Can I Get Extra Cheese?:

First things first, this is the post until after the game tomorrow. If I have anything more to say, I'll just update. You have been warned...

Do I get a Pan Pizza with that?: In case you've forgotten 'the other guy' that the Pens picked up with Kunitz, his name is Eric Tangradi and he's a tough scoring center who plays currently for the Belleville Bulls in the OHL. He also shares the lead in playoff points and the Canadians seem to have forgiven him for sticking DiDomenico from the bench at the World Juniors, because he's been named Boston Pizza's Player of the Week. Mostly due to his 5 point game against the Ice Dogs in the OHL playoffs Tuesday. I had to look up Boston Pizza and as far as I can tell it doesn't have anything to do with Boston, but the pizza looks pretty good.

Finnish Fling: Janne Pesonen has ended this season with the highest point total in the whole history of the Baby Penguins. (82) As a matter of fact, he's the highest scoring Finnish player ever to play in the AHL, although someone had to go look that up because there just haven't been that many, I guess. Janne scored 2 goals and an assist in the third to hoist the Pens to a 5-3 win over the Hershey Bears in the season finale. Vince at Pesonen and the Pens will probably have to be restrained and sedated. No Vince, I don't think this means that they automatically have to call Janne to the Big League. Sorry man.

Say it Ain't so: Some Yo-Yo (there's a lot of them around) over at CBC.ca seems to think that none of us know that the Pens and the Phlyers just don't seem to get along.... C'mon! I have nothing against the Phylthies... Really! I'd like to invite them all over for a big BBQ. I hope they'll have the time, what with all the golfing they're going to be doing in a couple of weeks.... How is this news? You have two teams, in the same state, the same Conference, who entered the League in the same year from two towns that already had two other sports rivalries going. Not to mention I have yet to hear anyone in Pittsburgh say anything nice about Philthydelphia, and that includes people that moved here from there!.... How shocking is the fact that the teams don't get along? Drop the PUCK already! It's only been 3 days since the end of the Regular Season and I'm already tired of the silly ass names the reporters are coming up with for this match up. I'm just grateful there's not more time for them to come up with stuff.

I want you all to know that the Ratt is remaining calm waiting for the Play-Offs to start:

Mad Maximus and His Entourage:

Mad Maximus has a new jumbotron sponsor video. My favorite part is where he almost takes Senator Chris Neil's head off for disrespecting the Flower. (0:48 in) Call me vindictive if you want.
There's only three things I want to say about Monday's game, FPL member Kris Le-Tank scored his first goal in 36 games, Geno got hacked-off at MacArthur last night and smacked him with a right cross, and I can't remember the third thing. Doesn't happen too often but Malkin is a big guy and, if pushed, he's got a temper. .
General Penguin Type Stuff: Marc Andre Fleury practiced with the team again today, but Therrien says he won't be playing this week. Boucher is still listed as week-to-week, Ziggy is still day-to-day and Janne the Yo-yo (up and down, up and down) was sent back to WBS again. Hal Gill's injury is nearly 'disclosed'! The Sequoia will be out for 2 weeks with a shoulder injury that's not a bruise. (hey it's still better than 'undisclosed') At the bottom of that article is a tiny snippet that says, and I quote: "Whitney is hopeful to play next week for the first time this season." The Trib does not say who is hopeful. The Trib? The Penguins? Ryan Whitney? the Cotton Candy Guy? anyway, someone is hoping that Ryan plays sometime (undisclosed?) next week.
Ben Lovejoy (how about McLovin for a nickname or Benlovin? The mind wobbles!) is glad to have his first NHL game out of the way, and I have to tell ya, other than a couple of bobbles during a time when the whole team seemed to be doing the same thing, I was fairly impressed. He showed more poise in his first game than Go-Go did, and look how good Goligoski is doing now.
Also, this just in: 8100 midgets invade the Igloo! Well ok, it was kids day at the Mellon they showed up from 63 schools on 250 buses to watch practice. The under-height stampede evidently had a blast and the players got a kick out of it too. Whitney said," It was fun. You could tell that the kids enjoyed it, and it's something I wish I could have done when I was a kid." (What's he talking about? He's just a big kid and he gets to it every day.)

