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 Thursday, May 25, 2006 -- Morning The Pens have found a new general manager. Ray Shero is going to be named as the GM at a press conference this afternoon. Shero has been an assistant GM with the Nashville Predators for the past seven years. It seems that the Boston Bruins made an offer to Shero, but he turned it down because it wasn't enough money. I wonder how much the Pens are paying him. Wednesday, May 17, 2006 -- Afternoon Sidney Crosby scored a goal today to lead Canada to a 4-1 win over Slovakia in the World Hockey quarterfinals. Crosby is scoring leader with seven goals and six assists in the tournament. I guess this is giving Wayne Gretzky a lesson in picking people for a future Olympic team. Wednesday, May 10, 2006 -- Evening The Baby Pens lost last night to the Hershey Bears with a final score of 1-0. That means that the Baby Pens' season is over. After the way that they started the season, it is abit of a let down. However, what else can be expected with Joey Mullen as a coach. Mullen is out of his league, and maybe with a new general manager, we will get rid of the players as coaches, and actually get people who can coach. Meanwhile, over in the World Championships, Sidney Crosby, who wasn't considered "mature" (meaning geriatric) enough to play in the Olympics this year, has been scoring up a storm. Crosby had a goal in the 2-1 Canadian win over the United States yesterday. The Canadian team is unbeaten in the preliminary round. Makes you wonder if the Canadians would have medaled if Crosby was on the team. Monday, May 8, 2006 -- Late Afternoon The Wilkes Barre Pens are sinking fast in the second round of the AHL playoffs. The Hershey Bears are leading the series 3-0 and can move into the next round with a win tomorrow. The Bears beat the Pens yesterday by a score of 4-1. The game tomorrow will be at 5:05 pm. Sidney Crosby is showing what he is worth by scoring four points yesterday in the World Hockey Championship. He had a goal and three assists, and the goal was described as "spectacular". He led Canada to a 7-1 win over Norway. He started the tournament with two goals against Denmark. There is just no stopping this Kid. Friday, May 5, 2006 -- Afternoon Sidney Crosby is one of the three players in consideration for Rookie of the Year honors. Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Dion Phaneuf are the three finalist in competition for the Calder Memorial Trophy that goes to the best rookie in the NHL. The winner will be announced on June 22 in Vancouver along with the other post season NHL awards. Meanwhile Marc-Andre Fleury has been playing with the Wilkes Barre Pens in their post season games to win the Calder Cup. The Baby Pens made it past the first round, and just lost their first game in the second round last night against the Hershey Bears. The hope was that having Fleury down in the minors and possibly winning some high pressure games will give him confidence. Fleury was in the net for yesterday's 5-4 loss against the Bears, but the coaches and management don't think that will get him down. Friday, April 28, 2006 -- Evening Sidney Crosby has made a commercial for Gatorade. It isn't being shown in this country. It's been making the rounds in the theaters in Canada. The commercial starts with a group of kids getting ready to play hockey on the street in their neighborhood. They throw their sticks down on the ground in a pile. The two captains of the team will then randomly pick sticks and determine the teams based on the sticks that are picked. So Crosby passes by and throws his stick into the mix. Well, some girls see this from an apartment building window and all pandemonium breaks out. Everyone is running up to throw in sticks. Kids, adults, the Hanson Brothers, and players from Rimouski Oceanic, Crosby's team when he played in the Quebec Junior Hockey League. It's really a very interesting commercial. Thursday, April 20, 2006 -- Afternoon It finally happened. Craig Patrick will no longer be General Manager of the Pens. The ousting was announced at a press conference earlier this afternoon. There is no word yet on a replacement, and it could be two months before one is announced. Other news on the Pens front is that the Pens have the second pick in the upcoming NHL draft. The lottery was held today to determine the top 14 spots in the draft. The St. Louis Blues got the number one pick. The remaining 16 slots will be determined after the Stanley Cup final. Other big news in the hockey world is that the Toronto Maple Leafs fired coach, Pat Quinn. Rumors are swirling already that Quinn might make a good coach for the Pens, but those are only rumors. Tuesday, April 18, 2006 -- EVening Eighty second game of the season
The Pens had a busy day. First there was a rally for them Downtown. This evening, they played the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sebastien Caron was in goal for the final game of the Pens season. The Leafs scored a goal first 8:19 into the game and just went on a scoring spree after that. By the middle of the second period, the Leafs were ahead 4-0. Sidney Crosby was not to be outdone, and he scored a goal for point number 101. Caron got pulled after the Leafs went ahead 5-1. Marc-Andre Fleury was put in his place. The Pens did make an effort in the third period. Colby Armstrong scored a goal with an assist by Crosby. Ryan Malone scored a goal to get the game to 5-3. Unfortunately, the Pens couldn't do any better, and so the season ended with a loss. Here's to the future, and hopefully many more wins! Monday, April 17, 2006 -- Evening Eighty first game of the season
Daily Bongo Three Stars of the Game: 1 -- Sidney Crosby 2 -- Ryan Malone 3 -- Marc-Andre Fleury Tonight was the last home game for the Pens 2005-2006 season. They played the New York Islanders. At the beginning of the games awards were given out for a variety of different things. Here's a list of the awards and winners: NHL Masterton Nominee “Comeback Player” Award – John LeClair The Pittsburgh Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association votes for the Penguins’ Masterton nominee. Each NHL team selects a Masterton candidate from which the overall winner is chosen. The Masterton candidate is nominated as the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods. Edward J. DeBartolo “Community Service” Award – Ryan Malone, Marc-Andre Fleury, Colby Armstrong, Ryan Whitney The award recognizes the player who has donated a tremendous amount of time during the season working on community and charity projects. Sponsored by Verizon Wireless. Baz Bastien Memorial “Good Guy” Award – Sidney Crosby Presented by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association to the player who the local media of the PHWA want to acknowledge for his cooperation throughout the year. The award is presented in memory of the late Aldege “Baz” Bastien, Penguins general manager from 1976-83. Sponsored by UPMC. A.T. Caggiano Memorial Booster Club Cup – Sidney Crosby Presented in memory of A.T. Caggiano, long-time Penguins’ locker room attendant & Booster Club supporter, the award is presented by Penguins Booster Club members, who vote for the three stars after every home game and tally votes at the end of the regular season. Player’s Player Award – John LeClair The players hold a vote at the end of the season for the player they feel exemplifies leadership for the team, both on and off the ice, a player dedicated to teamwork. Sponsored by the Local Pittsburgh Dodge Dealers. Rookie of the Year Award – Sidney Crosby Presented in memory of former Penguins forward Michel Briere to the player who makes a substantial contribution during his rookie season. Sponsored by 84 Lumber. Most Valuable Player Award – Sidney Crosby Based on the overall contribution the player makes to the team. Sponsored by Mellon. First period: When the game started, it was obvious that Crosby had an intensity. There are two games left, and Sid the Kid has three points to go to reach a century (100 points). Well, 1:04 into the game, Crosby passed the puck to Andy Hilbert who made the goal. 98 points for Crosby. The Pens take the early lead. At 10:31, Malone scored a goal to make the Pens lead 2-0. The Pens seem to be energized to give the fans a game tonight! Fleury is doing a great job stopping some of the shots that the Islanders are making.Second period: Seconds into the period, Miroslav Satan drew a penalty that resulted in a penalty shot, but he couldn't get the puck past Fleury. Fleury then stood up to a barage of shots from the Islanders that resulted in a chant of "Fleury, Fleury" from the audience. The Islanders do manage to get a goal in shortly after that however on a puck that richochetted all over the place and wound up in the net. At 15:19, Tomas Surovy scored a goal with an assist by Crosby. Crosby is at 99 points. At 15:44 in the second period, history happens. LeClair takes the face-off and shoots the puck to Crosby, who passes to Malone who scores a goal. Crosby has his 100 points. He is the youngest person in hockey to ever get 100 points in a season, and the crowd goes wild. White shirtss that were handed out at the start of the game are being spun, and the arena is on its feet. What a moment! What regret I have that I am not in the audience to experience such a moment and to witness it first hand. After the period ended, they showed clips of Crosby who was been miked during the game. After the 100 point, he went up to LeClair and asked if he could have his stick. Interesting! Third period: The Pens get yet another goal by Josef Melichar. The score is now 5-1. It looks like the Pens are going to make a win of their last home game. With less than five minutes left in the game, Ryan Whitney came on to score a goal to give the Pens a 6-1 lead. The Pens win the game with a score of 6-1. Saturday, April 15, 2006 -- Evening Eightieth game of the season
