The Penguins did pick up their first win of the 2010 season against the New Jersey Devils in New Jersey. This was a big win considering they lost all six meetings with the Devils last year.

Before the beginning of the season, the Penguins had some opportunities for younger players to make the big club this year. Due to Jordan Staal’s foot injury from last year’s playoffs running into some problems, another temporary position opened. The guys who have made the team thus far have not disappointed. Those players are Eric Tangradi, Ben Lovejoy, Mark Letestu, and Deryk Engelland.

The Penguins (like last year) have been hit with the injury bug early this season. So far, Jordan Staal, Brooks Orpik, Arron Asham, and Zbynek Michalek are all out and with the exception of Orpik expect to miss at least 3 – 4 weeks. Of course, at this point considering it is the NHL after all, most information about the injuries is kept internal so we really do not know how bad the injuries are or how long they could potentially be out.

At this point in time, the Penguins are just going to have to make due without these important players. The injury to Jordan Staal has already been felt through out the first three games and we can only expect it to continue. I don’t believe many Pens fans truly realized how important he was to this club. What is even more surprising is the top two scorers for the Penguins right now are Mark Letestu and Alex Goligoski. Who would’ve guessed? So far, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby have remained relatively quiet on the score sheet but beasts on the ice. When watching these guys play it is absolutely impressive how truly skilled they are. It will only be a matter of time before the pucks start going in the net as they have had some bad bounces.

Tonight the Pens face the Toronto Maple Leafs back at home. Let’s see if this will be the first win in the new Consol Energy Center.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The most recent news out of the Pittsburgh Penguins camp is that Jordan Staal’s foot injury, from the Montreal Canadiens second round playoff loss, has had some setbacks. It appears the Staal’s foot injury, which required surgery this off-season, has had problems with an infection. It has been reported that Staal will miss all of training camp although he is still set to return for the regular season debut. Obviously, I would rather have Staal sit out now rather than later and let him get healed up to 100%. However, it does concern me that Staal will not be getting any work in training camp considering it is highly likely he will be moving up to the second line with Evgeni Malkin.

It has yet to be determined whether or not Staal will be centering the second line or if Malkin will be. For that matter, we’re not even 100% positive Staal will be moving to the second line.

The Penguins have only made one move since their two big free agent pick-ups in Paul Martin and Zybenek Michalek and that was to sign former Flyer Arron Asham to a one-year $700k deal. It is difficult for me to like players who played for Philadelphia but since he is suiting up for the Penguins I will have to get over it.

At first, the Asham signing made me scratch my head a little. Why do the Penguins need another grinder? Asham is a typical 3rd or 4th line guy that has some great offensive upside. However, this pickup still leaves gaping holes in the 1st and 2nd lines. After evaluating and reading up on other people’s thoughts I tend to like the pickup more. The Penguins chose not to resign veteran Bill Guerin and as much thanks I have to give him for the 2009 season, I think the Penguins made the right move.

It is guaranteed that the Penguins will be having the remaining holes in their line up filled with some younger guys from Wilkes-Barre. Ben Lovejoy looks to have a good chance of making the team as well as Eric Tangradi. It will be interesting to see how these players step up and how the Penguins fare with them.

There is no doubt I am pumped for the first game of the season against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Penguins new home the CONSOL Energy Center. It will be an exciting start to an exciting season.

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The entire list of draft picks are below.

Prior to Free Agency starting, the Penguins traded their 2011 3rd round pick to Philadelphia for the rights to defensemen Dan Hamhuis. In the end, nothing came out of that and the Penguins lost their 3rd round pick. I was a little disgruntled at this decision, but after reading many other people’s comments determined it was worth the risk.

The Pens made one of their best moves, at least in my opinion, by re-signing Matt Cooke to a 3 year contract at a very reasonable price ($1.8 million/yr).

The Penguins lost their power play quarterback Sergei Gonchar to Ottawa almost immediately after the start of Free Agency. General Manager Ray Shero made two giant splashes in the Free Agency market shortly after by first signing Zybenek Michalek to a 5-year $20 (4/yr) million dollar deal. Michalek had played for the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild previously and is considered to be a physical defensemen. Next up, Ray Shero signed Paul Martin formerly of the New Jersey Devils to a 5 year $25 (5/yr) million contract.

The Penguins were reported as making the best moves in free agency by many news outlets. Now, on to my analysis.

Losing Gonchar hurts, but I believe both Martin and Michalek make up for it and actually make the Penguins a better team. Gonchar took a 3/yr $5.5 million/yr deal from Ottawa and I would much rather see the Pens spend that kind of money on a younger player with much less risk. I completely agree with Ray Shero’s stance on not wanting to sign more than a 2-year deal considering the consequences of the salary cap if Gonchar was to retire early.

What the Penguins lacked this past year was a physical defense and I feel like that has been upgraded significantly. I expect to see Ben Lovejoy brought up from Wilkes-Barre as another defensemen. Lovejoy was an RFA who signed a 3-year deal which included a 2-way contract for the 2010-2011 season for $525k/yr and then a one-way contract for the following 2 years. Lovejoy did play a few games in the NHL this past season and showed promise.

The Pens had approximately $11 million in cap room prior to making the moves for Martin and Michalek. Because of those signings, the Pens will once again have to work with mediocre wingers. There is also talk of moving either Evgeni Malkin or Jordan Staal to a winger position rather than their natural center position. I am not necessarily a fan of this, but I put trust in management in making the right decision. Personally, I find having three lines with extremely strong centers a benefit that very few teams (if any) get to enjoy.

At this point in time, the Penguins have lost the following players with some who still might resign (Bill Guerin).

Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin, Jay Mckee, Sergei Gonchar, Mark Eaton, and Alex Ponikarovsky. Bill Guerin definitely appeared to be slowing down even more this past off season, but I would not rule out the Pens resigning him if he signs at an even more discounted price than before (probably in the $1 million/yr range).

With all of that said, now comes the real waiting game. Waiting until October 7th when the Penguins get to open against their arch-rival Philadelphia Flyers, in their brand new home, the Consol Energy Center.

What will the lines look like?
How much will the defense improve?
Will Tangradi fill one of the winger positions in the big club?
Will the Stanley Cup return to Pittsburgh?

Does it sound like I am excited? Absolutely!

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I was not as upset as I thought I would be. The Penguins have played two very long seasons back-to-back and this break is probably needed. I am excited about the potential of next year and look forward to the off-season moves that will be made. After this season and the playoffs I feel like the biggest issue that needs to be looked at next year is on the defensive side of the puck. It would be nice if the Pens could bring in another physical defensive defense man like Brooks Orpik. Of course, that will not be easy considering the little cap room that Pittsburgh has to work with.

Of all the UFA’s, I would like to see Gonchar (for the right price) and Cooke back the most. Even the Matt Cooke has his moments of playing dirty he is a valuable asset to this team and needs to be brought back.

I wish the rest of the teams good luck and am truly rooting for the Sharks now as I would like to see them get over the hump and win a Stanley Cup. In a way, I am relieved that the season is over as it can be quite draining (pathetic isn’t it?).

I would like to say thank you to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a great season and I am even more excited about next year!

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Unfortunately, all of the pressure of tomorrow night’s do-or-die game 7 is on Pittsburgh. Montreal has done what they have needed to do and Pittsburgh has not. Pittsburgh now faces a Montreal team that has a load of confidence and is ready to take down another beast on their way to the Eastern Conference Championship game.

The good news for Penguins fans is this. Pressure is something they have experienced before. Remember last year’s game 7 in Washington after Pittsburgh led 3 games to 2 and missed their chance to take the series on home ice? What about the Stanley Cup Final game 7 last year in Detroit? The Pens have had their back against the wall before and have come out alive, but it has not been easy and this will be no easy task for the Pens.

As a Penguins fan, I am nervous. Many Pens fans gave Washington a lot of crap for losing to the lowly Montreal Canadiens. Look where the Pens are at now? Could they be the next victim?

In the end, these are the moments that define champions. Pittsburgh has done it before and now they must do it again. I give Montreal a ton of credit for their outstanding play, but I also have to say that Pittsburgh has hurt themselves just as much by making costly mistakes and poor decisions. If tomorrow night’s game is the last Penguins game in the Igloo (Mellon Arena), then it will be at the hands of the team that handed them their very first loss in the very first game in Mellon Arena. That is right, the Canadiens handed the Pens a 2-1 loss on October 11, 1967 in the very first Penguins game there.

With that said, I am ready for tomorrow night. Regardless of the outcome, let’s get it done. The Pittsburgh Penguins have a chance to move on and they need to play their best hockey yet this post season.

Let’s Go Pens!

