal is on the table, the terms have obviously been sweetened for the Pens, it's a matter of time.

Monsieur Lemieux will, once again, save the Pens, and in Pittsburgh.

Lemieux heads to Kansas City; Mario's playing his hand like a pro...

2007-01-03T20:03:00.000-05:00

Irregardless of your views of the Pens' arena and ownership situations, you gotta give Mario Lemieux credit; He is absolutely pulling all of the right strings right now.

Once Jim Balsillie pulled out of the ownership bid, then the IOC failed to win the slots license, Mario quickly pulled the Pens off of the table, and stated that they would explore ALL options in order to secure the franchise, including those outside of Pennsylvania.

The Mayor and County Executive immediately hit the airwaves, telling anyone who would listen that the new arena deal is there for the Pens to sign, and that nearly every section of the deal is negotiable. They made it known; If the Pens left town, it wouldn't be because the city let them leave.

The Governor and the local officials then invited the Pens to a meeting in Pittsburgh tomorrow (Jan. 4th), in which the Pens accepted. In their response, they requested an afternoon meeting.

Kinda got everybody a little warm and fuzzy, ya know ?? The deal won't get done tomorrow, but ya know, a few meetings here and there, a tweak here, a tweak there, and voila, you've got yourselves a new arena deal.

Well, now we know why the Pens wanted an afternoon meeting for Thursday.

That's because Mario and the gang are in Kansas City today, doing the obligatory dog and pony show with the officials that represent the soon-to-be-completed Sprint Center.

Have to say Mario, brilliant business move, seriously, brilliant.

What a better leverage move than to have the Pens in enemy territory talking business the day before you meet with your current landlords.

Mario's gonna get his sweetheart deal for the New Igloo (hell, it's already a sweetheart deal according to some financial analysts), it's just a matter of time in my opinion.

Especially if he continues to "play the game" like he did today.

Pens 3, Canes 0; Game of the Year ??

2007-01-03T19:45:00.000-05:00

May very well have been.

I mean, it wasn't the blowout win like vs. the Flyers, but against one of the best teams in the NHL, that was one complete team win by the Pens last night.

The Pens last night hustled their asses off, the thing that when they've lost, was one of the main culprits. They got nearly every loose puck, and if not for Cam Ward's efforts, might have made this game 6-0, or worse.

I don't know if I've ever seen the Canes that sluggish, they just did NOT have it last night. But it's those games that the Pens have to take advantage of.

Oh yeah, that Crosby kid was pretty good again. Three more points, ho-hum. Of course, I'm joking, he juked Ward out of his jock on his first goal.

MAF was stellar once again. Great time for him to get on a roll, the schedule doesn't get any easier, with the Sabres on Friday night.

I want to see the Pens put another complete game together and knock off the Sabres. I don't think they're going to get rid of that inconsistency until they see that they can beat the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Pens Gameday; Let's hope for a better effort....

2007-01-02T18:13:00.000-05:00

Well, let's put it this way, they couldn't play much worse vs. the Canes this year.

Their first game vs. Carolina was an absolute stinker at the Igloo on Oct. 14th, losing 5-1.

And they followed that one up with another doozy on Nov. 11th in Raleigh, also just so happened to be The Confluence's first road trip of the year, losing 6-2.

So all signs point to a much improved effort tonight for the Pens.

Now whether that will result in a win, we'll just have to see about that.

Appears that Sid and Geno will once again be paired together on the first line. It's the smart move, especially now that Ekman will be out for a while.

Gonna have to get a good outing from MAF tonight. Both previous games vs. the Canes, the first one with MAF and the second one with Thibault, were quite bad performances.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

NHL realignment; I like it for the Pens, and I'll tell you why...

2007-01-01T10:35:00.000-05:00

By now you've all read about the NHL's reported new realignment proposal, which for the Penguins point of view, would reportedly place them in the new version of the Northeast Division, along with current divisional teams Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, and Boston, along with the movement of Columbus into this division as well.

The main argument against this proposal that I've read by Pens fans is that it eliminates the Pens' rivalries.

Let me start right there.

