Wake me up when September ends...

Preseason is winding down, hell Anaheim and LA are about to kick off the season in a matter of minutes over there in jolly old England. A couple quick hits about the Pens:

• First and foremost, Sidney Crosby was electric last night. 2 goals, 1 assist and was flying around making things happen. He's clearly ready for the season.
• Same can be said about the other young, uber-talented center Evgeni Malkin. He was flying around, making things happen, deking guys left and right and all over the place. Showing the flashes of brilliance himself. It's too bad he scored an apparant game-tying goal just after the clock hit 0:00.
• Erik Christensen seems to be playing really strong. It's a long season, so who's knows what consistency and production he'll give, but for now, clearly he's earned a place on Malkin's wing.
• Not so electric was Darryl Sydor, who's well, showing his age and didn't look particularly good. Some of the folks at Darwin's Waiting Room (aka letsgopens.com message board) are calling for Sydor to be cut. Some of those folks wouldn't know what end of the hockey stick to put on the ice. Still, Sydor does need to be better, and I think he'll ratchet it up a little now that the games will count for real.
• Didn't hear too much about Adam Hall. Is that a good thing for a player trying out? But then again, Hall's game is to be solid and kinda fade in, so maybe it is.
• Someone mapquest directions to Wilkes-Barre for Kris Letang. Not every prospect can develop with some time in the minors (Ryan Whitney spent 3 years in college and 2 full seasons in the A) so it's not the end of the world.
• Danny Sabourin looked good at times, but you can't give up 6 goals a game. A lot of observers question the Penguins goaltending situation, but I'm pretty comfortable with it right now.

Darcy Robinson 1981-2007

Death brings shock, Globe and Mail

One of the reasons thats sports is such a wonderful escape is because you do not have to deal with all the terrible things that are all too real in the outside world. Sadly, the outside world reminded us how it can still cruelly intrude in sports, when 26 year old hockey player Darcy Robinson fell to the ice, suffering an apparent heart attack and would be pronounced dead before he got to the hospital.

The death of a player is terrible and shocking enough. That the player was so full of life is something of a sad and bitter irony. Mr. Robinson might be a footnote now to history as a random and unfortunate on-ice death, but to a lot of people, he's a lot more than that.

Robinson, a 8th round draft pick of the Penguins in 1999, split time between ECHL Wheeling, AHL Wilkes-Barre and the bench over four seasons (2001-02 through 2004-05). This year would have been his third season playing with Asiago of the Italian league; he had duel Canadian/Italian citizenship, something I did not know.

As a player, Robinson was pretty plain. A hulking defenseman who's skating and puck-handling held him to below the NHL level, but he still a decent enough all around talent, was huge and physical and got in a scrap or two standing up for a teammate.

As a person though, Darcy Robinson was quite the character. In 2002-03 the NHL had a documentary crew follow the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and made a television series out of it. The aptly named 'Chasing the Dream' highlighted most of the team, but naturally seemed to gravitate to a few of the more personable and colorful players like forwards Colby Armstrong, Shane Endicott, goalie Rob Tallas and defenseman Darcy Robinson.

It was a sterling time for the Penguins prospects, as 12 players who laced 'em up for WB/S that season (13 if David Koci sticks with Chicago) either played in the NHL last season or are on a NHL roster today.

Since Robinson was in and out of the lineup, he wasn't highlighted because of his skill, but his magnetic personality. In one particular episode, I fondly remember Darcy as the lone Penguins representative for a promotion at a lonely, small Northeastern Pennsylvania gas station--oh the joys of minor league hockey! Robinson had a great attitude about it; doing everything from signing autographs for moody teenage girls, to pumping gas and washing off windshields. And he did it all with his Krusty the Klown-esque long, curly hair and quick, witty comments that just made it impossible not to laugh and feel a little bit better. He was genuinely happy to be there and actually comical on top of that. He brightened days and made for good television.

Another great moment was when the Pens were on a road trip and Darcy was in an empty lobby of a hotel. He was sitting behind a grand piano, with a huge smile on his face. Robinson was swaying back and forth and the piano was making beautiful music. But then, you could tell it wasn't adding up.

