Crosby and MAF Named to Canadian Olympic Team

Team Canada announced its rooster for the upcoming Olympic games today and on that list were Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby and Penguins Goalie MAF. These selections were no surprise, but I was a little dissapointed that Staal was unable to make the team. I thought when Staal was invited to Canada's Olympic camp over the summer that he would be a long shot to make the team, but after watching his offensive production and PK talents so far this year I thought he would make the team as a third or fourth line center. Staal is in good company though considering Crosby was also snubbed by Canada's Olympic team the first time he was eligible as a pro back in 2005.

Nice Nose

Jordan Staal had a puck deflected into his face that split his nose wide open in the game against the Devils. He was extremely lucky that puck caught him in the nose and not the eye or we could have been looking at a Brian Berrard situation. I am not sure why the league does not mandate that players wear a shield or at least a half shield. An even better question would be why don't players take it upon themselves to start wearing them. All of these guys played levels of hockey in their younger days that required them to wear full shields at one point and time, so why stop.

In my personal experience wearing a cage inhibits your sight a little bit, but it is a much better option than losing an eye or teeth. Most people that don't wear a mask because they feel it is a tough guy thing not to wear a mask and it makes you less of a man if you do wear one. Let me remind everyone that as recently as 1994 there were still players that didn't wear a helmet for the same reason. Looking back on that now it just seems stupid to play with out a helmet, and i would expect in the next 10 years the same will be thought of playing without a cage. Even now as my competitive hockey days are over i still wear a full cage to play adult league and it has saved me many cuts and bruises. It always surprises me to see how many adult league players who make no money to play hockey feel the need to take there cage off and risk injury just so they can feel like a tough guy.

Anybody else out there that has an opinion on this?

Penguins Beat Sabers 2-1 (SO)

I was really excited to watch this game because it is very likely this will be a team that we will see in the playoffs. I was disappointed to see that Miller was not in the net for the Sabers but Lalime proved to be a worthy adversary until Letang completely undressed him in the shoot out. This was a fun game to watch, the low score was no indication of the speed of the game and offensive opportunities. Lalime had a lot of bounces go his way that kept the puck out of the net for the Sabers and once again MAF played great, if it wasn't for that we would have been looking at a 5-3 Penguins victory. This win kept the Penguins tied with the Devils for first place in the Division along with first place in the NHL.

Positives:
- Chris Kunitz has continued to play above his abilities
-Crosby's point streak continued last night with an assist on the Kunitz goal
- The PP generated a lot of scoring opportunities even though they were unable to finish.
- Suddenly our PK is creating odd man breaks and goals, we are almost more affective short handed than we are on the PP
- Jordan Staal is getting better every game.
- MAF

Negatives:
- Malkin, even though he has been putting up points he hasn't looked like the dominate player we all know he can be. Not sure if he is still hurting or if he sand bags it a little when Crosby is in the lineup because there is not as much pressure on him. It just seems strange to me that his productivity sky rockets every time Crosby is out of the line up. One should have no effect on the other its not like Crosby is taking his ice time or his wingers, if anything you think Malkin would do better when Crosby is in the line up because he draws the best defensive players from the other team.

Penguins Beat Flyers 3-2

Penguins continue to own the Flyers beating them in all three games they have played this season. This game was however much closer than the last two and I thought the Flyers actually played a pretty good game.

Positives:
-MAF played a great game without his effort the Penguins would have lost.
- The new PP formation, the umbrella format featuring Crosby, Gonchar, and Malkin across the top has scored 3 goals in the last two games. Last nights games was the first two PP goal game for the Penguins since Halloween.
- Sidney Crosby continues to be at the top of his game. I can't understand why the Philadelphia fans continue to chant Crosby sucks when it clearly motivates him. In the last two games Crosby had 2 goals, 2 assists, and a shot out goal to ice the game. Those stats really look like the stats of a guy who sucks.
- I can't believe I am going to say this but Chris Kunitz was a real asset tonight, who was creating turnovers, and was a disruptive force in the offensive end.

Negatives:
-We had to depend on MAF and the PP to win this game.


Questionable decision:
- Kris Letang was named player of the game. Letang played a good game and did have the game winner in the shot out, but didnt really do anything during regulation to make me believe he deserved the #1 star. Crosby should have been the #1 star with his game tying goal and shoot out goal. This just goes to show how much the people of Philadelphia hate Crosby even the writers who vote for star of the game refuse to acknowledge his greatness.

Pens Destroy Flyers.

This was a very entertaining game to watch, but was never really close the Penguins controlled the game from start to finish. There were however 3 consecutive fights in the first period which I don't know if I have ever seen before. It was nice to see the Penguins prove to the Flyers they could play any style they want against them and still beat them. I enjoyed watching the new PP formation which produced the first goal of the game last night and had also produced a fair number of shots. Once Malkin gets comfortable on that left side I think this formation will be lethal.

Negatives:
-there were none

Positives:
- special teams, the PP came up with a goal, and we scored two short handed
- Jordan Staal, Shero is looking more and more like a genius for signing this guy to a long contract rather than trading him like almost everyone was suggesting including myself. Staal has looked amazing this year and will continue to improve over the life of his 4 year contract.
- Crosby and Malkin, put up healthy numbers last night. However Malkin still has not looked like the Malkin we saw last year, can't help but to wonder if his shoulder is still bugging him.

Bylsma Must Have Read My Last Post

There is an article on the Penguins website www.pittsburghpenuins.com saying that the Penguins will be using a different formation on the PP tonight that will feature Malkin, Gonchar, and Crosby playing up high with Guerin and Cooke down low in front of the net. Anybody who has played hockey will tell you that this formation is called the umbrella. This is exactly what i had suggested in my last post. The only change I would make is Cooke, I think he has the right personality to play that spot but would rather see the larger Mike Rupp there who has proven he has some scoring touch. I would expect to see a lot of back door plays from Malkin to Crosby and vice versa out of this formation. Hopefully this works out or I will not be able to criticize anybody but myself considering i fully endorse this move.

Whats Worse?

Whats worse right now the Penguins Power Play or the Steelers?

This is a question that everybody will easily answer because the Penguins are doing so well right now and the Steelers have choked any playoff chance away by losing to the worst 3 teams in the league. But when you step back and really look at it I think you would have a good argument that the Penguins PP has been worse. Can you name one game this season that the Penguins have won because of there PP (I can think of one where they had a PP goal in OT). They have been winning because they are head and shoulders better than most other teams, but most of there games have been close and could have went either way. If their PP was producing they would be beating teams by 2 or 3 goals rather than having these nail biting finishes.

Even though the PP was bad once again last night against Montreal I was glad to see they changed what they were doing a little bit, Crosby was playing much higher than he normally does. I would really like to see them play an umbrella with Crosby and Malkin on opposite sides of the ice.

Penguins Winning Streak Snapped.

