When It Quacks Like a Duck:

I've been known to overlook the occasional faux pas (I know, it's another language, deal with it) delivered on the ice. I've even sugar-coated most of December (5-8-1) and I've been guilty of glossing over most of January (5-8-1) but I just can't make nice about what happened Sunday in the 'Where's the Sunshine State'. The Pens looked like they'd been replaced by time-warp doubles from Dec-Jan after El Capitan took on Ballard for upending Geno with a hip-check that sent him for a hockey version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. El Sid will never put fear in the hearts of apposing tough guys, but he did have a WWF take-down move. With Sid in the box the whole team just seemed to unravel a bit during the second period and didn't even look like themselves until just minutes left to go in the third. By then it was too late, as we all know by now. Marc Andre Fleury faced 26 shots and allowed 4 goals. Flower made some good saves, and the defense were doing their jobs for the most part (Scuds blocking that shot and clearing the rebound on the PK, Orpik riding what's-his-name right through the crease and into the boards) but the guys kept giving up the puck around the blue lines or in the neutral zone, or turning the puck over on the lead pass out of the zone. All the bad stuff they were doing for those two months when we were all wondering if they were playing for good draft picks, or something. I'm going to have to apologize for Sniper Kitty failing to make the trip to Florida and that should explain why niether Error or Stogie were taken out for their jinxing comments at the end of the first period. It's going to take some Major-League meditation for the Ratt to get calm for Tuesday's game in Tampa. But enough about the bad stuff, on to Other Things.

Other Things: Tyler Kennedy has been scoring goals, crashing the boards, and just about running over anyone who tries to get between him and the puck. One fine example of that was during the Raggers game when he jumped IFHSA and beat him to the ice.

TK has been called the 'Energizer Bunny'. Which is apt enough, I guess (he does bring energy to the game and the team) but it sounds wimpy and cutesy and doesn't fit at all on a guy that regularly takes runs at Zedano Charra who tops him by about 12 feet. (ok, it's only 2 feet, but still...) So I have decided to consider TK the Pens version of DareDevil. Because on the ice, he is The Man Without Fear.