And let the posturing begin...

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.

Lemieux calls Balsillie's bluff, and he's keeping the dinero, too

Uh-0h, now you did it.

You done pissed Mario off.

Le Magnifique thought everything was peaches and cream between he and his golfing buddy Jimbo.

I mean really, what's 175 million clams between friends ??

Psyche !!

Well, today Mario basically said "aight", then informed today's press conference that the Penguins would be keeping Balsillie's deposit, believed to be approx. $10 million. The Pens believe that Balsillie's pullout consitutes a breach of contract.

And to top it off, despite public pronouncements over the weekend by Balsillie that he could still make a deal for the Pens, Lemieux squashed that notion, informing the press today that the deal with Balsillie is "dead".

Mario also stated that the Pens will now have no ownership discussions until after the Pittsburgh slots license is hopefully awarded on Wednesday in Harrisburg.

In the meantime though, you're beginning to hear the same familiar names as rearing their ugly heads once again pertaining to the possibility of owning the Pens.

Cuban. Murstein. Lemieux again.

And a new Canadian one, but this one's adamant that if he owns the Pens, in Pittsburgh they most definitely would stay.

Frank D'Angelo, whose company owns Steelback beer in Canada (never tried that one, someone let me know how that brewski tastes), has told anyone who wants to listen that he wants to buy the Pens and keep them in the 'Burgh. By the way, would that be poetic justice if the new owner of the PITTSBURGH Penguins owns STEELBACK Beer, or what.

I listened to him this afternoon on XM Home Ice 204 with Todd Lewis and Phil Esposito, a good friend of D'Angelo's. In fact, it's Espo who is attempting to set the meeting up between D'Angelo's team and Ken Sawyer and Mario. Some of his comments were quite surprising, albeit a good kind of surprising. I have even read tonight the possibility of D'Angelo building an arena with his own cash, where he could have naming rights and beer sales.

To be honest, I can't even think about any future possibilities with anyone right now, not until Wednesday.

I'm just trying to imagine just how in the hell ANYONE EXCEPT Isle of Capri could possibly win this license.

A state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility (we REALLY need to stop referring to this as simply a hockey arena) that's built with absolutely no taxpayer money.

That should be the kicker right there.

A slots casino location MUCH more accessible from the entire Pittsburgh metro area, as compared to the traffic cluster f%$k around the Station Square area.

What could POSSIBLY be any VALID reasons why Harrah's could win ??

This should be a slam dunk.

Will it ?? I have to think IOC is gonna win it, it's just clear in my mind.

But could they lose it ?? Sadly, this isn't about hockey, this is about politics. I've seen worse.

Habs 6, Pens 3; Weary legs doom Pens....

They gave it their best shot for 20 minutes.

Malkin with the rebound tap-in.

Even Nasreddine chipped in with his 1st NHL goal with .2 seconds left in the 1st period to give the Pens a 2-1 lead.

And that was about all the Pens' collective legs had left in them.

The second period was a combination of hooking penalties due to being a step slow, and resulted in powerplay goals against tired penalty killers.

Yeah sure, the Pens had a few more chances, both Malkin and Sid hit the post, but overall, you could just see that the Pens really didn't have the energy tonight.

And let's not forget, the Habs are a pretty good defensive team, as well as excellent on both special teams.

A couple of other notes;

DirectTV had the CBC feed on for tonight's game as one of their Hockey Night in Canada games. The color commentary was done by Canadian cutie Cassie Campbell. I have be totally honest, I think she did a damn good job. She didn't do the normal boring sideline reporter job that most female sports reporters do. She provided excellent commentary and analysis, I was quite impressed.

And I don't know if you guys saw it on the FSN feed, but guess who was at the game ?? That's right, good 'ol Jimmy Balsillie. The fact that he was at that game 24 hours after pulling his bid for the Pens' ownership is really surprising.

Or is it ?? I'm telling ya, we haven't heard the last from Jimmy.

Also, they mentioned on the Satellite Hotstove that Mark Cuban has already made it known that he's interested in the Pens if it gets to that point.

So now the Pens get a couple days rest before hosting the Blues on Tuesday night.

Balsilliegate; Not so quick with the bashing, this ain't over by a longshot

I really don't know where to start.

I've read so many views of the Pens' situation with prospective Jim Balsillie my head hurts. Usually it takes, oh I don't know, Christmas shopping to make it hurt this much.