I don't know what your definition of a rival is, but in my view the vast majority of the Pens' opponents in the Atlantic Division do not fit it.

OK, I'll give you Philadelphia, but I'll tell you this, it's not the slam dunk that some of you think it is.

Yes, I'm well aware of the recent heated games led by the goonish exploits of Darien Hatcher, causing the chipping of three of Sid's teeth.

But those games are the exception rather than the rule, my friends.

The Rangers ?? If anyone seriously puts them as a legitimate rival is really grasping at straws.

The Islanders ?? Nope.

The Devils ?? Dear Lord, no.

You want to see rivals ?? Look at the NFL's AFC North with the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals and Browns. Now THOSE are rivals.

Every one of those teams, and the fans that follow them, absolutely HATE the other teams.

The NHL's Atlantic Division simply does not have that kind of rivalry, not even close.

For teams in the East in the NHL, that rivalry exists most clearly in the Northeast Division.

Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto despise each other.

Buffalo and Toronto are geographical rivals as well.

So count me in as one who would love to see the Pens be placed into this division.

The only minor thing that disappoints me is that the Capitals wouldn't be in the Pens' division after this realignment. The Caps fit the "rivals" bill as well in my opinion.

But let me provide some more justification for the Pens movement.

Having the Pens in this new division creates new (and closer) geographic rivalries as compared to it's current divisional opponents.

Columbus (185 miles from Pittsburgh), Buffalo (216 miles) and Toronto (317 miles) all are easily reachable to and from Pittsburgh for both team's fans.

Anyone who has been to a Leafs game at the Igloo knows how well Toronto fans travel to the Leafs game in the 'Burgh. I've been to the Leafs/Pens games at the Igloo two years straight now, and both of those have been among the most exciting hockey atmospheres I've ever been at. That atmosphere is almost sure to be a constant if/when the Pens join the Northeast Division.

While I wouldn't put Montreal at the same level as Toronto in terms of a prospective heated rival, it's not that far away. Montreal fans travel very well also, and it's obvious that having a strong contingent of an opponent's fans in the building provides an overall boost to the atmosphere.

Buffalo fans, whether those are Bills or Sabres fans, generally don't like anything to do with Pittsburgh, whether that's the Steelers or Penguins. Having these two in the same division is simply common sense, and is a great idea. Just watching the four times these teams go at it in the current scheduling format can see that these are great games, and the crowds are very loud and boisterous with large contingents from the away team's fans. This is a no-brainer.

Ottawa is similar to the Rangers, in my view anyway. Talented team, with smug, arrogant fans with very little success to back it up. While the geographic rivalry argument doesn't fit here (548 miles), I can take the Senators or leave 'em.

Boston falls into that category as well. Take 'em or leave 'em, kinda like the Islanders.

Some might not care right now for having the Blue Jackets as a divisional opponent. With this NHL and the salary cap, the Blue Jackets are not going to be bad team for very much longer. And having the two cities generally so close to each other makes this another natural rival.

In terms of overall NHL exposure, what better way to publicize the talents of the young and talented Pens than having them in a division with hockey-fanatic Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa ??

Want to give Pittsburgh a little boost in attendance (even though they're damn good right now at 93.4%) ?? Put them in the Northeast Division, and you'll get sellout crowds on weekday nights when nearly any of those divisional teams are in town.

And as for attendance in those other towns, while the Canadian teams (plus Buffalo) have no problem with sellouts, put the Pens with Crosby and Malkin in Columbus and Boston, and all of sudden you have sellouts there as well.

Compare that to the 10,000 that the Islanders and Devils are getting nowadays. Ugh.

So there you have it. It's a no-brainer to me. I say do it, the Flyers will get over it, believe me.

Confluence Road Trip, to a Pens home game for a change...

2006-12-31T11:07:00.000-05:00

Home sweet home.

At least the home back here in VA Beach, that is.

Aaah, there is nothing like the wonderful experience of driving 500 miles in holiday traffic on I-95 and the PA Turnpike, it doesn't get much better than that.

Nice little vacation back in the haunts of NW Pennsylvania to visit the family, and of course, partake in some Penguins hockey.