The Penguins lost to the Hawks Saturday night in OT 2 - 1. Despite the game being low scoring, and the Penguins losing, this was the most exciting game to watch since the Penguins beat the Capitals in the playoffs last season. The game was fast paced, hard hitting and featured some great goal tending. The Penguins out played the Hawks in this game but their goalie was able to make all the big saves, and preserve the win for the Hawks. I really hope both the Penguins and the Hawks make it to the Cup finals this year. It would be great to watch two teams that are loaded with high end talent and play the game at such a high tempo play for the Cup, there would be no trapping in this series, just end to end action and a lot of scoring chances.

Stat of The Day

I found this stat on the Penguins website and thougth it helped prove my point that Kunitz has no business playing on a line with Crosby.

+0.89 — Points per game difference for Sidney Crosby without left wing Chris Kunitz in the lineup

Thank you

And the Trade Rumors Begin

I came across a rumor last night on hockeybuzz.com that has Jordan Staal and one of our offensive defense men going to the Kings, there was nothing noted about what the Penguins would be getting in return. The only player I would love to have on that team is Anze Kopitar, but i can't see the Kings parting ways with him. A more likely senario would be Staal, and Gonchar, for Frolov, Brown, Johnson and a third round pick. I am not sure I would be willing to make that trade, Staal is just starting to realize his potential and is far more valueable than either of the wingers listed in this trade however I would love to see Jack Johnson in a Penguins uniform. Both wingers in this trade would be an upgrade over what we have, but neither are the elite scoring winger that we are looking for.

Penguins Putting up Healthy Numbers

Going into Saturday nights game with the Rangers the Penguins were finally healthy, short only winger Chris Kunitz. As predicted by almost everyone, once the Penguins were healthy again they would go back to their winning ways and the offense would start to click again. They proved everyone right by putting up 8 goals on Saturday and 5 more on Monday. Sidney Crosby lead the way by scoring 5 goals and a total of 8 points in those two games, this was enough to win him the NHL player of the week. Crosby has looked amazing over the last 3 games, and has thrown his name back into contention for the scoring title. Hopefully Malkin will pick his game up as well, he has been putting up some numbers over the last couple of games, but just hasn't looked as dominate as he should out there.

Negatives:
Not much to talk about right now our offense, defense, and goal tending have been great. The one part of the game that the Penguins are still struggling with is the PP, they were 0 for 5 last night and have not looked impressive at any time on the PP this season. Its time to put someone other than Mike Yeo in charge of this PP. I just don't understand how a team with this much talent can be this bad on the PP.

Positives:
-Crosby is playing great and on pace to score 49 goals this season.
-Mike Rupp scored a hat trick last night and has proven to be a great signing by Ray Shero, I don't think anyone in the league expected Rupp to be putting up the kind of numbers he is this year.

Pens Win Two in a Row.

After a terrible loss to the Senators the Penguins have rattled off two wins in a row, first they beat the thrashers and their hi powered offense, then last night they beat the Panthers in dramatic fashion. Hopefully now that the Penguins are starting to get healthy again they can get back to winning consistently. Even though they are still in first place they have been sliding fast since the injuries started piling up. In the games since Gonchar went out the Penguins record is 7-7, which is admirable with all the injuries they have had, but not what we expect from a Penguins team with this much talent. Also i need to see much more out of both Crosby and Malkin, both of them have been disappointing through the first 20 games of the season.

Farm Report:
With all the injuries the Penguins have suffered we have had a great opportunity to see what some of the baby Pens could do at the NHL level and I have to tell you I am extremely impressed with Ben Lovejoy. This guy is an NHL level defense man who does everything well, he is responsible defensively, makes great out let passes, and carries the puck well. He will be a great addition to our line up next year when either Letang, or Gonchar leaves via free agency.

Sen's take down the Pen's 6-2

this game was so bad it made me want to puke. Gonchar returned to the line up, but the PP still looked terrible, just as it did earlier this season with him and all spring last year with him. That sentence was not meant to be a knock on Gonchar who is a great defensemen, it was meant to shut all the people up that are always blaming our PP woes on the fact that Gonchar is hurt. We have enough talent on our team that one injury should not derail the PP. It is time for Mike Yeo to be re-assigned, he is a terrible PP coach, I am not sure he is even aware there are different PP formations. My personal favorite, about our PP is how we just leave the left point man standing at the point and never use him for anything but trying to keep Malkins shots that go wide of the net in the zone and the vocational back door play from Crosby that everyone in the league knows is coming. As my friend Eric told me "Our PP is so bad that I wish we could just decline penalties". I laughed when he said that, but unbelievably I have heard others echo the same sentiment.

Now that I got that out of my system lets touch on something positive:
Jordan Staal has been awesome so far this season, he is growing into his frame and becoming very difficult for other teams to handle. He has been in the league long enough now to prove to me that he will never be an elite scorer, but I would expect him to put up between 20-30 goals every season while racking up huge puck possession minutes in the offensive end, and shutting down the other teams top scoring unit.

MASH unit getting the job done for the Penguins.

The Penguins are now on a two game winning streak despite having only one defenseman left in the line up who played for the Penguins in the cup finals last year. Malkin returning to the team has been a big boost for the Pens and Sidney Crosby, even though there line only came away with one point in last nights game it is amazing to watch them play together. It is clear other teams are scared of them, there was countless times last night were a defensemen would botch a routine play that landed up on Malkin or Crosby's stick because they were nervous with Crosby and Malkin bearing down on them. I hope Bylsma keeps our new first line together, Staal looks very comfortable as a second line center, and Geno is clearly the answer to our problem of having no scoring wingers. This being said in an ideal situation Crosby and Malkin would play on seperate lines and each have true scoring wingers, but in a salary capped NHL this is not going to be possible unless we sacrifice some players like Gonchar and Staal. So basically your choice is trade Staal and Gonchar for some scoring wingers or keep them and play Crosby and Malkin together. Which ever decision they make we will be a dominate team as long as Crosby and Malkin are still here.

Injuries and losses continue to mount for the Penguins

The Penguins once again failed to score a goal falling to the Bruins 3 -0. To add insult to injury the Penguins lost Brooks Orpik to injury early in this game, this brings the total of Penguins core players sitting in the press box right now to 6. Who would have ever thought that Gonchar, Orpik, and Letang would be injured while McKee, and Eaton who over the years have been proven to be made of glass continue to eat up minutes for the defense (lets hope that continues). With all these injuries and the lack of goal production I think it is time to give Tangretti and Caputi a look, this would only be a temporary move until we start to get healthy again but the Penguins could use the scoring touch and the two of them could use the NHL experience.

Penguins now 4-4 since the spree of injuries they have suffered.

You knew when the season started the Penguins weren't going to win all 82 games, and at this point their record is still pretty good but I am starting to have some concerns. This team will again be great when they get healthy but the injuries they are suffering are long term injuries, guys are missing 6 weeks at a clip. And every guy we have lost is one of our better players. This is the time when great players rise up and carry there team to victory, and right now we are not seeing this from Sidney Crosby who is the Penguins only legitimate scoring threat left in the line up. In his defense his wingers have been horrible guerin has not been finishing plays that should be goals, and as for Kunitz well you all know how i feel about him. The scary thing about this situation is there is nothing the Penguins can do right now to fix this situation, they just need to hold on and try to play 500 hockey until they start to get healthy again.

