Penguins drop 7th of last 9 in 7-4 loss to Philly
By admin | January 8, 2010
It’s been a while. Life has been busy with the holidays and such and now back to blogging. The Penguins came to the ice last night having defeated the Flyers in 10 of their last 13 meetings. Last night, however, was not to be their night. Chris Pronger managed to notch 2 more goals onto his ‘proverbial hockey belt’ and helped to lift his team to a win. Was it truly just a fantastic effort by the Flyers? In my opinion, no. I’m probably going to tick off a lot of people with what i have to say, but say it I must. There are some things that have been lacking on the Pens team recently and i don’t think that it’s Christmas turkey hangover.
The power play. I have visions in my head at night thinking of those words. It haunts me in the dark of the night. Over and over i see the passes…Malkin to Crosby, Crosby to Gonchar, Gonchar to Crosby, Crosby to….yeah you get the picture. It seems like it’s a contest to see how many passes they can make before they actually take a shot. Normally it ends with an odd man rush or the defense just picking off a pass and tossing it back into our zone. Do they not get to practice enough passing in their warmups and they just love it and decide that they will practice during the PP? Does Mike Yeo have something against actually scoring goals on the PP? So riddle me this…how in the world do we have some of the top scorers in the NHL and the worst PP? There is no good reason why we should be 30th (15%) with our power play. NONE. So the question is, what is truly wrong? For a while we blamed the fact that Gonchar was out with injury and that he was the ‘Sarge’ of the unit. Ok, i’ll give you that. He is an integral part…but he’s back and it continues to stink. Like the stench of a rotting corpse in the hot sun. (visualize Resident Evil) So now what is the excuse? Teams are just learning to defend against us better. Now that’s just a bunch of garbage. We can’t even capitalize on 5-3 opportunities. Why? Because we don’t shoot!!! Ok, some simple math here folks. What is 1*0? Answer=nothing. So if you take ‘0′ shots, you have exactly that many opportunities to score. Ever hear the term that you can’t get blood out of a turnip? You can’t get points when you don’t take shots. What if we pass it 73 times during the power play? Nope, can’t get points if you don’t shoot. What if Geno makes a really nifty move through the ‘D’ and takes the puck around to the backside of the net, only to have it knocked away because he won’t pass it? (and then doesn’t go after the puck…but i’ll talk about that more in a minute) Nope, can’t get points if you don’t shoot it. Style points only count in GQ. (men’s style magazine for those of you wondering…) So we agree that the problem on the PP is not shooting. That, however, is only a symptom of the problem. Everything rises and falls on leadership. Mike Yeo is in charge of the PP. Yes, it is his fault. You can make all the excuses you want to in the world. You can blame it on this person and that person, but ultimately it falls on his shoulders. That’s HIS job. It’s all he’s hired to do. MAKE THE FRIGGIN POWER PLAY WORK! In my honest opinion, he should have been out when Therrien lost his job. You can say ‘but i love him…he’s such a great guy!’. This is not personal…he can be the nicest guy in the world. It doesn’t mean that he’s doing his job. He needs to find a new line of work, or a new team because I, for one, am done with him. I think he needs to go the way of all things and we need to find someone else who will step up and get the job done. I wish him all the best in his new ventures, but he NEEDS TO GO and NOW!