Sad Penguins and Schedule Notes:

In a (sometimes) valiant effort the Pens fall to the Sens 3-2. not even a shorthanded goal by the current points leader, Geno, could fuel another famous comeback on this one. This is where we learn the value of having TK and Ziggy on the ice. Noting against Pesonen or Minard, who are both doing what they can do, but you've got to miss TK's energy on that third line and Ziggy's face off percentage. Sabu looked pretty good, even in the loss with Spezza getting some world class chances alone in front of the net and burying the HT, but the Penguins spent waaay too much time in their own zone and seemed to have beginning of the season problems getting through the neutural zone. Staal and Malkin each had a goal and an assist with El Sid getting the other Pen's point in the game. The final two minutes were edge-of-your-seat stuff with the Pens buzzing around in the offensive zone and showing a lot of energy. Malkin got a little scrappy on a good chance at the goal, so I never saw what Staal and Phillips did to send them to the box with 13 seconds to go. Go-go seems to be finding his feet a bit more in the Big League, having his role defined a bit more probably helps a bunch. Sooner or later the Flightless Ones will have to learn how to deal with Spezza and his bunch even though they'll only meet them one more time in the regular season and that isn't until March 14.
Monday the Buffaslugs come to town, and that means another chance to trot out some demeaning cartoons I have laying around. So I have that to look forward to, at least.
Fellow Pensaddicts beware: Is it just me, or is the schedule really weird for the next month or so? A series of back-to-backs, with long empty spaces in between. I'm sure the scheduler's system (state of the art colored darts and a big calender) is no longer working in the Penguin's favor. With few exceptions there are back-to-back games every week until the beginning of February. Lace up your boots, it's going to be a long winter.


Unused goal waiting for Fleury:

No further word on Marc Andre Fleury's condition, unless I missed something during the game while raiding the fridge. (which sometimes happens during afternoon games. Hey, I need a snack!)


Tyler Kennedy's injury is actually 'disclosed'! (I don't know, for some reason this makes me nervous) TK will be out 4-6 weeks with a sprained knee. Chris Minard is projected on the third line and Janne Pesonen on the fourth, with Sabu-tage in net.

Updated, Thanks Spanks and Le-tanks:

I just want to thank Chris for giving me the keys to The Shop. There aren't enough words to express the gratitude. That being said in complete sincerity I can only add: It's MINE! Mine I Tell You!! Muahahahahaha!! (ok psychotic break over, back to work!)

At the top of every one's list today is Sean Avery's comments and 'indefinite' suspension, so let's deal with that and then move on. As you may have noticed by the pic to the left I'm something less than a fan of IFSA as Jodie puts it, (I F----n Hate Sean Avery. You can substitute your own favorite F word). He said some crude things about a couple of ex-girlfriends and their current relationships with hockey players, and in usual worm-like fashion he sought out a reporter in the locker room to make his comments. In swoops Gary Bettman who will ignore SA's bigoted and demeaning public comments about fellow players, but won't stand for him besmirching anyone with a publicity agent in their pocket. Final score? Say anything you want 'in house' but don't bite the hand that feeds the League. Public opinion means more to Bettman than disgruntled employees(or possibly even his left arm). Chalk another 'not too flipping smart' award to Avery, nuff said. Also translate 'indefinite suspension' to 'you'll play when I feel like letting you play' and it's not so much a punishment as a way to get SA (stupid a--) out of the way until Gary can see which way the PR wind is blowing.

Pens Stuff: Ok, on to things that actually matter. Marc Andre Fleury is only one of three Pens that practiced today, conditioning and he took some shots from Ryan Whitney. He's classifying his 'undisclosed' as back to 'day-to-day' rather than 'week-to-week'. Just out of my own head (after all what would want to stay in there?) it could be a Black, Gold and White Christmas this year as we all hope to get MAF and Whitney and now Boucher and Kennedy (who's undisclosed is also hurting) before the Big Guy with the reindeer gets here. (please, SC, don't check that list even once, just gimme!) Janne Pesonen and Chris Minard were called up because of Ziggy and TK getting 'undiscloseds' last night. Mike Zigomanis is listed as probable for the game though. Sabu is probable to start in net tonight.

