Say what?

Ted Leonsis is at it again too..

Pittsburgh has a great fan base. Fans will travel from the city to DC-based games or they actually live here and break out the terrible towels and go to games here. They are Skins fans except when the Skins play the Steelers. We experienced that phenomenon with the Capitals too and same with the Orioles when they play the Yankees or Red Sox or the Nationals when they play the Mets.

As we've explained to Mr. Leonsis before, being a fan of a particular team is not a fluid decision for a lot of fans. We'd invite Ted to go to the Pour House or to our usual haunt; the Bailey's in Ballston right below his practice arena on a Sunday afternoon and see all that the only accompanying color to the gold in the crows is black, not burgundy. No self respecting Steelers fan we know would ever cheer for the Redskins, barring some sort of playoff implication that would benefit the Steelers.

If anything, hearing the annoying commentators and fans talk of an impending Super Bowl after every win, and then the “sky is falling” rants after losses give non-Redskin DC area fans nothing but malice to the local team…In fairness, this loathe of homer-ism undoubtedly applies to fans in Pittsburgh that don’t like the Steelers, Philly area non-Eagle fans, etc, etc.

He is right that Pittsburgh fans travel well, though. A lot (like our family and our friends' family) will come from Virginia Beach or Richmond to watch a rare Steelers game in DC. I suspect that is the case for a bunch of other Virginia/Maryland area ex-Pittsburghers. And because the team has been so successful and popular over the past 30 years factored into the large number of scattered ex-Burghers, you see why the Steelers "travel well" to basically any opposing city.

The enthusiasm of the black-n-gold clad fans also goes to disprove Mr. Leonsis' idea that these are Skins fans 364 days of the year and Steelers fans just when they play....The willingness to folks to drive from Richmond, or Maryland, or PA for a Monday game shows just how rabid and loyal they are. These people (blog's editor included) will not go to another Skins game this year, and certainly will not be cheering for the Redskins. Except for Clinton Portis and anyone else who might be on a fantasy team.

Kane > Crosby? Uhh, no

Semin exploded on Puck Daddy:

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb.

I think that if you take any player, even if he is "dead wood," and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals; everyone will say "Wow!" and then hand him a $10 million per year contract. That's what they like here.

And as if he couldn't endear himself more to us...

Have you forgiven the United States for stealing Russia's gold medal in the 1980 Olympics?
[Loud laughter] Why would I still be mad at them? Their team is weak now. The Canadians are our main rivals.

I wonder if Semin knows that his wonderboy Pat Kane (who he's seen a grand total of two times in live action) is in fact, American.

As far as the first quote goes, despite playing about the same number of games (224 for Crosby, 201 for Semin) Sid has more than double the points of the Russian player. (307 to 153). We'll leave the impressions to you.

An early by the numbers...

4 – The number of countries the Penguins have played a game (pre-season included) so far this season: USA, Canada, Finland and Sweden

15- Hits so far thrown by Matt Cooke, putting him on pace for 615 for the season…One would think this is bound to fall off, being as last year’s leading hitter, LA’s Dustin Brown, was credited 311 hits.

11- Shots on goal for Sidney Crosby. He also fired 6 more that were blocked or missed target. Still, 5.5 shots on net is a pace for 451 in a year, a handful more than Alex Ovechkin got. Crosby’s game isn’t the same as Ovechkin’s, of course, but it’s encouraging to see 87 making the effort to throw more pucks at the cage.

9:43- The amount of ice-time Alex Goligoski played on the power play in his only game. Contrast that say to the 12:41 PP time that Game 1’s goal scoring defensemen Rob Scuderi had in all of 2007-08.

3-0 – Speaking of Scuds, that’s the Penguins record when he scores a goal (two of which Crosby has assisted on)

13-2-3—Penguins record (since beginning of 2006-07) when Scuderi registers an assist

3 – Tied for league high number of penalties that Ruslan Fedotenko has drawn

2- Tied for second league high number of penalties that Fedotenko has taken

Another sign of the Patrick era fades away

Kudos to TST friend Seth at Empty Netters for pointing out a couple of Penguins who have apparently switched numbers, according to the team website. Nothing too earth shattering-- Donald Brashear isn't going to be the best #87 in the league next year-- but we did notice something of vague interest.

