Pens 3, Isles 2; Back On Track

If this wasn't a testament to Sidney Crosby's value to the Penguins, I don't know what is.

Sid set up Armstrong for both his 1st and 2nd goals of the year, and combined with a fortunate bounce off of DiPietro's skate, got a much-needed 3-2 win over the Islanders.

It was pretty clear, Sid wasn't 100%, but let's be honest, a 90% Sidney Crosby is better than most NHL players anyway.

The passes were quicker, crisper, and although they only had 2 power plays, Crosby's presence made a distinct difference.

The Pens even got fortunate at their own goal, as the puck which was moving steadily towards the goalline, was knocked back out with only about 10% of the puck not over the line.

The game was quite chippy, no doubt a product of the frequent matchups the NHL scheduled. Nice to see Geno getting in a couple of nice hits on Brendan Witt.

So now it's a couple days of practice, then down the NJ turnpike to Exit 16W on Friday night vs. the Devils.

Pens gameday; Sid returns tonight

You can't keep these kids off the ice for too long, you just knew it.

Sid makes his return tonight (with the 7PM start time, by the way) as the redundant NHL schedule has the Pens facing the Islanders again tonight.

Of course, after the Pens play in the Jersey swamp Friday night, then guess who comes to the Igloo on Saturday night ??

That's right, it's the Islanders once again. And this is supposed to be good for the NHL ??

It's not too much of a bold prediction that the Pens will have some extra giddyup tonight with Sid coming back, but most especially in the power play. Of course, that doesn't mean that they'll have 3 or 4 power play goals, you still have to put the puck in the net, but at least their scoring chances should increase.

Christensen gets his chance on wing tonight. I really like this move. Therrien needs all of the snipers he can get on his wings, and Erik is definitely one of those.

Forgive me if I don't shed a tear that Yashin will be out from 2-4 weeks.

Latest All-Star voting is in, and that line of Malkin/Crosby/Ovechkin is looking REAL good, in fact those three youngin's are 1-2-3 in voting. In addition, MAF is leading the way for Eastern Conference goalies. This looks to be a special night in Dallas later on this year.

Latest from the Rumor Mill; Eklund reports that the Pens are among the teams that are making offers for former Penguin Markus Naslund. Wow, that brings a lot of questions rushing up into my old head. Just how much would the Pens have to give up ?? How many draft picks ? Who would be the obligatory throw-ins ??? I'd love for the Pens to get Naslund back, as one of those trades that we all wish never would have happened in the first place.

Let me say this about Eklund, it's obvious the man has a lot of good connections around the NHL, that's certainly enviable. I just think that people get kinda turned off by the whole anonymity thing. I mean come on, this is not Paul and Gene from KISS walking around Hollywood with bandanas to hide from the photographers. Or maybe it's just that I'm jaded because he never returns my emails (I'm waiting, Ek).

Supposedly, good 'ol Gary Bettman is in the 'Burgh tonight. Wonder what he's there for. Anyone else think he just wanted a couple of sandwiches at Primanti Bros. ??

Remember, early 7PM start tonight.

LET'S GO PENS !!!

Confluence Report Card; Pens at the quarterpole

At face value, Pens fans don't have too much to complain about as the first quarter of the season is completed, as compared to last year's 0-4-5 start.

But then again, the '05-'06 Pens at this same point were 7-9-6, compared to 10-8-4 this year. So for as pitiful as last year Pens' team was, their record is not too much worse than this year's much improved group.

So let's take a gander at my half-assed attempt at grading the Pens so far this year.

Center - This is probably the easiest one (I know, no shit Tony.) With Crosby, Malkin and Staal, they're set for at least a decade (unless free agency rears it's fugly head). It appears that, before the groin injury, Sid was shooting the puck more frequently, and his temper seems to have calmed down some, resulting in fewer penalty minutes. Malkin, with all fairness, is still getting used to the NHL, so I can't honestly judge him too harshly just yet. I would like to see him lay some more checks, though, especially considering that D-men are starting to target him a lot. Also, you can't ask for more production than Staal has given them. He's an excellent penalty killer, and his long reach makes for outstanding puck possessions. Speaking of surprises, the signing of Dominic Moore looks to be a great one. He may not be lighting the lamp very often, but his maneuverability and penalty kill skills are a valuable asset on this team, an asset that was sorely needed. The two 4th line centers, Talbot and Thorburn, are both contributing doing what they do best, agitate the hell out of the opposition.