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In my very first post here at penaltykill.net I brought up the question of whether or not it was smart to re-sign Staal last January (http://penaltykill.net/blogs/was-it-smart-to-re-sign-staal/). If I would only have known then what I know how. Jordan Staal, who is up for the Selke award for best defensive forward, provides so much to this Penguins team. His penalty killing is top notch and he brings stability and energy to the third line. He is a play maker at heart but can also score. Losing Staal is going to require some players to definitely step up. No one player will be able to replace Staal. At this point, it appears that game 7 hero Maxime Talbot will center the 3rd line. Talbot has had an excellent start to these playoffs but as a winger and not a center. He is not near as defensively sound as Staal has been.

The good news is that coach Dan Bylsma was quoted as saying Staal is NOT out for the season and he is listed as day-to-day. Of course, a person could have lost their right leg and still be listed day-to-day in the NHL. I, along with all other fans, are hoping the Staal will come back soon but it is doubtful that he will be back this series. The Penguins do have the depth to handle this but it is going to require a lot of players stepping up and taking on the extra work load.

I guess we should be thankful that it was not Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin to got injured but it is still a tough loss.

Thanks to Pensburgh (http://www.pensburgh.com/2010/5/1/1453667/jordan-staal-out-for-season) for the updates.

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I have heard people say that the Eastern Conference has practically been handed to the Penguins. I could not disagree more. The Montreal Canadiens are riding a hot streak behind Jaroslav Halak and could pose a serious threat to the Penguins. Philadelphia disposed of 2nd seed New Jersey in 6 games and appear to be playing extremely well. The Boston Bruins are finally getting back Savard who I am sure would love to meet Matt Cooke in the Eastern Conference Finals.

How can Pittsburgh defeat Montreal? Well, Pittsburgh is a very different team than Washington. Yes, they both have young stars but that is where the similarities end. Montreal was able to shut down Alexander Ovechkin and the others but they have to change their tactics for the Penguins because Pittsburgh can roll 4 lines and have the three headed monster (Crosby, Malkin, and Staal) down their center. Hal Gill was excellent against stopping Ovechkin from shooting, but Crosby is not a shoot first player (even though he did hit the 50 goal mark this year). Crosby is a puck handling player where as Ovechkin is a pure sniper. Montreal will definitely have to change up some tactics and Pittsburgh will have to make sure to get more bodies to the net than Washington was able to.

I do feel like Pittsburgh has the advantage, but hot goaltenders can be one hell of a headache for the opposing team.

The rest Pittsburgh got was needed considering they have injuries to three players (Chris Kunitz, Tyler Kennedy, and Jordan Leopold). Leopold is recovering from a concussion suffered in game 2 of the Ottawa series and is doubtful to be back for the first or second game of this series. It will be nice to have Leopold back, but Jay McKee and Alex Goligoski have done a good job in their pairing thus far in these playoffs.

The series starts on Friday at Mellon Arena where Pittsburgh will have had 6 days of rest while Montreal will only have had 1. This can either be an advantage or disadvantage to either team. Time will tell which it is for who. If Montreal can continue to ride this momentum they could handle a Penguins team which could lack the urgency after having a nice rest. On the other hand, Pittsburgh could come out well rested and ready to play against a team that just spent a lot of energy and are exhausted from playing with a win or go home attitude for the past three games.

It’s time for some more hockey!

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Oh and not sure if anyone else realized it or not, but the Penguins series against the Ottawa Senators looked very familiar to last year’s first round against the Philadelphia Flyers with the exception of Max Talbot getting his ass kicked by Daniel Carcillo. The Pens went down 3-0 in game 6 on the road and came back to tie and in the end win the game and the series.

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This series was not won without some losses as the Pens found themselves down a forward in Tyler Kennedy and trade-deadline pickup Jordan Leopold as they were injured during the series. Hopefully the additional time off before the begin of the second round will help get these players back to at least being close to returning to the lineup. Jordan Leopold, as of late, showed some great ability near the end of the regular season.

The Penguins now await their opponent as the Washington/Montreal and Buffalo/Boston series are not quite wrapped up. The Penguins will not have to face Washington in the next round, unlike last year and will most likely face Buffalo. Pittsburgh has had their way with Ryan Miller this past season which is a very promising sign. Unfortunately, Patrick Lalime has been a thorn in Pittsburgh’s side when he has come in to replace a struggling Miller.

I look forward to the next round with very high expectations as from what I can tell Pittsburgh is just now hitting their stride and should be a force to recon with. For the last month or two of the regular series many fans were left wondering when or better yet IF the Penguins could turn on the “ON” switch to kick it up and make a run for the Cup. From the looks of the first round, the Penguins have definitely turned that switch ON and hopefully will keep it there.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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The Penguins stumbled into the post-season with an unimpressive 11-6-3 record since the Olympic break. There was very little consistency and some injuries that were hampering players. Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar had injuries that took them out of the game for a period of time and it showed. Sidney Crosby continued to play stellar hockey but other than that no one else was playing consistent. Marc Andre Fleury has had an especially rough time as he has been chased from more than one game since the break.

Sidney Crosby took a share of the Maurice Richard Trophy for most goals in a season along with Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Obviously, I was quite upset to see Stamkos get the empty net goal at the end of Sunday night’s game, but let’s face it this kind of award means little to nothing for anyone other than the players.

The Penguins lost the division race to New Jersey after being swept by them this year. The Penguins did wrap up the 4th seed and will play the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs starting Wednesday.

Unlike last year, the Penguins are not going in to the playoffs on a roll. They are looking for some consistency from their players not named Sidney Crosby. Penguins fans have been waiting since March for the team to turn the switch on and start playing great hockey again and so far we’re still waiting. The playoffs are an entirely different beast and I still feel like the Pens have a very good chance of taking the first round fairly easily. The season series was tied at 2-2 for both teams while Ottawa’s two wins were against a Penguins teams beaten up by injuries.

What will it take for the Penguins to win the cup again?

1.) Malkin will have to step up and have the kind of playoff performance as he did last year. Even though I would take Crosby over Malkin any day, I know that with he two-headed beast out there it gives each player a better opportunity to get a more favorable defensive match up.

2.) Marc Andre-Fleury will have to play consistent hockey. I know that he is capable of this but this season it did not appear as noticeable.

3.) With the absence of a defensive “shut down pairing” like last year’s Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi the defensemen are going to have to be huge. As the common saying goes “Defense wins championships”.

With all of that said, it is time to start some playoff hockey. Who will be crowned Stanley Cup Champion this year? Time will tell and I am looking forward to an amazing two months of hockey!

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The problem for the Penguins are that they have struggled against two teams this year, the Devils and the Capitals. They were swept by the Devils this year as they lost all six games against them. Before tonight’s game they are currently 0-1-1 against the Capitals. Evgeni Malkin will be out of the line up for the 3rd time in 4 games with a foot injury that he sustained in a game against the Lightning where a Kris Letang shot hit his foot. The good news is that he gets to heal up before the playoffs, but the Penguins definitely appear to miss him right now.

Both trade deadline players Jordan Leopold and Alexei Ponikarovsky have not really provided what they were brought in for and that was to provide more of a scoring touch. I certainly would not call the deals a bust though as both players have definitely stepped up and contributed good play.

The Penguins really need to win most of the 8 remaining games if they want to have a shot at keeping up with New Jersey and the 2nd seed. Otherwise, it appears that the most likely result will have them remain in the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference. All eyes will be on how the positions 5 - 8 round out to see what the match ups will be.

My feelings thus far consist of a little uncertainty. I feel like Pittsburgh has the talent to make another deep playoff run but their consistency is a little troubling right now. Of course, this is the regular season and some players might be resting a little more knowing that the real season starts soon. I am just hoping some consistency can be found and some momentum can be brought in with the Penguins for the post season.

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Two days prior to the Trade Deadline, the Pens traded away their 2010 2nd Round Pick to the Florida Panthers for Jordan Leopold. GM Ray Shero made this move to sure up the defense and that is hopefully what Leopold will bring. He is a solid player who should bring something extra to the defense. Leopold was used by Florida as a shutdown defense men on Alexander Ovechkin, which most likely will come in handy as the Penguins and Capitals could meet again in the playoffs.

My analysis: I am not a fan of giving up draft picks especially 1st or 2nd ones, however in this case a defensive upgrade was needed and this move made sure that the Penguins did not lose any players off of their current squad.

On Tuesday, after the game against Buffalo, Ray Shero made a move to pick up Alexei Ponikarovsky from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Poni is a big forward (6′4, 220lbs) and provides skill and experience. The Penguins traded away Martin Skoula (about time) and also Luca Caputi from Wilkes-Barre. I was disappointed to see Caputi go because he was not only lighting it up in the AHL but also had played some on the big club and many people were expecting to see him on the big club next year. He should get a chance at starting sooner than that in Toronto and I wish him the best of luck.