Alex Goligoski, who wore the absurd number 67 for Pittsburgh last season has apparently made the switch to the more reasonable #13. Nothing too eyebrow raising, right?

Well hold up, former GM Craig Patrick--a notoriously superstitious man--banned all of his players from taking the supposedly unlucky number 13. In fact, over the years only two players have ever donned #13 for the Penguins. Good trivia question, no cheating, name them (answer at bottom of the post).

Now Goligoski, ironically a good find in the second round by Patrick and his scouts, now is looking like he might be the first Penguin to wear the number CP so despised, if Golly can make the team.

So unlike most hockey players, it's probably safe to say Golly isn't that superstitious by his choice of number. Especially since he's already contending with the vaunted curse of Greg Malone and all.

(The answer to the trivia question is Jim Hamilton and Charlie Simmer are the others)

Uhh, what games are these guys watching?

The good doctor Mirtle had the details of the professional hockey writers association (PWHA) votes for the NHL All-Star Team that they name...Guys at the top of the list who deserved to be their (Ovechkin, Malkin, Iginla, Lidstrom) are obviously all there.

But go down a little bit and it gets goofy.

Sidney Crosby gets a 2nd place vote as a right winger? Crosby's never taken a shift at ring wing in his NHL career. Someone out there gave a 2nd place vote to Wade Redden (maybe they didn't know they're supposed to be ranking them from the top) and others gave 3rd place votes to Jassen Cullimore, Joe Corvo and Robyn Regehr. Dany Heatley (a left wing) got a couple votes for right wing and his linemate Daniel Alfredsson (a right wing) got some votes for playing left wing. Up is down and left is right!

We understand these guys aren't choosing a Pope or nominating Supreme Court Justices but geez take a little pride in knowing the sport, eh boys.

Maybe we have been thinking hockey too much....

Upon checking Yahoo this morning our eye went straight to this headline...

"Tips to fix broken fans"

Sadly, upon clicking on the link (which we now can't seem to find) they were talking about the repairing the kind of fans that cool you down in the summer, not dealing with a heart breaking sports loss.

Also while on yahoo trying to find the fan link (we swear!) was this: 15 Hotties With Facial Hair

Say, didn't they miss someone.....

Fun stat of the day

The Penguins are 8-0 this year (regular and playoffs combined) when televised nationally on NBC.

Playoff Beard Power Ranking

Now for some analysis that really matters.... Pittsburgh Penguin Playoff Beard Power Rankings







1. Max Talbot
--It's not just the self-proclaimed best playoff beard in the world, it IS the best playoff beard in the world.

2. Pascal Dupuis
--Not only is he able to keep up with Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa on the top line, but he's got a beard growing capabilities as well.

3. Ryan Malone
--A power forward with a power beard.

4. Ryan Whitney
--Doesn't play like a man a times, but grows a nice beard.



5. Jordan Staal
--Ok so we did take into account that he's 19 and has the Abe Lincoln going. But we couldn't find a recent picture of Brooks Orpik, so we give the young Staal the nod over Jarkko Ruutu and Marian Hossa in an effort to show not all young Pens suffer at facial hair.

Not receving votes

Sure you're the best hockey player in the world, but the monstrosity will haunt you for the rest of your days, Sid. Sometimes the way Crosby plays, you forget he's 20 years old. A look at his face is a quick reminder. Hopefully he'll get the chance to grow better and better beards in the years to come.

Another good sign

Throw away all the "experts" picks, the reigning queen has weighed in.....




Yes, folks Maggie the Macaque likes Pittsburgh over Ottawa.