The Pens played the New York Islanders this evening. It seems that the Pens are doing everything they can to make sure that they don't finish in last place. This game was an exciting one. Andy Hilbert scored a goal for the Pens with less than two minutes left in the game. The Pens had pulled the goalie, Sebastien Caron to tie the game at 4 all. No goals were scored in the overtime so we were treated to a shootout. The Islanders won it in the shootout, scoring four goals to our three. It was quite a shootout with alot of scoring back and forth. The Islanders score one more shootout goal than the Pens do and win the game with a score of 5-4. Sidney Crosby did not score any points in the game and still has only 97 points in total for the year. Thursday, April 13, 2006 -- Late Evening Seventy ninth game of the season
Daily Bongo Star of the Game: Sidney Crosby The Pens played the New York Rangers this evening. Sidney Crosby got four points in the game this evening: one goal and three assists. As of at the end of the game this evening, Crosby has 97 points for the season. Colby Armstrong got two goals and one assist. Meanwhile, Jaromir Jagr scored a goal to get a total of 122 points. The Pens are playing very well now, and the little bit that I saw of the game was very exciting. Final score was Pens 5 and Rangers 3. Thursday, April 13, 2006 -- Evening Sidney Crosby is going to be playing for Canada in the World Hockey Championships May 5-21 in Riga, Latvia. Tuesday, April 11, 2006 -- Evening Seventy eighth game of the season
Meanwhile the Pens were playing in Philadelphia against the Flyers. Although the Pens were able to tie up the game in the third period, they wound up losing in the end with a final score of 4-3. Sidney Crosby was questionable because he had a lower body injury in the last game that he played, but he was in the game today and scored a goal and had an assist. Tuesday, April 11, 2006 -- Late Afternoon Marc-Andre Fleury is going to be playing for the Baby Pens when the Pens regular season is over. The Baby Pens are doing quite well with 49 wins, 18 loses, five over time loses and five shoot out loses. The Baby Pens will be playing for the Calder Cup which is the AHL equivalent of the Stanley Cup. Saturday, April 8, 2006 -- Late Evening Seventy seventh game of the season
The Pens has a game this evening. They played the Tampa Bay Lightning. Although the game may have been well played, it was probably a boring game to watch. Only one goal was scored, and unfortunately, it wasn't scored by the Pens. The Pens are still in last place in the NHL by one point. Friday, April 7, 2006 -- Late Evening Seventy sixth game of the season
The Pens played the Florida Panthers this evening and eliminated the Panthers from any post season play. Yes, the Pens actually won this evening, breaking a 12 game losing streak against the Panthers. The final score was 5-1. Sidney Crosby got the number one star of the game by scoring four points (one was a goal). Right now, Crosby has 91 points for the season. Not bad at all. Sebastien Caron did a fantastic job taking 39 shots and just letting the one goal go by him. Wednesday, April 5, 2006 -- Evening Seventy fifth game of the season
The Pens were in New Jersey tonight playing the Devils. The first period started off well with Sidney Crosby scoring a goal in the first minute. The Pens also scored in the last minute of the period, but unfortunately for the Pens, the Devils scored twice in the middle of the period. Andy Hilbert scored the last goal in the first period, and the only goal that the Pens had in the second period. Meanwhile the Devils were on a scoring streak, especially Patrik Elias who had a hat trick. In the third period, Jani Rita scored another goal for the Pens, but Elias is on a hot streak having a hand in five of the Devils' six points. So it is bad news for the Pens that they lose another one and remain in the basement in the standings. Final score tonight was Devils 6 - Pens 4. However, good news for the fans is that next year, the season ticket prices will stay the same as they are this year. It is the Pens' way of thanking the fans for being supportive of the team. Sunday, April 2, 2006 -- Late Afternoon Seventy fourth game of the season
The Pittsburgh Penguins had a game this afternoon. They were playing the New Jersey Devils. I missed a good portion of the game because I walked to the pitiful iFest, but I did catch the ending of the game. It was very exciting, and the Pens have really upped their level of play. The Pens up until the last 19 seconds of the game were leading. The score was 2-1 at that point with goals by Sidney Crosby and Colby Armstrong in the first period. The Devils got a goal in the second period and then tied things up with 19 seconds left. What is pitiful though is that the Pens had two to three opportunities at empty net goals, but couldn't get it into the net. So the game went into overtime. At 2:22, the Devils managed to score a goal to win the game. This is a sad one because in the last minute of regulation, the Pens had the opportunity to win the game, and just weren't able to pull it off. Friday, March 31, 2006 -- Evening Seventy third game of the season
The Pens played the New York Islanders this evening. I missed the game, unfortunately. It seems that it was one of the best games of the season. Sebastien Caron was in goal. Not only did he achieve a shutout, but he stopped a penalty shot by Sean Bergenheim. Sergei Gonchar had two goals, and Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists. Final score of the game was 4-0. Alot of people are commenting on how the Pens' level of play has picked up in the past few weeks. Thursday, March 30, 2006 -- Afternoon Governor Rendell announced his plan to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh. Rendell's plan is to have $293.5 million in bond money made available with the Pens paying $8.5 million up front. As the Pens said, it's not as attractive an offer as the Isle of Capri plan. Isle of Capri is going to put the money into the arena. There will be no cost to others. As Ken Sawyer said, with the Rendell plan $7 million dollars will annually come from a developement plan and will take 30 years to complete payment. If you have someone willing to pay for the arena, how could any other offer compare? As Rendell says though, "no one knows how the gaming control board will vote." Of course, the gossip and implication is that Rendell does know how the voting will go and that the fix is in. The Gaming Board denies it, but since they are Rendell appointees, he could have just appointed people that he determined might already have an inclination to vote a specific way. Wednesday, March 29, 2006 -- Late Evening Seventy second game of the season
I went to the Pens game this evening. They played the Florida Panthers. It was a very interesting display because throughout the game, the Pens seemed to have no rhythm. The whole team was guilty of bad passes and mishandled pucks. Meanwhile the Panthers seemed to be full of energy and took full advantage of all the Pens' lapses. The Panthers pulled ahead to a four goal to none lead by the middle of the second period. That's when Marc-Andre Fleury. That happened at 10:34, and at 16:59 in the second period, John LeClair score his 18th goal of the season and his 400th goal of his career. Andy Hilbert of the Pens scored the second goal for the Pens in the third. With abit less than two minutes left in the game, Sebastien Caron was pulled from the net to get an extra man on the ice. That lead to an empty net goal for the Panthers. At that point the Panthers were ahead 5-2. Surprisingly, Konstantin Koltsov scored the third and final goal of the game with 2.8 seconds left in the game. Final score was 5-3. On April 18th, there is going to be a rally for the Pens at Mellon Square Park (Corner of William Penn Place and Sixth Avenue) . The rally is being sponsored by Pittsburgh First. The members of this group are the Pens, Isle of Capri, and Nationwide Realty Investors, Ltd. Tuesday, March 28, 2006 -- Afternoon What I didn't realize as I was watching the Pens game on Sunday is that Noah Welch scored a goal for the Canadiens. That's what I get for not paying close attention to the game. Anyway, Welch went to shove the puck into the corner, and somehow got it into the net behind Marc-Andre Fleury. Surprisingly, Welch didn't let it bother him, and came back to score a goal shortly after that. With such a close game, it is really a shame because without that goal, it would have been a tie at the end. Sunday, March 26, 2006 -- Evening Seventy first game of the season