Poni has been an underachiever and hopefully will fit better on the line with Evgeni Malkin. Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma want to keep the Crosby, Guerin, and Kunitz line together so on Malkin’s line is the most likely spot. Unfortunately, Poni will not be available to play tonight against New York as he is still working on getting his U.S. work visa.

My analysis: I did not like giving up Luca Caputi but time will tell if this move was a good one or not. Poni is a big body and will hopefully improve a little with the talent of Evgeni Malkin. I think most Pens fans are glad to see Skoula gone and wish him the best of luck in New Jersey (where Toronto turned around and traded him to). He should fit in a little better there.

The only other move the Penguins made was to trade defense men Chris Peluso from Wilkes-Barre for a 6th round pick to Toronto.

With all of that said, I feel like the Pens did a good job. This year, the trade deadline was a little lack luster and there were not a whole lot of sellers which made the cost of buying higher. I think the Pens made out quite well and did not overpay for the two trades that they made.

Now it is time for the Penguins to begin their run for Playoff positioning. They currently sit in the 4th spot with 78 points. They are one point back from division leader New Jersey, but New Jersey does have one game in hand. Washington has a pretty solid position with the 1st spot as they are 13 points ahead of New Jersey who sits at number 2. Spots 2 through 5 have their own little race going along with spots 6 through 13. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

The Pens have 19 games left and I am hoping they find themselves a number 2 or 3 seed. It will be interesting to see if they can jump over New Jersey for the division lead.

On a side note, I was quite impressed with the Pittsburgh fans on Tuesday night when they had a standing ovation for Buffalo Sabres goaltender, Ryan Miller who played amazingly for team USA in the Olympics. Of course, then some fans let me down by booing Crosby when they should him with his game winning goal. Yes, I would have rather had the USA win as well, but no reason to boo someone who has done so much for the Penguins and continues to play his heart out.

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Now, let’s talk trade deadline. Penguins nation knows that GM Ray Shero is not afraid to pull the trigger on big trades close to the deadline. With every conversation that is ever held in Pittsburgh about trades, we know that people are once again asking for a top line winger to compliment either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. There have been some slumping players this year, but in my opinion there is no real player worth trading that will get Pittsburgh what they want. There has also been talk about bringing in a more physical defensemen because at this point the only real good physical defensemen we have is Brooks Orpik.

The problem is that Pittsburgh has around $1 million in cap space. There is not a lot of room to do anything big unless an asset is lost. I am in the mindset that this team might need a little tweak here or there but I don’t want to see any big trades for Pittsburgh this year. I think the team they have is good enough to win it again if they improve their play. They are certainly capable of it. Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang are free agents this year and there is talk about possibly moving one of them. I am a big Kris Letang supported even if he has had an off year. He is a right handed offensive minded defensemen that can bring a lot to the power play.

Time will tell, but personally I hope Shero only pulls the trigger on small trades, nothing big. I think for a team that has so much of their cap space wrapped up in their core players, the best bet is to use the draft to bring in players from their farm system to fill in gaps which they cannot afford to do in free agency.

Here’s to a safe and productive Olympic hockey season for all players.

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Eric Godard was injured in the game against the New York Rangers and will be out 4-6 weeks. This leaves the Penguins without a true enforcer with which many fans might say “Who cares he only averaged 4 minutes a game anyways”. I will get into that more below. Chris Kunitz is still out with this abdominal injury and the Penguins have also just received the services of Marc-Andre Fleury back. Bill Guerin was out for a couple of games along with Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot.

The Penguins have also had a difficult time with being consistent. Right when you think they are turning the corner into another long winning streak they decide to take a game off. The Penguins are definitely capable of playing with the best teams in the NHL but at this point they are just not showing the will power to play a full 60 minutes of hockey. They might have one or two good periods and then just take the next one off. This time of year, points are becoming more and more important and fought over. It is very important for the Penguins to string together some wins and make sure that they don’t fall too far back from New Jersey.

Going back to the Godard injury, as mentioned above many fans don’t believe losing Godard is a big deal. I would have to agree when it comes to winning games and ice time, however Godard is one of the few true enforcers left in the league. With him out, will we see more teams aiming for the two headed monster? Obviously there are players on the Pens squad willing to drop their gloves (Mike Rupp and Craig Adams), but are they going to help? Many people might argue that an enforcer is not relevant in today’s hockey game and I see both sides.

Luckily for the Penguins the Olympic break will help get some of these players healthy for the playoff run. My only fear is for those players playing in the Olympics (Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar, Fleury, and Orpik). Typically, we can expect less hitting in the Olympics due to the international rules which have the ice rinks bigger so that there is more ice to roam around. However, this years Olympics will have the ice rinks the same size as the NHL size ones which poses a very high possibility for some highly physical games.

This week has been a pretty slow one for the Pens as they only played Monday, Thursday, and now Sunday. Sunday’s game features a rematch of the Stanley Cup playoffs and to anyone who actually thinks this game is some kind of revenge game for Detroit they are mistaken. The regular season is nothing compared to the playoffs and regardless of who wins the game it does nothing for each team when it comes to last year. It will be interesting to see how the Pens come out to play against this beaten up Detroit team. The one thing about Detroit though, they have plenty of talent in their minor leagues and can replace players without much problem. Plus, Detroit is finally starting to get healthy again. I’m looking forward to a great game and hopefully we’ll see the Pens come out with two points.

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Okay, things could be worse, the Penguins can just call up Brad Thiessen, the backup goaltender in Wilkes-Barre behind Curry.

Problem #1: Thiessen just played Friday night on the East Coast and flying him out in time for the game against Vancouver was not an option.

So, the Pittsburgh Penguins turned to their 5th round draft pick in 2008, 19 year old Alex Pechursky. Pechursky had just arrived in North America one month earlier and could not speak a word of English.

Okay, so no reason to panic yet. John Curry is still the starter and he played well last year while filling in when Fleury was out. Unless Curry is injured or is chased from the net, their is no reason to worry, right?

Problem #2: Curry gives up 5 goals (3 of which were in a matter of approximately 5 minutes).

Coach Dan Bylsma makes the tough decision. He had to take Curry out and throw the 19 year old Pechursky to the wolves. So here comes a kid who has zero games of experience in the NHL or AHL for that matter. He had played well so far while he was in North America (4-1-1 with two shutouts) but those were against junior players.

Pechursky came in and played well all things considered. He made no major mistakes and only gave up one goal on the power play. Even Marc-Andre Fleury would have been unable to make that save as Ryan Kesler tipped in a bouncing shot by Mason Raymond. Pechursky made a total of 12 saves and did a great job sticking to the basics and playing fundamental hockey.

At the end of the game, Pechursky was awarded the third start by Vancouver which shows a lot about Vancouver. It has been reported that when he was announced as the third start the crowd stood and applauded him. Pechursky had to ask his coach to repeat himself when he was told he would be flying to Vancouver to play with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had to have Ruslan Fedotenko translate for him in the locker room.

What a story. Yes, after the game he was sent back to the KHL to continue his development and most likely still has a few years before we will be seeing him again. Yes, the Penguins got their butts handed to them. Pechursky, however, had a very large smile. What a day for that kid and what a performance.

Note: I have to give respect to Vancouver and it’s fans. I guarantee that at least half of the NHL’s team’s fan base would have had no idea the circumstances in which the visiting team’s backup goalie came in under. Vancouver fans did and they showed it. A standing ovation for a 19 year old kid playing for the visiting team that was easily handed defeat by the Canucks…impressive.

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For the Penguins what can be one of the best cures for bad play and unmotivated hockey? How about a 5 game road trip? Let’s think back to last year after Dan Bylsma took over for Michel Therrien and they went 5-0 on 5 game road trip which turned the tide of losing and in the end brought Lord Stanley back to Pittsburgh.

This road trip provided an opportunity and so far the Pens have done well beating Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton with a loss to Minnesota as well. Tomorrow night the Penguins will be taking on Vancouver in the last game of their road trip. Another win could bring the Penguins back to life when they return to Mellon Arena on Tuesday.

On the injury report, Brooks Orpik should be back soon as he is back skating. The hits recorded for Pittsburgh since his injury have dropped drastically and it will be nice to get his physical presence back out on defense for the Pens.

When Brooks Orpik does return the question will be who is going to be sent down? Martin Skoula has been in the dog house recently and has been a healthy scratch for a while now. Ben Lovejoy was called up and has played solid hockey. Both of these players would have to pass through waivers before making it to Wilkes-Barre. Most players who are brought up from the minor league always hope in the back of their mind that they will be staying up with the big club, but rarely does that happen.

For Ben Lovejoy, I could definitely see this happening. If I had to choose between Lovejoy or Skoula, I would go with Lovejoy. Skoula played solid hockey for the first two months but after that his play had greatly deteriorated. Chances are that Lovejoy could be sticking around with the big club for the rest of the year. It will be interesting to see what GM Ray Shero decides to do.