Hollywood to finish what they started

From penguins.nhl.com:

The two main characters in the script are Penguins fans, and the lead actors will be attending the game in Penguins gear for crowd shots with actual hockey
action in the background. They will come back next week to an empty arena to shoot the dialogue scenes.Starring Alice Eve (“Starter for 10”) and Jay Baruchel (“Knocked Up” and “Tropic Thunder”), the movie centers on an average guy who works at the airport and becomes involved with a gorgeous girl who is “out of his league.”

Uh oh, we all remember what happened the last time a movie was shot inside the arena

Paul Steigerwald's finest hour? Yes

Mapping out the Hatred

Found this rivalry/hatred map on HFBoards, thought it was pretty cool.

Pittsburgh/Atlanta based on the Kovalchuk controversy of old boy pointing his stick at the bench probably isn't as real as Pittsburgh/Ottawa because of the playoffs.

Pittsburgh/Carolina is just funny. Stemming, of course from Brooks Orpik breaking the neck of Erik Cole, then waiting a couple weeks to try to call and apologize, only to have his apology re-buffed by Cole.

Also, ya gotta love how New York and Toronto are the center of hate in the hockey world.

Reports of Gary Roberts Demise Greatly Exaggerated?

A simple, almost throwaway line in the PG today, but then you read it and it floors you..

[Sidney]Crosby and left winger Gary Roberts (broken leg, high ankle sprain) skatedyesterday for about a half-hour with no apparent problem, team officials said

Uhhh, what was that again? Slightly different then the bombshell PG Columnist Ron Cook laid out in his column entitled: "Latest setback threatens Roberts' career"

Make no mistake here.

This really is crunch time for Roberts.

Like never before in his career.

Off topic a bit, but a personal beef.

What's the deal with almost every newspaper writer in America going overboard on these one sentence paragraphs?

It's like, come on let's develop these things a little more.

The PG's Shelly Anderson is the worst at this.

It's very annoying.

And doesn't seem like the mark of an effective or good writer.

But that's just one man's opinion.

Anyways, as you can see Cook basically spelled out that Roberts career is in jeopardy and after reading it, you thought he was Barbaro or something and the docs were about to put him down. Cook also wrote (emphasis added):

He said he won't try to skate for two more weeks. His new target date to play again is March 27, a home game against the New York Islanders. "At least that would give me five games before the playoffs."

So much for that big push for the team down the stretch.

In conclusion, the day this hit news-stands (yesterday) Gary Roberts skated for 30 minutes with Crosby. The legend continues to grow.

The Old TK Got Arrested

Two Habs arrested in Florida nightclub incident

To be fair, in a crazy situation like this things can escalate really quickly. And when the cops have your buddy isolated they're not always the best communicators. Especially if you've been drinking.

But in looking through my handbook--as a veteran of going to bars, getting in trouble but avoiding jail, Rule #1 clearly states listen to the police and do what they say.

Kostopolous seems like a decent person and a good guy, I doubt he was causing a ruckus but things happen.

White is the new Yellow

Thanks to poster jp39 from HFBoards (post 25ish) for the pic

Recognize that big boy goalie? Maffy is all growed up!

No more yellow junior leg pads, it's time for new white pads, that eye doctor's say do not give shooters an advantage, unlike the old yellows.

Tear, tear, it truly is the end of an era.

Answering Questions (That No One Asked)

Last night while watching TSN, they were talking during an intermission about the distraction caused by Ray Emery’s continual tardiness and Matthew Barnaby referenced one of his NHL experiences.

He told a story about his lone season in Chicago how they had a disruptive player. He wouldn’t name names because the player was still in the league. Barnaby said the young teammate tested the veterans and his coaches by showing up late and I believe Barnaby said once he was even sent home from the rink, on orders from the team’s player leaders. Barnaby then said a couple of months later the player was traded.

This set off a detective case…Ok, so it’s not something that’ll end up in a Sherlock Holmes novel but follow us here…

The following players were traded from Chicago during the 2005-06 season (this site is a lifesaver for this type of research)

Matt Ellison, Anton Babchuk, Jaroslav Spacek, Todd Simpson, Tyler Arnason

Of the above mentioned, neither Spacek or Simpson are players that Barnaby would refer to as young, Babchuk is back in Russia and Ellison has almost exclusively been in the AHL for the past two years.