Darcy was swaying a little too far and smiling a little too much. Eventually he was bringing his hands up, but the piano was still jamming out notes. Unable to keep the rouse up any longer, Darcy busted out laughing and dashed away from the piano. The camera pans around to confirm what you started catching on to: this, of course, was a player piano all along. I re-watched this sequence 4 times last night, tears streaming down my face....But even then I couldn't help but still be smiling.

Darcy Robinson wasn't a household name, even amongst the most die-hard of hockey fans. If he hadn't played for the Penguins and hadn't been featured on Chasing the Dream so much, I probably would have never heard of him.

But the people who he did come across, and who got to see his jokes, his smile, his laugh and personality knew how incredible a person he was. So full of life, with immense promise on the rink and off of it. And now, in the blink of an eye, he's gone.

It's hard to describe how goofy, hilarious and genuine Darcy really was, all at the same time. He was a joyful, decent and tremendously good natured man. Certainly my thoughts are with his entire family, all his friends and his fiancee. As hockey fans, I speak for us all when I say thank you for giving us a chance to know someone as refreshingly honest and purely happy. Not to mention humorous.

Rest in peace Darcy...I hope heaven is chock full of gas stations and player pianos.

Inevitable Roster Moves

This is hardly a news breaking website, but you knew that of course....Still some kind of news-y things that feel like they will happen soon...They might not, but it just seems inevitable that:

--Adam Hall will earn a contract. You can officially flush the Sweater Ted projected roster down the toilet with the demotion of Tim Brent. Hall, a proven NHL vet has been great in camp and done everything you could hope for. The Penguins are trying him out as a center tonight, and if he plays well there, expect him signed soon. Youngsters Jonathan Filewich and Ryan Stone have had ok training camps, but they haven't really proved themselves onto the NHL roster.

--Kris Letang will be in Wilkes-Barre to start the season. Ray Shero was very, very complimentary of him in the off-season, and it's easy to see why. Letang is a young, promising defenseman in the mold of a Dan Boyle type player. But Letang has had an underwhelming camp. No one expected him to be that strong in his own zone (and he hasn't been good), but Letang's strength of making good passes and quick decisions hasn't been good either. Better to let him play 20+ minutes a night in the AHL. Mike Weaver, another NHL proven guy, has had a great camp. As I've often referred to him, he's Mark Eaton Lite. I think Pens fans will be surprised by the efficiency and ability that Weaver will be able to quietly get the job done as a 6th defensemen for a little while.

2007-08 Eastern Conference Forecast

Thanks to the whacky idea to play two games in England, ready or not here comes the NHL season this Saturday. I guess I better make a forecast like everyone else, just so we can re-visit this in about 6 months and look at how much of a dope I was....Here goes:

Atlantic Division
1. Pittsburgh Penguins
2. New York Rangers
3. New Jersey Devils
4. Philadelphia Flyers
5. New York Islanders

­-Every year, much like the Atlanta Braves of the ‘90s, people predict New Jersey’s downfall, as they attempt to replace proven talent with stop-gap measures (Zubrus, Vishnevski this year) and/or young players (Parise, Martin, etc). And every year, they keep on ticking…I got Pittsburgh as #1, a trendy pick, but one I honestly believe, given their lineup and how strongly they played against the division last season. Just like days of old, the Rangers made the sexiest free agent signings, and Philly seemingly turned over about their whole roster. I like 3-4 playoff teams from this division. Maybe this is the year that Brodeur shows his age and NJ falls off, but I’m not bold enough to predict it, they’ve proven me wrong too many times.

Northeast Division
1. Ottawa Senators
2. Montreal Canadiens
3. Buffalo Sabres
4. Toronto Maple Leafs
5. Boston Bruins

--Tough one to call. Boston, IMO, is the best team I have in the basement league wide, but they’re still their. It’s easy to leave Buffalo for dead after they bungled the Briere and Drury signings, so I did. I like what Montreal could possibly do. Ottawa is the consensus #1 and the reigning Eastern Conference heavyweight, but even they had a very slow start in this brutal division last season. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen to Toronto, and them not having the firepower to dig out of the hole.