That’s all for now.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I witnessed first hand how bad this team looked when they took on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. While watching the Penguins on the power play it was obvious to me why they are the worst team in the league when on the power play. Many people are asking how can that be possible with the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Sergei Gonchar all on the ice at the same time. Not sure, but it is happening. I witnessed a team that refused to put the puck on the net. Sergei Gonchar was out for the game (and the one after that against the Florida Panthers as well) but regardless it seemed almost like the players kept passing waiting for the perfect opportunity to shoot it. Now, I understand the purpose and reasoning behind passing on the power play. You want to create chances and opportunities, but at some point the puck needs to go towards the net. When all you see is pass, pass, pass, fake shot, pass, pass, and then the puck is cleared, it’s aggravating. I am by no means anywhere near being a fraction of a percentage qualified to coach hockey, but it’s just my basic observation.

The power play struggles have existed all season long and are just now even more glaring because of the current losing streak. Obviously, the Penguins only possible change would be getting rid of assistant coach Mike Yeo who heads up the power play. Is that really the problem though? It’s really difficult to say, but there is no chance of anyone else moving other than Yeo. The Penguins have been preaching that they are going back to the basics. We will see tonight when they take on the Atlanta Thrashers who are on their own losing streak.

Of course, if the Pens listen to Scott Burnside of ESPN, they might as well give up because the New Jersey Devils are the winners of the Atlantic this year. I know that ESPN is one of the worst NHL news sites, but I figured it would be worth a mention regardless. Below is the link to the article.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/notebook/_/page/burnside_powerplay100104/nhl-why-new-jersey-devils-give-stranglehold-atlantic-division-lead

Tonight and Thursday night offers the Penguins a huge chance to get back in to the winner groove. As mentioned above, they take on the struggling Thrashers tonight and Thursday night they take on their arch nemesis the Philadelphia Flyers. I hope that the New Year begins to improve tonight with a win at home against Atlanta.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The surprise player this year as been forward Mike Rupp. The Penguins signed Rupp to a two-year, $1.65 million dollar contract this past off season basically for grit and having a reliable body on the 4th line. Prior to this season, Mike Rupp had a total of 6 goals in an entire season in the NHL. Not quite half way through the NHL season, Mike Rupp has nine goals with the Pens. Recently, Coach Dan Bylsma has been using Rupp on a lot of different lines. He has even seen him self on the same line with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Just last night he put in a late goal on that line to tie the game up late in the 3rd against Toronto (a game they ended up losing with a even later goal scored by Toronto).

So far, Rupp is making GM Ray Shero look like a genious. Rupp has been an extremely reliable player and is continuing to impress with his physical play and goal scoring touch. At 6′5, 230 pounds he provides size and six years of play provides him valuable experience. I am anxious to see if his play keeps up as there definitely does not appear to be any drop off yet.

This Penguins squad looks to be dismantled by the Olympics. This, of course, makes me worry more about injuries and staying healthy through out the rest of the season and hopefully extended playoffs. Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin are locks for the Russian team. Sidney Crosby is a lock and Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Staal are possibilities for the Canadian team. Brooks Orpik and Alex Goligoski are possibilities for the USA team.

That’s all I have for now. It’s a little late, but I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Years. This is my last post of 2009!

Let’s Go Pens!

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The Penguins are currently sitting in 4th place in the Eastern Conference with 43 points. They are tied with New Jersey for the division lead, but New Jersey has the tie breaker and has played three less games than Pittsburgh. Right now, the biggest issue with this squad is the power play. You would think that any power play that consists of Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Sergei Gonchar would have no problem scoring. Well, that is just not the case and the coaching staff is still trying to figure out why.

In last night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, the Pens went 0-4 in the power play. Luckily for them they were still able to pull out a victory but many of these games could be won with a lot more ease if the power play generated a goal or two.

Currently, Sidney Crosby leads the team in points (37), followed by Evgeni Malkin (29). What is more interesting is that Sidney Crosby has 20 goals thus far this season and is on schedule to get close to the 50 goal mark with this pace. Sidney Crosby the goal scorer? Another fascinating thing is that forward Mike Rupp who was brought to this team for veteran support has nine goals thus far. His previous high for an entire season? Six.

So far, I have been pleased with this team’s performance and determination. They did not let injuries get to them and the coaching staff got to see a good look at some of the up and comers from WBS. Here is to hoping that the Pens continue their winning ways and don’t fall flat on their face like the Pittsburgh Steelers have done the past five weeks. Sorry, I just had to throw that in.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Although, I must say for the amount of injuries that the Penguins were dealt the team stood fairly strong and did not fall completely on their face (although the power play seemed to have for a while). A lot of good can be taken from the injuries that the Penguins sustained. There were a LOT of new faces that joined the big club and they got significant playing time. This not only gave them valuable experience, but also gave the Penguins’ Front Office a nice look at what can be expected. Not only have the new players from Wilkes-Barre stepped up, but also players that were brought in for a little support. I am talking about Michael Rupp and Martin Skoula. Those two players have certainly stepped up and provided a lot of additional support for this Penguins squad. In fact, Rupp scored his first NHL career hat trick tonight against the New York Rangers.

I have been very pleased to see how the Penguins have responded to the diversity they have faced so early in the season. I am certainly hoping that they can continue to carry this momentum on. I was worried at first that this team might have come into this season a little too strong and that is what might have caused the injuries to start piling up. I am hoping this team can throttle that enough to make sure that they do not burn out prior to the playoffs.

Currently, the Penguins are tied with the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference. I look forward to getting back Alex Goligoski and Chris Kunitz but right now I couldn’t be more happy with the team effort this Penguins squad has been bringing.

Let’s Go Pens!

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First I learned that the hockey pre-season isn’t like other sports’ pre-seasons. Hockey players have said that the pre-season is really where you just find out who is making the team. It’s the beginning of the real season where you actually start learning how to play together. That’s why many teams have to find their footing when the season starts. By (US) Thanksgiving, they’ve usually been playing as a team for a solid month.

The second thing I learned is that Canada has their own Thanksgiving.

So here we are at (US) Thanksgiving and I wanted to see how The .Net’s teams are doing compared to this time last year.

The San Jose Sharks are just 1 point behind their point total from this time last year, and like last year they sit atop the NHL. Although there is nothing to be derived from this when it comes to the state of the team or their playoff prospects, all I will say is it’s nice to have a winning franchise to watch every few nights. The regular season is always fun in Sharkland.

rockandrollnobody’s Detroit Red Wings are 6 points behind where they were last year. While 34 points was worth 2nd place in the West last year, this year’s 28 points are only worth 10th. Given the goals the Red Wings lost when Hossa and Hudler left, and given the number of injuries they’ve suffered, a 6 point drop doesn’t sound too bad. However the increased strength of the rest of the West has them way down in the standings.

That strength is coming from hackett’s Chicago Blackhawks, who are surprising no one with their 9 point improvement over last season. With Marion Hossa finally joining the team the Blackhawks look to be the team to watch in the NHL. The only concern about this team is what to do next year. The Blackhawks could have serious cap issues so maybe it’s got to be this year.

The strength in the West is also coming from an unlikely source. That source is puckgal’s Phoenix Coyotes who are surprisingly occupying the 8th spot in the West. Perhaps the best thing that could have happened to the Coyotes was the loss of Wayne Gretzky. It makes complete sense that the Coyotes, under an experienced head coach like Dave Tippett, would be a better team. Could the Coyotes make the playoffs? By the way, to show just how little respect this team gets, wikipedia is still reporting Gretzky as the team’s head coach.

Where the West seems to have lost ground is with duxrox’s Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately it looks like Brian Burke left town leaving behind two things: 1) a Stanley Cup Title (yay!) and 2) a salary cap strapped team in free agency hell (boo!). My question to duxrox: is it worth it? Is it worth a title if it means enduring a ‘rebuilding’ year, possible signaling a window of a few rebuilding years? It’s always been that philosophical question - do you want to win all just at least just once, or do you want a perennial winner?

Despite all of the woes of massive injuries, pittpen’s Pittsburgh Pengiuns are tied for second in the NHL with their 36 points. The fact that they’re 5 points better than the were last season doesn’t really mean much when you consider that they made a coaching change later in the season to go from 10th in the East to Stanley Cup Champions. The Penguins seem to be skating along nicely despite having the longest hockey seasons two years in a row.