Started Friday off in the afternoon by hitting the Strip District for a new hours. As I've said, I'm not what you would call a Pittsburgh expert, my experience has really been the 20 or so times that I've been there for games. We liked the variety of stores and vendors down there. Geez, if I'd known about the quantity of Steeler/Penguin stuff down there, I would just've grabbed it there instead of scrambling online. Got my son a "Malkin 71" hoodie and a couple of T-shirts, as well as some seafood that the old lady was salivating over.

A couple of hours before gametime we did the required visitation of hitting Primanti's restaurant in the Strip. I inhaled a capicola and cheese, while I have to give my son props for almost eating his entire sandwich, and the old lady gave it a college try, but couldn't quite dust off her fish sandwich. I think she was intimidated by the whole fries and coleslaw thing.

On our way down I-79 Friday afternoon, I passed numerous cars with Ontario plates, so I knew that this would be a similar game like last year with a few thousand Leaf fans in attendance. And I was right, the SRO crowd had quite a throng of loud and boisterous Leaf fans. It made for great atmosphere. I'll speak about this sometime in the next couple of days, but count me among those who would have no problem with the NHL's proposed realignment. I would welcome the opportunity to have the Leafs as a common opponent as opposed to the snoozers of the Islanders and Devils.

The towel giveaway seemed to initially be a ho-hum promotion when I first saw it a few weeks ago, but combined with the Leaf fans in attendance, it really gave the Igloo a playoff atmosphere. I mentioned to my buddy there that considering the way that place was rocking Friday night, it must've really been something during the Cup years.

Even the dual National Anthems pumped the crowd up. It's unfortunate nowadays that you don't hear American crowds sing their anthem like you used to, but the Pens fans Friday night sure did, kudos to them.

Because of my tardiness in posting, I won't get into that much detail about the game, but here are some notes;

After watching the game this morning on TIVO, I didn't realize how badly Ruutu kicked Ondrus' ass, but he sure as hell did. Ruutu got several solid shots in.
Mark Recchi tossed a couple of pucks into the crowd in our section before the game. His second toss I believe was intended for a young fan who made a sign, but Mark's toss was a little too strong, and it landed a few rows back, where the fan who grabbed it seemed oblivious to that fact, despite the heated pleas of the youngster's father.
I continue to be shutout on the lifetime scoreboard of getting a T-shirt from those damn giveaways from the cheerleaders, or whatever the hell they're called. I did come close, one tipped off of my fingertips, I mistimed the jump. I would have had that damn shirt 5 years ago, I tell ya.
As some of my colleagues in the Pens' blogosphere have already noted, there was a tussle in the stands behind the Leaf's penalty box immediately prior to the Ruutu/Ondrus fight, coincidence ???
Prior to the 2nd intermission, Glenn Healy walked passed us in A5 on the way to his location between the benches (I'm assuming it was for TSN, DirectTV showed the Pens' feed). Lots of cheers from the Leaf fans, but one guy right in front of us went right to the glass and gave Healy a thumbs down. Healy just grunted and continued walking. Hilarious.
Still no word on Ekman's injury, other than he'll get an MRI early next week. Doesn't look good for Nils. Even though he hasn't lit up the lamp nearly as much as expected, how much more has to happen before the Pens get some help in the wings for Sid and Geno ?
But until that happens, Therrien should keep Sid and Geno on the same line. Hardly anyone else on this team is scoring, they need to keep that one potent line together to generate SOME offense.
OK, someone please try to find out the NHL record for most "too many men on the ice" penalties in one season. The one assessed during Ekman's injury was understandable, but not the second one. Come on boys, this is getting ridiculous.
With about 4 minutes left, a good chunk of the crowd was chanting "67", in reference to the last Cup for the Leafs in 1967. Couldn't hear it very well on the TV feed, but it was loud and clear in person.
For some reason, when I think of Erik Christensen, I think of Cris Carter. "All he does is score goals".

And finally, for my buddy Pojo Risin, everyone in NW PA said hello back.

The Canes are next for the Pens on Tuesday at the Igloo.

Happy Holidays from The Confluence

2006-12-25T19:24:00.000-05:00

Hope you and your families have a happy and safe Christmas holiday.