Southeast Division
1. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Carolina Hurricanes
3. Washington Capitals
4. Florida Panthers
5. Atlanta Thrashers

--I’m leaving Atlanta for dead here, they’ve got basically no one up the middle and their defense isn’t that formidable. It’s a coin toss between two recent unlikely SC champs at the top, I’ll give the edge to Vinny and Marty over Eric and Rod. Washington will delight the locals in grandeurs of a playoff run, but fall short this year, probably with some obscure injury that Caps fans heavy blogosphere will decry all off-season.

Playoff teams (no particular order):
Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Tampa Bay (division winners)
New York Rangers, New Jersey, Carolina, Montreal, Buffalo

Just missing it (this year's Colorado, Montreal or Toronto):
Philadelphia, Washington

Somewhat competitive but not enough:
Toronto, Boston, Florida


It's gonna be a long, cold winter:
New York Islanders, Atlanta

Announcing the 2500 Penalties In Minutes & 300 Points Club

This is something I thought of for no real reason one day. This stems from the fact that the pure 'enforcer' is a dying breed. Gone are the days when a 4th line winger that can't skate and is only there to fight could flourish in the NHL. These days you need a skill set to atleast be decent with the puck to be looking at a decent NHL career.

So I thought about compiling a list of historic tough guys that also could score some points. The idea really came to fruition with the concussion forced retirement of a Sweater Ted favorite, Matthew Barnaby. One of the reports pointed out he had 300 points even, so I figured that'd be as good a cutoff as any.

First, some active players that are close inductees:
--Gary Roberts is an absolute lock at 2493 PIMs to go along with his 888 career points. Gary Roberts can look at a referee the wrong way and draw 7 penalty minutes Expect him to make this list as the 12 inductee by about mid-October. In fact, if he sees how awesome this list is, expect him to make it in about an hour.

--Brendan Shanahan needs 75 PIMs to qualify...But considering Shanny's game has evolved to less fiery and more a "pick your spot goal-scoring veteran", it's noteworthy to point out he only spent 47 minutes in the box in 2006-07, it’s conceivable he falls a little short if this is his last season.

After that, no one is one the horizon, and that is the beauty of this club. You can't just be tough and get in a lot of fights. You can't just be a skill player that has an edge. Either way, you'll come up short in one category or the other.


For instance:
-those who would easily have the PIMs, your average enforcer (Donald Brashear and his 2312 PIMs) won’t be able to score the points (he’s 35 years old now and only has 192).

-a guy who easily has the points (like Keith Tkachuk) usually falls hundreds of PIMs short (Tkachuk has 2033 in his career).


Looking far into the future, perhaps Sean Avery (134 points, 913 PIMs) one day will join this prestigious fraternity, but there's still a long road ahead of him of being a pest, and he'd need many more healthy seasons of plying his craft. Feel free to pipe up in the comments if I'm missing a new impending member, but I think I got all my bases covered here.

So without further adue

The honorable 2500 penalties in minutes and 300 points club


Tiger Williams (3966 penalties in minutes, 513 points)


Probably the most badass of all time, Tiger Williams is synonymous with out of control mayhem and general awesomeness. But he could play a little hockey and is truly the godfather of this club. I'm too young to really appreciate his glory, but I still know that Tiger Williams is pretty much the man.

Dale Hunter (3565 penalties in minutes, 1020 points)


Dale Hunter is known for a lot of things, perhaps first and foremost the brutal late hit on Pierre Turgeon. But he's second on this list in total points and was a great leader for his teams. Capitals fans hold this guy in very high regard. Though sometimes he'd lose his cool, he's pretty much what a hockey player should be in my opinion: tough, skilled, and a leader. He's the epitome of this club.