Thought of the day:
Before Malkin got hurt everyone was down on Malkin and Crosby's point production so far for the year compared to last year where Malkin won the scoring title and Crosby finished third. In my opinion there numbers were so good last year and very average this year because Crosby and Malkin were playing together most of the year last year under Therrien. So when the Penguins get healthy I think they should be reunited on the top line, Staal has proved so far this year that he is a beast and can handle the second line, Talbot and Adams can center the third and fourth line. I know a lot of people will make the arguement that putting them together makes it to easy for other teams to defend them, because they can load there best defensive players up against that line and not worry about a second line beating them. To this i say, our second line will still be a very good line and if you can find a defensive pairing to shut those two down when they are playing together than you probably deserve to win. Here are my projected lines when we get healthy.

Malkin-Crosby-Guerin
Kunitz-Staal-Kennedy
Cooke-Talbot-Feds
Rupp-Adams-Dupuis

Gogo and Letang

I have not been able to watch a lot of the Penguins games recently because i have been traveling but based on what I have seen plus the stats that Gogo and Letang are putting up it doesn't seem like the Penguins are missing Gonchar that bad (aside from the first game they played without them). If this continues and these two young D-men continue to improve this will be the last season we see Gonchar in a Penguins uniform.

So heres the question of the day:
Lets say Gogo and Letang tear it up in Gonchar's absence and it is determined we will not be signing Gonchar back. When the trade deadline comes if there is a package of quality prospects available that could become true scoring wingers do you trade Gonchar for them, or do you keep Gonchar along with his scoring, and veteran presence considering the Penguins are poised to make another cup run knowing full well you will be getting nothing in return for him in the off season?

This is a very hard decision, you always want to keep the farm system stocked but you also don't want to give up a Stanley Cup to ensure a bright future

Eating Crow for One Night

Just when i though Kunitz couldn't play any worse he goes and plays a game like this, and totally redeems himself (i just had to use that line). Kunitz had the best game i have seen him play in a Penguins uniform last night. Even before he managed to score on the break away i was very impressed with how many turnovers he was creating, and how many good passes he was able to make off those turnovers. On the first goal he made an amazing play to catch that puck in the middle of 3 defense men and then move it over to Guerin who quickly passed it to Crosby for his first goal of the game. All these things being said he is still not a first line winger and even he will admit is not a goal scorer, however for the time being I believe he is the best option the Penguins have hopefully next season they will have a better one.

Sidney Crosby was ridiculous last night when he scored his second goal of the first period I honestly thought we would score 5 goals before this game ended. This was the first game this season that i have seen Crosby skate that well, he was flying through the neutral zone, and forchecking like a mad man this is what caused a lot of Kunitz's turnovers that eventually came back to Crosby and landed up in the back of the net. The second goal of the game he scored was sick, to have the patience and speed to spin to the back hand and make that shot is amazing to me. I am glad to see Crosby is finally shooting the puck, and believe this will be the year that he breaks the 40 goal mark.

This was the first game this season that i believe the Penguins clicked on all levels. When I look back at this game there was not one line or even individual that i can look at and say they did not contribute to this win.

Question of the day:
Kunitz and Feds production so far this year have been basically the same, actually i would argue Kunitz has played better than Feds, so why is Kunitz getting beat up by fans and the media so bad while nobody has said anything about Feds (myself included)?

A. Kunitz gets paid twice the amount Feds does
B. Kunitz is playing with Crosby on the first line
C. Fed's had great numbers throughout last years playoff run while Kunitz did nothing
D. All the above

Chris Kunitz

Chris Kunitz continues to be in what people are calling a slump with one goal in his last 40 games, that projects to him having a two goal season. A two goal season is not exactly what you are looking for from a winger on a first line playing with Sidney Crosby. My question is how long can this be considered a slump and not just a fact that he is not a goal scorer. So what are the Penguins possible solutions to this issue:
1. Move Kunitz to the third line and give Kennedy a chance on the first line. hopefully this would take some of the pressure off Kunitz and he may start to produce. Also Kennedy has proven he can score goals and is also leading the team in shots. The two problems with moving Kennedy to the first line are you break up what is widely considered the best third line in hockey, and secondly Kennedy plays right wing which is were Guerin plays.

2. With Dupuis being out of the lineup for the next couple of games you move Kunitz down to Malkins line to see if there is any chemistry there and give Borque, Tangretti, and Caputi significant time on the first line to see if they are able to produce at the NHL level.

3. You stick with the status quo and look to move Kunitz in the off season for draft picks to clear cap space. Kunitz is making $3.7 million a season which is way to much money for a winger that can't score. So if there is a team in the off season that is looking for a third line winger that can bring a lot of speed and grit to there team you trade him for whatever draft pick you can get for him. After his contract is off the cap the Penguins will be able to look into signing a true scoring winger or extending Gonchars contract.

Penguins lose Gonchar for 4 - 6 weeks

Penguins defensive leader and PP quarterback Sergei Gonchar broke his wrist in Tuesday nights 5 - 1 victory over the Blues. The injury will keep Gonchar out of the line up for 4 to six weeks. This is a huge blow to the Penguins considering what Gonchar means to there PP, however I think this injury is a blessing in disguise for the Penguins. This will give the Penguins a chance to use Gogo and Letang together on the PP, if they preform well it will make Gonchar expendable at the end of the season, which will make Letang an affordable player for the Penguins considering both him and Gonchar need new contracts at the end of the season. I hope we can keep both Gonchar and Letang beyond this season but i don't see how it is possible considering the Penguins cap situation. The other positive that comes out of this injury is Gonchar will be well rested when he comes back, for a 35 year old he has played a lot of hockey over the last two seasons with the Penguins making deep playoff runs. If he comes back from this injury rested and ready to play at 100% for the second half of the season and through the playoffs that will be huge for the Penguins.

How smart does Shero look right now for sending our unproven young D-men back to the baby Pens and signing a good veteran defensman (Martin Skula) for this exact situation.

Penguins Beat Lightning

The Penguins continue to roll over teams as the dispatched the Lightning Saturday night 4-1. This was actually a pretty sloppy game that featured 14 power plays that only yielded 1 goal for each team.
Positives for the game:
1. Jay McKee blocked 7 shots and looks to be an upgrade over Hal Gill.
2. Mike Rupp continues to shine, combine that with the acquisition of McKee in the off season and Shero looks like a genius.
3. Staal while still not putting up great numbers is blossoming into a true power forward who is also great defensively (shades of Ron Fransis).
4. MAF continues to be great.
5. We are getting great scoring depth right now.

Negatives for the game:
1. Kunitz continues to prove he has no business playing on the first line.
2. Crosby is not skating very hard, not sure if his groin is still hurting him or if he is being pissy about his shitty line mates. Lets hope its not the latter, I have admired Crosby's professionalism since he has broken into the league and this would be a huge blow to that.
3. Malkin is the only player showing up on the second line right now.