GRADE: A-

Wingers - These guys are doing a decent job, but there is much improvement to be done. Recchi has been hot lately, and his constant hussle is setting the example for the younger players to follow. Army needs to get off the schnide, it's that simple. He's played better the last few games, both with his shots on goal (but none have gone in) and his puck possessions. Ouellet has pretty much duplicated his '05 effort, specializing in power play sniping, however he needs to be more consistent. Petrovicky is another Shero signing that looks to be paying off immediately, an excellent checker/agitator with pretty good hands. Malone has only played in a handful of games so far this year due to his broken arm, but in those few games he really wasn't making any worthy contributions to the team as of yet. He may be trade bait once we get closer to the trade deadline. Ekman has done a decent job while he's been flipflopping on Therrien's lines. He's one of the few wingers that actually puts a lot of shots on net so far. Leclair seems to acknowledge what his role is at this point in his career, that being a pest in front of the net and to provide sound veteran leadership. Ruutu performs his agitator role very well, but the Pens need more wingers that can actually put the puck in the net. Finally, Roy has been a scratch in the majority of the Pens' games so far, I'd be surprised if he makes it past the trading deadline also.

GRADE: C+

Defensemen - With reference to the constant harassing of the D-men group on the blogosphere, I'd have to say that overall, this group's performance has made a significant improvement. Yes, the bad outlet passes still happen, the turnovers still happen, and they still screen the goaltenders, but those errors, relatively speaking, are not happening as frequently as they did in past years. Eaton's injury, at first glance, didn't seem that it would cause such as drastic change in their performance, but it's clear as day now. His solid defensive play, and most importantly, his shot blocking have proved invaluable, and now that he's out until probably the January timeframe, his absence is highly noticeable. Gonchar has done a decent job, at least he didn't get off to the horrendous start that he did last year. He needs to cut down on the "2 minutes for hooking" penalties. I believe Scuderi has improved his game quite a lot in the last year. Sorry to say, I don't think the same applies to Melichar. I'm not sure how long he lasts if the Pens ever get off of their ass and get a righty D-man. Orpik of course missed the first chunk of the season because of his wrist injury, and he still looks to be in training camp with some of those breakout passes he's made. In reference to Whitney, I'm not one of those guys who'll say he's having a good year because of his offensive stats. For as good as he's been in the opponent's zone, he's been easily as poor in his own end. Welch has done pretty well since his callup, and sorry to say, is one of the few Penguins D-men who actually throw checks well. Last, and least, how long does Eric Cairns take up a roster spot on this team ?? The Pens have plenty of agitators who can drop the gloves AND do other things as well. He's another one who shouldn't be a Penguins at the trading deadline.

GRADE: C

Goaltending - I think it's fair to say that MAF has won the Pens a handful of games already this year. If he isn't listed among the top goalies in the league now, he's damn close. Yes, he still allows those big rebounds, and it has cost him a few times already, but overall he has played outstanding. Thibault hasn't had the best luck so far this year, although he's had a few occasions where his play behind the net has cost some goals. He's also given his fair share of soft goals.

GRADE: B

Coaching - I can understand the need to attempt to get the lines flowing as smooth as possible, but I don't see that happening based on how quickly Therrien is changing his lineups. In the same respect though, it appears that the Pens are really bought into Therrien's system. It has resulted in an improved defense, and they now have several players that are flexible to multiple areas on the ice.

GRADE: B

Special Teams - The powerplay has been pretty decent this year, up until the time that Sid was injured anyway. However, they're still relying too much on Gonchar's slapshots, and not enough passes inside. The penalty kill has been maybe the biggest improvement on this year's team. Penalty killers such as Moore, Staal, and Talbot make the Pens quite a dangerous PK unit.

GRADE: B-

Sunday tidbits at The Confluence

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. However, perhaps it's time to stop one of those Thanksgiving traditions, that being the Lions playing on it. Although a lot of times the Lions play better on Thanksgiving than on other gamedays, it's getting a little ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, rumors are flying that Matt Millen may be finally out of a job. Better late than never, I always say.

So not only did 70 million homes not receive the Broncos/Chiefs game on Thursday night, due to their cable system not carrying the NFL Network, now we find out that even some of those that do have the channel did not show the game, due to the fact that the NFL added on another surcharge for showing live NFL games. Thanks to ProFootballTalk.com for the link. Are we that far away from Pay-per-view NFL games ??