But there's one predominant view that I believe everyone needs to take a step back and realize; This situation with Balsillie is not even close to being finished.

As a matter of fact, he may have never intended for the situation to BE finished.

Think about that.

Did anyone else notice the common demoninator in the comments from the NHL and the Penguins ?? That's right, the emphasis on the Isle of Capri winning the bid.

These are well-seasoned, smart businessmen. It's not an outlandish idea to suggest that this is a well-timed, public ploy by Balsillie and the Pens to exert enormous pressure on the PA Gaming Board to award the Pittsburgh slots license to the IOC.

In addition, according to Joe Starkey from the Trib, Balsillie stated Friday night "Right now, I'm not giving up on anything," said Balsillie, who was hosting a Christmas party last night at his home in Waterloo, Ontario. "I wish it could move forward."

There are a lot of Pens fans around the 'Net, the message boards and the blogs that are really slamming Balsillie this morning. Repeating their opinions towards Balsillie is unnecessary, I'm sure you guys can imagine their frustration and their anger. But in my view, this is a knee-jerk reaction, and those fans may not necessarily be looking at this in all points of view, and only that of a Penguins fan. And right now, you HAVE to look at this in the political point of view, because that is the predominant view that is driving this.

The primary question towards Balsillie's rejection of the deal is this; Did he pull out because he has ALWAYS had intentions on moving the team to Ontario, as has been speculated often (especially in the Canadian hockey media), or as I mentioned earlier, is this simply based on political motives calculated in cahoots with the Pens to exert that pressure upon the Gaming Board ??

During last night's Pens press conference during the 1st intermission, which basically was as useless as tits on a bull ("uh, you'd have to ask him" was the primary answer), Ken Sawyer stated that he spoke to Balsillie on Wednesday at the hearings in Harrisburg. And while he admitted that they were aware that Balsillie was having problems with the NHL, he had no indication that Balsillie would go as far as to pull the bid. So let me get this straight; Are you telling me that Balsillie would not tell Sawyer during face-to-face discussions that the possibility existed that he might pull his bid, but then goes ahead and does it two days later ?? As my Southern friends might say, that dog ain't huntin'.

Also, you have to put yourself in Balsillie's shoes as a businessman. Even if this is a political move, does he really want to sign an agreement that states that he will keep the Pens in Pittsburgh under ANY circumstances, AND that the NHL could take control of the franchise if the shit hits the fan, irregardless of his real intentions, that being to keep the team in Pittsburgh or not ??

Now, the focus shifts directly on the PA Gaming Board. Talk about pressure. They've already announced that they've moved the December 20th Board Meeting to a bigger venue, to accommodate the additional public interest. I'd say that interest just got ratched up a couple more notches. But this new development now raises new philosophical questions to the board. Do they actually have to take into account the ownership status of the Penguins in their discussions to award a slots license for the city of Pittsburgh ?? It's not like the Penguins don't have an owner now, it's just that the new prospective owner pulled his offer.

Balsillie's announcement also, of course, raises new possibilities concerning new and/or previous ownership bids for the Penguins. The main name I've read about 100 times since last night is Mark Cuban. Cuban freely admitted in October that he "screwed up" in not making a stronger bid for the Pens, especially after watching the Pens live against New Jersey, the game in which Malkin undressed the Devils' defense and Marty Brodeur.

But to me, it also re-raises this possibility; Assuming the IOC wins the slots license, does anyone believe that the Lemieux group could retain their ownership now, and simply acquire some additional investors, such as Cuban ?? I think there's a chance that this could be a possibility as well, but of course I have no way of knowing that.

Another person that has had his share of bashing in Pens' circles in the past is Gary Bettman. If the NHL's reported demands to Balsillie are accurate, Pens fans worldwide need to give one collective thank you to Bettman. Bettman and the NHL are clearly on the Pens' side on this one, and the Penguins fans need to acknowledge as much.

Mario must be one frustrated son of a bitch this morning. He probably just saw about 40 million clams leave his hands Friday (albeit probably temporarily). This ongoing soap opera, which has gone on now for about six years, looks like it's going to last a little while longer.