Marty McSorely (3381 penalties in minutes, 359 points)


Unfortunately, like Dale Hunter, McSorely is remember for an unacceptable split second decision he made at the tail end of his career, to tomahawk Donald Brashear. But McSorely earned his bones by protecting the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux for much of his career and was atleast good enough of a player to enjoy a lengthy NHL career.



Bob Probert (3300 penalties in minutes, 384 points)


Players like Bob Probert aren't around anymore. One of the toughest players in history, Probert was just flat a monster at beating people up. I must admit, when compiling this list I was surprised to see Probert got the points to make the cut; since most of my memories of him playing come from the tail end of his career when he wasn't much of a scoring threat. But Probert scored 13 or more goals six times in his career, and in 1987-88 he had 29 goals and 33 assists to go along with 398 penalty minutes. Just shows you how much the game has evolved in the last 20 years.

Rick Tocchet (2970 penalties in minutes, 952 points)


Controversy often follows members of this club (like aforementioned Hunter and McSorely), since they naturally seem to be risk takers and are inherently hot under the collar. Unfortunately Rick Tocchet's name is more linked to gambling nowadays then it is to being a true power forward. He was on Mario Lemieux's wing for the Cup years and an absolute force to be reckoned with. Cam Neely (1241 PIMs and 694 points) was probably the premier power forward during Tocchet's prime, but Tocchet was an extremely dangerous player in every way for many years.

Pat Verbeek (2905 penalties in minutes, 1063 points)

"The Little Ball of Hate" is probably the coolest nickname ever. Verbeek, listed at 5'9, was never afraid to go into the tall trees and always disturb things. His career points total makes him #1 on this list. A lot of skill and a lot of fury on the ice. I love it. That's why this club exists to showcase warriors like Verbeek that aren't true enforcers (unlike some in this fraternity) but just skilled, hard-nosed players that it's a pain to play against. No opponents enjoyed playing against Verbeek because they knew he would always go balls to the wall and leave it all out on the ice. To me, that's the best compliment you can pay someone.



Chris Chelios (2837 penalties in minutes 936 points)


Chris Chelios is so old he's probably in every club you can make up, like this one and probably even Jesus's original book club. Credit him for being able to keep in shape and keep playing the game, and still not taking shit from anyone, even if they're young enough to be his son. Chelios could have retired after the Red Wings won the Cup in 2002 and still made this club, by the way. Even Gordie Howe thinks this dude needs to hang 'em up. If you were wondering, Howe "only" had 1685 PIMs in his NHL career, so even he falls short on this most exclusive club.



Dave Manson (2792 penalties in minutes 390 points)

Dave Manson was the name of a player I'd heard, but I had to look him up; I'm too young to really remember him as an impact player in any team or particular game. But, I'll give you this: only 3 defensemen are in this club and the other 2 are sure-fire hall of famers. I don't know what that says for Manson, but he's in good company.



Scott Stevens (2785 penalties in minutes 908 points)


Scott Stevens means business. Probably the toughest hockey player I've ever seen. Not just because of the devastating, highlight reel hits (whattup Eric Lindros?) but just how he played seemingly 30 minutes a night, every night and was so smooth, so IN CONTROL. I think a lot of that rubbed off of a younger teammate and partner of his Scott Niedermayer. Stevens was awesome as an offensive-defenseman in Washington and a total rock for New Jersey as he aged. He and Marty Brodeur are the Devils. When I dreamed up this club, I was looking for players with crazy toughness and some skill to match...Clearly Scott Stevens was made for it.

Willi Plett (2572 penalties in minutes 437 points)


I was a little surprised about Dave Manson, but I'll admit Willi Plett was the only guy I've never heard of. At all. He retired when I was 4 years old and played for such powerhouses as the Atlanta Flames and the Minnesota North Stars. The only thing I know about the Atlanta Flames is I hate Clement, Clement Hands of Cement and the only memories I have of the North Stars is how Mario tore through them to give the Pens a Cup. But, looking at Plett's hockeydb profile, he scored 38 or more points seven times in his career and every year he had double digit PIMs. Must have had a bit of an edge and some skill to match, so we'll let him in.