If you want to watch what's known as a "slobberknocker", watch Steelers/Ravens today. The Steelers rivalry with the Ravens has easily supplanted the Browns rivalry in recent years, and today's matchup looks to be no different.

With six weeks still left to go before the NFL playoffs, it's still way too early to speculate on teams that are in and those that are out. We are at the point, however, that those who are on the outside looking in, have little to no room for error (you listening, Pittsburgh ??)

USC sure as hell made a big statement that they deserve a shot at the title after their convincing win vs. Notre Dame yesterday. I still think that Michigan is the better of the two teams, but who knows, the computer rankings may just boost USC up to #2.

Let's just see how good the Bears really are today, and if they can beat New England, they've gone up a rung on my ladder.

So much for discipline when it comes to MLB free agents. Carlos Lee gets 100 million for 6 years. Slap hitter Juan Pierre gets 45 million for 5 years, 14 million for 3 years for Alex Gonzalez, 18 million for 4 years for Justin Speier.

So where does that leave the Buccos ?? Absolutely nowhere, apparently. When the offseason started, the Bucs priorities were a left-handed power bat, a right-handed starter, and a couple other ham-n-eggers. Naturally, those commodities aren't going to fall in Dave Littlefield's lap. So, the general consensus was that he'd have to part with one of his 4 young starting pitchers (most likely Gorzelanny or Maholm) or one of the closers. However, now we're reading from Dejan's column today that apparently good 'ol Dave feels it's unlikely that he'll trade any of the starters. Just what the hell do you plan on doing Dave, do a "Malkin" and hold prospective free agents hostage in your office until they sign a contract ?? Aw, that's OK, just keep the bobbleheads and fireworks coming, it's all good on the bottom line, isn't it.

Had to love the thugery at the end of the Caps/Thrashers game the other night. They wanted rivalries, they got it. But even if they don't modify the schedule to have all NHL teams play each other every year, they've got to do something about teams playing each other 3 times in two weeks. Talk about overkill.

You'd have to consider the Maple Leafs as overachievers so far this season, although they did open their Canadian wallets up some more in the offseason. But that's OK, I'm sure when the springtime comes, they'll fold like they've always done. Don't feel bad, Leafs fans, I'm sure that 40th anniversary party for not winning the Stanley Cup will be a doozy.

Don't look now, but those teams that were getting snickered at early in the year, like Ottawa, Boston, and Philly, are quickly playing much better.

Early NHL voting shows Crosby and Ovechkin #1 and #2 among Eastern Conference forwards, with Malkin at #7 right now. Count me as among those who'd love to see a line with those 3 guys on it.

Rangers 2, Pens 1 (OT); Woulda, coulda, shoulda

You just had to know that eventually, the Penguins' luck would run out.

And while Marty Straka's OT goal with 2.2 seconds left just kicked all of us in the gut, it's not like the Pens didn't have plenty of opportunities to win the game.

And, let's not forget, the Pens got an absolute gift in the 1st period on the no-goal call. Geez, that puck was CLEARLY in the net by a wide margin, but somehow the refs did not allow the proper amount of time to get all of the replays before the resumption of play.

The Pens finally got a power play goal by Geno, but that was only after another failed 5-on-3. Overall, the Pens were 1-for-6 with the man advantage, with yet again more perimeter passing and very little shooting.

Quick question, just how many "too many men on the ice" penalties is the norm before it gets corrected ??

Jordan Staal had the chance to win the game in OT with a penalty shot, but the puck rolled off his stick as he went to his backhand.

And as expected, no Sid again. I guess they're thinking to give him a couple more days rest before their next game on Tuesday.

Islanders are up next at home on Tuesday night.

Pens gameday; Will they play or won't they ??

It's readily apparent, based upon the Pens' performance the last two games, that the success or failure of the Penguins lies directly on the ability of Crosby and Malkin to play tonight vs. the Rangers.

Their power play is absolutely non-existent, their shots on goal are very low percentage, and they're lacking the ability to possess the puck for relatively long periods in the opponents' zone.

Well, if you're going to believe today's report on

Malkin apparently OK, had his "bell rung"

According to AP reports, via TSN, Evgeni Malkin did not reinjure his shoulder,
but rather had his bell rung.

If accurate, that's a big relief.

Doesn't make me forget about the lack of any retribution for the hit, though.

This IS still hockey, right ???