I probably will only have a few posts in the next week, I'm heading back to PA to visit my family. So unless you REALLY need a post from me describing how exciting the PA Turnpike is this time around, there won't be much from me until the weekend.

The highlight, besides visiting the family of course, will be Friday when we hit The 'Burgh for a little shopping Friday afternoon in the Strip District, then hit the Igloo Friday night for Leafs/Pens about 5 rows from the ice.

My son will be the one with the Crosby jersey (hehehehe)...

And let the posturing begin...

2006-12-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

It's almost like Mario's statement on Thursday has done nothing but fuel even more speculation and posturing among all of the respective parties involved with the Penguins' current situation.

Dan Onorato reiterated his support for Plan B today, saying a new arena was his top priority and he hoped to be able to achieve it in six to eight weeks.

I give Onorato props since the slots license decision was handed down on Wednesday. He's been on several interviews since then, and has consistently been calm, explaining the situation very clearly to those not well-informed (and that's a lot of people, judging by some of the Internet articles).

And, as has been said several times before, progress is continuing to be made on the new arena's future site. The SEA (Sports & Exhibition Authority) authorized $1.7 million in contracts to clear asbestos from buildings to be demolished to make way for a new arena and to prevent work stoppages during construction.

Demolition will begin in January, agreement in place or not.

And finally, Jim Balsillie tossed his hat back in the ring. You can imagine this was coming, especially since the selling price will now be about 40 million less.

The inaccurate reporting of the Pens' situation gets more ridiculous every day. One of the biggest misconceptions is the statement that Plan B will involve taxpayers money. That is completely false, there is zero money coming from taxpayers. Specifically, in the portion that some are calling "taxpayer money", 7 million dollars per year for 30 years will be coming from a slots-backed state economic development fund.

We'll probably see the official statement die down for a little bit, until the Pens officially release from the IOC. Until then, the status won't change.

Thrashers 4, Pens 3 (SO); We'll take the one point..

2006-12-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

It certainly didn't look good for most of the game.

Hitting posts left and right.

Goals coming courtesy of Jocelyn Rebound.

Looked like it just wasn't in the cards.

But give them credit, the Pens got a couple of garbage goals in the 3rd period, the last one coming with 15 seconds left it the game by Sid, and got a point out of the 4-3 shootout loss.

Speaking of the shootout, I know I'm sounding like a broken record (showing my age), but the Pens in the shootout is just getting depressing.

Is it just me, or do the opposing players appear to put the puck in the net with so much ease, while the Pens have a helluva time just getting the puck to the goalie.

That vaunted Penguins powerplay was 0 for 7. Something needs to be done, they have too many weapons to be that poor on the power play.

The Pens are off now until the 26th, when they're at New Jersey.

I'll be back home in PA next week, including 5 rows from the ice on the 29th against the Leafs.

Pens gameday; I'm concerned for these guys....

2006-12-21T18:44:00.000-05:00

The events of the past two days have been pretty damn dramatic.

And not the good type of dramatic, that's for sure.

You've been hearing interviews with the Pens in the months leading up to the awarding of the slots license, and all of them have said that pretty much that's something that's out of their control.

And those are true statements, of course.

But now, first with the IOC losing the slots license on Wednesday, and today with Mario issuing a terse statement that for the first time used the word "Relocation", combined with the Pens' comments on those two, I have to admit, I'm concerned that the situation with the ownership and the arena is going to start affecting the Pens on the ice.

Maybe not during the game, naturally I don't think they'll be thinking about Plan B while trying not to get hit by Hatcher.

But I think, subconsciously, this might cause the Pens to take a turn downward in the conference standings.

Now I could be completely off of my rocker on this one, I sure hope I'm dead wrong.

Tonight's game will be an immediate test on that psyche. I'm sure that the Thrashers are gonna come out strong after losing to the Pens last week.

And if the Pens come out flat again tonight, with the Thrashers firepower, this could be a blowout quickly.

So let's hope that the boys have their head on straight, not only tonight, but for the future. Let the politicians duke it out over the arena, you guys just worry about hockey.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!