Tied with those Penguins are colonelbagpuss’ Washington Capitals. Here’s my beef - the marketing gurus at the NHL have been promoting Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin as the face of hockey. I understand that they’re both stars, but the ‘beef’ part is that they get more attention because, I think, they’re in the East. The Sharks have Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley - but the Sharks are in the West. This is one of the reasons why I started The .Net - not only does the NHL lack good nation media coverage compared to other sports (hence the idea that we’re always playing short handed), but the West gets even less coverage (hence the idea that the West is always playing short 5-on-3). Back to the topic at hand. The Capitals are being talked up as the next team to take it, giving Ovechkin center stage to sell the game. We’ll have to wait and see about that.

And last but not least, the Vancouver Canucks. Interestingly enough here at The .Net, the most blogged about team is the Canucks - I guess they just have way too many fans! Because of canucklehead, theoldtimer and hist, I know a lot more about this team than pretty much any team out there. Unfortunately I’m not sure where this team is going, they seem to be sliding sideways. Although only two points off last season’s pace, they’re sitting in 11th place in the west. I feel like of all the teams represented on The .Net, this is the one team that should be better than their record.

If they’re right and (US) Thanksgiving is truly the first benchmark of the season to come, it looks like most of the teams represented on The .Net are in a good position to make it a long, exciting season. The next typical measuring stick milestone is the month after the All-Star break, but since there is no All-Star game this year we’ll use the month after the Olympic break. It’s at that time where you start to see who has the mental fortitude to keep it up for 82 games. Teams that have been running away with things can get lazy around that time, while teams hungry to make a change usually ramp things up. But until then I’m sure there will be lots of continuing conversation so please - stay tuned!

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Unfortunately, another injury has struck the Pens and again it’s to a defense-man. Jay Mckee will be out 2 - 4 weeks with an infected finger. The Pens now have only 1 starting defense-man left which is Mark Eaton. This means that the return of Gonchar and/or Orpik will be that much more welcomed.

The good thing about all of these injuries though is that they are not long term injuries. No players have been placed on IR and with the exception of any future injuries all players should be back prior to the new year. The Pens are on a two game win streak and the return of Malkin has certainly been a factor. Of course, I would also like to say that the young defense-man from Wilkes-Barre Scranton have played well and it is great to see these guys get some experience and let the Penguins organization see their worth. One person who has impressed me so far has been Ben Lovejoy.

Here is to coach Dan Bylsma not having to make any more injury announcements for a long time.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Brooks Orpik (undisclosed injury, no time table set)
Kris Letang (shoulder, 2 weeks)
Sergei Gonchar (broken wrist, ~4 more weeks)
Hal Gill (gone to Montreal)
Rob Scuderi (gone to Los Angeles)

The remaining defense man are:

Mark Eaton
Jay McKee
Alex Goligoski
Deryk Engelland
Martin Skoula

and now Ben Lovejoy.

…and that is JUST the defense.

On the offensive side, the Pens are missing Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy, and Max Talbot.

All I can say is that I am glad this is still November and not February or March. This Penguins team is used to over coming adversity and this at least gives these young guys a lot of opportunities to show off their skills. An example of this was last year when Sergei Gonchar was out for an extended period of time and Alex Goligoski got a lot of playing time which led to his resigning this past off season.

Watching the games have been painful Explain your experience with a recent project you worked on. Was that project a success or failure? What were some of the contributing factors that made it a success or failure?

I am definitely looking forward to seeing some players get healthy and get back on the ice. I just hope that this team can stay a float with at least a .500 record until then. We’ll see, but like the old saying goes “When it rains, it pours”.

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Prior to last night’s game the Pens were without Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar, Tyler Kennedy, Max Talbot, and Alex Goligoksi was questionable. After last night, you can add one more possibly injury to that list and that is to defensemen Kris Letang who took a spill shoulder first into the ice. He did not return. The Penguins power play as been pathetic since losing Gonchar and Malkin. If Letang is out for any period of time the Pens are in even more trouble.

The good news is that all these injuries (with the exception of Letang’s as I do not know the extent of it) are not long term injuries. Malkin skated prior to the game and Gonchar and Talbot are healing up and should be returning within the month. Tyler Kennedy is day-to-day.

This is the first time the Pens have not gotten any points in two straight games under Dan Bylsma’s regime and will be the Pens first test on how they respond. It is not going to be easy, but winners find ways of winning. I am glad the Pens don’t have to meet the Sharks or Kings again this year, unless it is in the Stanley Cup Final. At least now, I don’t have to stay up to all hours of the night watching these games. Pacific Time Zone is rough!

Let’s Go Pens!

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With this injury the Pens are now facing a slew of injuries recently. Of course, Maxime Talbot will be out for at least another month from off-season shoulder surgery so this was already a hit to the team. Tyler Kennedy missed last nights game with an undisclosed injury and Sergei Gonchar is out 4 - 6 weeks with a fractured wrist.

Today the Pens called up center Mark Letestu and winger Chris Conner from Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Conner had a very strong camp, but just missed out joining the big club for the season. This will give him another chance to show off his skills in the NHL.

This will certainly be an early test on this Penguins team, but I have no doubt that they are capable of continuing to win. It will be nice to get everyone healthy again. With injuries come opportunities for others. Let’s see who will make the most of their opportunity.

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I, like all sane Penguins fans, are extremely happy with the start of the season so far. The Penguins appear to have very little hangover from last years Stanley Cup Championship run and are running on all cylinders. However, I have to question how much longer they will be able to hold this momentum. As we all know, the NHL season is a very long one which consists of ups and downs. Unlike the NFL and NCAA Football, down games are to be expected and are okay to have as they do not ruin a season.

I have to question whether or not too many fans are starting to expect this kind of play from their team. Is it great? Absolutely, but I worry that a losing streak of a few games might cause fans to panic. Obviously, fans do not directly affect the team itself and I have no doubt what-so-ever that this Penguins team is 10x strong than last years. Plus, let’s face it. Many times fans can be ridiculous on how easily they can change their tune when it comes to a team struggling a little.

Time will tell, but this season is very young. No reason for any team to panic yet and at the same time, no team should feel too confident either.

On a side note, I am holding my breath on hearing about Sergei Gonchar and the “undisclosed injury” he sustained in tonight’s game. Just in case you weren’t paying attention last year to the Pens, they had a miserable time with their power play quarterback sitting out and struggled until his return. Let’s hope and pray that there is nothing serious with his injury.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The season has started off great, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t improvements to be made. My thoughts are below.

1.) Alex Goligoski has done an outstanding job. During the off-season, I was a little worried with his 3 year deal worth around 5 million dollars. At this point, that salary cap hit looks to be a steal. I am just hoping that Goligoski can keep up his great start throughout the season.

2.) The Power Play is still a concern. Even though the Pens started the season off fairly well with the power play, the problems appear to be coming again. Prior to the playoffs last season, the Pens power play was pathetic and is starting to look that way again this year. There is plenty of time to make appropriate changes and see if improvements can be made, so I am not too worried about it.

3.) Jay McKee has been an excellent replacement for the loss of Rob Scuderi. Scuderi is definitely showing his worth over in Los Angeles, but Jay McKee leads the team in blocked shots and has done a pretty good job overall thus far. You can’t beat what he has brought to the team thus far considering the cap hit for the season. I don’t see the Penguins keeping him next year unless he takes a major pay cut.

4.) Jordan Staal has been a beast so far this season. He only has four points (which three of those are goals) but it is not the points that matter. He has shown off his two-way play and so far as had a pretty impressive year. People around Pittsburgh thought this might be the year he would stand out from the crowd (which is extremely difficult in Pittsburgh considering Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby). There is little to no doubt around the league to which team has the best lineup of centers in the NHL.

I know that most of my thoughts are positive, but so far I have not seen a whole lot I have been disappointed with or worried about. Obviously, this pace cannot keep up and the Pens will experience some down games, but I have no doubt that this Pens team is extremely confident and will be able to get through whatever this season throws at them.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Overall, the Penguins have started out the season playing pretty good hockey. Their new defensive pairing of Alex Goligoski and Jay McKee have been fairly impressive. Goligoski is tied for the lead in points for the Penguins. He has 4 and shares with lead with Evgeni Malkin. Given, Goligoski got a free goal from a fluke play which saw the puck get shot out from the boards which hit Emery’s left skate and then his right skate and slide right into the goal.

What I have not been impressed with however, is the amount of penalty’s that the Pens have been taking recently. In the game against Phoenix, Pittsburgh took a total of 10 penalties and last night in Philadelphia they took 5 penalties. Last night the calls were a little ticky-tacky, but I try not to complain about the inconsistencies in officiating in the NHL.

As some of you might have heard, the Flyers pulled some dirty moves in the last 5 seconds of the game. The first move was captain Mike Richards running over Marc-Andre Fleury in the net when he could have easily stopped. Richards than held his head like he was hurt to avoid anyone jumping him. Very classy Richards. This whole incident ended up into a scrum with Kris Letang and Scott Hartnell wrestling on the ice. Kris Letang ended up leaving the ice quickly holding his right arm which it was later reported that he was possibly bitten by Hartnell. Can we say Mike Tyson?