Right now the positives the Penguins have going for them right now far exceed the negatives. I feel confident Sid and Geno will get it going soon, however with the poor play of the wingers on the first and second line it might be time to give Tangretti an extended look at the NHL level.

Pens sweep first road trip of the season

With a win over the Carolina Hurricane's last night the Penguins improved there record to 6-1 on the season and 5-0 on the road. This team seems to be unstopable right now and for the first time in Penguins history it is there amazing goal tender that is leading the way rather than there potent offense. When the Penguins blew a 2 goal lead in the third period all the momentum shifted to the Hurricane's and they really took the play to the Penguins, who could have easily packed it in and left that game with there first road loss of the season. MAF would not let this happen he made some great saves down the stretch to procure at least one point for the Penguins. Once the OT started the momentum swung back in the Penguins favor but they were unable to capitalize on the chances they had due to the strong play of Cam Ward. In the shoot out both goalies looked great pushing the shoot out to six rounds before the pariah Chris Kunitz was able to beat Ward 5 hole and give the Penguins the 3-2 victory.

I must admit over the years I have not been the biggest MAF supporter and even suggested trading him two years ago, but through the playoffs last year and the beginning of this season he has proved he is worth every penny he is making and his status as a #1 draft pick. Though he had moments where he was brilliant in years past his inconsistent play was what was so frustrating, now he is solid every night that he steps between the pipes.

Chris Borque

I was looking at the lineup for Carolina tonight and it looks like they will only be dressing 7 D - men, which means they will not have a full 4 lines to play on offense. The Penguins should take advantage of this by sitting down Goddard tonight and inserting Chris Borque into the line up and rolling 4 lines over the entire game to wear down Carolina's forwards. I say this not only because it is a good strategy, but also because i would like to see how Borque does again on either Crosby, or Malkins line.

Penguins Improve to 5 - 1

Let me start this by apologizing for my lack of posts to start the season, I have been extremely busy at work and actually have not got to see many of the games. I did however get a chance to watch the Ottawa game and was very impressed with our third line. This line seems to have picked up where they left off in the playoffs last year and Staal and Kennedy look to be having career years (once again I hesitate to say that this early in the season). The depth and scoring balance this teams is showing right now is scary, if all our lines can continue to produce like this all season long we will be unstoppable.

Now for the things that I saw that worried me.
1. Crosby looks frustrated to me and last nights game was the first time that i have ever watched him and felt he wasn't giving 100% effort. This may have to do with the fact that one of his wingers is older than the head coach and clearly can't keep up with Crosby's speed even though he can still finish when he gets the puck in a scoring position and his other winger couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with the puck. Every game Kunitz looks more and more like an over paid third line winger to me.

2. Malkin does not have a quality scoring winger either. I like Feds on that line and think he deserves to be there but we need someone who can actually play on the other side of him.

3. our best scoring winger plays on our third line (Kennedy).

Now for the Positives.
1. we are 5-1
2. Fluery finally looks like a goalie who is going to play consistently up to his potential.
3. we are winning with out Crosby and Malkin putting up huge numbers.

I hate to sound negative about a team that is 5 and 1 but if i just sat here and wrote about everything that the Penguins do great this would not be very interesting to read.

Pens Start Season 2-0-0

What an great way to start the season, the atmosphere for the home opener was amazing, and it was great watching the Penguins organization raise their third Stanly Cup Championship banner to the rafters of the mellon arena. Once the puck droped the Penguins dominated a re-tooled rangers team (tool being the optimal word). This game was no where near as close as the score indicated.

The second of back to back games to start the season was against the Islanders. The Islanders came out strong infront of there home crowd and really took it to the Penguins through the first two periods, once the third period started it became clear that the penguins were the more talented team and they managed to tie the game up and then win it in a shoot out.

It is a little to early to start the Kunitz bashing yet, but he has looked about as useful as a pylon through the first two games with the exeption of one big hit he laid out. In his defense hes not the only winger that has looked bad through the first two games.

Pens Lose Paul Bissonnette

The Penguins attempted to sneak rugged winger Paul Bissonnette through waivers but he was claimed by the Coyotes. This is no big lose considering we have both Godard and Rupp who play the same style that Bissonnette does, but I really enjoyed watching him play and will miss watching him fight. The Penguins also claimed Chris Bourque, son of hall of fame D-man Ray Bourque off waivers today. Chris was a second round draft pick of the Capitals back in 2004 and has played a total of 12 NHL games since being drafted. In his limited time in the NHL he has registered 1 goal, so he is a nice addition for the baby pens, but i wouldn't expect him to be making any impact at the NHL level.

Can't wait to watch the Penguins raise their banners on Friday night!!!

Who Will Win the Scoring Title This Year

I have a feeling this is Crosby's year, even though he handled finishing behind Malkin last year with class i would be willing to bet finishing third has been eating at him all summer long. I remember him getting interviewed after the season before the playoffs started and being asked if he had ever been out scored by a teammate before. He answered "no, that has never happened to me before, not in pee-wee's, juniors, or the NHL". You could just tell when he was saying it that he was stunned that it had happened, and he was disappointed with himself. Though it will be a tough task to fend of Malkin and AO i believe his determination to be the best, and the fact he has finally switched to a composite stick will lead to a season where he scores between 130 to 150 points with a career high of better than 40 goals.

I have been thinking about writing about this all summer but thought i would save this for the 87th post.

My Thoughts on Chris Kunitz

I am only writing this because a couple of people who actually read my blog have labeled me a Kunitz hater. To set the record straight I like Chris Kunitz but believe he was the wrong player to trade away Ryan Whitney for. However this trade is looking much better as I believe Tangradi will be the scoring winger that the penguins desperatly need in the near future. Below are two lists, one of why i like Kunitz for the Penguins, and one of why i think he is a bad fit for the Penguins.

Good for Penguins.
1. He hits often and is good on the forcheck.
2. He is a fast skater.
- Both of these attributes make him sound like a third line player which is where his skill set dictates he should play.

Bad for the Penguins.
1. We were suppose to trade Ryan Whitney away for one of two reasons 1. to get a scoring winger for Crosby, 2. to clear cap space so we could sign a scoring winger for Crosby in the off season. Trading for Kunitz solved neither of these issues, we got a guy who rarely scores 20 goals in a season and in his best year he had two more points than the D-man Whitney we traded away for him. Also he makes 3.75 million a season which is almost exactly what Whitney was making.

2. We needed a scoring winger we got a guy that has all the same attributes of about 5 other players on our team (Kennedy, Talbot, Dupuis, Taffe, Rupp) accept Kunitz makes much more money.