The real unfortunate part of this story is the Penguins themselves. The Pens are playing their best hockey since the Lemieux comeback season of '00-'01, in which they made it to the Eastern Conference finals. The attendance continues to be strong, despite Canadian media's continued bashing of a crowd of 12,000 for a Tuesday night game in December against the Panthers. Last night they had a sellout crowd of over 17,000 against the Islanders, who the NHL's scheduling gurus had decided to have the Pens play five times in under 60 days. They've got the two biggest up-and-coming stars in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but yet no one can discuss the Penguins without mentioning the ownership situation. Mark Recchi, who besides hometown boy Ryan Malone is the closest Pen to being a Pittsburgher, admitted last night that the situation is "scary".

We'll all see where this situation leads itself up to Wednesday, where I'm sure that there will be throngs of Pens fans on the edge of their seats.

Balsille pulls Pens' bid; Let the politics begin...

What the f&$k is going on now.

Shockingly, the Penguins have announced that Jim Balsillie has withdrawn his offer to buy the Penguins after reaching a stalement with the NHL over last-minute demands by the league.

According to the Post-Gazette, "Those demands included a promise to keep the team in Pittsburgh under any circumstance and give the NHL the right to take control of the Penguins."

There are a lot of ways to look at this, in both the positive and negative.

The naysayer may look at it as in Balsille's intention right from the start was to move the team.

However, and this is the one I'm shooting for, optimists will say that his withdrawl is a political move aimed at the PA Gaming Board to ensure they give the IOC the Pittsburgh slots license.

Stan Savran will emcee a press conference at the end of the 1st period, where hopefully we will get more information.

That's all for now, I'm just pissed off that this is taking place now, 6 days before the license is awarded.

Who pissed in Darren Dreger's Wheaties ???

So I'm watching the Sens/Caps tonight on NHL Center Ice, and they're broadcasting the TSN feed.

The TSN boys are doing their thing during the 2nd intermission, which I've always enjoyed as compared to a U.S. broadcast.

They start discussing the shootout, how some like it, some don't, yadda, yadda.

Then they go into the topic of the schedule during the BOG meetings, and the example that the Western teams don't get to see Crosby and Ovechkin but every three years.

And what does Darren Dreger do ?? Immediately changes the subject and starts blasting the Penguins about only getting 12,000 through the turnstiles last night (yes we know Darren, even Tuesday night games in December against the Panthers still sell out the ACC, we frickin' get it). Calls it "unacceptable".

Bob McKenzie defends the Pens and Caps to a certain extent, saying they've been bad teams for a while now, they need to start winning in order to consistently sell tickets well. And what does Dreger respond with ?? "Well, then just let them leave"

And if Dreger had his way, surely that's exactly what he'd do.

Dreger has had a hard-on for the demise of the Penguins ever since Lemieux put the team up for sale. This guy must be getting a kickback for any future deal involving moving the Pens to Canada. EVERY commentary this guy makes slants the future of the Pens towards the possibility that Jim Balsillie "wants" to move the team, and QUICKLY dismisses the very real possibility that 1) the Isle of Capri wins the slots license, or that 2) Balsillie will actually negotiate a deal in support of Plan "B".

Darren, I fully expect to read your full and hearty congratulations to Balsillie and the Penguins on December 20th, when hopefully the Isle of Capri wins the slots license for the city of Pittsburgh.

And if the IOC doesn't win, why don't you practice some actual journalism for a change, rather than the same old boring Canadian-slanted hockey propaganda.

These Pens are a tough nut to crack

I honestly don't know where to start.

I've lost track how many times I've crept to the edge of my La-z-boy as the Pens make a nice rush up ice, only to have them blow it because of the pass was too cute, they missed the open net, or some other ridiculous reason.

The end result, by the way is the same for me, that being me falling back on the chair exclaiming "What the F%$k !?!?"

I honestly felt that the Pens played a pretty decent game of hockey Tuesday night. They moved the puck pretty well, and skated with plenty of zip. Even the power play, with two PP goals, looked better, but overall they're still falling into the same old ruts, those being the inability to bring the puck into the opponent's zone and not capitalizing on loose pucks around the net.

By the way, the Panthers had two of their goals that way. Although, with the way that the Pens are playing defense around their own net, it couldn't have been that difficult. Therrien's comments after the game last night promise to make some changes to the PK unit, so we'll see.

Can someone please tell me how long the leash is now for Joe Melichar ?? Just how bad can this guy be ??

We'll see who gets scratched in New York tomorrow when Dumont gets his chance to play.

Reading a lot of posts on the boards recently concerning Malkin's perceived lackadaisical efforts at times. I have to admit, some of those thoughts have crept into my head recently as well. For as good of a defender that he is, he really could do a better job of forechecking, and just plain checking.