Isles 3, Pens 1; No Sid again, Power Play remains putrid, Malkin possibly reinjured

In all sports, statistics can sometimes be very deceiving.

Such was the case today on Long Island, where the Pens, despite getting 37 shots on goal, played very mediocre offensively in losing to the Islanders 3-1.

37 shots to a team that quite often struggles getting pucks on net, when looking at the stat sheet at face value, looks to be a decent offensive effort.

Not so fast.

Much like shooting 3o footers on the basketball court, the vast majority of shots that the Pens even got credit for were quite the low-percentage variety.

Even the goal scored by Geno in the 3rd period was one that DiPietro probably should have had.

It could be argued that the best shot on goal was the one that Geno threw in. By the way, rumor has it that Malkin will join the Pirates after the Penguins' season ends, only to be traded at the deadline by Dave Littlefield for Bobby Hill and a player to be named later.

However, Geno went directly to the locker room after getting nailed on a clean hit by Brendan Witt directly on his left (previously injured) shoulder. However, it didn't appear that his shoulder was hanging down much at all, so let's just hope that he'll be alright for tomorrow night's game.

But surely, his Penguins teammates stuck up for him. Uh, disregard that, absolutely no one came to his defense. Great comraderie boys, just great.

And how about that power play, huh ?? Zero for nine, well you guys are consistent, I'll give ya that much. But are you guys actually aiming for the D-men's feet ???

We all know that Sid is an amazing playmaker, that's a given. But the inability to even get the puck in the opponent's end on a man advantage is getting ridiculous.

The Pens had a frickin' 6-on-3 power play in the 3rd period, let me repeat that, a 6-on-3 power play, and got off absolutely zero shots.

I also attribute that to the Pens, once again, trying to make the perfect pass, rather than getting the pucks on net and pouncing on the rebounds.

Well, no rest for the weary. The Rangers come to town on Saturday night, surely still remembering the loss they took to the Pens one week ago. I'm sure they'll have absolutely no sympathy if Sid or Geno, or both, are not able to go.

The Confluence made the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; I guess my 15 minutes of fame is up

So I'm just putzing around this morning, the blog rookie that I am.

Maybe play around with the links section a little, I say to myself.

Of course, I get my Pens Gameday posted, check.

And I'm looking through the blog hits, ya know, see who's visiting The Confluence.

I check out my Referrals section, to see who's accessing the site directly, i.e. having the site as a Favorite in their IE browser, or someone who's accessed the blog via a link on one of my colleague's website/blog.

And I come across someone this morning who accessed the site through the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Huh ?? What the hell ??

Well sure enough, The Confluence has made the bigtime my friends. Apparently, I made it way back on October 30th (my birthday BTW, coincidence ??) in the "Blog 'n' Gold" section of the Steelers section of the PG. And I quote;

• The Confluence absolutely reams them: "This team is an absolute embarrassment right now. They should feel ... lucky there isn't a provision in the NFL bylaws that has the Super Bowl champ to turn in their rings if they don't play like champions the next year, 'cause there would be a big truck headed back to the jewelers right now.

Needless to say, what a pleasant surprise. Nice to see that I'm not entirely wasting my time.

Thanks again to the visitors to The Confluence, it really is much appreciated.

Pens gameday; Sid's status still unknown

Usually the loss of one player isn't felt as deep to a hockey team, under normal circumstances.

But let's face facts, the absence of Sidney Crosby in a hockey game, even this early in his NHL career, looks to never be normal, the Pens simply cannot compensate for the loss of his world-class talent, as hard as they may try.

So the question as to whether Sid will dress at today's 2PM start on the Island is the primary focus in the hours leading up to the game.

The tone during yesterday's practice did not sound too optimistic, I'm sorry to say. I sure hope that I'm wrong on that, but they made statements like this;

• "It's a possibility, but if he's not 100 percent he's not going to play," Therrien said. "It's one of those injuries you have to be really careful with."


• He skated for about 20 minutes before his teammates practiced and reported that his groin felt "better than [Wednesday]," but Crosby acknowledged that "it's still not where it needs to be."

So, I wouldn't be surprised to see Geno back out there centering the first line today, which obviously isn't as good as if Sid were back, but Geno ain't chopped liver, ya know. Let's not forget, Geno is still a pup in this league, he's still getting his feet wet as to the nuances that the North American game brings. But you can tell, he's not far away from being quite a dominant force in the league. He pretty much took over the Boston game in the third period and overtime.