I have a few more things that need to be addressed before my beloved blog is done. I’ve done a lot of analyzing and what i’m about to say will NOT be popular. In fact, some of you will get downright mad at me. Too bad…get over it. I will have my say. Whether you like it or not, it’s what it looks like on the ice. When i’m watching the games, Malkin is really starting to bug me. I love Malkin…think he’s a great guy. I think he’s an incredible hockey player. However, something is not right with him. It could be that he’s downhearted because he hasn’t had his mother’s Borscht in a long time. We all know that it gives him his power. (aka, popeye) It could be that he’s battling through an injury. However, he scored a hat trick the other night…so i think, no. It could be that he’s trying so hard out there on the ice to get out of the funk that he’s in that he’s making dumb mistakes. *shrugs* That is a definite possibility. I, however, have been watching. He works really hard if he’s taking the puck in…BUT, when the puck gets knocked off of his stick or he loses it, you watch him. Does he go after the puck again? *shrugs* Again, sometimes he does. The sometimes is what bothers me. The game against Atlanta he made an incredible effort to get the extra opportunity for Caputi’s goal. It was unbelievable! However, there were multiple times when he looked like he was just dragging his butt out there. Now, it could be that he’s just tired because he’s been out working so hard. Maybe he’s been playing more minutes on his shifts. However, while everyone else this summer got back into training after a month or so after they won the Cup, he said he was going to wait until about August to start up training again. What’s wrong with that you ask? Well, if that’s true, you’re not going to be in nearly the same shape as everyone else. Which means you will have less stamina on the ice. So, this also means that if you’re out there pouring your heart into every shift, you will also tire ALOT faster than everyone else. Which would explain why sometimes he goes after pucks when he loses them, and sometimes he doesn’t. It’s not laziness in the game itself, it’s the discipline to train and condition himself so that he’s able to do those things. I do not feel that he is in the same shape that he was last year. He looks tired out there. Sloppy…which would all go towards that same thought. I could be WAY off here, but i don’t think i am. He loves hockey, but i think his conditioning is not allowing him to play the way he could and should. This is a serious problem for someone who is such a talented hockey player. Lest you think i’m bashing Geno, i love the guy. I am so glad we have him on our team for such a long time, however, someone needs to get on his case and have him step up his conditioning program. (if that’s the problem.) If you have any thoughts on this, please let me know. No need to flame me, i’m just giving my opinions. If you want to give your opinions, please do. I welcome the opportunity for you to open my eyes to things that i’m not seeing.
Ok, last but not least. Our defense. I’ve heard people saying that Flower is letting in a lot of soft shots. I believe that is partly true. Here is my take on the Flower. I think that he’s one of the top goaltenders in the NHL. He can make incredible saves when the need arises, however, if he feels like his team isn’t helping him out, or not scoring, i think he puts more pressure on himself and therefore allows more goals. This is natural. The defense recently have just not been getting the job done like they should. The proof is in the amount of goals we’ve been allowing. 7 goals to the Flyers. 6 to the Panthers. The list does go on…but for sake of brevity i will spare you. Way too many goals to allow. Too often i’m watching the D breakdown and allow people to sit in front of the net and have open opportunities. That is going to allow goals. What is the problem with with defense? Honestly, i’m not really sure. It feels to me like they’re just not getting the puck cleared enough and allowing too many 2nd opportunities. We also aren’t playing physical enough with people when they’re in front of the net. Orpik hits people for sure, (my fav player in case you wondered) and Tanger was even dumping Hartnell on his ear, which was one of my favorite plays last night. (LOL) But others on the D i don’t feel are the same way. Whatever the issue is, it needs to be fixed in a hurry. If you’re not helping out your goaltender, he’s going to get rocked. The other night when Johnson was in net…he was the one that kept us in the game. He wasn’t getting a whole lot of help, but he still managed to keep us in it so that we could beat Atlanta. It shouldn’t totally be up to the goal tender. Help the guy out!
Well, i need to end this blog as it’s gotten a lot longer than i originally intended. I believe that our boys will pull through and that they probably just have a bit of the winter ‘blahs’. There are some changes that need to be made and they will make them. I just don’t want us to get comfortable with our Stanley Cup from last year and sit back on our heels…i want another one this year! Our boys are more than capable of getting the job done and are the most incredible hockey team out there. Just don’t let it get to your heads! Let’s get fired up and cheer them on to another one! GO PENS!
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Letang and Pens ‘take a bite’ out of Hartnell/Flyers and win 3-2 in OT
By admin | December 17, 2009
Hockey and my birthday...what could be better?