Evgeni Malkin bought a house in Pittsburgh, but the guys at NHL.com think it's more wonderful that he's answering questions in English. (I gotta admit, that is pretty cool) It's gotta help communication on the ice, having Geno actually talking to his guys rather than Sarge translating for him when they get back to the bench. Of course he's still cursing in Russian, so Sarge probably still has some things to translate for the guys.

The PPG Q&A is asking some goalie type questions again. Basically the reader wanted to know why the Pens can't keep both Sabu and Flower. Molinari trotted out the bankbook logic stating that since Sabu is playing so well chances are that he'll get an offer that the Pens won't likely wish to match. This is true, Sabu is playing very well this year and it's quite likely there'll be a team that wants that kind of talent in front of their net and they'll offer him several large-ish bags of money to do so. The thing that Dave kinda missed was the fact that Dany wants to be a no.1 goalie, and with The Tower of Flower Power planted in front of the cage that's not likely to happen for him here.

Goofy Things You Never Thought You'd See: The latest in a series of slightly strange Jumbotron vids is this gem. Playing on Le-tank's name and stealing a 30 year old Tang commercial is kind of hokey, but it's harmless hokey I guess.

Tonight the Pens collide with the Hurricanes, and strangely enough I'm kind of hoping they're trailing going into the third period. Be prepared for 6798 Staal brother references. I know that's why there were only 258 last night, Stogie and Error were saving them up.
After Game Stuff: Syko went...... well, psycho tonight scoring two goals and coming within a whisker of the HT when Geno slipped him the puck on a 2 on 1 but Leighton put a stop to it. El Capitan had a 4 point night creeping ever closer (39) to Geno (41) On a further El Sid note, Sidney Crosby is now leading the Eastern Conference All Star Team voting. The Tower of Flower Power has taken a huge jump in the polls recently as well. The Pens actually scored 2 POWER PLAY GOALS. (somebody pinch me!) Satan scored, Fedotenko scored (now I know I'm hallucinating) I couldn't tell you how many times the Flightless Ones stole the puck in the 'Canes zone. Sabu looked very good in net making some amazing saves while making the other Staal look silly while doing it. Someone must have had words with Stogie and Error about the gratuitous Staal brother references because they're way down, although they did manage to work in Jared Staal in case it was just the Major Leaguers you were getting tired of hearing about.

Flowers, Stats and Golden Helmets:

I've tried and I've tried, but I can't find any further footage of Marc Andre Fleury working out. All I have to go by is the brief glimpse I got Saturday night when FSN showed Flower in a conditioning drill. By that token I'd say that he moved well through the drill, but the Authorities still insist that he hasn't made it through an entire practice. All I know is I couldn't make it through that one drill and I haven't had an 'undisclosed lower body injury' in years.

Sidney Crosby may be the single beastliest player in the League this last week. Second in the League in points (34) Third in goals (13) and third in assists (21). He's scored 5 goals in the last two games including his second career hat trick in Saturday's game against the New Jersey Debbils. The guy even manages to make an empty net goal look exciting.

