Falling Flowers and Spicy Indian Cuisine

This is as good as Flower looked all night.

Ok, my period of mourning for the most goals the Toronto Maple Syrups have scored on an opponent all year is over. (besides I had some Christmas shopping to do) So, on with the Stuff.

Marc, I think it's time to ditch the new hat. I know it was made special for the Winter Classic last year, but remember why you didn't play in the WC? I think the new melon-protector may have some bad mojo. (I like the old one better anyway) They say that hockey goalies are some of the most superstitious sports people, and I have to agree. Which may mean we won't be seeing the yellow squash protector for a while.
UPDATE: I keep seeing stories that MAF has passed Carey Price to start in the All Star Game, but every time I go check(also to put in a vote for the Flower) he's 6000 or so votes behind. This see-saw voting is worse than Florida on a Presidential election. C'mon already folks! Start snipping wires for Canadian Internet, or something.... lol Also, The Tower of Flower Power is set to start in net for the Pens, he'll have to play tonight and 3 more games before Jan 2 to qualify for the ASG.

Monday, the team is going to play the Buffaslugs in Slug-a-lo having taken a bus to get there on Sunday. Evidently it's quite a blast from the past, since most of the players butts haven't hit Greyhound vinyl since their Junior Hockey days. They should be grateful they don't actually have to ride the Grey-dog. You can meet some interesting people on a bus. (Didn't I see you last month on Cops? Or was it America's Most Wanted?) "With the charters, it's pretty nice going from point A to point B in no time at all." Rob Scuderi said, "We're pretty spoiled. I don't think it's that big a deal for us to suck it up for one trip." Yeah Scuds, I feel your pain, man.

MORE UPDATING: Pascal Dupuis will play tonight according to Empty Netters. Perhaps tonight the Pens will understand that just because MAF is in net they can't just relax. This is the NHL which stands for: Next Huge Loss, if you're not working your butts off no matter who's in net.

Ryan Whitney is targeting Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning as his return to the line up. "I don't think I'm ready to play a lot of minutes." Whitney said, "I haven't played for six months. I've got to get back into game shape." Whits had an assist on Janni Pesonen's goal (Somewhere Vince is having a tender moment with himself) Saturday against the River Rats in WBS's 4-3 win. He said he was having some trouble getting through the first period, but after that it got easier. Especially when he got to the point he forgot about his foot and just played the game. "As the game went on it was a relief. It was good to know that once I stopped worrying about it, I played better and we won."

With two weeks left to go Sidney Crosby has passed Jaromir Jagr's record in All Star fan voting, and Evgeni Malkin was only 19,000 short of the 1,020,736 (yeah that's 1 million) needed to pass Jags by noon Sunday. There seem to be a couple of Pensaddicts out there voting for anyone with a Flightless Fighting bird on his shirt, because Whitney and Gonchar are close to starting defense in the game and they don't even qualify. (you have to have played at least 20 games by Jan. 2)

John Curry is one of the subjects of the PP.com's 'Confidential Prospect Report' (I almost felt like an 'insider' until I realized that anyone can see the damn thing.) He's also the subject of Molinari's Pens Q&A at PPG.com. The question is basically, 'Does having Curry make Sabourin expendable?' Molinari gives a neutral answer that leaves you wondering why anyone asks his opinion (c'mon Dave, answer like you don't care what they think!). If I'm translating correctly it goes something like this: Curry played well, but Sabu doesn't cost that much at the moment. Yes he could fill the role (maybe), but I don't want to put any pressure on Shero by saying that's what they should do. Ok Dave, I don't want to bring you down, but somewhere in this pile of Posts, I've quoted you saying that very thing. Something to the tune of, 'Someone will offer Sabu too much money, and it doesn't matter because Curry could slip right in to his role.' Verdict? Reporter busted.

I'll post more before the game Monday, but I wanted to make one final comment tonight on the fine officials the League chose for the Toronto game:

YET MORE UPDATING: El Capitan is evidently suffering through a cold and also a bit of depression because he hasn't scored a goal in a record (for him) 9 games. If it were anyone else this wouldn't even be a mention during a game, let alone a headline story.