Well, today was my birthday. All i asked for, was for the Pens to win tonight and they did NOT disappoint. The Flyers came out with their usual antics (charging, roughing, slashing, etc, etc) and surprisingly played a good game. Carcillo is an idiot…just had to get that off my chest. If you’re a Flyers fan and you’re reading this, please don’t be offended. It’s not that i hate the Flyers…wait, ummm, oh yeah, i do…nvm. -.-
I’m just going to talk about some things that stuck out to me about this game instead of boring you with a recap of every shot and every hit. (dirty and otherwise…which when you’re playing the Flyers, there are ALWAYS dirty hits) Ok, think about this one for a sec. If you’re one of the Flyers players, would you be encouraged or discouraged by the fact that the fans chant ‘Crosby sucks’ WAY more than ‘Let’s go Flyers’? In fact, i think i remember them chanting ‘Let’s go Flyers’ a grand total of 1 time during the game, while chanting the aforementioned quote, 5-6 times. Now, maybe this is exactly what the players like to hear and maybe, just maybe this is why they keep losing to the Pens. They keep focusing on number 87. Now granted, he’s one of the top scorers in the NHL and I, as a loyal Pens fan, love the guy. But don’t you think you’re focusing a bit much on one person? Shouldn’t you be worrying about strategy and what you’re supposed to be doing in the game rather than all that fuss over Crosby? (which all it does is fuel him up…i used to play hockey, and yeah, that’s all it does.) As a fan, is that the only thing that you have that fuels you up for going to the game? I guess if i was a Flyers fan, which i’m hoping that someone would shoot me to put me out of my misery should i ever do such a thing, there wouldn’t be a whole lot to cheer about. Philly has gone 2-8-1 in their last 11 games so not much to write home about.
Every time i see this guy i want to quote lines from Princess Bride...
I have to take a moment to talk about Carcillo. It pains me to even waste space on my blog writing about him, but he’s such an idiot, that it bears talking about. Just at a glance, seriously…i think i said something about it in my last post, but the guy looks like a muskateer. Or possibly the guy from Princess Bride, you know, ‘hello, my name is Enigo Montoyo…’. Sporting a mustache like that…well, maybe he loved the 80’s. (REO Speedwagon anyone?) So the guy goes running around on the ice, looking for people to hit. In fact, in the bottom half of the 3rd period, he charged directly at Tyler Kennedy and left his feet to hit him. Last i checked that was a penalty. I guess the refs are so used to that kind of garbage that they just let some of it go now. Probably fear for their lives after the games if they don’t. (not that i blame them…) I loved how he took the stupid penalty in the first period, which we then proceeded to score on the PP and then the camera pans back to him and he blurts out the ‘F’ word. I guess i can sum him up in one word…Class. Ok, Carcillo (kicking him) you’ve wasted enough space on my blog, now get out.
Was it just me, or did it feel like taking a step into the Twilight Zone watching the 3 on 3 tonight? It seemed the boys were there too as they kind of skated around the ice with no purpose. Both teams looked like they had no idea what to do with the puck. I don’t blame them though, how often would you practice for that? That whole 2 minutes just felt….strange.
I did like the fact that Sidney Crosby, in spite of the chanting, scored his 22nd goal on the year, that put him one behind Gaborik and then gave the go ahead goal on the SO. It was icing on the cake for my birthday to be sure, and i won’t be forgetting this game for a long time. :) (insert contented sigh here…) Could i have asked for more for my birthday? Perhaps a new Wii game (NHL10) or a gift card to amazon? Perhaps, but all in all, this was a perfect birthday and i loved every minute of it!
I can’t end this blog without thanking my friends from both Twitter and Facebook. You guys were incredible with your birthday wishes and just wanted to say ‘Thank You’ from the bottom of my heart. :) You truly make being a Pens fan and a blogger, a great experience and i thank you. 
Let’s keep the ball rolling and see the Pens lift the Cup again this year! GO PENS!
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Penguins dominate Flyers in 6-1 victory at home
By admin | December 15, 2009
I love to hate the Flyers...
Wow…i always love it when the Pens play the Flyers (it’s a love/hate relationship), however, tonight’s game was an incredible one! You know it’s going to be a good game when your team drops the gloves in the first period, but we did it three times in a row. Rupp was the first to drop the gloves, followed by Goddard, and then Adams. The Penguins made a statement early in the game with those fights, it was as if they were saying ‘we can play your game, but can you play ours?’ At the end of the 3rd period, we would have to answer that question with a definite ‘no, they could NOT play our game’. The Flyers always have been and always will be a ghetto team and we beat them within an inch of their lives tonight.