All that being said I like Kunitz, I would love him if he was making 2.0 million a year. I just find it hard to believe we have a winger in Fedatenko who produces consistantly in big games, and puts up better all around numbers than Kunitz that only gets paid 1.8 million but we can afford to pay a third line talent in Kunitz 3.75. Do to the Penguins cap situation i can almost gaurantee you either Kunitz or Staal will be traded before the end of there respective contracts. Now you tell me, who would you rather have on your team Jordan Staal at 4.0 Million a season or Chris Kunitz at 3.75 a year. I do however expect Kunitz to have a career season playing beside Crosby reaching 30 goals this year but i think Kennedy would be capable of putting up the same numbers.

This ones for you Eric

Steelers or Penguins?

Who is more likely to repeat as champions this year the Penguins or the Steelers?

Though both teams had very little roster turn over from there championship seasons last year, I believe the Penguins have a much better chance of repeating (below is a list of my reasons).

1. I think it is harder to win a super bowl than a Stanly Cup because each series is a best of 7 in hockey where in football you only get one chance. Over a 7 game series the better team usually wins.

2. As great as the Steelers super star players are ( #7, #43, #92) they are not even considered the best in the league. The Penguins super stars ( #87, #71) are considered to be 2 of the 3 best players in the world and there is a wide gap between number 3 and 4.

Kennedy to Take Talbot's Place on Second Line

With Talbot recovering from shoulder surgery that is expected to keep him sidelined for at least the first month of the regular season the Penguins have turned to Kennedy to fill his spot as right wing on Malkin's line. All though I believe Kennedy will do well on that line, i hate to break up our third line that was so productive in the playoffs. Also i was really hoping that either Caputti or Tangretti would step up and earn that spot for the first month of the season.

Penguins open up there pre-season schedule Tuesday night against Columbus. It should be fun to watch some of the young guys play.

Less than a week till the start of training camp

The Penguins prospects and rookies report to camp this Sunday where they will play in a tournament vs prospects from the Maple Leafs, Senators, and the Sabers. It will be nice to finally start seeing some hockey again. The Veterans start camp on the 12th, the season will be here before we know it.

In other hockey news, who do you think will win the gold Medal in the Olympics this year. Canada is boosting a first line of Nash - Crosby - Iginla (pretty ridiculous) and Russia has a first line of Ovie - Malkin - Kovalchuk (also ridiculous). These two teams are my odds on favorites to win the gold.

Interesting research from a fellow blogger

Here is a link to an article on a Penguins blog i read, it basically tallies up all the players in the league and how many times they were one of the three stars of the game and then totals them up. He then goes on to give each star of the game ( 1st, 2nd, 3rd) a different point value and totals them up suggesting this is the way the leagues mvp should be decided. I thought his idea was very interesting and well researched.

http://igloodreams.blogspot.com/2009/08/three-stars-part-5-should-mvp-be.html

Most boring time of the hockey year.

This is officially the most boring time of the year for hockey fans. All of the noteable free agents have been signed, and teams prospect camps have ended. There is absolutly nothing going on in the hockey world for about another month when NHL training camps start. Here in Pittsburgh we have been fortunate to have such long seasons the last two years so there has not been a long off season, unfortunatly we have also been cursed with a rediculously bad baseball team so there is nothing for the Pittsburgh sports fan to watch at this time of year.

The Steelers will start there pre-season schedule this Thursday so thats at least something to watch. Even though pre-season football is boring it is still better than watching the Pirates.

Steelers Training Camp.

Not much action going on in the NHL right now so i thought i would mix it up a little bit and make a gold prediction about the Steelers after watching them at trainging camp the other day.

Limas Sweed will have an amazing season, by week 5 nobody will be talking about the sure TD he dropped in the playoffs last year.

Have the Penguins Re-Signed Zigomanis?

There is a lot of speculation that the Penguins have reached a deal with Mike Zigonanis after dismissing him to sign craig adams earlier this summer. The reports say it is a one year deal worth $650,000.00. This signing makes perfect sense for the Penguins considering they will be short a center for the first 2 months of the season with Talbot recovering from shoulder surgery. It also never hurts to have a guy on your team that can win face offs in a big situation. The only thing i question is where do all these players fit. Here are a look at the line up expected going into camp.

Guerin - Crosby - Kunitz
Dupuis - Malkin - Feds
Cooke - Staal - Kennedy
Rupp - Zigs- Adams

Extras
Talbot, Godard, Jeffrey
- I would also expect Caputi, Tangreti, and Jeffrey to make a run at Dupuis spot in training camp.

Alex Tanguay to the Coyotes

Those of you that i talk to often know i have been begging for the Penguins to trade away Kunitz for draft picks and make an offer to Alex Tanguay who is a true scoring winger that could complement either Sid or Geno well. I was told by many that there is no way the Penguins could afford him even if they did trade Kunitz away. Well it appears that Tanguay has signed a 2-3 year contract worth between 3-4 million a year with the Coyotes. This is almost the identical contract Kunitz has, shame on Shero for not going after this guy. There is still one free agent winger out there that has skill and could come cheap and that is Maxim Afinogenov. This is a guy who has a lot of speed, and the ability to put up 70 points per season. The down side is he is very injury prone and not an extremely physical player, all that being said I still think he would be a nice fit at a price of about 1.5 million a season. that money could be cleared up by getting rid of Dupuis and Goddard.

Crosby Wins ESPY

Sidney Crosby won an ESPY last night, the category was best player in the NHL. This award was voted on by the fans. This would be a huge honor regardless, but the fact that the fans that boo Crosby in every arena across the country still respect him enough to vote for him should make him feel really good.

Pens Sign Jay McKee

The Penguins recently announced they signed unrestricted free agent Jay McKee. The Penguins will be paying him $800,000 for this season while the Blues will be paying him $2,600,000. I think at the price they signed McKee he is a good pick up. He should fill the hole that the lose of Scuderi and Gill has made in our lineup. However this guy is extremely injury prone, he has averaged about 54 games played per season over the last 13 years. Adding a injury prone D-Man to a defense that already has Mark (season ending injury) Eaton scares me a little bit. If both of those guys would go down we would be in trouble. But overall i think this was a pretty good signing

Feds Signs 1 Year Deal With Penguins

Shero announced today that Feds resigned with the Penguins for 1 more year at 1.8 million for this season. this is a $450,000.00 pay cut from what he made last year. For what we are paying for Feds this is an amazing signing. Great job by Shero, and this shows how much winning means to Feds. Its nice to see a player that puts the team first.

Crosby and Stanley

Has anybody else seen these pictures floating around. This just goes to show how much winning the Stanley Cup really means to NHL hockey players.

Sykora

I have heard rumors that the Penguins are going to sign Sykora to a one year deal with a no trade clause. All i can say about this is please no, we don't need him back we already have one old guy that is good in the locker room in Guerin we don't need a second.

Scuderi signed a deal with the LA Kings for 4 years at 3.2 million a year, this was more money than the Penguins could pay him. I am happy for Scuderi he deserved this contract and was nothing but a classy guy while he was here in Pittsburgh. You have to wonder why Shero didn't offer him a contract extension last year, if he did we would have him for another two years at roughly 2 million a year.