It was a terrible way to end a good game, but that is how the Philadelphia vs Pittsburgh rivalry seems to go. I will be interested to see if the League does anything to Hartnell suspension wise for his act. I also found it interesting in how the two men responded to this after the game.

Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero:

“”Our response is, ask Hartnell, He knows what happened.”

Kris Letang:

“My answer is going to be ask him. He knows what he did. Go ask Hartnell. It’s a first for me. I want to be certain you go ask him.”

Scott Hartnell:

“”A lot of stuff happens on the bottom of the pile, He had his hands in my face, doing the face wash, and we were rolling around. I can’t say what happened.”

When asked whether he had ever been accused of biting, Hartnell responded “Not ever, really.”

Oh well, what is done is done.

The next 7 days has the Penguins taking on Toronto, Ottawa, and Carolina all on the road.

Let’s go Pens!

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Just like every season there are lots of questions to be asked. Will there be a Stanley Cup Hangover? How will the Olympics affect the players? Will Pittsburgh’s defense struggle with the losses of Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi? … Only time will be able to answer these questions. Since we have plenty of time to find this out, let’s take a look at the Penguins final roster.

Forwards:
Sidney Crosby
Evgeni Malkin
Jordan Staal
Matt Cooke
Tyler Kennedy
Pascal Dupuis
Ruslan Fedotenko
Bill Guerin
Eric Godard
Chris Kunitz
Michael Rupp
Craig Adams

Defensemen:
Mark Eaton
Alex Goligoski
Sergei Gonchar
Kris Letang
Jay McKee
Brooks Orpik
Martin Skoula

Goalies:
Marc-Andre Fleruy
Brent Johnson

Note: Maxime Talbot had surgery and is still recovering. Expected to miss the first couple of months of the regular season.

All in all, this roster still looks good. The questions will be on defense. Can Jay Mckee become a decent one-year replacement for Rob Scuderi? Will Alex Goligoski step up as he did when he filled in last year while Sergi Gonchar was out with his shoulder injury?

I feel confident in this team, but it would certainly be nice to see the Pens have a better November and December than they did last year. I am certainly excited to see how Sidney Crosby does with Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin on his line for an entire year. The Penguins are pretty close to the salary cap so cheap picks like Marin Skoula, Jay McKee, and Michael Rupp were necessary.

The start of the regular season also signals the end of the Penguins Stanley Cup Championship. On that note, I would like to share two things.

1.) The Stanley Cup has offically been engraved with the Penguins’ names. (Picture courtesy of NHL.com)

2.) The Stanley Cup Championship rings have also been given to the players who are still on the Penguins team. The other members will get their rings at a later point in time. (Picture is courtesy of SBNation.com and Pensburgh.com)

Lastly, I would like to wish everyone and their respective teams “Good Luck” this season. It is now time to get that season underway!

Let’s Go Pens!

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Let’s get started. For the Penguins, this years off season was much less stressful than last years. Less players left and more players took less money to stay or come to the Penguins. Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedetenko, Craig Adams, and Jay McKee (even though he didn’t take a discount, but the Pens got one because the St. Louis Blues bought him out from the final year of his contract). As seen in my previous off season post, below are the players who have come and gone.

Petr Sykora
Miroslav Satan
Rob Scuderi
Hal Gill
Mathieu Garon
Mike Zigomanis
Philippe Boucher

Who they’ve gained/retained:

Ruslan Fedotenko (1 yr)
Bill Guerin (1 yr)
Craig Adams (2 yr)
Mike Rupp (2 yr)
Jay Mckee (1 yr)
Alex Goligoski (3 yr)
John Curry (2 yr)

This year, the Pens will have a target on their back. They are the Stanley Cup Champions and repeating will certainly not be easy. Fortunately though, they have most of their roster back so the team shouldn’t look too much different. Two things I will be paying close attention to are the contract negotiations going on for Sergi Gonchar and Kris Letang. Gonchar is currently making 5 million/yr and will be a UFA after this year. It has been rumored that Gonchar is willing to take less to stay with the Pens. How much less is still unknown.

Kris Letang, on the other hand, will be an RFA after this year and it has been rumored that he is looking for a contract worth $4 million/yr. That price is a little steep for a player who is still fine tuning some important skills but he is certainly someone I would want to stay with the Pens.

The bigger problem is how are the Pens going to fit them under the salary cap especially considering how much is currently being taken up by Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Brooks Orpik. It is also assumed that the salary cap is going to drop next year which will throw another wrench into the dilemma. Another blog I read frequently, pensburgh.com, has an article discussing this dilemma. It’s a good read if you’re interested.

http://www.pensburgh.com/2009/9/8/1020795/pens-talking-with-sergei-gonchar

That’s all for now. Training camp starts next week and the Pens are finishing up with their prospect tournament and camp. I am interested to see how these young players fit into the Baby Pens and I am sure we will see some of them up in the big club at certain times this year.

Let’s Go Pens!

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With that said, let’s take a look at what has happened this offseason for the Penguins.

Who they’ve lost:

Petr Sykora
Miroslav Satan
Rob Scuderi
Hal Gill
Mathieu Garon
Mike Zigomanis

Who they’ve gained/retained:

Ruslan Fedotenko (1 yr)
Bill Guerin (1 yr)
Craig Adams (2 yr)
Mike Rupp (2 yr)
Jay Mckee (1 yr)
Alex Goligoski (3 yr)
Nate Guenin*

*most likely to remain on the baby Penguins team.

The biggest news of this entire offseason for the Pens was the fact that 3 players accepted less money than they made last year to stay with the Pens. Those three players are Craig Adams, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Bill Guerin. Fedotenko made $2.25 million last year and will make 1.8 million this year. Craig Adams made $600k last year and will make $550k each of the next two years. Last, Bill Guerin went from making $4.5 million to making $2 million this next year. As many have said, once a team has proven that it has a winning formula many players will be willing to take paycuts to be on that team (look at Detroit for an example).

The biggest questions that remain from this offseason are how will Goligoski and Jay Mckee compare to the shutdown playoff defense pairing of Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi? McKee has had chronic injuries but you cannot necessarily judge a person by that. Goligoski showed his talent last year while he was up with the big club while Sergi Gonchar was out. However, he is still young and will make rookie mistakes. The other question is who will backup MAF at goal? My guess would be John Curry. As mentioned above, I like that move however he is still young and if he has to fill in as the starting goaltender if MAF goes down, I might worry.

Overall, I am extremely happy with this offseason. Last year it was very disappointing to see so many players leave the Pens team. This year it has been a relief to see the Pens hold on to most of the Free Agents they had and not only that but get them for a discount. I am sure I speak for most of you when I say that I can’t wait for the NHL season to begin again.

Oh, and I also thought that some of you might find this video interesting. It is a helmet cam on Marc-Andre Fleury back when he was playing in Wilkes-Barre. I thought it was pretty cool to watch.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Free Agency opens up on July 1st and with that comes more decisions. Luckily for the Penguins they are not losing as many players as they did last year. I have put together a chart below with all of the Penguins UFA’s (no RFA’s on the major league team) along with what they are making.

I have my doubts about Guerin resigning with the Pens and find it hard to want him back depending on the price. There is no doubt what he brought to the Penguins was more than just a veteran winger. He brought heart and soul into the locker room and the team fed off of it. I say Satan is gone (hopefully) and I only see the Pens holding on to either Sykora or Fedotenko. Since Sykora was a scratch for most of the playoffs I am hoping that might have hurt his price a little and settled it to where the Pens could afford him. I would like to see Craig Adams back. He is a good 3rd/4th liner for a reasonable price. I see the Pens also only choosing one between Boucher and Gill. As much as I love Gill, watching him skate was like watching a freight train inch along a railroad.

Rob Scuderi is going to be one of the biggest question marks. With his performance in the playoffs he has earned himself a nice salary upgrade. If he wants to return to Pittsburgh he is going to have to settle for less. Last, Garon is gone. John Curry from the Wilkes-Barre should be moving up to backup Fleury if they resign him as he is an RFA.

Other offseason moves that I could see the Pens making are signing Kris Letang to a new deal. He will be an RFA after next year and Letang is one of my favorite players so I certainly hope he stays and can’t imagine that the Pens won’t make an attempt to keep him. I am also curious to see if the Pens are going to look to extend Gonchar’s contract as well considering he has one year left until he is an UFA.

The Pens have a lot of young talent in Wilkes-Barre who got playing time this past season. I would like to see them resign Alex Goligoski (RFA), Tim Wallace (RFA), and John Curry (RFA). Mike Zigomanis was the Pens best face off man until he was injuried half way through the season. He is an UFA and I am not sure the likelihood of him being resigned.