The Pens are playing the Montreal Canadiens. In the first period, the Canadiens were able to score two goals while holding the Pens scoreless. Less than a minute into the second period, Colby Armstrong scored a goal for the Pens. The Canadiens just lead by one goal now. The Canadiens came back just a short time later to score another goal. The puck bounced off of John LeClair and was put into the net by a Canadien. Tomas Surovy scored a few minutes later to make the score 3-2. Unfortunately, everytime we score, the Canadiens come right back with another. This time Alexei Kovalev scores a goal. Kovalev was interested in coming back to play for the Pens, but Craig Patrick took too long to make an offer and Kovalev signed with the Canadiens. Armstrong had an answering short handed goal. The second period was a scoring fest for both teams. Score is now 4-3. As the period was ending, Kovalev came on to score another goal. The period ends with a score of 5-3. The third period starts with a goal by newcomer, Noah Welch. It looks like Colby Armstrong might have a hat trick, except that the puck hit him, and he might have redirected the puck into the net. That means that the goal will probably be taken away. If not, then it will tie the game at 5. The officials take the goal away from Armstrong. The Canadiens score again with seven minutes left in the game. Score is now 6-4. The Pens just aren't giving up though, and LeClair comes on to score yet another goal. The score is now 6-5. Even with pulling Marc-Andre Fleury at the end, the Pens aren't able to tie things up. They loss, but it was an exciting game. Friday, March 24, 2006 -- Late Evening Seventieth game of the season
I went to the Pens game this evening. They were playing the New York Islanders. One of the best goals of the season was in the first 2:20 of the game when Ryan Malone was charging the net short handed. He fell onto his side as he neared the goal, but still managed to get the goal into the net. The Pens were leading by one point. The Islanders pulled ahead to a three to one lead in the second period, The Pens came back to tie the game up and take the game into overtime. Sidney Crosby scored the game winning point in overtime. It was a game with alot of action, and the crowd of 15,210 were really into the game with lots of noise and enthusiasm. Final score was 4-3. Wednesday, March 22, 2006 -- Evening Since I didn't watch the Pens game last night, I missed the hit that Sidney Crosby received in the game. He was hit in the knees, knocking him over, and the Pens are sure that the hit was one that was intended to cause injury. What is worse is that the refs called only a two minute tripping penalty instead of a five minute kneeing penalty. I saw the clip on ESPN, and Andrej Meszaros did come down low and catch Crosby at knee level. It that is what kneeing is, then that is what Meszaros did. Meszaros admitted that he hit Crosby in the knee but that it wasn't meant to hurt him. Michel Therrien is sending a request to the leaque to review the hit for possible infraction. Tuesday, March 21, 2006 -- Evening Sixty ninth game of the season
I didn't watch the game this evening because I was watching American Idol, but I did keep my eye on CBS Sportsline. The sad thing is that the Pens had exactly half (19) the shots that the Ottawa Senators had (38). The only scorers for the Pens were Colby Armstrong with an assist by Ryan Malone. Tomas Surovy had an unassisted goal. The final score was Ottawa 5, Pens 2. Monday, March 20, 2006 -- Morning The power outage last night at Mellon Arena during the Pens game was probably caused by a fire in the electrical relay box. The guys in the press box could smell something buring, but there wasn't any danger to the patrons. Sunday, March 19, 2006 -- Evening Sixty eighth game of the season
The Toronto Maple Leafs were in town this evening to play the Pens. The first one and a half periods went by without any scoring or any significant number of shots on goal. My boyfriend and I were watching the game when all of a sudden it blacked out and the station starting showing something else. Checking the NHL and CBS Sportsline websites, it looks like there was a stoppage to the game that hasn't been renewed. I'm wondering if the electricity went out in the Arena. Yep, the electricity did go out. They just showed some footage on television of the lights going out for awhile, and then the emergency lights kicked on, but they felt it wasn't enough to start playing again. Finally the lights came back on and the game was on. The electricity went off again, and there was another stoppage. After the second power outage, it seems that alot of people left the game, and they weren't able to broadcast the game on television. They did not take a long intermission before starting the third period. Shots on goal for the first two periods are 10 for Toronto and 11 for the Pens. Toronto scored the only goal of the game on a penalty shot in the third period. Total shots on goal in the game were 17 for Toronto and 18 for the Pens. Saturday, March 18, 2006 -- Evening Sixty seventh game of the season
Daily Bongo Star of the Game: Marc-Andre FleuryRecchi The Pens are playing the Montreal Canadiens. The Pens came out with two quick goals by Eric Boguniecki and Ryan Malone. Both goals were made within two minutes of each other and within the first six minutes of the game. The Canadiens fought back, however, and scored three answering goals. It looked like the period was going to end in the Canadiens favor when John LeClair scored a goal with 22 seconds left in the period. LeClair had a hand in all three points in the first period with two assists and a goal. The first period ends with a score of 3-3. In the second period, the Canadiens were first to score, followed quickly by the tieing goal by Ryan Malone. One problem that both sides appears to have is getting too many men on the ice. At one point, the Canadiens had seven men on the ice. The Pens have been called for it twice. The Canadiens have been giving Marc-Andre Fleury a workout with 19 shots on goal in the second period. The between period intermission was interesting because some clips of comments by Fleury was shown. what we learned from the clips is that his favorite hockey players are Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy. Fleury's favorite foods are steak or pancakes, and chocolate dessert. His roommate's worse habit was when he was in the minors and his roommate would walk about in the room naked all the time. Fleury thought it was disgusting. Yeah, guys could be naked in the locker room, but walking around the room like that was something else. Fleury's favorite practical joke is to fill a garbage can with water, then tilt it against someone's room door, knock on the door, and when the person opens the door, water goes everywhere. Fleury's favorite music is dance music, although he likes all music. Fleury is a real cutey, and he's my favorite player. In the third period, Andre Roy scored a go-ahead goal to give the Pens a 5-4 lead. Now if the Pens can only hold on. There are still 13 more minutes left in the game. Believe it or not, the Pens are able to hold off the Canadiens, and we really have Fleury to thank. The Canadiens put 46 shots on goal. Final score: 5-4. Thursday, March 16, 2006 -- Evening Sixty sixth game of the season
The Pens played the New Jersey Devils this evening. First period: The Pens score the only goal in the first period. Jani Rita scored an unassisted shot. Second period: The Devils were able to tie things up when Marc-Andre Fleury came too far out of the net, and John Madden got the puck past him. Sidney Crosby got shoved around abit by one of the Devils shortly after the goal, and when the ref didn't call a penalty on the Devil, Crosby mouthed off to the him, and wound up with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Yeah, Crosby got shoved around abit, but suck it up and play! As the announcers were saying, some players can mouth off to a ref in a similar situation and not get a penalty. The thing is that Crosby has a reputation as a whiner, be that right or wrong. When you have the reputation, try to suck it up or get a penalty for whining. With less than three minutes in the period, the Devils score a power play goal to pull ahead of the Pens: 2-1. Third period: This game has been a boring one, and it hasn't been very heavy on the shots. With almost 3/4ths of the period done, the Pens have two shots on goal to the Devils five. Compared to the other periods of this game, the Pens had seven in the first while the Devils had six, and in the second period, the Pens had three to the Devils eight. As the announcers are saying, it seems as if the Devils are content with their one goal lead, and they aren't doing too much to score. Fleury was pulled with less than a minute left in the game. Therrien called a time out with two seconds left in the game and a face-off pending in the Devils' end. The Pens can't do much in two seconds and the Devils win: 2-1. Sunday, March 12, 2006 -- Late Evening Sixty fifth game of the season