We are about 4.5 million under the cap right now and need to sign 2 D-men, a back up goalie, and 1 to two top line wingers. We need to make a trade to clear some cap space, if we don't do that Staal will be forced to play wing on one of the top two lines this year. Lets hope Shero finds someone good on the cheap.

Signings

Since my last posting I have learned the details of both Guerin's and Adam's contracts and have completely flip flopped, I love both signings. Guerin will only be making $2,000,000.00 with a chance to make as much as 2.85 if he hits certain incentives. Adams contracts is for only $550,000.00 a year for two years totaling $1,100,000.00 originally i thought we was making over a million a year. Nice job Ray Shero, hopefully you land us a quality winger in free agency today.

Signings

The Penguins have just announced they came to terms with both Billy Guerin and Craig Adams. Guerin was given a 1 year deal that is going to pay him 2.85 million this year and Adams signed a 2 year deal for 1.10 million a year. I am not sure how i feel about either of these signings. There is no question they were both big parts of the the Penguins Stanley Cup run this year, but i think at the price the Pens paid for both of them they could have done better. I was hoping they would sign Guerin for between 2 - 2.5 million for one season. He was very effective for the Penguins this year but i am concerned that a 38 year old will struggle after having such a short off season. I hope he proves me wrong and scores 40 goals this season. The Adams signing I completely disagree with. Adams is a good player and a nice 3rd line player for us, but i would have rather seen the Penguins let Adams walk and bring up a player like Wallace from the baby Pens to take his spot at the leagues minimum pay. I say this because with the star players we have our cap space is so tight, that the money we are paying him should have been used to help land a true scoring winger. Bringing up a player like Wallace and letting Adams walk would have saved $300,000.00 to spend on a scoring winger. I can't wait to see what happens once free agency starts on Wed.

Time to Grade Ray Shero's Season

At first glance it may be hard to give Shero anything but an A+ grade considering his team just won the Stanley Cup. But when you look at some of the decisions he made last off season i think his grade may fall a bit. Lets take a look case by case of the moves he made during the season.

1. Tried to sign Hossa to a long term deal, but failed to do so. I don't blame this on Shero he made a great effort Hossa just didn't want to stay here.

2. Shero traded Malone and Roberts away for draft picks. I am still not sure how i feel about this move, i would have liked to have seen Shero at least offer Malone a contract before trading him. That being said i would have never paid Malone what Tampa did. So in summation trading Roberts and Malone away to replace some of the picks we gave up in the Hossa trade gets a B grade from me that would have been an A+ if they would have offered any contract to Malone that he turned down.

3. Shero didn't sign Rutuu because we wanted a 3 year deal. This move gets a D, Rutuu was a valuable player to this team and we saw just how much they were missing him early in the season.

4. Shero signs Orpik to a 4 year deal worth $4,000,000.00 a season. This is definitely an A+ signing, Orpik is one of the most physical D-men in the league and the only one that plays this style on the Penguins team. Also he is continuing to improve defensively over the years.

5. Shero signs Matt Cooke to replace Rutuu. I like the signing of Cooke but he is not the same player as Rutuu is. This move gets a C.

6. After Shero was unable to land Hossa he made no play for any of the other noteworthy scoring wingers that were available in free agency, even though Crosby had no worthy wingers to play with. This move gets an F

7. Shero signed Satan and Feds saying that they would replace the goal scoring we lost with Malone and Hossa leaving. From the second i found out we signed Satan i was disappointed and was happy about Feds but thought it was ridiculous to say he would put up Hossa or Malone type numbers. This move recieves a D.

8. Early in the season Shero traded Sydor who requested to be traded to Dallas for Boucher. To me this was a terrible trade, we already had 8 NHL contracted D-Men and had Gogo ready to come up from the baby Pens. They should have traded Sydor for a prospect, draft pick, or any player not making as much money as Boucher. This move also gets a D.

9. Shero trades or back up goalie, Ryan Stone, and a 3rd round draft pick to Edmonton for back up Goalie Mathew Garon. This would have been a good trade is Garon could stop a puck or we at least didn't give up the third round pick. Grade on this trade C.

10. Shero trades Whitney to the Ducks for Kunitz and Tangretti. I think Shero made the right move trading Whitney but i don't think he got enough for him. Honestly i wouldn't have minded the trade as is if Kunitz wasn't making $3.75 million a season. For a winger that in my opinion is a second line player at best this is a lot of money. Shero either needed to get a better player for Whitney or dump some Salary on this trade. This trade will land up hurting us in the 2009-2010 season when we still have no scoring wingers because we couldn't afford to fit any of them under the cap. This trade gets a C.

11. Shero trades a 5th round pick away that turned into a 3rd round pick after we advanced through the 1st round of the Playoffs for 38 year old scoring winger who brought a veteran presence to this team Bill Geurin. This trade unquestionably gets an A+, without Geurin we probably lose in the Washington series.

Overall grade for Shero C+, you won't see a grade like that to often for a GM who's team just won the Stanley Cup. But then again most GM's are not fortunate enough to inherit a team with Malkin, Crosby, and Fluery on it.

If Shero handles everything right this off season we will not only win another Stanley Cup but the Presidents Trophy as well.

Trade Talks

I just heard that Heatly has demanded to be traded out of Ottawa. Man would he be a nice fit to play with Crosby, he is a sniper that would probably put up 60 goals with Crosby playing center for him. All that being said, I am sure Ottawa wants a ton in return for him and even if the Penguins were willing to give a lot up for him i don't think they could fit him under the salary cap unless they would trade Staal away for him.

Penguins new first line

It is my understanding that the Sedin twins are both free agents this year and will only go to a team that will sign both of them. I am not sure what kind of salary they would require but they would look really good playing the wings for either Crosby or Malkin. Not sure who will be on the Penguins radar come July 1st but I believe they have to get at least one scoring winger and a true power forward. Does anybody think Jagr may actually come back to finish his career here in Pittsburgh?

Free Agents

The Penguins have 10 free agents this year and i am sure they are happy to see at least half of them go.

Here is a list of the Penguins notable free agents.
1.Rob Scuderi
2.Philippe Boucher
3. Ruslan Fedotenko
4. Mathieu Garon
5. Hal Gill
6. Bill Guerin
7.Miroslav Satan
8. Petr Sykora.

Out of this list there are only 3 players i would like to see stick around and those are Scuderi, Fedotenko, and Guerin. And even these players i would not over pay to keep considering none of them have a skill set that is irreplacable. Scuderi is worth about 2 Million a year anymore than that and he is being over paid. Fedotenko's 2.5 million he made last year is just about right for a player of his caliber i would sign him for one year at the same salary or 2 years at 2 million a year. And Guerin is a nice fit in the Penguins locker room and proved he can still play through the playoffs but i would not sign him for more than one year and would not pay him more than 2.5 million a year. All that being said they only one of the three players mentioned above i expect to see here next year is Fedotenko, the other two i expect to find better offers elsewhere.

When you look at how much money we had tied up in the players listed above and how little they contributed last year i feel confident that the Penguins will sign better players with the money losing these players has made available. If Shero uses this money wisely we will be looking at a team that will win the presidents trophy on the way to repeating as Stanley Cup Champions.