Overall, the Pens will have a busy offseason. Look to see them make some small splashes in the free agency pool, but they will most certainly not be making big splashes considering their cap space.

Speaking of cap space, the Pens have 46.8 million tied up currently. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out and I look forward to a fairly busy offseason. I am already looking forward to next year!

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I do believe that this series turned around at one single highlight….when Jordan Staal scored a short handed goal in game 4. I feel like that is the play in which should highlight this series.

Once the celebrating is over, back to business the Penguins must go. I will have a follow up post sometime soon that will discuss this team’s offseason and UFA and RFA players.

I would also like to say thanks to everyone on this forum and how supportive and friendly they have been. I have found a place to where I can discuss my feelings on my team and even though we are all fans of different teams we all love the wonderful sport of hockey. I look forward to doing this again next year and just want to thank everyone.

We all get to look forward to the off season and then another wonderful year of hockey!

The Pittsburgh Penguins Are Stanley Cup Champions!!

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There isn’t much left to be said about this Pittsburgh team. It has shown the poise of a strong family. After getting embarrassed and blown out in a 5-0 loss in game 5, the Pens came back to fight another day. They have earned themselves the chance to hoist the Cup this year. They were in 10th place in the Eastern Conference in February with many people wondering what went wrong with this season. They came back. The Pens were down 3-0 in a Game 6 in Philadelphia during the first round of the playoffs. They came back to win 5-3. The Pens were down 2-0 in the series with Washington. They came back to push the series to a game 7 which they won 6-2. The Penguins were down 2-0 to Detroit in these finals. They came back.

This is it. One last game.

Let’s Go Pens!

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This Penguins team is obviously much different than last years. Many would say this team is actually less talented than last years. This Pens team went through a more difficult offseason and regular season for that matter. What has changed between this year and last? One word: Health. With the exception of Sergi Gonchar who is still working on getting back to 100%, the Pens do not have any major injuries. The Red Wings are not as lucky. No, they don’t have major injuries, but they are certainly looking a little beat up after the Semi-Conference Finals against Anaheim went 7 games.

This series will be a test of determination for the Pens. Let’s face it, the Detroit Red Wings are one of the best, if not the best, franchise in the NHL. This team is a dangerous one with a hell of a lot talent on it. Players look to take pay cuts just to stay on this team. For the Penguins to have a chance at this series they are going to have to play harder than they had all season and post-season.

I do feel like the Penguins got the better end of the deal after Detroit took care of Chicago in 5 games. This pushed up the Stanley Cup Finals from starting June 5th to May 30th. The Red Wings team is beat up and needed the rest. I also believe that the back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday benefit the Penguins more than Detroit.

To be the best you must beat the best. The Penguins are going to have to play outstanding and this starts and ends with Marc-Andre Fleury. If he can play solid and the rest of the team does what they do best than this will be a better series than last year. Also, this Penguins team, under Dan Bylsma, is playing the style of hockey similiar to the Red Wings. If they can continue this than the Cup might be theres.

Regardless, there are only a maximum of 7 NHL games left of this season. It has been a great season and regardless of the outcome, I am one extremely proud Pittsburgh Penguins fan.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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1) The obvious reason: different personnel. Obviously much has changed with this team when it comes to the players from last year and this year. Missing: Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Adam Hall, Marian Hossa, Ryan Whitney, Jarrko Ruutu, and Ty Conklin. Additions: Craig Adams, Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, Miroslav Satan, and Chris Kunitz. These players not only bring their skills, but the experience that they have. Guerin, Fedotenko, Kunitz, and Adams all have Stanley Cup rings and plenty of experience with them. This has benefited the Penguins greatly and can not be overlooked.

2) The players that were on the Penguins last year when they lost The Cup to Detroit have grown greatly with experience. Crosby, Malkin, Staal, and Fleury have all shown the determination to make it back to the Stanely Cup Finals. Especially Crosby and Malkin have both exceled more than anyone could have ever thought.

If everything remains the same as it looks right now in the Conference Finals, there will be a repeat of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals. The Detroit Red Wings will own home ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Detroit will have an entirely different team to face this year. However, I do not want to get to far ahead of myself. The Pens still need to win one more game against the Canes to secure their spot in the Finals. The Hurricanes are a resilient team who should not ever be over looked.

One last note, I have no hard feelings for Marian Hossa who chose to turn down the Penguins multi-year offer for Detroits 1-year offer as he felt he had a “better chance of winning” the Stanley Cup with them. After all, if it wasn’t for him turning down that offer there would have been no way the Pens could have resigned Brooks Orpik or some of the other off season additions.. Hossa was a UFA with every right to go where he wanted to go. WIth that said, I can’t say how awesome it would be for the Penguins to defeat the Red Wings in the Finals to show him who the team with the “better chance of winning” is. Of course, it could always go the other way…enough with jumping ahead.

Let’s Go Pens!

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For the Penguins to win this series it is going to take a lot of pressure on Cane’s goalie Cam Ward. He has been outstanding so far in the playoffs and has been one of the biggest reasons the Hurricanes are in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, they have not experienced the volume of shots that the Pens have been putting on the opposing goalies. In the previous series against Washington the Pens put 230 shots on Varlamov compared to 199 that were put on Ward by the Boston Bruins.

My keys for the Pens winning the series:

1) Shoot the puck
2) Sid and Geno continuing their performance
3) Goals from players other than Geno and Sid

I am looking to see if this series will be a break out series for Jordan Staal who has been fairly quiet so far this post season. He will be playing his older brother Eric Staal and I am sure that they will be seeing plenty of each other during the series. I am hoping that this will help Jordan to step up and really bring out the best in his performance.

It does look like Sergi Gonchar will be playing in Game 1. I am hoping that he nor the Penguins are rushing his return. Although, I would imagine that 80% of the team is not 100% healthy at this point in the game.

Eight wins down, eight more to go…

Let’s Go Pens!

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I certainly hope the NHL gained a lot from the Ovechkin vs Crosby match up and both players held up their end of the bargain. Evgeni Malkin had a disappearing act for the first two games, but came back to life in Game 3. The Capitals had a disappearing act of their own with Alexander Semin and Mike Green. Overall, I applaud the Capitals for an amazing series.

The Pens will now wait until tomorrow night to find out who they will play in the Eastern Conference Finals. Carolina and Boston will be playing in Game 7. If Carolina wins the Penguins will have the home ice advantage.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Tonight, the Pens will host the Capitals for Game 4. 24 hours later game 5 will be played in Washington. This is going to be an interesting test for both of these teams as it isn’t often in which playoff games are played back-to-back. In my opinion, the Penguins MUST win this game tonight. I believe that game 4 is just as important as getting that first win in the game 3. If the Pens can win, then they will have tied up the series and brought momentum to the Pens as they head back to Washington.

I am curious on how Varlamov will withstand the exhaustion factor. He is still young and inexperienced (even though hasn’t shown that so far) but one of the biggest digs on this kid was his conditioning. I am curious to see how he will handle the back-to-back games and with the amount of shots being sent his way by the Pens, he has to be getting tired. Regardless, he has impressed me so far with his performance. I just hope the Pens can get by him.

Evgeni Malkin finally made his presence known with a goal in game 3. He had been getting a lot of grief from fans and analysts alike because he had a “disappearing act” similar to last years Stanely Cup Finals. However, he has been playing well for all three games just not putting any shots in the net. I will be interested to see if he can carry the momentum from game 3 into tonight’s game. It was nice to see other players scoring some goals (Fedotenko, Letang, and Malkin) rather than just Sidney Crosby.

It’s time to see what the Pens are made of…

Let’s go Pens!

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If I did not know any better, I would think that the Pens-Caps series was the Stanley Cup Finals. It seems like most of the media is now focused on the Ovechkin vs Crosby, or Ovechkin vs Malkin, or Crosby vs Semin, or Fleury vs Varlamov. The hype is there and as it should be. This series has a potential of being one of the greatest. On the other hand, it’s also the playoffs and anything could happen.

For the Penguins to win this series they are going to have to play with the same style and urgency they did (for the most part) against the Philadelphia Flyers. Ovechkin is just one piece of the puzzle. The Pens are going to have to stop not only him but the rest of the team as well. So far, Ovechkin has been pretty quiet points wise in the playoffs. That isn’t something the Pens should over look.

The Pens are going to need a heavy dose of defense to clog the neutral zone. They are going to have to slow down the Capitals potent offense. On the other side, they are going to have to get more shots on goal. Varlamov is still young and inexperienced and the Pens need to take advantage of that. Of course, they can always pull Varlamov and get Theodore out there.

What am I looking for from the Pens? … Another great series from Marc-Andre Fleury and players not named “Crosby” or “Malkin” to step up and score. If the third and fourth lines of the Pens step up and put some heat on the Capitals this would be a huge plus for the Pens.