Sidney notched his 21st goal of the season, as well as his 21st goal against the Flyers in the 28 games that he’s played against them. Staal, not to be outdone, notched 2 more goals (9,10), including one shorthander, to bring his totals against the Flyers at 3 goals in 2 games (in 2009-2010) and 9 goals in 23 career games. There were so many great things about this game that it’s hard to find the words to talk about them all. I loved the fans with their plastic chattering teeth that they brought out every time they booed Hartnell; the signs that read ‘Hartnell bites’; and the overall atmosphere of ‘brotherly love’. LOL I would have loved to have been there in person.
Gollum? - You decide...
Pretty sure this is Hartnell....
On another note, i have to mention this little known fact…did you know that Scott Hartnell is indeed Gollum from Lord of the Rings? He tries to keep it a secret, but we all know that it’s true. -.- You can tell from the pictures that there is a DEFINITE similarity. Also, what’s with Carcillo and the ‘I think i’m one of the three muskateers’ mustache? Or possibly he’s the guy from Princess Bride, ‘Hello, my name is Enigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die…’ Seriously, i think he missed his calling in ‘B’ action movies or something. Ok, ok, back to hockey. (It’s just so hard to not make fun of the Flyers….it’s SOOOO easy.)
Penguins are now 28-2-2 when scoring first under ‘Disco Dan’ and it’s so great to see them playing so well together. It’s also great to see us starting to bring the power play together. Maybe the Penguins coaching staff has been reading my blog? Also worth a mention tonight is Malkin’s short handed goal. His 2nd goal in as many games and both on the PP. LOL Although the first was on OUR power play and this last one was on the Flyers Power play! hahaha. Ok, it’s kind of late and the jokes are getting quite bad…and they only get worse the later it gets. -.-
All in all a great game and a great day for the Penguins. (Which also means it was a great day for hockey!) The Pens are truly coming together as a team and looking like they are hungry for another Cup. Could this be the year again? I think it can be. GO PENS GO!
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Pens finally score on PP in OT to oust Panthers 3-2
By admin | December 12, 2009
I wouldn't be happy either if I was in charge of the worst PP in the NHL...
The Pens Power Play. Yes, it deserves to be the very first thing i talk about. What can i say? The Penguins Power Play has been completely and utterly horrible for about the last 15 games or so, in spite of having Gonchar back in the lineup. Sigh, they went 1-6 tonight, which is the best they’ve done in a while as well. What’s the deal? Why in the world have they been so awful and yet still manage to win games? I’m not sure, but it needs to be fixed, and quick. This game vs the Panthers shouldn’t have even been close. The Penguins totally kept the puck in the offensive zone for a great portion of the game and had some great scoring opportunities, however, the Panthers managed to keep in the game. How, you might ask, did they manage such a feat? Easy…we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities. Over and over again I watched as one of the most potent offensive lines in the NHL passed and passed and passed and passed and passed and gave away the puck on the PP. Crosby, Malkin, and Gonchar. 2 minutes and they don’t hardly take a shot. Now tonight they started to shoot the puck, but it just didn’t look like our power play of old. Either they’ve been changing it up on the PP and hoping to get some new looks at the net…or their PP coach has been daydreaming about the Wii he wants for Christmas and unable to concentrate on the game…or we all of the sudden forgot how to score on a 5 on 4. Well, i assure you, the teams we’ve been playing have not forgotten. After we blew yet another PP opportunity, the Panthers came back to tie the game at 2-2. Please, i hope that someone from the Pens organization is reading this and listening. We want the PP fixed and we want it fixed yesterday! We will NOT make it back to visit Lord Stanley with the worst PP in the NHL. Maybe you think that i’m just ranting and raving. Try this on for size. The Penguins are…get this, 10.3% PP on the road and 16.7% PP at home. Average that out for a whopping 13.6% PP total. To put that where the rubber meets the road, about every 7 and a half power plays…we score one goal. -.- Chew on that for a while.