Maybe a nice road trip is what this team needs. For sure, New York, Atlanta, and Washington are three teams that are not fond of Crosby and his buddies. I'm looking forward to the Atlanta game. Don't let Sid's comments that he's sure make before that game fool you, he's gonna remember that finger pointing incident by Kovalchuk very well. Look for a big game by Sid, that's easy money.

We're at the two week mark to go before the slots license award. Articles in the press now are surfacing claiming that Balsillie reportedly told Bettman recently that if the IOC doesn't get the license, it's "gonna be a war". While I think that remark is getting a little carried away, I'd like to think that this is a case of planting a few more seeds into the Gaming Board's minds. Ya know, the fear factor if the IOC doesn't win.

I'm optimistic, I really am. I can't wait until it hopefully happens, when I email all those experts (mostly Canadian press, yes I'm talking to you Darren Dreger) who were just so sure that the Pens were on their way to Canada.

Slow 'Burgh news day - Hey, it happens

• The Buccos are hot on the trail of a free agent pitcher. Jason Schmidt ?? Yeah, right. Barry Zito ?? Don't even try it. Uh, try Tomo Ohka. Excuse me if don't show the least bit of interest in that one.
• There are whispers that the Buccos are talking with Jeff Suppan again. After his postseason performance last year ?? I mean, why would they even try ?? Do they enjoy the rejection ??
• Pretty harsh (but justified) article about Dave Littlefield on CBS Sportsline. Wow, the first sentence says it all; "The Pittsburgh Pirates might be one of baseball's two or three franchises truly beyond resuscitation, and I can tell you why in three words: Dave Motherbleepin' Littlefield."
• Am I the only one that is completely skipping reading articles on what's wrong with the Steelers ??
• Isn't it freakin' amazing, at game 12, that there are already articles talking about who the Super Bowl Champion Steelers should take in next year's NFL Draft??
• Condolences to the Bettis family, as Jerome's father passed away after suffering a heart attack yesterday.
• 3 weeks from today, for the City of Pittsburgh slots license decision by the PA Gaming Board. Let the mudslinging begin, I fully expect this to get nasty, LOTS of cash at stake.
• Good commentary by KDKA's John Steigerwald on Sidney Crosby, and his feeling that Crosby could be the best player in the world, even at age 19.
• Might have been just me, but damn if that Fleury bobblehead wasn't a dead ringer.
• Gary Bettman estimated that the Pens sale to Jim Balsillie should be final in 2-3 weeks. Blackberry's for everyone !! [[ Trust me fellas, I work with Blackberry's for a living, they're frickin' addicting, they don't call them Crackberry's for nothin'. ]]

Staal/Letang: Staying or going ?; Malkin, "days" away ?; Hamilton arena ties are cut

With the recent article in the Trib concerning sending Jordan Staal and Kristopher Letang back to their Junior teams, it made it seem almost a formality that they'll eventually go back.

On my way home tonight listening to XM204, they interviewed Bob McKenzie from TSN. McKenzie spoke to Ray Shero the day after that story broke, and stated that Shero was upset at the way that his comments were taken out of context.

He went on to state that Shero had to have conversations with both players, telling both of them that NO decision had been made as of yet.

And with both of them scoring their 1st NHL goals last night, it sure is making that decision harder every day.

On the Malkin front, Dave Molinari from the PG reports that Malkin could make his NHL debut in a "matter of days". That info is conflicting with Mark Madden's opinion, stating is re-eval is to be pushed back another week, but what else is new.

And finally, the hush-hush exclusivity deal for the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton has been cancelled, a deal that reportedly was made by Jim Balsillie.

The reasonings by the Canadian pundits for the Pens to move has been whittled away by one.

Let's hope that on December 20th, the final nail in that coffin will be hammered home with the IOC wins that slots license.

Canucks, my friends, you are out of control

Ya know, I understand it in a patriotic point of view, I guess.

You saw franchises move fairly recently in Quebec City and Winnipeg, and you believe that just about any major city in Canada would be considered a hockey hotbed that could support a NHL team.

Sure, that's understandable, and some would way, is not an incorrect statement.

But the slant towards the chances of the Penguins moving, in a ultra-optimistic view from the Canadian hockey media, is getting absolutely ridiculous. In some media circles, you'd think the team moving is a probability, rather than a possibility.