We shall also see how the Quiji Board known as NHL Center Ice determines what TV feed they're showing today. These guys' selection process is more of a mystery than the JFK assassination. Well, if they do show the Isles' feed, we'll all get to get another glimpse of the lovely but talented Deb Kaufmann. I just love her Eddie Money-ish slanted talk.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from The Confluence

To all of you and your families.

Special thanks goes out to those serving in uniform, both Stateside and overseas, both on the battlefield and off, and on sea and land.

I spent 20 years in uniform, close to 9 of those years overseas, so trust me when I tell you Thanksgiving to military folks overseas is a special time.

Even in faraway locations such as Japan and the Philippines, when we had to watch the Thanksgiving Day games starting at midnight Friday morning, it was a time to get together with friends and watch the great American pastime and way of life that we volunteered to defend.

Should be a good day to watch football, now that there are 3 games today and tonight.

Gotta allocate some time for the obligatory nap after stuffing myself, though.

See everyone tomorrow for the Pens/Isles gameday post.

Bruins 4, Pens 3 (SO); Pens give Boston an early Christmas present

Gift wrapped, with a nice big bow on it.

The Pens absolutely shot themselves in the foot, nearly laying a goose egg on nine power plays, but came away with a point that didn't seem likely after about 50 minutes of play.

Geno's goal coming out of the penalty box, coming after another great save by MAF, brought the Pens back to 3-2 with about half of the 3rd period to go. The Pens finally scored on the power play in the final minute of regulation, when MAF was pulled for a 6-to-4 advantage. Recchi's 2nd goal of the game, on a nice backhanded pass from Geno, tied the game at 3. The overtime solved nothing, although both teams had chances to win it, including Malkin from point-blank range.

Someone needs to explain to me how Gonchar gets on the top 3 of the shootout over Ekman and Christensen. And did anyone besides me wonder why both Ouellet and Malkin shot so far from the net during the shootout ??

The absence of Sid on the power play was easily noticeable, the Pens had very few scoring opportunities with the man advantage. Not only that, but the majority of the time they weren't even getting the puck on net, which is unfortunately becoming too common.

I did like Erik Christensen's 2006 debut with the Pens. Just as he's always done, he got off some good shots.

So now it's onto Long Island for a 2PM start against the Islanders on Friday. Hopefully, #87 will be in uniform.

Pens gameday; Crosby out, Christensen up

Injuries.

They're a part of every sport.

In terms of team sports, one of the things that separates good teams from also-rans is how they overcome them.

And that brings us to tonight.

The Pens have decided on the safe play and sit Sid out tonight. There is no doubt that Sid could have played if he absolutely needed to, but I think common sense dictated that Sid give his groin a couple more days of rest. The injury comes at fortunate time, as if any injury comes at a good time. Sit Sid tonight, versus a non-divisional opponent, then have him relatively healthy for Friday and Saturday against divisional foes the Isles and Rangers.

So that puts Geno as the 1st line center. Gonna be interesting how he plays knowing that Crosby is out, whether he plays at even a higher level. They've got Recchi on the 1st line with him, and those two look to have some good chemistry going together.

In addition to Sid, another injury (said to be post-concussion related) has landed Eric Cairns back on the injured reserve, and has resulted in another callup for Erik Christensen. I really hope this kid gets a fair shot this time. The Pens need forwards with good hands, snipers if you will. However, this is yet again another time to mention the roster logjam that will be created once Ryan Malone comes back in a couple more weeks.

Also, Nils Ekman took a puck above the eye in practice today, courtesy of an errant shot off the post by Gonchar. His status is unknown right now for the game.

I think the Pens may surprise some people by how they compensate for the loss of Sid tonight, let's hope so anyway.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Pens 5, Flyers 3; Anyone feeling sorry for Philly ?? Don't look this way...

A quick start left the Flyers in the dust Monday night in the Pens' 5-3 win. The Pens' excellent puck movement took advantage of the Flyers' defensive liabilities, and quickly countered each Flyers goal with one of their own.

The main story to come out of the game, of course, was the strained groin suffered by Sid. Although he's considered day-to-day, and it is isn't expected that he'll miss any time, groin injuries are nothing to underestimate. Let's just hope that they're cautious and not putting Sid on the ice unless they're fairly sure that he won't aggravate it.

Therrien looked like a genius Saturday by scratching Leclair. He definitely looked like he had a extra giddyup last night. Steigy and Errey made a good point in that this may the time in his career when a day off every now and then may be a good idea.