In a purely unofficial stat he also leads the League in goals scored while sliding on body parts other than the skates. Is there any way that we could get someone to trip him for every shot? That could boost his totals right through the roof. A player like El Capitan is something that every hockey team wants one of. He's ultra-talented, he's personable, even tempered and actually seems to like the fans he's playing for. Any team that had just one of those would consider itself lucky. Picksburgh has more than one, the Flightless Wonders also have Evgeni Malkin. Geno is first in the League in scoring (39) first in the League in assists (29) and while his 10 goals make him 28th in the League he's only 3 behind his teammate for third place and has also scored a HT last week. He's a big, Russian hockey playing version of Jethro Bodine ( no insult to Geno, but imagine him in bibs and a straw hat.)and a player who likes da Burgh. It doesn't stop there. The Pens back-up goaltender is leading the League in goals against average (1.84) and is fourth in save percentage (.930). On the FPL side of the ledger there's Brooks Orpik who is second in the League in hits (87) and Rob Scuderi, who's 6th in the League in blocked shots (60) add this all up and what do you get? Let's go to the map. My big schedule on the wall is marked with Wins in orange ink (random choice, no color significance) and Losses and OTL in purple and it's saying I'm going to need a new orange Sharpie before long.(I'll buy a whole box, I don't care) The Pens went 9-2-1 for the month of November, making them 14-6-3 for the year. They're 5 points behind the Division/Conference leading Rangers with 4 less games, and they're missing their two best defensemen. I don't normally like stats, but once you get into them they're harder than quicksand to get out of. Someone throw me a rope so I can get out of here.
Non Stat Stuff: Ryan Whitney has completed his first full week of practices, but doesn't seem to want to promote wild speculation on his condition. (yeah, that whole 'undisclosed' thing doesn't invite speculation, does it?) He says his status "Doesn't change on a day-to-day basis. It's more week-to-week. Once you get a day off, usually it feels better the next day." And what about full-contact drills? "Hopefully, at the end of the road trip this week I'll be doing everything in practice." Speaking of 'undisclosed', Phillipe Boucher is day-to-day (seeing a pattern here?) with whatever injury he sustained in Friday's game.
Janne Pesonen has been sent back to the Baby Pens. (sorry Vince) I know some will disagree, but I think this is exactly the correct way to handle Janne with the current situation. His inexperience in the NHL needs to be balanced with the needs of the team. Sticking him in when they can gives him some familiarity with the League and the Team. If the situation ever comes up where they need him for an extended period of time it'll make his transition that much easier.
Further Finnish News: The Trib put out an article this morning about JP and his desire to remain in the Big League. Coach T likes what Golden Helmet is doing in the AHL, but hasn't' yet had the ice-time time to assess him in the NHL (but doesn't he assign ice-time?). Janne seems to have a hungry attitude about his chances. "I want to be here, and I want to get a place on the team." Pesonen said before the Devil game. "Playing in the NHL has been my dream since I was a kid. I definitely want to be a better player. I'm not happy with the way I am right now. This is the biggest challenge, and I'm looking forward to it." Molinari, over at PPG.com answers a Janne question over at Pens Q&A, and seems to think they ought to play JP or trade him. Easy there, Dave, it's his first season.

Also, because I think the thankfulness should never end, and I like swiping stuff from other sites... I have this from The Penguins Experience:

Debbils, Brothers, Barenaked Ladies, and Hat Tricks:

Sidney Crosby (now tied for second in points with 30) did his best to give Marc Andre Fleury a win for a birthday present with two goals last night in Buffaslugville, including one sick goal where he contributed his own redirection. But such was not to be. Pens lose 4-3 after giving up two goals in the third. John Curry made 28 saves and looked fantastic at times with several quick-reaction saves in the third period to keep the game even and then close, but the Pens couldn't keep the puck in the offensive zone or control their own zone with the 'Slugs buzzing around. (I didn't know slugs could do that are they slugs or mosquitoes?) Pesonen didn't get much ice time, but was solid while still needing more familiarity with the speed and style of the big League to show more of his offensive capabilities, if he has any, (sorry Vince) Phillipe Boucher left the game early with the dreaded 'undisclosed' (I still hate that) and did not return, mixing up the FPL and causing some problems with the power play which ended up a dismal 0-7 on the night.

The Flightless Ones will be facing long time nemesis New Jersey tonight without the services, once again of the Flower, whose still 'undisclosed' injury is now classed as week-to-week instead of day to day. (... and there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth) According to PP.com Dany Sabourin is slated to play in net tonight and Janne Pesonen will remain with the Big Club and play on Malkin's left wing. They go on to say that the Pens have struggled a bit with teams that play the trap (Debbils, Red Rags, Minnesota Tame to name a few) Frank, at Pennsburgh.com (who has been cleared of all collaboration charges) lists the bookload of injuries that the Debbils have suffered recently including center and all around bad guy, John Madden, who injured his foot and did not make the trip to the Igloo today. John Mattau will return from his latest two game suspension for tonight's game and Scott Clemmenson who's been hot will probably sit in net. The Hockey News notes that the 4 of the teams that NJ has beaten in their 5 game winning streak all.... well... suck.

Game Stuff Update: The Penguins do not suck, therefore the Debbils could not beat them. Finally we see an entire 60 minutes of hockey. Sidney Crosby has woken up from whatever goal scoring coma he's been in for the first quarter of the season. Scoring the Hat Trick(I got so excited I threw my Harley Davidson hat at the TV) tonight to score his fifth goal in two games. El Capitan is now solidly in second place in scoring with 34 points with 3 goals and an assist tonight. He even makes empty net goals look exciting. Geno stretches his lead on everyone but the Kid to 37 points with his two assists. Syko scored the other goal off a nifty saucer pass from El Sid right in front of the net. And no further disrespect to Stogie, but I don't care how 'not fair' it is that the Pens have Sidney. Sabu looked very solid in net, steering everything that he didn't glove off to the corner. Other than a rash of Penguins landing on their butts for no apparent reason the Flightless Crew looked pretty damn good.