Matthew Barnaby (2562 penalties in minutes, 300 points)


Newest inductee Matthew Barnaby knows about being a pest. He had to literally fight his way onto a junior team that he showed up weighing 140 pounds. He turned out a solid NHL career that he announced this summer was over due to concussion woes. Barnaby was the ultimate nuisance, a player who could actually play the game, but always knew his role and never hesitated in sticking up for the team, even when it meant fighting someone much taller and heavier. Unlike enforcers he wasn’t a totally liability on the ice but unlike skill players, he didn’t have the natural talent to slide through on point production alone.

Barnaby was the ultimate crowd pleaser, still a fan favorite in places in Buffalo and Pittsburgh even though he's long left them. Opponents and rivals hated him (some fans still do), which is only a testament to how good he was at doing his job. The shame is Barnaby had to retire young, and couldn't climb higher on this list. Still, not bad for a kid coming from nothing.

That's your 11 members of the 2500 PIMs + 300 point club. Fierce but skilled. Not afraid to mix it up, but strong enough to still help their teams. Tough enough to compete for a long, long period of time in a gruesome NHL world. These are your alpha-males. These are the top dogs.

2007-08 Western Conference Forecast

Thanks to the whacky idea to play two games in England, ready or not here comes the NHL season this Saturday. I guess I better make a forecast like everyone else, just so we can re-visit this in about 6 months and look at how much of a dope I was....Here goes:

Central Division
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Nashville Predators
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. Columbus BJs

--Detroit's the king of this division, Nashville took a huge step back. I like St. Louis as my surprise team...Adding Tkachuk, Kariya (cha-cha-cha) up front and #1 pick Erik Johnson to the blueline should be good enough to have them challenging for the last playoff seed. I like Chicago's core of talent, but I think they're going to need another year to get those young forwards up to speed.

Northwest Division
1. Vancouver Canucks
2. Colorado Avalanche
3. Calgary Flames
4. Minnesota Wild
5. Edmonton Oilers

--The top 4 in this division should all make the playoffs, their order is hard to predict, because each team has it's weakness: Luongo is the man for Vancouver but do they have the firepower? Colorado looks revamped by adding Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan, but what's their goalie situation? Calgary has Kipper and a tough D, but what's that kook Iron Mike going to bring to the table? Minnesota has the raw talent, and defensive system, but keeping Gaborik off the shelf has has it's challenges. Edmonton will stink, but that's not news.

Pacific Division
1. San Jose Sharks
2. Anaheim Ducks
3. Dallas Stars
4. Los Angeles Kings
5. Phoenix Coyotes

--The Stanley Cup hangover is in effect for the Ducks, who may or may not have their captain Scott Niedermayer (great leadership and decision making their, Cap). Every year I pick San Jose to breakout out in a big way, and usually they disappoint. I like Dallas, but they just don't seem to have "it". LA could be a surprise team, but how will all their new faces mesh? Again, the only thing for sure is it's going to be a long season for #99, if he sticks with that club all year I'll be impressed.

Playoff teams (no particular order):
Detroit, Vancouver, San Jose (division winners)
Anaheim, Colorado, Calgary, Minnesota, Dallas

Just missing it (this year's Colorado, Montreal or Toronto):
St. Louis, LA

Somewhat competitive but not enough:
Chicago and Nashville

It's gonna be a long, cold winter:
Columbus, Phoenix, Edmonton

Matty B trades the (Penalty) Box for the (Broadcast) Booth

Hat tip to James Mirtle, the newly retired Matthew Barnaby* didn't take long to find work. He's got a tryout gig on for calling Buffalo Sabres radio games.



I'm not surprised Barnaby was able to land a job in the media; he did a little work with ESPN way back in the day when ESPN had a terrific NHL2Night broadcast going on (with the likes of John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, Darren Pang, Ray Ferraro and Steve Levy).



I am a little surprised they're going to put this face:

In radio.

*More on this later, with my totally made up 2500 Penalty Minutes + 300 points club