And where's that signup sheet for the Ron Petrovicky fan club !!! I love this guy's game. Good hands, and throws some outstanding checks. The Pens really are assembling a great group of 3rd and 4th liners. Quick, tough, and disruptive.

It may very well be that he's just not comfortable with NHL play yet, but I'd sure like to see Malkin throw some checks every now and then. We all know that he can dish some serious hits, we saw that in the Olympics, and the couple of occasions that opposing D-men have tried to lay him out, the only ones that hit the ice were the D-men.

And finally, I'm sorry to say it, but Marshall Harris on FSN 'Burgh is terrible, just terrible. And for those of you that want to throw the race card out, trust me, it's not that. He's just not a very good reporter.

Next up, the Bruins on Wednesday night.

Pens gameday; Now is not the time to get complacent

Make no mistake, the Penguins are at absolutely no stage to take anyone lightly on their schedule, especially the Flyers, who've played much better lately on their West Coast swing. That includes a blowout win vs. Anaheim, who the Pens lost to when they went out yonder.

Depending on who you believe, either John Leclair is in the lineup or will be the infamous "game-time decision". I'm sure he's not the kind who's gonna bitch about his benching on Saturday night. Leclair's no dummy, but I'm sure he's beginning to see the writing on the wall. But as I said previously, the Pens' roster needs to improve it's depth. The return (or shall I say arrival) of Petrovicky was a pleasant surprise, for one game anyway. Ryan Malone is due back in a few weeks, after getting his ass handed to him yet again in a fight. Who knows, Malone's return may pull the trigger on the trade that's been rumored for quite a few months now. But just having Malone return won't be enough. The Pens have had Cairns and Roy in the press box for the majority of the year so far, and there is nothing to suggest that their situation is going to change. Unfortunately, the trading of either of them isn't exactly going to bring back anything substantive. In order to get either a scoring winger or a decent right-handed defenseman, you're going to have to part with a decent young forward (Malone/Ouellet/Christensen) and possibly a draft pick, and then, and only then, may you be lucky enough to get one of those needed commodities.

I've read some places that Sid is going through a slump, I imagine to them because he's not gathering so many of the top headlines in his 2nd go-round in the league. Yeah, they must be right. He's 4 points out of the NHL scoring lead, with either 3 or 4 less games than those above him. And I have to repeat, just imagine what this kid's gonna do when he actually has someone who can put the puck in the net regularly.

We are at the T-minus one month mark for the awarding of the slots license in Pittsburgh. Today is the day that the IOC and Forest City (Harrah's) make their final sales pitches to the Gaming Board. I have to admit, I am nothing close to being an expert on the city of Pittsburgh itself. However, one of the big issues I'm reading is talking about the locations of the two main casinos-to-be. To me, in my amateurish point of view, this is a no-brainer. Everytime I've drove over to Station Square, it's always been a royal pain in my buttocks. However, I have NEVER had a problem driving in the IOC location, whether that's right around the Igloo, or down towards the Sports Museum. Easy access to 79/279 and elsewhere. Throw in the new arena freebie, and what's the discussion ??? I just hope that politics doesn't rear it's ugly head in the discussions in the next month. Let's hope we get an early XMAS present on Dec. 20th.

Nice article in the Trib concerning Jordan Stall shacking up with Mark Recchi in his guest house. That's gotta be a pretty sweet deal. Get a good home-cooked meal from Mark's wife, and have a private place to crash (and invite the honeys). Compare that to Sid, who still lives in "Maison Lemieux", and Geno, who lives with Gonchar. You can tell by Geno's comments that he's itching to get his own place, English speaking or not. I do know enough about Pittsburgh that there are plenty of Russians there.

Gotta pat myself on the ass a little for my prediction on the Colts losing their first game yesterday. They've been winning by the skin of their frickin' teeth for a lot of the year, it just caught up to them in Dallas yesterday.

And finally, thanks to Dan Patrick for bringing the fact that Bo Derek turns 50 today. Yes, that makes me feel older as well. But damn, any of you seen her lately ?? She is still quite a gorgeous woman. Those of you in my age group revere "10" as one of the classic hot chick flicks of all time.

And yes, for those of you wondering, IN A HEARTBEAT.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!!