Daily Bongo Three Stars of the Game: 1 -- Marc-Andre Fleury 2 -- Colby Armstrong 3 -- Sidney Crosby I went to the Pens game this evening, and it was the best one of the season. The Pens played the Flyers. Colby Armstrong scored both of the goals that the Pens had with assists on both from Sidney Crosby. In the third period, Andre Roy got a seven minute penalty that the Pens had to kill. Yes, you did read right, seven minutes. Two of the minutes were for instigating and five minutes for fighting. Believe it or not, the Pens did a great job of killing the penalty. Marc-Andre Fleury got a shut out, and the Pens won two in a row with a score of 2-0. Saturday, March 11, 2006 -- Evening Sixty fourth game of the season
The Pens played the New Jersey Devils this evening. New Jersey is a decent team. They are third in the Atlantic Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference. However, they aren't fairing well against the Pens. In the first period, the Pens scored four goals to the one goal scored by the Devils. Sidney Crosby scored the first goal and had an assist in the second goal that was scored by Ryan Malone. The third goal was by Michel Ouellet and the fourth by new guy, Andy Hilbert, who also assisted Malone with his goal. The Pens started the second period ahead with a score of 4-1, and Crosby came on to score yet another goal in the second. Colby Armstrong scored yet another goal for the Pens. At that point, Martin Brodeur was pulled from goal. Marc-Andre Fleury has been making some great saves for the Pens, and has only let in two goals on 28 shots midway through the second period. Brodeur, meanwhile, let in six goals on 16 shots. At the end of the second period, the Pens lead with a score of 6-2. In the third period, the Pens were held to no goals, but the Devils only were able to get one themselves. The final score is 6-3 with the Pens winning in a surprise. The three stars of the game were Crosby at number 1, Hilbert at number 2 and Sergei Gonchar at number 3. Thursday, March 9, 2006 -- Late Afternoon Today at 3:00 pm ET was the trade deadline for the NHL. So what does Craig Patrick of the Pens do? He picked up some crappy players for the team. Mark Recchi, Ric Jackman and Cory Cross were traded away for players of a lower quality or future draft picks. The biggest non-surprising surprise is the Recchi trade. It makes sense because Recchi is the number two scorer on the team, but at the same time, he was saying that he wanted to stay with the Pens. I suppose when it comes down to it, a player wants to be on a team that has a chance of getting to the playoffs. The Pens have also been given the go ahead to investigate options for relocating to another city. The Pens are allowed to initiate talks with other towns starting June 30. Wednesday, March 8, 2006 -- Evening Sixty third game of the season
A busy evening today. The Pens played the Washington Capitals. Sebastien Caron was in goal for the Pens. It seems that the Pens have won all three previous meetings with the Caps and want to make it the first time that they have beaten the Caps in every outing in the season. Two minutes into the game, the Pens scored first with a goal by Colby Armstrong. Sidney Crosby had the assist. However, the Caps came back two minutes later to score a goal. The Caps came back later in the period to score two goals. The second of those goals was due to the fact that Caron was out of position. Caps lead with a score of 3-1 in the first period. John LeClair scored an unassisted goal in the second period to bring the Pens within one of the Caps. A powerplay goal for the Caps made the score 4-2 in their favor at the end of the second period. Ryan Malone scored a short handed, unassisted goal in the third, but the Caps came back with an answering goal, and an empty net goal in the last second of the third. Final score was 6-3. Tuesday, March 7, 2006 -- Late Evening Sixty second game of the season
It was a hockey night in Pittsburgh. Although the first two periods of the Pens vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning were going in the favor of the Lighting, the third period opened up. Sidney Crosby got his 29th goal of the season and his 39th assist in the third. A late game rally and a goal by Ryan Whitney gave the Pens the tieing goal at 19:04 in the third. The game ended in regulation with a 4-4 tie. An exciting over time lead to no score, so it was on to the shootout. I was unhappy at that point because the Pens haven't been stellar in shootouts. They didn't prove me wrong in this case either. The Lightning got two goals to our one. The game was over--final score of 5-4. One of the big uncalled penalties came at 4:56 in the third period when Michel Ouellet lost a couple of teeth on the ice due to a high stick. The call wasn't made, and the whole arena was livid. Even from my seats at the other end of the ice, you could see the blood dripping onto the ice. There was also a freak goal in the first period. Unfortunately, it went against us. The puck was shot behind the net. It richotted off the glass, over the back of the net, hit Marc-Andre Fleury, and bounced into the net. It was a really weird and unfortunate goal to give up. I have to admit that the game, especially in the third period was quite an exciting one. Even if the team loses, it's nice to see a well played and close game. Tuesday, March 7, 2006 -- Late Morning Brooks Orpik received a three day suspension for the boarding call this past Saturday to Erik Cole. Orpik thinks that there are others who do worse who don't get the suspension, but he understands that because Cole will be out for the season that there will be some disciplinary action. Orpik just thinks that three days is too much. The Pens are playing the Tampa Bay Lightning this evening, and I will be attending the game. Monday, March 6, 2006 -- Evening Brooks Orpik may face suspension for the hit that he made on Erik Cole on Saturday night. Orpik says that he is sorry for the event and that he has never been a dirty player. In Orpik's opinion, it was just an accident. I don't think that Orpik meant it, but at the time, it looked like boarding to me. It's always dangerous to hit someone into the board when his head is down and the player is playing the puck. Cole has a compression fracture of the vertebrae in his neck and is expected to be out for the rest of the season. His teammates on the Carolina Hurricanes are noticeably upset because they are in a run for the playoffs, and Erik Cole is their best player. It just stinks to the Hurricanes because the hit was not called for, and the Pens are fighting for last place. I can see their point. At the same time, I know that accidents and bad judgment can happen. Saturday, March 4, 2006 -- Evening Sixty first game of the season
Daily Bongo Star of the Game: Mark Recchi The Pens are playing the Carolina Hurricanes. The first period did not go very well. Marc-Andre Fleury gave up three goals on four shots. He was pulled and then Sebastien Caron gave up two golas on five shots. Yes, you heard right, five goals on nine shots. The second period was abit more even handed with the Pens scoring three shots while the Hurricanes scored only two. By the end of the second period, it was 6-3. Mark Recchi, Konstantin Koltsov, and John LeClair scored the three goals. The third period started with Recchi scoring another goal to make the score 6-4. Brooks Orpik sent Eric Cole head first into the boards. Orpik is sent out of the game for it, and Cole looks like he is badly hurt although he is able to get off the ice on his own. Orpik is rightly called for boarding. The Hurricanes are able to score immediately after the penalty and the score becomes 7-4. Recchi scored a hat trick by scoring a goal in the third period with 5:02 left in the game. Score is 7-5. Recchi has been doing a great job in the past 13 games. Both of Recchi's goals in the third period were unassisted. Not bad for a geriatric player. The period and games ends with the Hurricanes winning with a score of 7-5. Wednesday, March 1, 2006 -- Late Evening Sixtieth game of the season