Flower Sighting: FSN showed a brief glimpse of the Tower of Flower Power working with the conditioning coach and to my untrained eye he looked pretty good. He seemed pretty sharp in the movement drill they showed and it just took me to an even higher happy place than the game alone could have.

Other Stuff: Did you know that Brooks 'the Hammer' Orpik has a brother? And that Andrew (the bro's name) plays forward for Brook's Alma Mater, Boston College? Well, if you knew all that, then the news that he's equalled his big bro's season goal total (2) in one game against Harvard won't come as much of a surprise. Nobody tell Stogie or Error about this, they've got enough hockey brothers to babble about.

The Barenaked Ladies (no comment) have re-tooled the Hockey Theme for TSN, but it won't be released for another month. Tyler Stewart, the 'Ladies' drummer said it was also a thrill for the band because, "It means so much to so many people across the country" I assume this country is Canadia, because I couldn't tell you what the 'Theme' sounds like and I've been watching hockey for a while now.

Undisclosed Buffaslugs:

I was doing research for today's blog (translation: wandering the Internet aimlessly) when I stumbled onto an old post at Ingmar Bergman Shoots! ( I have no idea what a Swedish filmmaker has to do with hockey, even in Canadia, so don't ask) and ran onto this amusing little pic where the ubiquitous Buffaslug was done to death by every logo in the League including the Fighting Penguin. After clearing the tears of laughter from my eyes I swiped part of it and brought it here. The Online Urban Dictionary defines the Buffaslug as: The new logo of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres, so called for its slug like appearance. The Sabre's Buffaslug is one of the most poorly designed logos ever concieved by a major professional sports team.

We (I think I speak for Chris as well) at the Shop do not consider the logo to tell the whole tale of the team, but let's face it, silly is silly.

Game-ish Stuff: Mad Maximus joins his friend and fellow French Canadian Marc Andre Fleury in the 'Day-to-day undisclosed injury' club. The only difference being that there's footage (bad pun alert!) of what happened to Maxime and none on Flower. Max was seen walking around on his own feet so speculation (which is all we have) is that he hasn't broken anything in his left foot. The other notable thing about this is that 'Golden Helmet' Janne Pesonen has been called up from WBS to fill the hole in the lines left by Talbot's tender tootsies. Vince, over at Pesonen and the Pens is already drooling over his Turkey leftovers in anticipation.

D.O. over at Die By the Blade has done a Pens scouting report with a bit of help from Frank at Pensburgh who returned the favor by doing a Sabres scouting report. (I sense collaboration with the enemy Captain, set phasers on, 'WTF?') D.O. seems to think the Pens are some scary third period Flightless Birds, but the defense and goaltending situation has him puzzled. (Hey, join the club!) Frank thinks that with Vanek out with the dreaded 'undisclosed' the Pens have an edge in offense and the 'Slugs are too inconsistent in every other category to tell what kind of team is going to show up for the game. (I hear a lot of 'your guess is as good as mine in there)

Things to be Thankful for: Brooks 'The Hammer' Orpik can be thankful that the Pens are going to play in Buffalo, as he is from the area and will get to spend the Holiday with his family. But then again, I don't know his family, so I can only assume he'll be thankful for that.

All the Pensaddicts can be thankful that El Capitan, Sidney Crosby likes to play in the 'Burgh of the Three Rivers. "I live a pretty simple life," Crosby said, "I want to play somewhere people are interested in the sport, and for an organization that cares. I've got a lot of that in Pittsburgh. I feel pretty fortunate to be there. It's not the biggest city, but it's a city I really like" Aw Sid, we're kinda fond of you too.

And finally, Tower of Flower Power fans can be thankful for Youtube, as it's the only place for the last two weeks we've been able to watch the Flower.

Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie:

Marc Andre Fleury allowed 3 goals on 22 shots in the Gateway City to give the Blues the blues. The Tower of Flower Power had a solid, sometimes flashy excursion between the 'arches' in St Louis, despite allowing 2 goals on only 4 shots in the first, at which point many bridges in the Golden Triangle where crowded with despondent, soon to be damp, Pensaddicts. Flower and the FPL tightened up, and shut down the Blues and their #1 PP for most of the rest of the game. MAF will be at BC Sports in the Ross Park Mall from 12:00-1:30 Sunday to sign autographs (if you buy a little 50-60 buck autograph ticket), sorry, slipped up on this one and didn't get the news until late.

Recap-ish: The 'Saved by Zero' commercial must die the death. Ok, that being said, about halfway through the first, Wolverine (Jackman, get it?) scored off a sneaky boomerang shot that didn't stay in the goal for more than a second, I was hopefully waiting for the replay, but it betrayed me by showing that the shot actually went in. Later, on a bad call/hipcheck/trip on Brooksie, Malkin (who let's face it, doesn't count face-offs as one of his skills), won two or three in a row to help the PK hold the enemy shotless. That shotless PP thing lasted for the first two periods. Pessonen's gold helmet tangent in the FSN booth, and how Steggies nephew is a better researcher than Steggo. Just when I was about to throw something at the screen during a Pens PP, Le-Tank flips a pass to El Sid who slips it to Satan who picks up his own errant pass to show Chris Mason the power of the Lord of the Infernal Realm with a nice wrist-shot over his shoulder. This would have been much cooler if Oslie hadn't scored off a good McClement pass 25 seconds later. (Cue cheesy Hee-Haw song) Intermission Question: Do they just shuffle those penguin/Potash commercials, or does someone actually watching the game pick them? And why do Potash's penguins get more play than the Pittsburgh Penguins during the break?

Second Period start reads like an FPL report. Scuds made a nice diving play, Le-Tank gets slashed by the God of wine and song (Baccus), no call. Go-Go scores on a nice wrister from near the blue line. Blues try to quick-counter again but the apparent goal was waved off on a high stick pass. Tank comes back and Flower makes a glove save on a shot that I didn't even see on slow-mo replay. Bobbo and Steggo go off on yet another tangent talking about how Alex Pietrangelo pronounces his name different than Frank to cover Steggie's butt for mispronouncing Frank's name all these years until we almost miss Brewer's holding Sid. Just about when you think the PP is hopeless, Geno slaps one from the blue line, through McKee's legs and past a confused Mason to make the score 3-2. Then 30 seconds later TK smacks his own rebound off Mason's butt to make the game 4-2. A few minutes later, Golden Helmet revved up Spaceballs I and mashed some Bluenote into the boards. Kevin and Vince over at Pessonen and the Pens are probably doing back flips watching this. Mason almost brainfarts one into his own goal, Errey almost has an aneurism talking about it. Just before the end of the period, Syko goes psycho on a Blues defenseman who was taking stick-liberties with El Capitan. As exciting as the second was, Error and Stogie want to talk about how Alex Pietrangelo is his own grandpa or the strange, almost West Virginian way that Alex and Frank are related..... I listened for 10 minutes and still don't understand it.

The Third Period was much more relaxing to watch, even though I wasn't counting this one as a win until it was in the bag. Chris Holt, the Blues backup goalie made a spectacular save... from the bench. And then we learned that it takes 4 blues players to take on one Energizer Bunny (TK) and Zigomanis is more than a face-off specialist. Ziggy was working his butt off, blocking shots, stealing pucks and taking shots. Orpik became the defensive beast we all know him to be and put Kariya on his butt. Later, Berglin picks up his own rebound and flips one past the Flower and things are tense while everyone waits for yet another melt-down, until 40 seconds later when Maximus (keep the French-Manchu, it's working) makes a deal with Satan to score his second goal of the year off of a nice clear by Orpik. MAF with some nice work in the final minutes and an empty net gift for Staal from Geno sealed the deal. 6-3

Wrap-up, wrap-up: Got to give the Pens credit. Even though the PP seemed to be more lucky than good sometimes, the PK was simply awesome shutting down the Blues, who despite some problems have a stellar PP. They didn't go into a shell at all in the third, keeping up the offensive pressure and scoring goals. The Zebra patrol seemed to have a bit of a problem seeing some fairly blatant slashing penalties, and the FSN duo had a bit of a problem repeating the word 'jump' 654 times and I now feel like a member of the Pietrangelo clan due to the genealogy laid out by Steigerwald.