The Montreal Gazette reports in it's article Sale of Pens could send club North that "For the time being, it's good news for hockey fans in the Steel City, but it might prove to be even better news for fans in Canada."

TSN's Darren Dreger even throws Las Vegas as a possibility in his commentary, "If we're willing to accept the notion that Canadian cell phone magnate Jim Balsillie stands a chance of relocating the Pittsburgh Penguins to Southern Ontario".

And Nick Kypreos obviously has been hit too many times in the head over his NHL career. On Sportsnet last night, the manner in which he quickly dismissed the opportunity for the Pens to get a new arena in Pittsburgh was as if the primary option was to indeed move the team !!! To be fair, I'm paraphrasing here, but he immediately states that "you know that Balsillie wants to move that team". Then, amazingly, he actually has the gall to claim that Mario Lemieux has no intention of having any future connection with the Penguins. Did he actually watch the press conference, or does he simply have those Canadian hockey media blinders on so tight that he only sees what he WANTS to see.

The Canadian hockey media reminds me of Jimmy Fallon in "Fever Pitch" when he's in the restaurant eating lobster, and when the other couple starts talking about the Red Sox game, he covers his ears and yells out with his "la, la, la, la, la".

Isle of Capri slots license chances ?? "la, la, la, la, la"

Plan B ?? "la, la, la, la, la"

Move the team to Hamilton ?? "NOW WE'RE TALKING !!!!"

Perhaps you should gain some knowledge about Plan B, and read Bob Smizik's column in the Post-Gazette this morning. That'll give you plenty of material to study up on, for the next time you want to claim so proudly that the Pens are on the move.

Your passion for hockey in Canada is certainly admirable. Hell, I wish that the U.S. had one-tenth the passion for hockey that Canada. THAT conversation is for another time, as I give ESPN a piece of my mind.

But you guys need tighten up the journalistic integrity belt, my friends.

Oh yeah, the Pens play tonight.

Let's hope the Pens come out firing on all cylinders like they did Thursday night. Certainly, Detroit will pounce on chances they're given if the intensity is lacking.

The penalties will definitely have to be on the decline tonight. I don't see the same result if the Pens give the Red Wings 10 power plays.

And on our end, a power play goal or two would be nice.

Let's Go Pens !!!

Instant dividends, Pens blank Flyers 4-0; Malkin - 2 more weeks

What a night for Pens fans !!

OK, I have to say honestly, it could have started a little better.

The pregame ceremonies were, for the most part, and sorry to say, dull.

The first ceremony of course, bowing to his wishes, was the re-retirement of Mario's jersey. Always a class act, he requested that the ceremony for him was to be kept low key, with just a short video containing some highlight clips and a tribute narrated by Sid. Well done on that front.

Then came the sometimes long, drawn out, and sometimes boring videos that led up to the player introductions. The best part ?? Why of course, it was the real penguins walking out on the ice.

The biggest problem I had with the pregame ceremonies came when the players that weren't dressed for the game did not at least come out onto the carpet and wave to the crowd. Malkin got a nice ovation from the crowd when he was introduced, but if he would have come out on the ice, it would have been twice as nice.

By the way, word comes this afternoon officially from the Pens that Malkin is at least two more weeks away from coming back.

Hey, they keep playing like they did last night, they can afford to let him heal, right ??

First of all, like I had optimistically predicted, the Pens came out hitting, and hitting hard. They were checking so well that the Flyers message boards were whining that the Pens had singled out Forsberg and Gagne. What a reversal !!

And what an outstanding TKO by Colby on former Pen Nolan Baumgartner. That uppercut that Colby threw was solid, and jerked Baumgartner's head way back.

Michel Ouellet, for as much criticism that he receives on the Pens' boards, continues to have one of the quickest releases around. Esche should have made that save, sure, but Ouellet sneaked it by him for that ultra-important first goal of the game.

Combine that Jarkko Ruutu's tap-in to make it 2-0, and Pens fans felt awfully good after one period. It plainly obvious that Ruutu will QUICKLY become a big fan favorite in the Igloo.

Into the second period, and Sid told everyone where to stick your sophomore slump when he beat Esche on the short side to make it 3-0.

And just to make sure we all knew that things were going the Pens' way, that scoring machine Josef Melichar ended the scoring for a 4-0 win.