The Pens lost another one this evening. The first period was a rather boring one with only one penalty (on the part of the Senators. They also scored the only goal of the period. At the very end of the first period, Sidney Crosby must have mouthed off to the ref, and the Pens started the second period with a two minute unsportsmanlike penalty courtesy of Crosby. Things started to open up, especially for the Senators. They scored three more goals in the period to pull ahead with a score of 4-0. Third period and the Pens started to score. Colby Armstrong had two assists, and new Pen, Jani Rita had an assist and a goal. The Pens weren't able to tie things up and had another loss with a final score of 4-3. Interesting side notes about the game. The Pens intro film and music was based on the James Bond theme music. First up was Sidney Crosby with a 007 under his face. Then the 00 slid around to form an 87. Neat! They showed others of the Pens with numbers or sayings. The only other neat one was Marc-Andre Fleury who was labelled "The Man with the Golden Pads". When Sergei Gonchar's picture came with "From Russia with Love", everyone booed. Gonchar doesn't have alot of fans here in the city due to his poor performance. Another item mentioned at the game was the auction of Mario Lemieux items that will be held from March 5 to March 15. Money from items sold through the Bid For 66 auction will benefit cancer and neonatal research. Wednesday, March 1, 2006 -- Early Evening I'm going to the Pens game tonight. They are playing the Ottawa Senators. I was hoping to see Dominik Hasek in action and get some pictures of him but he won't be playing because of the injury in the Olympics. The Pens have a tough road ahead. Of the 23 games that are left in the season, 22 will be against teams that are in contention for the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how the Pens do tonight after the two week break. Monday, February 27, 2006 -- Evening Mario Lemieux had a procedure done to correct his problem with irregular heartbeats. The hope is that this will eliminate the need for medication to control the problem. Lemieux will be kept in the hospital overnight. Another Pen in the hospital is Lyle Odelein who has to have surgery on his knee. Odelein skated with the team in practice on Wednesday, but the off-ice biking routine did his knee in. There's no suggestion at this point that if Odelein didn't bike he would have been able to play out the season. Right now, he is out for the season, and at 37 years of age, Odelein has to be wondering it if it time to hang up the skates. Right now, the only thing that is sure is that the surgery will be done and he will be out for the season. Wednesday, February 22, 2006 -- Evening The Pens were allowed to start practices today. Bob O'Connor, the Pittsburgh mayor, has gotten into a war of words with Ken Sawyer, the president of the Pens, over plans to build an arena. After quite a few years of the Pens begging the city and county for an arena, they finally went out on their own, and made a deal with Isle of capri that would remove the city and county from financial obligations to build the arena as long as Isle of Capri gets a slots license. Unfortunately, the fix is in on the slots license, and no one can publicly admit that. So the game begins. O'Connor is now saying that the city wants to come up with Plan B to build an arena, and are trying to blame the Pens for not playing along. The thing is that the Pens have offered the city, county and state a viable option that won't cost the government and people, and will instead bring in money with the casino and the non-hockey and hockey events. However, the city just wants to place blame on the Pens for its own lack of responsibility in the past, and with the inability for anyone to call out the crony filled state government. What will probably happen in the end is that Isle of Capri will not get the slots license and the Pens will leave Pittsburgh. Who is to blame? Not the Pens! The city and state need to take responsibility for this failure. Unfortunately for O'Connor, he has inherited a mess. Unfortunately for the city of Pittsburgh and the Pens' fans, individuals lining their pockets with money is more important than the welfare of the city. Sunday, February 12, 2006 -- Late Morning Sidney Crosby is going home for the Olympic break. Some of his other teamsmates are taking a vacation and going to sunny and warmer climates. Colby Armstrong is going to go to Wilkes-Barre because he has a girlfriend and apartment there. Saturday, February 11, 2006 -- Evening Fifty ninth game of the season
I missed most of the game, but I am now watching the end of the second period of the Pens - Capitals game this evening. The Pens scored on goal in the first period, and then an additional four in the second! I am absolutely shocked. So far, the Capitals have yet to score. I suppose that the Pens want to go into the Olympic break on a winning streak. Scoring so far: a power play goal by Sidney Crosby in the first period with only 1:35 left in the period, John LeClair scored at 1;11 in the second, followed by Sergei Gonchar, Colby Armstrong, and Mark Recchi. It's an impressive difference in the games played yesterday and today. The capitals finally got a goal in the third period at 13:08. It was partly Marc-Andre Fleury's fault for giving away a bad rebound. Poor Fleury misses out on an opportunity to get a shutout. The Pens come right back to score another goal with Eric Boguniecki scoring one. Then the Caps come right back with a goal by Alexander Ovechkin. Score is now 6-2. With 30 seconds left in the game, the Capitals score yet again to make the final score 6-3. The Pens go into the Olympic break with two wins in a row. Friday, February 10, 2006 -- Late Evening Fifty eighth game of the season
The first period of the Pens game against the Carolina Hurricanes was fairly boring and routine. Eric Boguniecki scored a goal for the Pens half way through the first period. The next bit of excitement came when Eric Staal scored with 0.03 seconds left in the period. Official time of the goal is 19:59, even though it was alot closer to 20:00. The second period started with a goal by Mark Recchi at 0:16. Score is now 2-1. The Hurricanes come back to score the tying goal midway through the period. A comeback at 19:16 has John LeClair scoring the go-ahead goal. The second period ends with the Pens ahead by a score of 3-2. Third period starts, and 1:46 into the period, Sidney Crosby scores. Score is now 4-2. Eric Staal scored a goal for the Hurricanes with three minutes left in the game, but the Hurricanes are unable to tie things. The Pens WIN! The final score is 4-3, and it is a win for Sebastien Caron. Thursday, February 9, 2006 -- Evening Myron Cope, former voice of the Steelers wrote a letter to the Post-Gazette in support of the Penguins. Cope blasts the city for thinking that the Pens won't leave the city and for state and local politicians taking campaign money from certain individuals that will want a slots license and won't commit to an arena. Thursday, February 9, 2006 -- Late Afternoon Mark Recchi and John LeClair are threatening lawsuits against any media outlets that tie them to Operation Slapshot, the gambling ring associated with Rick Tocchet. Both Recchi and LeClair have business dealings with Tocchet, but deny all involvement with any gambling activities, legal or otherwise. Wednesday, February 8, 2006 -- Evening Fifty seventh game of the season
The Pens are playing the Boston Bruins tonight. There was no scoring in the first period, and I moved on to watching American Idol. The Bruins comes on to score two goals in the second period. It's understandable because they have 26 shots on goal compared to the 11 that the Pens have. The Bruins score another power play goal in the third period. Score is now 3-0. It seems pretty obvious that the Pens are determined to go to the Olympic break without any more wins. With a minute and a half left in the game, Tomas Surovy scores. It is just too little, too late, and the Pens wind up losing another one 3-1. Monday, February 6, 2006 -- Evening Fifty sixth game of the season
The Pens are playing the Ottawa Senators this evening. First period: Ryan Malone makes a goal 1:14 into the game. Ray Emery is in goal for the Senators, and he is obviously no Dominik Hasek. Marc-Andre Fleury is in goal for the Pens. At 8:57, the Senators have come back to tie things up. Score is now 1-1. Second period: Less than five minutes into the period, Sergei Gonchar highsticked a Senator. The staff came out with towels, and I made a joke about ketchup in the towel just seconds before Bob Errey made one about the towel being serious--that they would have a blood capsule in it. The Senators got a penalty too while Gonchar was in the box, but still managed to score a goal to pull ahead of the Pens: 2-1. The Senators come back to score two quick power play goals. The problem is that the Senators were crowding Fleury and the Pens were doing nothing to get this one Senator out of the crease. Score is now 4-1. Eric Boguniecki scored an unassisted goal to make the score 4-2. At the end of the period, the Senators have 36 shots on goal compared to the Pens 19. Third period: Less than a minute into the period, the Senators score again and now lead with a score of 5-2. The Pens can't compete against the Senators. The game ends with 46 shots on goal by the Senators and 23 by the Pens. Final score is 5-2. Saturday, February 4, 2006 -- Late Afternoon Fifty fifth game of the season