Leaving only Tyler Arnason (now with Colorado)…Could he be the oft-late young player that ruffled feathers in Chicago?

Mid-Season Report Card

We're not technically at the mid-point of the season yet, but next week's so-called Winter Classic will surely take all the spotlight (more thoughts on this on another day).

Below are grades. As a caveat, I should say players are graded on the role they're supposed to be filling. So, hypothetically someone like Mark Eaton could be graded higher than a Evgeni Malkin. It wouldn't mean Eaton necessarily is a better player, just means he's played his role better for the first half of the season. Also, it should be assumed that all players start with a C average and either work their way up (or down) depending on how they do.

GOALIES

Marc-Andre Fleury (9-8-1, 2.90 GAA, 90.2 sv%): B-
--Notes: Before suffering an ankle injury Fleury, who’s had an up and down career, had an up and down season. In the games before he got hurt he was 4-0 and had a 95% save percentage. In the beginning of the season his GAA was on the wrong side of 3 for a long time.

Dany Sabourin (7-8-1, 2.69, 90.4%) B-
--Notes: I’ve given him a B- because he’s filled in pretty well as the impromptu #1 goalie. Nothing spectacular but on most night’s he keeps the team in it. That’s what backup goalies are supposed to do.

Ty Conklin (3-0-0, 3.50, 89.2%) C
--Notes: Throw out the undefeated record and you might throw up. But, at least he’s done what he’s had to do to get the wins, right? I won’t rest easy until Conklin’s back in Wilkes-Barre where he belongs.

DEFENSE

Mark Eaton (36gp, 0g, 3a, 3p, +6, 16 PIM) A-
--Notes: The only defenseman to have a positive +/-, he was perfect as Gonchar’s stay-at-home reliable partner. Now he’s out for the year with the ACL. Dagger. Ray Shero must find a way to replace him if the Penguins have aspirations of advancing past the first round of the playoffs. That’s not a bold proclamation, that’s the truth.

Sergei Gonchar (33gp, 7g, 23a, 30p, -2, 36 PIM) B+
--Notes: Gonchar is a devil you know. He’s great on the powerplay creating offense. A little less so in his own end were turnovers and poor positioning abound. Still, he plays 26+ minutes every night and matches up against the opponents best players every night for a reason. And that reason is he’s good.

Kris Letang (19gp, 2g, 2a, 4p, -3, 8 PIM, 3 for 3 in shootouts) B
--Notes: Hard to believe he only has two assists. Letang’s been a pleasant surprise. He’s good on the PP and improving in his own end. Plus, he’s getting to be automatic as a shootout guy, a valuable asset indeed.

Rob Scuderi (37gp, 0g, 1a, 1p, -3, 16 PIM) B
--Notes: Scuderi’s improvement has been tremendous. Despite the fact he brings absolutely nothing to the table offensively, he’s become very valuable at giving up very little. With Eaton down and out, Scuds role as a PK’er will become broadened. So far he’s been up to it.

Brooks Orpik (33gp, 0g, 5a, 5p, -2, 27 PIM) B-
--Notes: Hey, these are my grades, not the coaches. Orpik has as many hits as the combined number of the rest of the defense. He might run around a little too much, but he’s got a surprisingly good first pass. Needs to chip things along more and not think about handling the puck too much.

Darryl Sydor (31gp, 1g, 3a, 4p, -5, 11 PIM) C
--Notes: Sydor is happy that we didn’t have a quarter season report card, he would have had a terrible mark. But his game has been improving in the past month and it seems like he’s finally catching on to how Pittsburgh likes to play hockey. The Pens style is incredibly different from Dallas’ and especially the great puckhandling of Marty Turco.