Pens finally get a PP goal from Malkin
Now that i have that off of my chest, on to bigger and better news. The good news from tonight is that we did in fact score a goal on the PP, even though it took 6 opportunities to do so. Even better news is the fact that it was Malkin who scored. He has been on a bit of a scoring drought and hadn’t scored in his last 6 games. I’m hoping that it was enough to jump start him and that he will start playing at a higher level again. It seems like sometimes all it takes is one goal, even sometimes an empty netter, to get a guy back on his game and on a hot streak, and we could sure use it right now. He now has as many goals as Dupuis AND Rupp. He’s one of the ‘heaviest hitters’ in the NHL so this could be just what he needs to get about 6 goals in 3 or 4 games like Crosby did, to break out of his funk.
This is the 3rd time in as many meetings where the Penguins have defeated the Panthers 3-2. 2 times in OT and once in the SO. LOL…it’s kind of funny when you think about it…as long as you’re not a Panthers fan. 
As long as the Pens are still able to come away with 2 points i’m not worried…yet. But don’t fix the PP, and we will NOT be going anywhere in the post season.
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It’s been a while…
By admin | December 11, 2009
Hello Pens fans. I know it’s been a while. I’ve been enjoying the holiday season and working like a dog. Plus i just got my new Wii (which i modded so i can play my old classic games from SNES, NES, N64, etc…) so i’ve been slacking on my blog. NO LONGER!
Starting to heat it up in the NHL
Whew, where to begin? The Penguins have been playing some kind of hockey. Sidney Crosby is the man of the hour for the Pens and appears that no one can stop him. He’s looking to catch the top of the NHL in both points and goals and I, for one, am VERY glad to see it. I was just thinking the other day that Sid, although he’s not what you would call a ‘flashy’ player like Ovi, he very quietly has moved to the top in the scoring. He’s just a very consistent and very talented hockey player. Overall, i’ve been happy with how the Pens have been playing, minus the PP, but i’ll talk about that in a minute. They’ve been driving to the net and doing their best to keep the puck in the opposing team’s end. Kris Letang has blossomed, contrary to popular opinion (Eklund…), there is NO interest in trading him. Seriously, who would they trade him for and what could they possibly get in return that would even mildly interest them? He’s one of the most offensive right handed defensemen in the league and is shooting more and more. It has not translated into many goals this year, but keep your eye out for him. He will up and surprise everyone one year by scoring 30+ goals, you just wait a
I swear this is the size of the puck when we're on the power play...
nd see.
Ok, now for a bit of a rant. The ONE and only one thing that is killing me about the Pens right now is the PP. It’s looking like the PP of old under Therrien. (i can’t believe i just said that….but i meant it.) We seriously can’t score if our lives depended on it…and they really do if we expect to do anything in the playoffs. We are at the bottom of the NHL currently, sporting a massive 18% or so PP percentage. (That’s the stat that i saw last night at any rate…) I’m very honestly surprised it’s that high. Watching them on the PP is absolutely painful sometimes, and normally ends with me shouting at the TV ‘Shoot the stupid puck already!!!’ (or something similar) Sigh, so what’s the answer that will end this horrendous scoring drought? Do we need to get rid of Mike Yeo? Everything rises and falls on leadership, and lately, it’s all been falling on it. Shero and Bylsma need to do something ASAP as we have won some very close games that should not have been close if we had just scored on our opportunities on the power play. Some of the games we have lost recently have been due to the lack of production on the PP. Do we need to mix it up and get some different looks out there? I really don’t think so. We have some of the top scoring threats in the NHL out there. There’s honestly no excuse for not being able to score. We pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, whoops, give away the puck. Chase it in our own end, give up a shorthanded goal. Go back on the PP and pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, shoot…not on net, chase the puck around the boards all the way to our end and then it’s over. Something MUST be done soon. I only hope that someone from the staff of the Pens is reading this and taking it to heart, because i truly believe that our playoff potential is only as good as our PP.
The refs from last night's game...
Moving along to another subject, which is last night’s game. It was quite a good game back and forth, with the usual grumpy Habs fans booing and hissing at the refs. (Which i will agree were quite horrible last night, however, i felt they were equally horrible for both teams.) Loved the, let’s cross-check Feds into the net and then give the Habs a PP because he dislodged it. -.- They scored on the subsequent PP and tied the game. Which then didn’t make me feel too badly when late in the 3rd period, the refs missed the fact that the puck was NOT covered by the Flower and blew the whistle right before the Habs scored. LOL The fans then booed for the rest of the game on and off. Remember Habs fans, it went both ways in that game.