Sunday tidbits at The Confluence

• Can't say much more about OSU-Michigan, 42-39, wow. Doesn't come very often that the game lives up to the hype, but that game sure as hell did. I'd have to credit the great offenses, because they really made their opposing defenses look average, which they certainly are not.
• Count me in as one of those who wouldn't mind seeing a rematch for the national championship. Those are the two best teams in the country, and they should play again to prove that. USC has made a surprisingly good run, and certainly, if they beat ND and UCLA, they'll make a case themselves for #2. To be honest, I'd feel stronger for a Notre Dame case, if they beat USC, because I think they've played a harder schedule, but since Michigan waxed their ass earlier in the year, that just makes my case for a OSU-Michigan rematch that much stronger.
• Gotta give a few props at least for Pitt. They looked damn good, in the first half anyway, against West Virginia. That included maybe the play of the year, with the block of the year, on that punt return. But Pitt's defense has WAY too many holes for a great running team like WVU.
• And hey, how about those GM meetings, Bucs fans !!!!! What a crock of bovine feces. Bob Smizik of the PG writes an excellent article this morning about the sorry state of affairs in the cash grab known as the Pirates front office. Here was the kicker, word came out from the meetings that the Marlins were interesting in trading promising Mike Jacobs to the Bucs for Chris Duffy. But of course, our GM-extraordinaire Dave Littlefield said that the Bucs have no plans to trade him. So let me get this straight, if you won't trade Duffy, just who would you trade ?? What a joke this team has become.
• The Red Sox paid $51 million JUST TO TALK to Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who isn't even guaranteed to be a #1 starter !?!? And you're telling me that all is well in Major League Baseball ???
• More ridiculous signings for ridiculously average players; 2B Mark Derosa - 3 years, $13 Million with the Cubs; 3B Wes Helms - 2 years, $5.45 Million with the Marlins; 2B Jose Valentin - 1 year, $3.8 Million with the Mets.
• Surprise, surprise, Randy Moss wants out of Oakland.
• Normally, I wouldn't think twice about the Steelers heading to Cleveland today and walking out with a win, but with the way things have went this year, I'm not surprised at anything that happens with that team.
• Bold prediction time; Dallas puts loss #1 on the Colts today. Just a hunch.
• I think the Ottawa Senators need to submit a request to the NHL to play Buffalo for the rest of the year, after beating them for the second time in as many meetings last night.
• It's still about 40 days away, but I can't wait until my family and I head to the Igloo on Dec. 29th for Leafs/Pens. Home for the holidays, sold-out crowd, great atmosphere with a couple thousand Leaf fans sure to attend, and five rows from the ice, you can't beat that.
• He might be getting long in the tooth, but Brendan Shanahan still has a pretty potent shot.
• The NHL is debutting the "Rail Cam", that will run on a small rail system situated just above the glass on one side of the arena. Now that will be interesting to see. The one problem that I can see with it is that the height of the glass is not uniform in all NHL arenas, nor is the height of the glass the same at all locations around the boards. For instance, the glass height near the goal is higher that closer to center ice. So we'll see how it goes, but I applaud the NHL for taking some steps to make the television product more attractive to potential NHL fans.

Pens 3, Rangers 1; A plethora of penalties, and not for the Pens

Nice to see a team other than the Pens implode with penalties for a change, huh ??

The Rangers committed 12 penalties, resulting in three separate 5-on-3 power plays, in the Pens' 3-1 win tonight.

Let's not say "all is well" though.

The Pens were still woeful on the power play for the majority of the time with the man advantage going 2 for 11. It is definitely an area that they're going to have to devote more practice time on. This team has too many great playmakers not to be absolutely lethal on the power play.

The most interesting aspect of this game, to me anyway, is the fact that Ron Petrovicky made his Penguins debut tonight, and he did it by way of making John Leclair a healthy scratch. I have to give Petro props, he did quite a decent job tonight, and created a few good scoring opportunities.

I will be very curious to see if there are going to be any roster changes upcoming. I can't see the Pens continuously scratching Cairns and Roy, it leaves the Pens devout of any type of depth.

Jagr didn't really even come close tonight in his bid for #600. The Pens did an excellent job defending he and his line tonight.

It was getting ridiculous how many turnovers Whitney had tonight. I know nothing drastic will be done with him, but his play is starting to make those commercials that he's in look pretty silly.

Overall, good win, the Pens will sure as hell take it.

Pens gameday; Good time for back-to-back games

Usually, I don't think that back-to-back games suit the young Penguins very well.