Ryan Whitney (33gp, 7g, 10a, 17p, -3, 21 PIM) D+
--Notes: Whitney gets a D because he needs improvement. The assists aren’t there from last year, and although Whitney’s been good on the powerplay, he hasn’t been good anywhere else. I expect better in the second half of the season.

Alain Nasreddine (4gp, 0g, 0a, 0p, -3, 2 PIM) D
--Notes: A brief but pretty brutal stint for Nasreddine this year. He’s shown he can be decent in stretches as a 6th defenseman though, and the Penguins are going to need him sooner than later probably.


FORWARDS

Sidney Crosby (37gp, 16g, 34a, 50p, +4, 35 PIM) A
--Notes: Not an A+ because there’s still room, incredibly, for improvement. Enough has been said about Crosby being great. It’s true. He’s the best. What I like to harp on is how he’s become the go to faceoff guy and his improvement without the puck.

Evgeni Malkin (37gp, 14g, 26a, 40p, -5, 40 PIM) A-
--Notes: Like Crosby, you know Malkin’s played very well, but you get that sense that he’s not finishing enough of the chances he creates. Malkin’s been solid though, nice to see the dreaded Sophomore slump isn’t always the case.

Maxime Talbot (24gp, 7g, 4a, 11p, +4, 16 PIM) A-
--Notes: Perhaps the first quarter MVP of the team (not named Crosby or Malkin). Talbot’s trademark hustle has been there and he’s scoring goals at a higher rate than previous years. His ankle injury derailed what would have been an honest attempt at a 20 goal season.

Georges Laraque (29gp, 2g, 6a, 8p, -1, 61 PIM) B+
--Notes: The knock on Laraque is that when he becomes unmotivated or is on a team not playing well he abandons all effort and doesn’t do his job. Maybe he’s still in the honeymoon stage in Pittsburgh, or maybe he’s just on his best behavior for a coach he goes all the way back to juniors with but this hasn’t been the case. Laraque’s been great at his role, keeping post-whistle activity down and opponents scared.

Tyler Kennedy (24gp, 6g, 4a, 10p, even, 20 PIM) B
--Notes: Kennedy’s play convinced management he was an NHL player and that they could cut ties with Mark Recchi. Big words, but Kennedy’s play has backed it up. Although he’s been quiet in the past 5, Kennedy’s provided a spark of energy since Talbot went down.

Petr Sykora (37gp, 11g, 9a, 20p, -8, 18 PIM) B
--Notes: Has been as advertised: streaky but talented goal scorer. Might score 5 goals in 5 games and then will score 1 in the next 10. No telling what he’s going to give on any given night but he does seem dangerous of most shifts.

Ryan Malone (32gp, 9g, 5a, 14p, +4, 59 PIM) B
--Notes: It’s a contract year and you can tell. Malone’s hustling up and down the ice in a fashion not captured by his raw stats. He’s played well and been a force in most games.

Adam Hall (34gp, 2g, 3a, 5p, -2, 17 PIM) B
--Notes: Hard to believe this guy needed a tryout for an NHL team. His role may be dime a dozen as a grinder who just kills penalties and isn’t flashy, but Hall is good at what he does. He’s versatile enough to play all 3 forward positions and play them well.

Colby Armstrong (31gp, 4g, 11a, 15p, -2, 32 PIM) B-
--Notes: Fewer players have had the ups and downs than Colby….A healthy scratch for weeks at a time. Then back to the 1st line riding shotgun with Crosby in a matter of days. He’s produced well of late and remains an important player and penalty killer. But where are the game-changing HUGE hits from last season?

Gary Roberts (36gp, 3g, 12a, 15p, -3, 38 PIM) C+
--Notes: Roberts would like to be scoring more goals and recently has been. The beginning of the season Mr. Gary had a respiratory illness that seemed to limit his effectiveness. It’s gone now and ass whoopins are being handed out on a regular basis so that is a good sign. Unless your name is Ben Eager.