I believe that is the end of my rant for today. Thanks for being faithful readers, and i’ll do my best to blog a bit more now that the ‘crazy’ time is starting to wind down. Have a great day and GO PENS!
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Pens beat Ducks 5-2 as they put on a show for the home crowd
By admin | November 17, 2009
This man can do it all...fight AND score! :)
Truly great game last night. It’s been a while since i’ve seen the Penguins that full of life. It has nothing to do with how they’ve been playing, as our boys have been giving their all every game, it just has more to do with how healthy the Pens have been. It’s pretty much a regular occurrence these days to see another injury report after the game and hear ’so and so is out of the lineup for 2 weeks’. I’m getting the feeling that half of the players are having a party and slipping off to it one by one. ~.~
Back to the game. Everyone played their hearts out in this game and it showed. From Cookie Monster’s 2 goals, to Guerin mixing it up with Getzlaf, it appeared everyone was showing off for the home crowd. This is without 4 of our star defensemen in the lineup as well! (On an interesting side note…since we’re pulling all our D men from WBS…what in the world are the baby Pens doing for D?) Add in the fact that Mad Max is slated to come back on Thursday and you have one EXTREMELY happy Pens fan! :) So where do the Pens go from here? Up apparently. It seems like nothing can stop the Penguins from winning. Even without half of our regular stars, everyone, from the bottom of the food chain, to Sidney Crosby, seems to be rising to the occasion. THAT’s why i love my Pens. Not because they won the Stanley Cup (because i loved them before that…), and not because of all the great players they have, but because they play with heart. It is truly an amazing experience to see them play together. My hat is off to Disco Dan Bylsma for the incredible job that he did to get us to this point.
May we have many more wonderful years and Stanley Cups together. GO PENS! :)
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Hockey teams more injury riddled in 2009?
By admin | November 16, 2009
Orpik before he got injured
I was full of excitement coming into the 2009-2010 hockey season for quite a few reasons, not the least of which being that my team took home the Stanley Cup last year. (for the uninformed that would be the Pittsburgh Penguins) The Pens did NOT disappoint, winning 7 road games in a row, while setting a franchise record and pushing into the top 5 NHL teams to start with such a great road record. This string of wins, however, did not come cheaply. Along the way, our Champion Penguins stars began slowly dropping onto the IR list. First Gonchar went out with a broken wrist (which DESTROYED our power play in case anyone cared…), then Malkin got benched for a couple of weeks to rest his strained back/shoulder. so began a LONG (and still continuing) string of injuries that seemed never ending. I started to get the feeling that we couldn’t go a game without an injury. We currently have 8 players on the injured list, including 4 of our top defenseman at the time of the writing of this article. (Gonchar, Letang, Orpik and Goligoski who just joined them…) I thought maybe the Penguins were just having an EXTREME case of bad luck, however as I logged in to check on my fantasy team for the first time since signing up this season (yes, I know I’m a horrible fantasy hockey player…sue me…I’ve been busy…lol), I noticed I had 4 people either on DTD or IR. What is happening in the NHL this year? Is it business as usual or are there really more injuries than normal? I don’t have any statistics to back me up, but I believe that this is the most injury riddled season I’ve seen in a long time. I believe that there are a couple of contributing factors.
1. Players are getting bigger and bigger every year, and with that comes bigger hits. Add the open ice head hunting that seems to be going unchecked this year and that spells disaster for quite a few teams. No, I’m not a carebear and don’t want the league to ban checking/fighting, etc so don’t get excited, however, I do believe that they are allowing more ‘questionable’ contact than ever before and I believe that is contributing greatly to the increased injuries. (hmmm…wonder if that means I can blame them for rising health care costs? Lol) I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen players just kill the goalie in the net and nothing gets called. It used to be that if you touched the goalie while he was in his crease, it was an automatic penalty. That, however, is a thing of the past. It seems the thing to do now is to crash the net, knock the goalie senseless and pound the puck in the net…even if the goalie is still holding onto it. Now, I think that’s going a bit far. The goalies are indeed quite padded, however, that doesn’t mean that people should just be able to crash into them going full speed. That’s definitely going to throw a goalie a bit off his game as he’s not going to want that to happen over and over again. But I digress.