Travis Stouffer Knew

When the Penguins were floundering in late Febuary sitting in 10th place and made only two small changes to there team by hiring an unproven coach and trading a 3rd round draft pick away for a 38 year old winger that no other team wanted who could have predicted that 3 months later the Penguins would hoist the Stanley Cup. I will tell you who Travis Stouffer, the day the Penguins got Geurin, Travis called me and said the Penguins are going to win the Stanley Cup which i could only reply I hope your right. Travis was one of the only people I talked to that actually believed this, most people in the media were slamming the Penguins saying they won't even make the playoffs.

When you look at what this team had to do to make it to the playoffs. And then to have to beat the unbeatable Detroit Red Wings in a rematch of last years finals makes this Stanley Cup victory remarkable.

Penguins Win The Stanley Cup

How amazing did it feel when time expired last night. Going into this series i thought we had a good chance to win but didn't want to get my hopes up to much because i still thought Detroit might be the better team. I am glad the Penguins proved me wrong. The last two games of this series were amazing for the Penguins, they were complete team efforts we had all are D blocking shots 3rd and 4th liners scoring goals and 1st and 2nd liners blocking shots.

Malkin won the Conn Smythe award, which i thought either him or Crosby were very dissevering of. Malkin really proved a lot to me this post season, he showed up every game and put up a ton of points. I thing what was most impressive about Malkins game especially in the finals was his defense. Even games when he wasn't getting points he has tracking Red Wings players down and stripping them of the puck. Congratulations Geno, you were screwed out of the regular season MVP award that they gave to AO but you won the Stanley cup and the playoff MVP award. I hope you rub that in AO's face the next time you see him.

Congratulations to everyone in the Penguins organization on an amazing season and hopefully the beginning of a pile of cups this core group will win.

Pens take Game 6

This was one of the most exciting games of the playoffs, the Penguins dominated the Red Wings through 2 periods of play but then allowed them to make it interesting in the third period. So with this Penguins win they have forced a game 7 back in Detroit. This will be the first time since 1992 that the Penguins will have a chance to clinch the cup, and I for one can't wait for the puck to drop on Friday night.

Does anybody think Crosby is hurt? I find it odd that he only had 17 minutes of ice time in a game that was do or die for the Penguins, and even when he was on the ice i didn't think he looked like himself. Lets just hope he is battling a cold and that's what was slowing him down last night. I expect a big game from him on Friday night, he has been silent for this entire series this will be a statement game for him and hopefully land the Penguins a Stanley Cup and Crosby a Con Smyth award.

Penuins vs Red Wings

To those of you who have been following my blog throughout the playoffs i apologize for the lack of posts during the Stanley Cup Finals series between the Penguins and Red Wings. My work schedule has been crazy and that is my best excuse for the lack of updates. Anyways i have had a chance to watch the first 5 games and have been very impressed with the steps the Penguins specifically Malkin and Crosby have made since last years finals. Even after Malkin had such a great series against Carolina i questioned if he would be able to be that good against a great team and he has.

Just like last year this series may end in 6 games, but if it does it should not be compared to last years finals. It has been much more competitive this year, last year the Penguins were lucky to win 2 games this year they could have easily won 3 of the first 5. That being said i fully expect the Penguins to come home and win game 6 sending the series back to Detroit for game 7 where anything could happen.

If we do lose this series the blame should fall squarely on Fleurys shoulders. He has been terrible this series especially in Detroit where 7 of the 10 goals he has given up where very soft. Also Kunitz has been a huge disappointment through the entire playoffs and especially in the Finals. If I was coach Bylsma i would consider sitting either him or Dupuis in game 6 and inserting Sykora back into the lineup. If you put Sykora in for Dupuis this gives you a 4th line with some serious scoring punch with Satan and Sykora playing wing for either Crosby or Malkin. Also in game 6 i would like to see more of Crosby and Malkin playing on the same line. Bylsma should use those two as much as possible and not worry about burning them out. If we lose the series is over, if we win they get two days to rest.

LETS GO PENS!!!

Penguins Sweep the Canes

If you like seeing the Penguins score a lot of goals and dominate inferior teams you probably enjoyed this series, for me i thought it was a snooze fest by the time the Penguins went up 2 games to 0. That being said i would not be disappointed if the Penguins managed to blow Detroit out in 4 games. It was entertaining watching Malkin and Crosby man handle the Canes though. I will be curious to see which Malkin shows up to play the Red Wings. I only say this because the better the competition is the less noticeable Malkin seems to be. I just want him to prove to me that he can play big in a big game. This is one thing that Crosby does great, and hopefully Malkin will prove he has that say quality. Lets hope Detroit wins tonight so we can get this series started Friday rather than waiting 9 days before the Penguins play again.

Pens Win Game 2

This was a competitive game for 2 periods then it became obvious that the Penguins are way to much for the Hurricanes to handle. There is no question the Hurricanes are a good team, you have to be to make it to the conference finals. However you look at the two teams they played to get here, the Devils and Bruins who are to very good teams but they are both vulnerable to the Hurricanes game. The Devils and Bruins are both built on Defense and goal tending and have no star power on the offensive end the Canes exploited them by playing wide open hockey, taking chances, throwing lots of pucks to the net, and for checking hard. They were able to do this because there competition was unable to counter attack and finish on the odd man breaks the Hurricanes give up due to there style of play.

Now they are playing the Penguins who are tailor made to play against a system like the Hurricanes. They are able to weather the Hurricanes attacks and then quickly turn the Canes pressure into odd man breaks going the other way. When you give super star players like Malkin and Crosby odd man breaks more often than not they are going to land up in the back of the net. It became vary obvious in game 2 that Crosby and Malkin are way to much for the Canes to handle.

Malkins Game 2:
This was a career game for Geno, 3 goals and one assist. Not only did he have 4 points but the third goal he scored was ridiculous other than his teammate Crosby i am not sure if there is another player in the league that can make that play. Aside from all the points Malkin racked up last night he was creating turnovers, moving the puck up the ice, and making great passes all day long. The Canes had no answer for Malkin's line last night. The scary thing for Canes fans is they had no answer for the Crosby line either, usually teams are able to load up and at least stop one of the two lines. This is great news for the Penguins and tragic news for the Canes.

Crosbys Game 2:
Crosby had a huge game 2, if you didn't watch the game and just looked at the score sheet you would never know how great of a game he played last night. Sure he had a goal and an assist, which by all accounts is a pretty good game but he seemed to have the puck the entire game. Every time he was on the ice he was buzzing around the net with the puck despite being hacked constantly by the Canes defense. If Crosby and Malkin can keep this pace up we will stand a very good chance of beating Detroit in the finals.

Something i thought i would never see:
1.Miro Satan dropped the gloves and was throwing hay makers at the end of the game. This is a guy throughout the regular season who avoided contact at all costs and it almost cost him his NHL career. Since he has been recalled from the baby pens he has played great and become a cult hero here in Pittsburgh. Hopefully his good play throughout the playoffs will help him get a good contract somewhere next year (just not here in Pittsburgh).

