Habs, and Hab-nots:

Pre-season games = Pre-season Blogging.... Another quick shot.

The Penguins (or most of them) strolled into..... wherever the hell the Hab-nots play (rumored to be somewhere in Canadia) here's the line-up for those of us who had problems keeping track of who was what. (raises hand) Is it just me, or did Curry change his number? I thought he had the #1 at some point. Anyway, the Pens lose 4-3 in what the TSN announcers were calling a 'Canadien's Big (little) 3 must show something Game'. Well, I'm here to tell you, that the Habs did everything they could to make that happen, including shoving their first line against the mostly-rookie 4th line of the Pens not just for one goal, but for two. Despite this, Curry had a pretty good game and some very good saves, considering the sometimes choppy play by his defensemen. I hear a lot of Blah-Blah about how hockey is different in Canadia and how the Fans expect... yadda yadda yadda. Whatev. Padding the stats in pre-season is still pretty lame.

It's hard for the Guys to look too polished but we did see some flashes of a pretty good game with Caputi, Lovejoy and Tangradi having the best showing of the rooks. The important thing is we actually got to SEE the guys playing, and once again got to see Croz try to score a goal from his butt. It just wets the addiction. Two more televised games this week and then a week until the season starts! I can hardly wait!

Flower Stuff: Sam Kasan over at PP.com had a nice article about something we already know. It seems that he is of the opinion that the Tower of Flower Power has proven himself a 'clutch' goalie. Where he came up with this, I have no idea. Unless of course, he watched the last 6 seconds of game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. (Hmmm, could be.) Gilles Miloche, the Pens goalie coach finished up with this, "His attitude and his work ethic and everything coming to the rink hasn't changed at all. I'm confident that it should be another good year." I think he's got a point.

As usual, more to come at random intervals....

Quick Shot:

For those of you who've been missing seeing the Tower of Flower Power half-naked and sweaty, this here's a pre-game vid for ya. And for everyone who didn't find the highlights of the game (and why didn't ya? it was easy) here you go.. There's also the written version and evidently Tangradi might make choosing Crosby's line-mate a bit more difficult.

Joe Starkey over at the Trib has some flattering things to say about Flower. I can't argue with his reasoning and frankly, don't really want to. Any time someone mentions MAF and MVP in the same sentence I always think it's a good idea.

Also, the Pens reduced the roster to 43. This still includes Fleury (natch), Johnson, Theisen, and (don't get too excited Puck Huffers) Curry as the goaltenders. 2 of these guys are going to WBS or elsewhere before the 30th. Shero likes having a veteran back-up somewhere in the system, but if I had to guess, I would almost bet on Flower/Curry for the regular season combo. Have to get more footage on the other netminders before I put any money down though.

New Seasons:

Pre-season has started its wackiness... why it seems like only yesterday that camp started.... ok day before the day before yesterday then. Now begins the mad scramble to find somewhere ANYWHERE that a Pensaddict can catch a glimpse of their hockey-fix. And like every other season it's the same answer.... no dice. I've swept up and down the interwaves hoping for a hockey bone and the best I can do is.... NHL network is broadcasting the games on the 21st, 22nd and the 27th against the Habs, Leafs, and the Red-rags, amongst the 10 PS games they're broadcasting this year. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY is talking about Pens pre-season.... it's weird, but typical. I know that the Pens are playing Columbus Tues, but not even the perennial Blue Jacket fans The Puck Huffers have anything to say about the game. Have I entered the Hockey Twilight Zone? Oh yeah, it is pre-season, isn't it.

Well, the boys are playing the traditional Black and Gold Game on Thursday the 17th. There are no tickets left for this game that benifits the United Way. I got that news from a WBS paper because that's where the game is.

If rookie Brian Strait is impressed with 3,500 fans watching a practice, what's he going to do when (and if) he gets into a real NHL game? Brian, who's been playing for Boston University, had never played in front of that many people before in his life. He was especially impressed by the greeting given The Tower of Flower Power.

The Guys delivered season tickets again this year, but there's only a couple of vids. One of all the Guys (10 of them anyway), one with The Incredible Malk delivering to a family more undeserving than mine, and Croz delivering to the same lady that predicted the winning of the cup 2 years ago, I think. Of course once the Cup came in and the reporters started hovering she was shuttled off to the side until it came time to talk about Sid... Speaking of the Cup, the Champs are starting the season with the right kind of attitude, I think. They've hidden the thing until after training camp/pre-season, and aren't talking about it much at all. Not resting on their laurels, just getting back to business. I like that.

Happy Birthday to Me: September 19th will mark the 1 year anniversary of my first post on TFS. (you can look it up) I can't believe it's been a year already. I don't want to brag or anything, but the year I started blogging marks the first time in 17 years or so that the Penguins won the big shiny Jello-Mold. Coincidence? I think not.... Been working on some changes for the Banner and updating the widgets, but other than that it'll be the same nonsense I've been babbling so far. Thanks for reading (and commenting) even the ones that busted the Blogger... lol

Busy Summer:

I normally don't say much about my personal life on this Blog, but as a way of explanation let's re-cap my off-season, but let's skip everything up to the last three weeks. Car rolled, Girlfriend OK, GF's Mom in Hospital, Car Search, Car purchase, School begins, Job evaluation. Ok, now that you're up to speed as to why there haven't even been the usual low number of Summer posts we can move on.

For those of you living in the Sudan, or who've just returned from an extended UFO abduction (how is the home planet BTW?) I can inform you that The Tower of Flower Power has taken his Stanley Cup winning ways to attempt to make the Canadian Olympic Team. And if you just take the word of Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun over at ESPN.com's NHL Blog he's a shoe-in. They've both posted him as one of the three goalies the Canadians get to take to the Oly's. Don't get excited though, the actual roster isn't set until the middle of Dec., and there's a lot of Goalie talent to choose from once you get to Muy Norte' (Very North). Brodeur, Luongo, Ward, and Mason are not slouches. And then there's the realization that they don't even have to chose ANY of the five goalies invited to Orientation Camp. (Yserman, why must you be so cruel?) So we've got several months of speculation and here's one of mine...

Brodeur is a perennial favorite to star in any Canadians Olympic hockey fantasy. He's been there, done that, and he's won the shiniest medal before, but if he doesn't make this team he'll never make another. Uncle Daddy's on the cusp of being too old and with last year's injury he's starting to show it. If he goes down during the season he's not making the Olympic trip. Luongo is Uncle-Daddy's heir-apperent and he already plays in Vancouver so there's no commute. Ward had something of a Kryptonite moment in the Conference Finals Series so he'll have to show something, and Mason is going to have to fight his Sophamore slump issues and continue to impress (not easy) Marc-Andre is coming off Back to Back Stanley Cup Final appearances and he's just won the damned thing, so a good showing during the season could get him a trip to the Interlocking Ring Games.

Now that things have started to settle in a bit around here, I'll be coming up with a bit more in the regular posting department. In a manner of atonement, here are some Olympic Flower Pics for ya. Bonus Flower/Uncle-Daddy pic





I have no idea who that guy is....... lol