You know, the legs are a little rubbery, passes aren't as sharp, yadda, yadda.

I don't think tonight's game vs. the Rangers falls under that category.

If I was a betting man, and I am, I'd bet that last night's loss to the Sabres has left the Pens with quite the shitty taste in their mouth.

I don't think that it'd be a stretch to suggest that the Pens absolutely gave that game to Buffalo last night.

It was obvious if you read Mark Recchi's comments, there were some pissed off people in that locker room that were not happy with some of the Pens' efforts (read: the defense). Mark said, "We didn't have everybody going, playing with enough desperation in certain areas. You come on the road against a team like this, you need 20 guys to play hard and do the right things, and it didn't happen."

And so, they now have to come right back tonight vs. a spirited rival in the New York Rangers (no, I'm not going to say "hated rival", that's reserved for the Flyers, or if the day ever comes that the Patrick Division is revived, I'll present that title to the Caps).

The Rangers' presence will present just enough extra energy that the Pens will need tonight. In addition, you just KNOW that the Pens do NOT want to give up goal #600 to Jags.

However, I will say this, if Jags does get #600 tonight, I would hope that the Pens fans are respectful to his accomplishments while in a Pens uniform and give him the ovation he deserves.

A couple of other items of interest:

Is it time to get Army off of the 1st line ?? It may be strictly coincidental, but Army has not been the same since the Letowski hit. He's not as aggressive, he's not checking anywhere near like he used to, and he's making bad decisions with the puck.

The power play needs to get back to basics, i.e. just start getting pucks on net and do what that type of power play does best, knock in the rebounds. It doesn't take an Al Macinnis-type of D-man to launch shot from the points on PP's. You've already got Malkin in the slot, where he could order a pizza with the lack of activity he's seeing. Sid and Geno are outstanding at "garbage goals", which the last time I checked, count as much as regular goals.

LET'S GO PENS !!!!

Sabres 4, Pens 2; It is time to fact facts

The offense can only do so much.

Well, rather, the offense could have done a little more tonight.

But we Penguins fans, for all of the heap praised upon the team the first few weeks of the season, need to temper all of that with the following;

Until the Penguins make changes to their defensive roster, changes that must include a couple of right-handed shooters, they will be NO BETTER than a mediocre team.

A decent defensive team would have held Buffalo to one goal tonight.

Let me correct that, a decent defensive team would not have Josef Melichar boarding a Sabres player while already short-handed.

Let me correct that again, a decent defensive team wouldn't have Josef Melichar on the team.

I won't totally absolve Thibault. The man gives up A LOT of rebounds. So while the defense is certainly as porous as it ever has, Thibault has to be smothering a lot more of those shots.

The power play was absolutely non-existent tonight. It sure as hell seemed that the majority of the time they haven't even been getting the power play set up at all.

The Pens did not play a bad game at all, to include 36 shots n goal.

But as I said, we might as well get used to it, because this defense will be the downfall of this team until management decides to do something about it.

Pens gameday; Break out the measuring sticks, boys

Let's not get carried way with tonight's game between the Pens and Sabres. It's certainly not on the level of OSU-Michigan (by the way, check out The Pojo Dojo for some outstanding commentary on tomorrow's game, especially in light of Bo Schembechler's death today).

It even isn't that important a game in terms of the 82 game regular season schedule, meaning, it's a non-divisional game.

But make no mistake, this game will be an early indication on whether the Pens will be contenders or pretenders in this year's run to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In my view, one of the biggest indicators that the Pens are growing as a team is if they come into games versus the best teams in NHL and compete aggressively.

If the Pens come out hesitant, play on their heels, and play reactive rather than play proactive, like they did vs. Detroit and Ottawa, mark my words, they will be blown off the ice.

But, if the Pens come out aggressive, and use that great speed, they'll be in this game from the very start.

Assuming of course, we have decent goaltending tonight. It will NOT be MAF tonight, Thibault gets the start tonight, and MAF will be between the pipes vs. the Rangers on Saturday night.

That's an interesting decision, but an understandable one. Therrien wants to go with his #1 goalie vs. the Divisional opponent, I can see that. It's just a difficult situation that you have to go with your backup goalie vs. the NHL' best team.

I will also be curious to see if their is any noticeable difference in Malkin's play, now that the court litigation is for the most part resolved.

Remember, 8PM EST faceoff in Buffalo.

LET'S GO PENS !!!