The Pens were playing the New York Islanders this afternoon. Around 500 people showed up for the Support the Pens rally. A heavy rain storm put a damper on the event, and probably caused alot of people not to show up. Hats and shirts were distributed amongst the crowd. On February 9th, there is to be an Ed Rendell campaign event here in Pittsburgh, and folks are being encouraged to show up there to show support for the Pens. All I can say is that Rendell has received campaign contributions from three donors who are also applying for slots licenses. Rendell says that he will not return the contributions. Rendell claims he can't influence the slots selection, but rumor has it that the fix is in. We'll just have to see who receives the slots licences in the end. On to the game. It was at points exciting and boring. The Pens did do a much better job with shots on goal, making 44 for the game in comparison to the 29 by the Islanders. It didn't seem to matter because the Pens lost in a shootout with a final score of 5-4. The first two goals that the Pens made were based on five on three opportunities. The biggest problem was that the Pens don't seem to have a good power play squad for instances when it is more even handed, such as a one man advantage. In the penalty against Miroslav Satan, the Pens just passed the puck back and forth and put zero shots on goal. At times it was a pitiful performance, and at others, there were flashes of brilliance. Sergei Gonchar was being booed alot. He says that he thinks that he is playing better now then at the beginning of the season, but that's hard to see when you see poor puck handling and passing. Sidney Crosby played today and acted like he was over the flu. He was not one of the players selected for the shootout. Instead, Mark Recchi and Michel Ouellet were the duds who were picked. Duds since neither scored. Satan was the first star of the game, and he deserved it by scoring a natural hat trick and getting a shootout point. All in all, a disappointing game. Friday, February 3, 2006 -- Afternoon Duquesne University is opposing the placement of the Isle of Capri casino in an area that is close to the university. According to officials at Duquesne, they are sending letters to the PA Gaming Control Board to let them know of their opposition. Supposely, the Duquesne powers that be would have us believe that they are not against a new arena for the Pens. They just don't want the only group that has supported the arena to be giving a slot license. The point that the folks at Duquesne aren't bright enough to understand is that a casino is going to be located in Pittsburgh. If they think that their students can't get to Station Square quickly and easily, they obviously haven't a clue. Yes, the Isle of Capri casino will be two blocks from Duquesne, but if you are under 21, you will not be allowed into the betting areas. If you are 21, then Duquesne shouldn't be dictating to you what you should do on your off hours. To show support for the Pens and the Isle of Capri plan, go to Mellon Arena tomorrow for the rally for the Pens. It will take place at noon. It should be a good opportunity to show support because NBC will be there to broadcast the game. Thursday, February 2, 2006 -- Evening Fifty fourth game of the season
The Pens are playing the Ottawa Senators this evening here in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby isn't playing this evening because of the flu. Sebastien Caron is in goal for the Pens, and my favorite goalie, The Dominator Dominik Hasek is in goal for the Senators. The Pens score first in the first period with a goal by Michel Ouellet. Assisting were Tomas Surovy and Sergei Gonchar. It's a tight game into the second period. The Pens pull ahead by two goals with another score by Ryan Malone who breaks into a huge smile on his 12th goal of the season. Score is now 2-0. In a span of less than two minutes while we had the power play, that Senators come back to score two goals to even things up. Bob Errey is blasting the Pens for an extremely poor powerplay performance. As Bob Errey is telling us, he feels for the coach because he is ready to go balistic because the Pens were making a line change while the Senators were still playing full steam. it was the most embarrassing, poorly played two minutes of hockey. Unfortunately, I find myself saying that alot with the Pens, and yet each time, they still manage to outdo themselves. So now the Pens have two penalties to kill with Cory Cross and Colby Armstrong getting penalties within eight seconds of each other. The Senators took advantage of it and scored a goal to pull ahead of the Pens. The third period starts and in less than 30 seconds, the Senators have scored again. The score is now 4-2. The Pens get another stupid penalty, and the Senators score yet again. With 13:30 left in the game, the Senators are pulling away with a score of 5-2. At 12:26, one of the Senators is badly injured. It looks like Christoph Schubert was knocked into the boards, possibly by Brooks Orpik, so hard that his helmet came off. Schubert is lying face down on the ice as the channel goes to a commercial break. On the the return from the break, Schubert is still on the ice. He's up now, and his eyes are open. Actually it was Eric Boguniecki who ran into him. Boguniecki gets the penalty for boarding, and Oprik and Mark Recchi get penalties for getting into a fight based on the boarding. Another goal by the Senators. Score is now 6-2. The little bit of fight that the Pens had vanished after the two goals in a row in the second period. Bob Errey, the announcer, is even commenting on how Caron seems to not be paying attention at this point. With a little over five minutes left in the game, the Senators score another short handed goal. Score is now 7-2. what makes it even worse is that the Senators have only made 24 shots on goal. The Pens lose yet another one with a final score of 7-2. Thursday, February 2, 2006 -- Early Evening This coming Saturday, Feb. 4th, at noon, there is going to be a rally in support of the Pens. The rally is to show support for the Isle of Capri intiative to provide the Pens with an arena if Isle of Capri gets a slots license in Pittsburgh. The Pens will be playing the New York Islanders at 2 pm on Saturday. I'll be at the game, and hope to make it for the rally. Tonight the Pens are playing the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa leads the Northeast conference and is fourth overall. Wednesday, February 1, 2006 -- Evening Fifty third game of the season
The Pens are playing the New York Rangers this evening. They are hoping that they can come back against the Rangers to win. Marc-Andre Fleury has said that he hopes to not see as many shots as last time. It doesn't seem like that is going to be the case because the Rangers have already come on to score a goal only five minutes into the game. Shots so far are six to one. It seems that today is Mark Recchi's 38th birthday, so Mike Lange and Bob Errey are hoping that Recchi will score for his birthday. With 9.4 seconds left in the first period, Recchi does indeed score to tie the game. Fleury is credited with the only assist on the goal. The period ends with a score of 1-1. Ranger and former Pen, Michal Rozsival, scores one for the Rangers half way through the second period. Score is 2-1. The Rangers scored again halfway through the third period. There was such a mess in front of the net, it would have been shocking if Fleury could have stopped the puck. Scorer is Petr Sykora. Score is now 3-1. Shots on goal are tied at 24. Fleury gets pulled with only a minute left in the game. The Pens stupidly pull a penalty with 28.5 seconds left in the game when Ryan Whitney trips a Ranger. The game ends with the penalty and a final score of 3-1. No goals for Jaromir Jagr, but he does get into an arguing match after the final whistle with Rob Scuderi. Monday, January 30, 2006 -- Afternoon I just heard on the local ESPN radio that Maxime Talbot has been sent back down to the Baby Pens. The Baby Pens are still doing well and lead their division with a 34-6-3-2 record. I am listening to the Mark Madden show on ESPN radio. Madden, however, isn't on the show because he has a heart attack this past weekend. He was feeling nauseated all day long and finally drove himself to the hospital Saturday evening. Some sort of surgery was performed this afternoon to help with the problem. Nothing is being mentioned about what the surgery is. Madden is feeling fine and hopes to be back to work soon. Sunday, January 29, 2006 -- Morning Sidney Crosby earned a $250,000 bonus for scoring his 60th point yesterday, and he got another $250,000 on Thursday for his 35th assist. Crosby said that he isn't as concerned about the money as he is with making wins. Marc-Andre Fleury is also being commended for the spectucular save against Jaromir Jagr yesterday. Fleury made 44 saves which in a normal game would be excellent. Now if only Fleury played for a team that could make shots and be a competitor. Saturday, January 28, 2006 -- Afternoon Fifty second game of the season
The Pens are playing the New York Rangers. I was abit late in watching the game because it is a gorgeous afternoon. Sunny skies and warm weather are not conducive to sitting inside and watching television. The first period was a flip flop. The Rangers started out making a ton of shots on goal (with 11 minutes left in the game it was 12 shots to 3). By the end of the period, it was 14 shots to 5. However, the score is tied: 1-1. Marc-Andre Fleury made some really nice saves, especially a leaping, mid-air snatch that stole a goal from Jaromir Jagr. Sidney Crosby scored the Pens' goal. The second period of the game became one of the worst Penguins periods that I have seen. Shots on goals totalled 16 for the Rangers and two, yes TWO, for the Pens. The Rangers made two goals in the second period. So far, the third period is shaping up as more of the same. Jagr just made his 31st goal of the season, and the Rangers are leading by a score of 4-1. The game is so bad that I haven't even been paying attention. I have been catching up on my newspaper reading since I have to read the local daily newspaper for my journalism class. Meanwhile with the third period now more than half over, the commentators are talking about how the Pens look like an exhausted team. The game is really getting pitiful. I'm thinking of turning off the game and taking a nap because it is so bad. Right now with 2:31 left in the game, the Rangers have 50 shots on goal and now have seven goals. The Pens have 12 shots on goal for the entire game. Final tally is 51 shots for the Rangers and 13 for the Pens. Two goals for Jagr, and another loss for the Pens. Thursday, January 26, 2006 -- Evening Fifty first game of the season