In the end, it’s time for another series of hockey. I am extremely nervous and excited at the same time.

Let’s go Pens!!

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This is certainly good news and Bylsma deserves all the credit. If not for this change, I highly doubt the Penguins would be in the playoffs currently. With that said, my fear is that in a year or two (similiar to the Therrien reign) the Penguins will sputter and they will send another coach packing. It seems rare in the NHL for coaches to keep players motivated for more than a few years.

I certainly hope that this does not happen, but I still have to worry. With Bylsma came a more offensive oriented attack for the Penguins and this is clearly better suited for the offensive stars of the Pens. I just have to wonder what the future holds. I guess that is a fairly stupid question to ask as that is the same question anyone can ask about their team.

Regardless, Dan Bylsma has earned this promotion and all Pens fans should be appreciative of what he brought to this team this year. We should also thank GM Ray Shero for making the trades needed to help this team make it to the playoffs. Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz have been outstanding and Craig Adams has also been an added benefit to the team.

Tonight, we get to see who the Pens play in the next round….

Go Pens!

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This series spoke a lot about both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers and if it was not for the absolutely amazing play of Marc-Andre Fleury this series could have been the complete opposite. Fleury played so well this series and I am very proud that the Penguins were able to capitalize on that and take the series.

The Flyers were a great test for the Penguins. This series seemed to be more like a Conference championship series than a first round. The Penguins will now wait to see the results of the Capitals-Rangers and Devils-Hurricanes series. Below are the current possibile match ups.

If the Rangers win and the Devils win…

Pens will play the Devils

If the Rangers win and the Devils lose…

Pens will play the Hurricanes and have home ice for the series

If the Rangers lose and the Devils lose…

Pens will play the Capitals…

If the Rangers lose and the Devils win…

Pens will play the Bruins

Overall, I am extremely happy the Penguins were able to pull out this HUGE win over the Flyers in Philadelphia, especially after being down 3-0 in the 2nd period. I am now looking forward to the next series and hope the Penguins will continue to only play better and look sharper.

One last note, I can’t help it but say that it was an even sweeter victory because it was done in Philly!

Go Pens!

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Game 4 is tomorrow night and I am excitied/scared for this game. If the Penguins fall, then the series will be tied 2-2 and will return to Pittsburgh. The problem is that all of the momentum will be on the Flyers side and the Penguins will have all of the pressure on them. As for Game 4, the pressure still lies on the Flyers. I feel like the Penguins still have a great chance at taking Game 4 and I hope that Game 3 was a wake up call for them.

Obviously, I understand that Philadelphia fans get a bad rap. Whether or not it’s deserved is a whole other case and I can’t prove either way. However, if I were the Penguins I would want to get out of their with one win so that they can take care of this series in Pittsburgh.

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1.) The Carolina Hurricane’s had to lose their two last games.
Check.

2.) The Philadelphia Flyers had to not get any more points than the Penguins. The Penguins would beat the Flyers due to more regular season wins then the Flyers (45 to 44)
Check.

With both of those things happening, the Penguins gained a much needed home ice advantage in the first round. This is extremely important as I feel that the Penguins need to get off to a good start against the Flyers. The Flyers are an extremely aggressive and physical team which always plays the Penguins hard. They are also looking for revenge from the loss (in 5 games) to the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Championship. As a Penguins fan, I feel like this season is a success regardless of what the result of the series is.

With that said, it is time for some playoff hockey. The Pittsburgh Penguins come into this series facing a much different opponent then they did at this time last year. Kimmo Timonen, the Flyers’ top defenseman, was unable to play due to a blood clot in his ankle; Braydon Coburn, was hit with a shot in the eye early in the series and wasn’t the same when he returned to action; and then forward Simon Gagne was out for a lengthy period of time with a concussion.

The Penguins will have to play a very tough series. The good news for the Penguins is that they have been there before. They have played these games before and even though it is the playoffs, the Penguins know what they need to do. They added grit with Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz. There is no Marian Hossa this year, but that’s okay. The Penguins have a new identity and are looking to head back to the Stanely Cup Finals. The Pens also just called up Miroslav Satan from their AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. If the Penguins struggle early, you might see Satan go straight to one of the top two lines as he does have the skill for scoring goals.

The Penguins will begin play on Wednesday at 7:00pm EST on Versus.

One last note, Evgeni Malkin locked up the Art Ross Trophy and he will be added to the rafters along side the likes of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Sidney Crosby. He certainly deserves it and I look forward to him playing the hardest anyone has seen him play as he wants to make up for the disappearing act he had in last years Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit.

So, to wrap it all up, I want to wish the Penguins the best of luck and if I could speak to them as a coach would, I would tell them how proud I am to be a fan and what a wonderful season they have provided us.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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With the win the Penguins (and the entire Eastern Conference for that matter) know who they will play in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Penguins will face the Philadelphia Flyers, however who gets home ice will not be determined until the Flyers play tomorrow night. If they win, they will lock up the 4th seed, however if they lose the Penguins will have the home ice. It’s time for the playoffs! Go Pens!

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With that said, the Penguins do not have time to look back and see how close the Eastern Conference race is. One loss and the Penguins are going to be back in the pack fighting for the playoffs. The Pens must keep their eyes set ahead, on Philadelphia. The Flyers have one game in hand and are not going to give up without a fight. It is a stretch of the imagination, but the Penguins have a slim chance of taking the 3rd seed from New Jersey.

This is most certainly an exciting end of a great season. With 5 games left the Penguins just need to finish up the season strong and confident. If that happens, I see no reason why Pittsburgh fans could not be hopefully for another visit to the Stanley Cup Finals. It will be no easy task, but if the Pens continue on their current path, the sky is the limit.

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From a fans point of view, there has definitely been a lot more positive things going on as of recently then bad. The power play has still been weak, however during the previous 6 game span the PP% has gone up ever so slightly. All four lines have been much more effective since interim coach Dan Bylsma had taken over which is extremely important especially when it comes to the playoffs.

Evgeni Malkin received an undisclosed fine from the NHL for the “hit to the head” of Los Angeles Kings winger Wayne Simmonds. Luckily, Malkin was only hit with a fine and no suspension.

Next, the Penguins play the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. I am looking forward to this match up as the Flames will prove a good test for a Penguins team looking to bounce back from their Philadelphia loss.

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While watching the game, I made a mistake of doubting the Penguins. I watched as the Blue Jackets went up 3-0 with a goal by Antoine Vermette. The Penguins then stormed back by scoring 3 goals in 3 minutes and 25 seconds. Just like the previous game against Florida, the Penguins were down in the 3rd by at least two goals and came back to force the game into overtime. The Penguins are playing playoff level hockey which is making every game extremely fun and exciting to watch. I can only hope that they continue to do so.

I know that the players from last years squad are wanting a shot at the playoffs and they have 15 games left to prove that they deserve it. As a fan, it has been extremely fun to watch the Penguins players make this amazing run. I look forward to seeing what comes out of the final 15 games for these Pens.

With all of that said, I would like to notify everyone that I will be away for the next week and a half on my honeymoon. I am getting married on Saturday and will be unable to post until approximately March 23rd. Go Penguins! I hope that when I come back I have more good news to post about this Penguins team.

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So far Chris Kunitz and Bill Geurin have already helped the Penguins. Chris Kunitz (my favorite trade deadline pick up for the Pens) has 6 points since joining the team. I was extremely thankful, once the trade deadline had passed, to see that Ray Shero not making any monster moves as I did not think it was necessary. What the Penguins gave up for Geurin and Kunitz was well worth it (even though Geurin is only a rental player).

The Penguins are making a playoff run and have looked extremely well doing so. I believe that all of the top seeds will not look forward to playing the Pens if they continue to win. I get to look forward to Tuesday when the Penguins finally get back home to play Florida again in a very important game.

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- Both Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal seemed very lazy. They did not have a whole lot of jump in their step for most of the game. I am especially curious about this because Malkin normally steps up when Crosby is out of the line up. I believe it to have just been
an off night.

- Kunitz is looking like a better and better pick up after he scored twice tonight. Those two scores put his totals up to 5 points with the Penguins in 3 games. He has shown a lot of great things and I am excited to have this kid on board for a few more years.

- If it wasn’t for the third and fourth lines this game might have been different. As mentioned above, Malkin and Staal were just sluggish tonight. Luckily for the Pens the other guys stepped up. I noticed especially good play by Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, and Tim Wallace. Of course, the usual hard workers (Brooks Orpik, Matt Cooke, and Kris Letang) did not disappoint either.

- It’s always great to hear the “Let’s go Pens!” chants in non-home games.

In the end, it was a great game and I am hoping to Penguins continue their streak of winning. They cannot let up at all if they want to be able to squeak into the playoffs.

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