2. The season is a bit more compacted this year as they are trying to allow players to play in the Olympics, without interfering with regular season play. Is this just a rumor or truth? This blogger isn’t quite sure, however it sure does seem to make sense. The Penguins are playing something to the tune of 14 back to back games this year. More than I’ve seen them play in a long time. You play that many games that close together, it’s hard to rest up, which in turn makes you more prone to injury.
Whatever the reason for the injuries, it doesn’t make them any easier to accept. I just hope that each of the players is able to return fully healthy and ready to go for the playoffs. There’s nothing sadder than hitting the playoffs and having a really great team get knocked out, just because all their players aren’t healthy.
This has still been an incredible season and I’m loving hockey more than ever. (Especially after the Penguins incredible comeback win with 0.4 seconds on the clock against the Bruins!) It truly is ‘A Great Day for Hockey’. GO PENS!!!
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Pens shut out by Bruins 3-0 and drop 3 game in a row
By admin | November 10, 2009
I almost don’t have the strength to write this post. This is probably one of the saddest things that i’ve had the displeasure to see. It’s not losing games, Sidney Crosby not scoring in 5 games or even getting shut out for the 2nd game in a row, but rather seeing the already crippled Penguins lose another integral part of the team to injury. Even if i were not a Penguins fan (which i’m not…i’m a SUPERFAN…flashback to SNL), I would still feel badly for a team that has had as many injuries as the Pens.
Orpik pre-injury
Orpik left the game after slamming hard into the boards and hitting, what looked like his hip. He is due to be re-evaluated Wednesday and then we will know how bad the news really is. This is the latest in a series of injuries that have been plagueing the Penguins. Every game they play now i’m hoping that there are no additional injuries. How long will the Pens continue to ride the injury train? Hopefully that was the last stop and from here on out we will be picking up steam as we head towards the playoffs. At this point, I just hope that the Penguins can win half of their games so they don’t fall to the cellar as we wait for injuries to heal. I’m not worried about Sid scoring, that will definitely come with time. He’s mature enough that it won’t bother him and he will keep doing the things that he needs to do to get goals. Flower needs to make sure that this doesn’t scar him for the rest of the season. He needs to keep in mind that he needs to do what he can to keep the Pens in it (which i felt like he did tonight) and remember that he’s down almost all of the veteran defensemen and so there’s going to be a lot of mistakes around the net. They are going to cost goals, but all in all they will make the team stronger as a unit.
In summary, i’m not upset or mad or angry or disappointed in the Penguins at all and KNOW that they will bounce back and be a better team because of the adversity. Please don’t be bashing them or hating on them and expecting more of them than they can possibly give. They will come back and be the team we all know and love, but in the meantime, we need to cheer them on and give them our love and support. After all, isn’t that what the Burgh is about? They gave us the Cup and the least we can do is cut them some slack, pray for quick injury recovery and cheer them on to victory again this year!
This still could be THE YEAR! (again) GO PENS!
Topics: Pens Hockey | 1 Comment »
Sharks take a bite out of the Pens and win 5-0
By admin | November 9, 2009
Tanger heading to the bench after getting injured
I had been looking forward to this game since summertime when i knew they were headed into San Jose. I bought tickets the minute they went on sale and had beautiful seats for the game. (Row 10, right across from the player benches) I can’t even say that i was surprised by the outcome because i knew how battered the Pens were, however, i was NOT very excited as we lost another player to the injury bug. (Letang) There is still no word on how long Tanger will be out, however, he’s meeting with team doctors today (Monday) and hopefully they will give us some good news, which we desperately need. Here is the injury summary as of today:
Player: Injury/status
C, Max Talbot: Torn left rotator cuff/out 2 weeks
D, Sergei Gonchar: Broken left wrist/out 2-4 weeks
RW, Tyler Kennedy: Undisclosed (lower-body)/out day-to-day
C, Evgeni Malkin: Strained right shoulder/out 1-2 weeks
D, Kris Letang: Undisclosed (upper-body)
There wasn’t a whole lot to get excited about in this game if you are a Pens fan. (And you SHOULD be a pens fan…) Tanger got tripped in the 1st period and left the game clutching his right arm/shoulder to his chest. He was going after the puck after taking a shot and got tripped and fell down as his arm/shoulder were most vulnerable. It hurt me just looking at it. I am very much hoping that it isn’t what i think it is. (Torn rotator cuff) However, since Letang left Boston to pick up a flight directly to PA to meet with the team doctors, i’m imagining it’s not a very bright prospect at all.