Busy night tonight, because the Pens are playing again tonight. This time it is the Islanders. Sebastien Caron is in goal tonight. News this evening for the Pens is that Dick Tarnstrom has been traded to the Edmonton Oilers for two players. So we picked up a new geriatric defenseman who seems to have problems being healthy enough to play, Cory Cross, and a young guy, Jani Rita, who hasn't been amounting to much.I missed a good portion of the first period but it was not good for the Pens. The Pens had only four shots on goal in the first period. The Islanders had 15 and managed to get a goal on one of the shots, so they are leading 1-0 as the second period starts. The Islanders score another in the second period with a goal by Miroslav Satan. The Pens came back with an answering goal by Eric Cairns with assists by Mark Recchi and Sidney Crosby. Score is 2-1. A few minutes into the third period, the Islands score again to pull ahead 3-1. Less than two minutes later, Sergei Gonchar shot one into the net. Crosby has the assist. There is some controversy on the local broadcast of the game because they are saying that Recchi is getting credit for the goal because he must have touched it or breathed on it at some point before it went into the net. I hate the way the officials will give the goal to a person who really didn't do anything to get the puck into the net. Sometimes the guy just swings his stick in that direction and they get the credit for "redirection". In the end, Recchi does get credit for the goal. With less than a minute in the game, the Pens pull the goalie, and shorthanded, John LeClair, scored a goal to tie the game. It was his first career shorthanded goal. We are going into overtime. Nothing is scored in overtime, so it is shootout time! First up is Michel Ouellet who doesn't score. Satan goes for the Islanders and he scores a goal. Then Crosby misses his chance. Next up is Trent Hunter. He misses. Now it is all up to Ryan Malone who misses, so the Islanders win in a shoot out. Thursday, January 26, 2006 -- Afternoon Ryan Whitney got a $1500 fine for spearing Alexander Ovechkin in the groin. That explains why Ovechkin was on the ice for so long last night. Whitney says that he wasn't trying to spear Ovechkin, just trip him up by putting the stick between his legs. That's what happens with the improperly placed stick! Thursday, January 26, 2006 -- Morning One of the items that I forgot to mention yesterday was that when Sidney Crosby was announced as the first star in the game, he came out waving a Terrible Towel. The crowd loved it. It's nice to see support between the two teams with the Steelers attending the Pens games, and the Pens giving moral support to the Steelers. Wednesday, January 25, 2006 -- Late Evening Fiftieth game of the season
Daily Bongo Three Stars of the Game: 1 -- Sidney Crosby 2 -- Mark Recchi 3 -- John LeClair What a hockey night in Pittsburgh! The Pens were playing the Washington Capitals. Originally the game was being advertised as the showdown between the two young guns, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. However, after the retirement announcement by Mario Lemieux, the game became a memorial to Lemieux's career. Clips were shown throughout the evening of memoriable Lemieux plays. The team also stepped up their level of play by actually being energetic and putting on a great show. It was great to be in the arena to see the game. I think that I was the good luck charm that led to the Pens win. I wore the Crosby t-shirt that I wore to the win on New Year's Eve. Twice worn and two wins. I am making sure to wear that shirt every time I go to the game now! First up, I'll give some of the highlights of the game. John LeClair and Mark Recchi turned in some stellar performances. Both almost had hat tricks in the game, with Recchi almost being credited with a natural hat trick. First up, was LeClair. He scored the only goal in the first period. The Capitals came back to score an answering goal in the second period on the stick of Ovechkin. It was not looking good at that point, and some tension rose in the audience. However, luckily for the Pens, Olaf Kolzig was in goal for the Capitals, and the Pens knew his number. Recchi came on to score the next two goals with the assistance both times by Crosby and Sergei Gonchar. The third period was a scoring explosion starting with the second goal of Recchi's, closely followed by a third that was later credited to LeClair. Folks were throwing hats onto the ice though, because it was looking like a Recchi goal. Tomas Surovy got into the act and scored a goal, followed by a real beauty by Crosby. Crosby had gotten a pass from Colby Armstrong. He kicked the puck behind him, and then grabbed it with the puck and threw it into the net. Eric Boguniecki scored his second goal of the season. Finally, Ryan Malone, who was doing an awful job in front of the net and letting shots go by as if he was just there to watch the game instead of partcipating, came out of the penalty box, grabbed the puck to make a breakaway, was tripped by a Capital, and was awarded a penalty shot. Malone stepped up and made the goal. Final tally was Pens 8, Capitals 1. It was a great game with Crosby getting the first star due to his one goal and three assists, while LeClair and Recchi got two and three stars respectively. One of the low points of the game is when Ovechkin got tripped or speared as the penalty was called. Ovechkin was on the ice for a few minutes at the end of the second period before he was helped into the locker room by a few teammates. Ryan whitney was the culprit and was taken to task by a Capital. It resulted in Whitney getting a five minute spearing, five minute fighing and game misconduct penalities. He may also be suspended for his actions. Ovechkin was well enough to come back to play in the third period. There was plenty of action off the ice. Mario Lemieux was in the owner's box watching the game, and during the first tv time, a little film honoring Lemieux was shown. The crowd got to its feet, cheering and applauding. Then video of Lemieux at the game went up on the jumbotron. Everyone turned to the owner's box and continued with the cheers and applause. Just when it seemed like it was ending, it would relaunch. They finally started playing other music over the loudspeakers to get the crowd to sit down and let the game continue. Shortly after this incident, another video clip was shown on the jumbotron, and this time it was Lemieux with Ben Roethlisberger beside him. More cheers. Jeff Reed was also at the game. However, he just had an igloo seat, not an owner's box seat. Non celebrity news: a woman, Greta, was chosen to participate in the Name that Tune game. She had to identity I'm All Shook Up. The correct answer was given by her boyfriend on a video clip in which he asked Greta to marry him. She said yes, and the audience cheered it on. Finally, a girl seated several rows down from my seat in C32, had a sign that she was waving around. I could a glimpse of her sign which said "Put it in my five hole Sidney." She waved the sign around for a period and a half before an usher saw it and took it from her. And thus ended a wonderful hockey night in Pittsburgh. Tuesday, January 24, 2006 -- Morning Well, it was bound to happen. Mario Lemieux is expected to announce his retirement today. He hasn't played since December 16 because of his problem with the irregular heartbeat. Prior to that, the season wasn't a good one for him. He seemed slower and not able to keep up with the younger players. Yes, Lemieux was a great player, but this season, he had more moments of just being average. It's difficult to admit that the body just doesn't respond as it did in its younger days. Lemieux has had to accept that now, it seems. There will be a press conference this afternoon at Mellon Arena for the announcement. Monday, January 23, 2006 -- Evening Forty ninth game of the season