2. Kunitz scored a goal, this was his first playoff goal in 21 games and it was a game changer. Talk about a deflating goal for the Canes, 7 seconds left in the period you think you are going to the locker room tied and Kunitz of all people walks out of the corner and rips a lazer over the blocker of Ward.

Lets remember as i said when the Caps took a 2 - 0 series lead over the Penguins, all we have done so far is hold serve by winning our two home games. We need to go to Carolina and win at least one to put a strangle hold on this series. However with the way the Penguins are playing right now i think this series is over the Penguins are going to finish them in 4 or 5 games.

Pens 3, Canes 2

The Penguins took game one of the Eastern Conference finals 3 to 2. I found this game boring to watch the Penguins quickly sprung out to a 2 goal lead and it never felt like the Canes had a chance to win this game even though we were only winning by one goal for half the game. It is fine by me if all the games in this series are boring as long as the Penguins come out with wins. That being said i would expect the rest of the series to be much more exciting and for this to be a hard fought series with the Penguins coming out victorious in 6 games.

Highlights of the game were Fleury looking like a world class goalie again after having a terrible series against the Capitals. And Miro Satan playing this entire game like he was shot out of a cannon, he was hitting people, backchecking, and he scored a ridiculous break away goal. On the negative side of things this was the worst game i saw from Kunitz in a Penguins uniform. At least during the Capitals series you could say even though Kunitz isn't showing up on the score board he is doing other things right like retrieving lose pucks for Crosby and laying out big hits, last night we didn't see anything from him.

Penguins Beat Caps In 7

This wasn't exactly the game the NHL was probably hoping for but me and the rest of the Penguins nation enjoyed it thoroughly. It was great to see the Penguins finally get rewarded for all the shots they have been putting to net this series. Even better was Crosby putting the dagger in Washington's heart by stealing the puck from Ovechkin and scoring on a break away.

So who's the best player in the world, for my money the answer is Crosby but if you go by the numbers Crosby and Ovechkin played to a stalemate in possibly the greatest playoff duel ever. Since Crosby is the complete player and his team won the series we will give him the edge.

Positives for the series:
1. the Penguins did a good job of staying out of the box.
2. Our super stars are on fire. I know a lot of people felt like Malkin disappeared in this series but when you look at the numbers he only has 3 less points than Crosby who is putting up amazing playoff numbers.
3. Our third line generated a lot of momentum for us and chipped in with a couple of goals.
4. This team seems to be playing better every single time they take the ice.

Negatives for the series:
1. Other than one big save in game 7 where has Fleury been?
2. Does Kunitz still play for the Penguins? Early in this series Kunitz was a physical presence but was not showing up on the score sheet. The last two games i didn't even notice him on the ice, we need him to play better if we are going to win the cup this year.

Overall this was a great series and the better team came out on top.

Ovechkin Hockey's Mike Tyson

This Penguins versus Capitals series has been the first chance i have had to watch a significant amount of Ovechkin play the game, as i have been watching i was trying to determine which past player Ovechkin reminds me of. At first i was thinking Pavel Bure, because Bure is Russian had incredible speed, scoring ability, and never came back behind center ice to play defense. Then i decided this wasn't a great comparison because Bure wasn't as physical and didn't take as many cheap shots. After that i really couldn't think of another player that compared to his style of play.

Then a commercial came on it was a preview for a movie that had Mike Tyson in it
(I think it is called bachelor party). This got me thinking about some of the Tyson fights i had seen in the past and then it hit me, Ovechkin is the Mike Tyson of hockey. Lets compare the similarities.

1. They are both very entertaining to watch because they are not like anything we have ever seen before in there respective sports.

2. You have to respect there ability to change there fight or game in a second. Let your guard down for just a second and Tyson will knock you out just as Ovechkin can put the puck in the net that quickly.

3. Both of them are very one dimensional. All Tyson had was a ferocious upper cut that could be thrown faster and with more force than ever seen before in boxing. Unfortunately for him that is all he could do, he had no endurance, and wasn't very technically sound. In the same way Ovechkin has an ability shoot the puck and score from long distance like we have never seen in hockey. His shot is unbelievable, every time he takes a wrist shot i am amazed by how quick he gets it off and how much power is behind the shot. fortunately for Penguins and there fans that is all he can do, he can't pass, play defense, or go back behind the center ice.

4. When things aren't going there way they take cheap shots. If a fighter was winning or controlling a fight Tyson would bite his ear off. Ovechkin slew foots other super stars that are to strong for him to hit legally, leads with his knees and elbows when he gets a chance and charges other players from there blind side. It amazes me that he gets away with charging constantly, if he sees someone with there head down or he can take a blind side shot at he will come the entire way across the rink to get them.

I hope Ovechkin keeps this up until someone like an Orpik or Sean Avery finally takes a shot at him that you wouldn't normally take at a super star player and ends his career just like kasperitis and Scott Stevens did to Eric Lindros. There is no room in this league for a scummy player like him, if it wasn't for his marketability and scoring he would be suspended constantly. Since the league is not going to take action against one of its super stars it will be left up to the players to police this situation, and i promise you one of these times he is going to get caught with his head down and pay the fidler.

Pens Lose Game 6

Well at least we still have a chance to close this series out in game 7. I thought the Penguins deserved to win this game and were the better team throughout the game with the exception of a 10 minute stretch of the second period. It is really simple to break down how we lost this game, Fluery was terrible giving up 5 goals on 24 shots thats a save % of 79.2%. Average goalies post a save % of 90%, elite goalies as Fluery is suppose to be according to everyone in the penguins organization should be posting a save % around 95%. When you watched last nights game could you think of one good save he actually made with the exeption of the one he made on Ovechkin in OT? That's enough Fleury bashing lets turn to something Positive.

What the Pens need to do to win game 7:
1. They need a better performance from Fleury.
2. Crosby and Malkin need to continue to be hot.
3. They need to stay out of the penalty box considering the Caps PP is almost automatic.


Positive:
1.Crosby now has 10 goals in 12 playoff games, these are amazing numbers. If the Penguins go to the cup finals, and Crosby can keep up this pace he may actually score more goals in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. I don't know if it is the intensity of the playoffs or something just clicked for him but he has never scored goals like this before. Hopefully whatever he has learned will carry over to the regular season next year and we will see him score 50. Also could this guy be any more clutch, every time we need a big play he is the guy that delivers. I think this series has finally put to rest who the best player in the NHL truly is.

2. Malkin seems to be rounding back into form with a game winning goal in game 5 and a 3 point night in game 6 he is once again proving he deserves to be regarded as one of the top players in the league.

3. Scuderi has played exeptionally well against Ovechkin, so well that the Caps have been forced to rotate Ovie to the right wing at time to avoid Scuderi. Hopefully the Penguins resign him after the season.

4. How about Mark Eaton becoming the offensive force. He now has 4 goals in the playoffs which is more than he has had in his last 2 seasons combined.