Moronic Russian Quote of the Day: Alexander Semin has decided that since Ovie is out of the country he should do what he can to keep the Craps/Pens rivalry going. Either that or he feels safer knowing that it'll be Jan. 14th until he'll have to pay for his remarks about El Sid. You see Sperm the Worm has decided that El Capitan is just your average player hyped to the max. "I think if you take any player, even if he is 'dead wood' and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 1oo points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in , and he scored 50 goal: everyone will say 'wow' and then hand him 10 mil per year." Uh.... 'dead wood' and '100' points don't normally go together. And all apologies to him, but that sounds a lot more like Ryan Malone than Troy and Trina's little boy. Just another case of a guy saying something contrivercial to get a rise and that becomes more important than the relative stupidity of the player making the comment. My advice? When you pay your dues, Alex, you'll get your props. Until then, keep your mouth shut and play hockey.

It Is Finally Time

Finally, in just about 24 hours the Penguins' season will be at hand. Despite the short off-season for the Pens it has seemed like we have been going without real hockey for ages now. That all changes tomorrow though when MAF and the boys get things underway in Sweden by showing Jarkko what a big mistake he made back on July 1st. It is a long season and there will be bumps in the road along the way, but it is going to be a fun ride all the same so let's all enjoy it and bask in what a great time this is to be a Penguins fan.

You should notice some minor additions here in the next week or so as I go through my options for adding some kind of stat tracked for MAF and also see if there are any other valuable widgets for me to add to the sidebar. I will also be looking to fill out the links sections (including today's addition of Pesonen and the Pens).

Finally I would like to offer a belated and official welcome to David(Dave?) a.k.a. Stagerat for coming on board here at The Shop. All of the great content you have been reading here the last few days is thanks to him and I am really looking forward to working with him throughout the season and hopefully beyond. If any others of you are still pondering contributing here in some capacity, do not hesitate to leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail. The more the merrier here at The Flower Shop.

Now drop the puck already!

Insert Batman/Joker reference here:

Ok, they've got a silly logo, a goofy name, they're in no way affiliated with Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson, and they're basically the equivalent of whooping the Wheeling Nailers butts. But hey, a win is a win. The mighty Penguins have defeated the Helsinki Jokers (Jokerit) 4-1.

Sykora and Mad Max didn't suit today, Syko with a sore groin and Max with a bruised leg they really don't want to talk about yet. Malkin, and Fedotenko scored in the first, Malkin scored on a power play slap shot at 9:00 of the first, off feeds from Alex Goligoski and Crosby. Fedotenko then struck with nine seconds left in the period, as line mates Crosby and Miroslav Satan got the assists. Marc-Andre Fleury blanked the Jokerit attack, including one power play chance, and that's the way it would stay through Danny Sabourin taking over with just over 6 minutes left in the second until 5 minutes into the third when some Joker with an unpronounceable name ( Janne Lahti) scored on a penalty shot. Kennedy with help from Pesonen and Le-tank scored a few minutes later and with 9 seconds to go Dupuis scored on an empty net with help from Crosby (third assist) and Gill.

What does it mean? Virtually nothing stats-wise, but from what I was able to gather the crowd was decidedly pro-Penguin, pro-NHL, and one luxury section was entirely pro-Sid, as they were all wearing Crosby jerseys. (As a side note: Whoever is doing the reporting for PP.com is strangely obsessed with the song 'Cotton Eyed Joe' and feels the need to mention every time it was played.) What it means to me, is that in less than 48 hours the season starts and we can all actually see all the rest of the games, and I can get some relief from this Pens-jones. What some people don't see is that the whole NHL Europe excursion isn't for you, or me, or even for most of the people that are going to the games this week. It's to keep the ideal of the NHL burning in the brains of all those players, the ones that played and the ones that watched, so that for some of them the dream will continue. To grow up and be good enough to one day play in 'The Big League'. And hey, as long as it continues to bring the Janne Pesonens over to wear the Skating Penguin, it's a good thing.

Late info: Speaking of Janne, the Janblogger has some pics from the game that someone sent him. They're not great, there aren't too many, but hey, they're pics.