Erik Christensen (32gp, 5g, 7a, 12p, -3, 16 PIM, 4 for 5 in shootouts) C
--Notes: Crusher has looked great at times and has been worthy of being a healthy scratch at others. The experiment of using him as a winger seems to have failed. With a team that has the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Staal and Talbot as natural centers that doesn’t bode well for EC. But he has been effective centering a 3rd or 4th line with grinding type players. Plus he’s obviously Mr. Money in the Bank for shootouts.

Jordan Staal (37gp, 3g, 7a, 10p, -11, 19 PIM) C
--Notes: Mr. Sophomore Slump himself. Staal hasn’t been as bad as his stats would indicate, he’s still an important PK’er but for some reason his chances aren’t going in like they were last year. Staal’s doing a lot of the things he did last year, just the results are different. If there’s one player who statistically could break out, it’d be hard for Staal to do worse.

Jarkko Ruutu (26gp, 0g, 2a, 2p, -3, 41 PIM) C-
--Notes: I feel for Ruutu. He came to Pittsburgh for more playing time and he hasn’t found it. When Ruutu is good he’s a great agitator/pest that drives opponents crazy. But when he’s not good he’s taking too many costly trips to the penalty box and then sitting the bench for the game.



Coaching

Michel Therrien (19-16-2) C
--Notes: A lot of fans would have given this an F. But Therrien, though barely, has kept the team together and kept them above water through some costly injuries and generally pulled the strings. The job of the coach is to prepare players and put them in a position to make plays. For the most part, he does this, it’s up to the players to execute. Still, it’s increasingly maddening how often he shuffles lines and extremely quizzical some of the resulting combos he creates. Also all the too many men penalty; I laid blame on the players but the coach has to bring some discipline.

Whispers from Canada.....

North of the border has been whispering a lot lately about the Penguins and their goalie situation. Last week, TSN's Bob McKenzie speculated that Ray Shero was growing impatient with Marc-Andre Fleury and was looking into a trade or free-agent signing to bolster the club with a little more proven goaltender.



Now we're hearing from an Ottawa newspaper that the Pens might be interested in Montreal goaler Jaroslav Halak. And not the first time, we're hearing that the Habs are interested in Colby Armstrong (who's name seems to be linked to MTL a lot). Bob Gainey, the Canadiens GM was at a recent Pens/Rangers game, which is unusual for a general manager to be at another team's game like that simply for routine scouting purposes.



I don't buy this rumor, I don't think Mr. Shero is looking to make a trade for a goalie anytime soon. Fleury hasn't been as reliable as hoped, but the whole team hasn't really hit a consistent stride yet. Also Halak is not a proven goalie, he hasn't even been in the NHL for a full calender year. I'd put more credibility if the Pens went for someone like Anaheim's backup, Ilya Brzgdsafhjadlof or someone a little more veteran.



And hey, if none of that works out there's always another possibility that just got dreamt up....

Who else threw up in their mouth a little bit?

On lines...

Fans shouldn't question coaches. After all, they are the ones who have a professional job in hockey and, for most cases, have spent all their adult lives around hockey and know what's going on. On the other hand, for the most parts, fans are just drunk assholes that have loud voices to let their spur of the moment thoughts out.

But, seeing Ryan Malone and Mark Recchi as the second line wingers in the first game for Evgeni Malkin is truly a heastratcher. Malone and Recchi were pretty much permanent wingers last year on the top line with Sidney Crosby. And, for the most part, they were not able (at full strength) to generate much as Crosby's wings..

So you move them away from Sid (smart move). But you send them BOTH to Malkin? After you already know what they can bring to the table?? Give them ice-time over Erik Christensen, over Gary Roberts?

I'm no NHL coach, but this combination stinks. Recchi is a skill player, keep him with top 6 minutes, but why not drop Malone down in favor of someone else who has skill.

Getting there is half the battle

The San Jose Sharks, one of the odds on favorites to win the Stanley Cup don't want to be known as The Buffalo Bills of the NHL.

Uhh, news flash Kyle McLaren, there would be a huge difference in actually going to the Stanley Cup final four years in a row and only making it to the conference finals one time in the past five seasons.