But really, the stars of the game were the penalty killers and Marc-Andre Fleury. The PK went 10 for 10, including two kills on 5-on-3's. What an immediate difference, those guys played fantastic. MAF, while I don't think he had to make any "standing on his head" types of saves, stopped all 40 that were thrown at him. It should be a great confidence booster heading into the Red Wings game on Saturday night.

The press conference at the 1st intermission was pretty interesting to say the least. Jim Balsillie appeared pretty excited. Of course, the Canadian media kept badgering him on whether the Pens would move. Can they ignore everyone's statements any more than they already have ?? Those of us who've paid attention to the process from the beginning realize that NO Pens representative is going to say ANYTHING but related to the Isle of Capri issue is resolved, for good or bad. If IOC doesn't get the slots license, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that the Pens will jump onboard with Plan B, tweek the details, and break ground on a new stadium by next summer.

On a funnier note, did everyone else catch Jim B. drop the "Holy shit!" bomb while he was in the booth with Steigy and Errey ?? Hilarious !!!

So now, it's onto to Saturday night vs. the Red Wings. I'm fearful of the letdown after the big win last night. Detroit is even older than they used to be, but they are still a very dangerous team, especially after losing their opener last night to Vancouver.

Opening night, and I'm a little ticked off

Opening night is finally here, let's hope '06-'07 gets off to a better start than last year.

Before I get to the big story of course relating to the Pens, as I mentioned yesterday as being probable, the Pens did indeed call up Noah Welch today.

Now to the news.

As has been widely reported for about 24 hours now, the Penguins officially announced that Jim Balsillie, CEO of Research in Motion (or RIM, as the industry calls them) has signed a purchase agreement to buy the Pens.

Just as a personal note, I do regular business with RIM and know a lot of people employed by them, both in Canada and in the States. Let me just say this, if Mr. Balsillie runs the Pens like he runs RIM, we have nothing to worry about.

And that's running the Pens in Pittsburgh, for those of you who might want to slant the story north of the border.

And here's the part of the story that's really irritated me all day.

Let's see, ever since the story broke last night that Balsillie would be purchasing the Pens, the vast majority of the Canadian hockey media has continously slanted the story towards the possibility of the Pens moving to Hamilton, even after TSN, ESPN, the Penguins, and even Mr. Balsillie himself confirmed today that his intention is to keep the team in Pittsburgh.

Now, is there still that possibility of the Pens moving ?? Absolutely, after so many years of the Pittsburgh politicians dicking around with new arena plans, you can never be sure of that fact until the groundbreaking ceremony.

So how about some journalistic integrity, Canada ?? The man himself said he wants to keep the team in Pittsburgh, so how about we stop with the fan polls that are asking "should the Pens stay or should they go" ??

And let's be realistic here, take off your naivety blinders and acknowledge that Mario Lemieux would NEVER sell the Pittsburgh Penguins to someone whose PRIMARY intent was to move the team.

Much less announce it on opening night.

OK, off of the soapbox for now.

Let's go Pens, let's get physical in the Flyers face all night and come out of it with an opening night win.

24 hours and counting !! Orpik out for a month; Pens sale imminent ?

Aaaah, it's finally here. It's hockey time, boys and girls.

Good games tonight so far, Buffalo and Carolina, along with Ottawa and Toronto.

I gotta say this about those Caniacs, those are some great fans. I've had the pleasure to go down there about six times, mostly for Pens/Canes games, and every time I go down there, I have a great time.

And as is the case in a lot of major cities around the U.S., there are a lot of transplanted Pittsburghers there. Usually, I'd say in a soldout crowd of approx. 20,000, there have got to be about 3,000 Pens fans.

Brooks Orpik is gonna be out of the lineup for about a month after surgery with a cracked bone in his right hand. I haven't seen any callups from WBS yet, but I would think it would be Noah Welch. I hope he's back before the Nov. 11th game in Raleigh, that's the 1st game in Raleigh since Orpik nailed Erik Cole, that should be a wild game. And I'll be there, 6 rows from the ice.

Speculation is flying around that the Pens will announce tomorrow that an agreement in principal has been reached with Mr. Blackberry, Jim Balsillie, to buy the Pens.

According to this story by Andy Conte from the Trib, who was on Sportsbeat tonight with Stan, the announcement will most likely be made tomorrow to coincide with opening night. Also, and most importantly, Andy indicated that according to their sources, as long as their is a viable plan for an arena, Balsillie will NOT attempt to move the club.

I think this is gonna be great news. No way that the Pens make an announcement of a new owner on opening night with an intention to move the team.