Ok, so back to me being at the game. There were several things about it that i really enjoyed…one of them being the nachos. Another was being able to take some nice pictures during the Pens warmups. I borrowed one of my friend’s Nikon D50 with a 70-300mm lens and was busily taking as many pictures as i could throughout the game. (Think i ended up taking somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 pictures…i would have taken more, but ran out of space on my 2 flash cards…) I enjoyed getting to see the boys up close and personal and even if i had known we would lose so badly, i still would have gone. It was great to get to see them play. Oh, and FYI, i’m NOT a fairweather fan. I love them even when they lose…even when they lose badly. It doesn’t make me happy by any stretch of the imagination, but i still love them. It’s part of being a fan. BTW, it’s only 2 games…so we lost to the Kings and then to the Sharks…big deal. It’s so ‘horrible’ that we’re still #1 atop the Eastern Conference. So i got razzed by a million Shark fans that night and the next couple of days. Here was my response and still is my response to all of you ‘haters’. “The CUP is still in the ‘Burgh. End of story. Where were the Sharks at the end of the playoffs? Wait…they were playing golf after the first, yes you heard me right, FIRST round. So razz me all you want to…if/when you guys make it out of the first round, come talk to me. (Since we’ve been in the Finals the last 2 years in a row) Ok, end rant.
Now to give credit where credit is due. The Sharks really did play a great game and proved why they are at the top in the NHL at the moment. (only behind the Avs i believe…) Thornton, Marleau, and Heatley are tearing it up and are a fearsome force to be reckoned with. If the Sharks continue to play hockey like we saw on Saturday night, they will indeed become a contender for the Cup this year.
All in all a great night. It would have been better if we’d taken home a win, but again, it’s all about being a fan. Experiencing the game, the excitement and being there to cheer the boys on. Win or lose, rain or snow, they’re still the Pens and they’re still my team and i’m going to cheer for them no matter what happens! I’m looking forward to another great year this year! GO PENS!
PS if you’d like to see more pictures of the game, head on over here - http://pittsburghpenguinsblog.net/photos
Topics: Pens Hockey | No Comments »
Kings prove that they are King and drop Pens 5-2
By admin | November 9, 2009
The name in this hockey game was Kopitar. In fact, the name in the NHL right now is Kopitar, who is the NHL leader in points (26) and 2nd in goals (13) to only Ovechkin. (14) It wasn’t just Kopitar in this game however, the Pens have to take their share of the blame. It seemed the entire game that the Pens were playing that lovely game called ‘chase the puck in our own end and then dump and chase in the offensive end…’ It’s a great game that is sure to not only tire you out, but not give you very many shots on net. (23) Don’t let that total number of shots fool you, they only managed a total of 13 shots across 2 periods and seemed to only get desperate in the last period to throw 10 shots on goal. I love my Pens, however, last night was less than stellar performance. Granted they are missing Malkin, Gonchar, Kennedy and Talbot, but they have to find a way to get shots on net. They’ve played some incredible hockey this year and managed to find ways to win almost every game, but this game the losses seem to have caught up with them. Without Gonchar on the power play we are now 3 for 32 (around 10%) and minus the spark plug Kennedy and the incredible skill of Malkin and the Superman capabilities of Talbot (shhhhhhh) and you have a seriously wounded Penguins hockey club. Thankfully Malkin’s injury is only superficial and he should be back in the saddle in another week or so. Kennedy, is still unknown as the Pens haven’t released any information on the injury.
It is only one game and one loss…so everyone can step back and take a deep breath. Saturday is another game and we will see how the Pens fare against the Sharks. Stay tuned as i will be taking pics at the game. GO PENS!
Topics: Pens Hockey | No Comments »
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