The Pens are playing the Flyers this evening. First period: After a fairly routine period where the only excitement was with a few hooking and tripping penalties, the Flyers come on in the last 46 seconds of the period to score. Basically Michal Handzus was in the crease, standing there unchallenged by any Pens defenseman, and was able to toss the puck into the net. Well, come to think of it there was another item of note was the extremely long shift of Konstantin Koltsov because the Penguins couldn't get the puck out of their end. score is 1-0. Second period: This period, the Flyers came out flying and got a score in abit over five minutes. Petr Nedved got his first goal as a Flyer during the power play. There was talk earlier that the Pens might get Nedved, but obviously, we didn't. I notice that the Pens seem to move in slow motion when there are attacks on their goal. They don't seem to do a very good job of clearing the puck after Marc-Andre Fleury stops the puck. Hey, the Pens score! Mark Recchi gets the goal while Sidney Crosby is in the box for hooking Sami Kapanen is in the box for diving. Now how someone can be in the box for hooking someone who dives or be accused of diving if you were hooked, I don't know. Obviously the officials use a different sort of logic and read a different rule book than anyone else on this planet. The period ends with five shots on goals for the Pens compared to 12 by the Flyers. A little pushing match broke out. It's so funny seeing Colby Armstrong swinging punches. The kid looks like a pencil-neck geek who sits at a computer with pallor induced by florescent lighting. Third period: The Pens have scored during a powerplay. Crosby tossed the puck to Michel Ouellet who got the puck into the net. The score is now tied: 2-2. Three minutes left in the game. Darn! And at 2:05, the Flyers score on a face-off. Score is now 3-2. Less than a minute and Fleury is off the ice. The Pens have also taken a time out since the puck is in the other end of the ice. with five seconds left in the game, the Flyers win the face off and then get an empty net. Game is over now with a score of 4-2. Right after the buzzer sounded, Shane Endicott got into a fistfight with a Flyer. He fell on the ice, and the Flyers won. Monday, January 23, 2006 -- Afternoon Craig Patrick does not believe the changess at the Penguins organization will affect his job. Patrick stated his interest in continuing in the job. Meanwhile the Pens fans and sports announcers are saying that it is Patrick's time to go. The team sucks right now, and some of the credit for that situation is laid at Patrick's door. He is the one who made the deals to bring the geriatrics in this past season and has put together a team with zero chemistry. Saturday, January 21, 2006 -- Afternoon Forty eighth game of the season
It's a hockey afternoon in Pittsburgh. The Pens are playing the Flyers. They are putting an announcer on the ice between the benches again, just as they did in the local game last week with Bob Errey. First period: NBC appears to be keeping running counts of the amount of ice time on each shift for Sidney Crosby and Simon Gagne of the Flyers. They also put cameras on the goalies. All that crap is very distracting. The Flyers are the first to score with a powerplay goal. Mark Recchi and Derian Hatcher get into a bit of a shoving match, and both are sent to the box for a penalty. Hatcher gets a four minute while Recchi gets two so the Pens have a powerplay. Then there is another Flyer penalty so the Pens have a 5 on 3 situation for 1:41. The Pens put up a valient fight there for a while, but the Flyers manage to kill the penalty. Period ends with a score of 1-0 in favor of the Flyers. The Pens had 14 shots on goal and the Flyers had six. Second period: During the break, Eddie O did some commentating on how to play the game from the New York set. Two minutes into the period, and there is a fight with the new guy, Eric Cairns. Cairns looks like a monster. He's 6'6" and weighs 232. Big guy! The Pens have a powerplay in the final two minutes of the period. Can they capitalize? Nope. It seems that the players kept on missing the net. All six shots were wide of the net. Recchi is interviewed and says that he thinks players are trying to finesse the puck as opposed to shooting on the net. Shots on goal for the period: 12 for the Flyers, nine for the Pens. Third period: So far, this game hasn't been the most exciting. Halfway through the third period, the Flyers have a 5 on 3 advantage. Marc-Andre Fleury has made some nice safes. The Pens manage to kill off the penalty. Maybe it's just me, but I never seem to find a 1-0 game very exciting. There is alot of passing, but so far, the Pens with 7:30 left in the game only have two shots on goal. Of course, it probably doesn't help that I have one of those killer headaches that makes it hard to concentrate on a game with so little exciting action. The Flyers had a 5 on 3 advantage, and they were able to capitalize with a goal. Meanwhile, a fight broke out shortly after it with Dick Tarnstrom getting some punches in. Finally, the Pens have scored. It looks like it was deflection off of Crosby into the net. I think that the credit is going to Colby Armstrong with assists from Sergei Gonchar and Tomas Surovy. There is three minutes left in the game for the Pens to tie it up. One minute remaining in the period, and NOW the Pens start playing with some energy and excitement. Michel Therrien has called a timeout with 55 seconds left. Empty net for the last minute, but the Pens aren't able to do much. The last three minutes of the game were the most exciting of the entire game. Friday, January 20, 2006 -- Late Evening Rumors have been swirling about what Eddie Olczyk will be doing. There were rumors that he might become the head coach of the New Jersey Devils. The Devils couldn't be silly enough to hire someone as head coach with Eddie O's experience and record. Eddie O is still under contract to the Pens and he should be continuing to work for them as a scout. Eddie O will also return to the thing that he does best, hockey commentator. Eddie O will be joining OLN as a broadcaster and will also be announcing for NBC for some of their hockey games. Rumor has it that he will be announcing tomorrow's game between the Pens and the Flyers. Thursday, January 19, 2006 -- Late Evening Forty seventh game of the season
Pens played the Rangers this evening. I have to admit that for the first two periods of the game it was the most boring game that I ever saw. In the first period, there was only one goal and that was from the Rangers. There were also only four penalties in the first two periods between both teams with the Pens having only one. The third period was the most exciting with two Pens goals and three Rangers goals. Yep, the Rangers won in the end with a score of 4-2. There was a good deal of poor play. For example, at one point in the second period, Sergei Gonchar almost kicked the puck into the Pens goal after taking a pass from Marc-Andre Fleury during a power play. Pitiful! Sidney Crosby did get a goal and an assist which means that he had a hand in both goals tonight. He even wound up getting the third star in the game. The highlights of the game had nothing to do with hockey. The first was when they showed one of those "Here's a fan who looks like a celebrity" and it was actually Hines Ward in both halves of the pictures. He was at the game again this evening and had on his Crosby shirt. This inspired a slew of fans to start a "Here We Go Steelers" chant. Surprisingly quite a few fans were there with Steeler shirts and Terrible Towels. Shortly after that, Jeff Reed's picture was on the jumbotron because he was at the game too. The lowlight of the game was the performance of the live band, Blue Line Band, that played before the game and for a few songs during the game. It was overly loud, and the woman couldn't sing. Thursday, January 19, 2006 -- Early Evening Mario Lemieux announced that the Pens are up for sale. Lemieux has said that the prospective owner will promise to keep the Pens in the city if a new arena is built. Lemieux is also stepping down as CEO of the Pens and will be replaced by the current president, Ken Sawyer. So far, there are no firm offers for the Pens, but Lemieux is opening up the bids for people or groups who are interested in purchasing the team. The Pens are playing the New York Rangers this evening, and I'm headed to the game now. Results when I get home. Wednesday, January 18, 2006 -- Evening More news from the Pens. They gave the Florida Panthers a sixth round choice in the 2006 NHL draft for Eric Cairns. I don't know much about Cairns, but it appears that he is ranked 198 out of 268 NHL players. That's not that great. I don't think that Craig Patrick is doing a good job of putting this team together. Wednesday, January 18, 2006 -- Afternoon Two interesting stories out of the Pens today. The biggest and most shocking in my mind is that Ziggy Palffy is retiring. The reason supposedly is his shoulder. It was injured in 2004, and Palffy has had two surgeries on it. I guess that he feels it isn't getting better. What is shocking to me is that I thought that he was still performing fairly well this season. Sure it wasn't stellar, but still the guy was putting points on the board and seemed to have a nice chemistry with the younger guys. The other news is that Marc-Andre Fleury will be staying on the major league roster. Both announcements might go hand in hand. The Palffy announcement came out first, and his salary this year was going to be $3.5 million, $5.5 million next year and $4.5 million i |
