Update Substitute:

I was going to just update my last post when I realized there was enough here for another post (ok I was too lazy to re-write the other one), so I'll just update and continue in this one.

Updating the Update: This time I'm just going to shoe-horn this stuff into the middle.... Jordan Staal will play the left wing with El Capitan and TK on the first line tonight in Music City. He'll also be playing in Pittsburgh for the next 4 years at the bargain price of $4 mil a year. (I pretty much figured I was the last one in the Burgh to hear about this) The materialistic pig in me wonders if Staalzy will go out tonight and try to earn some of that money, but I'm just glad the uncertainty is over and can't wait to find out what Pensaddicts will find to stress out over next. (The Cotton Candy Guy is being traded? Oh God! the world is ending!)

Ryan Whitney is doing better than Therrien thought he would at this point in his recovery. (uh....he's been playing for two weeks) Whits is still learning what he can do with his foot that was probably really painful before. (you know, like walk, stand, skate.. the little things) Syko seems to think it's a good thing to have a heads-up defenseman that can make a quick outlet pass. "If that first pass can beat a couple of guys on their forecheck, or in their trap, that's how we creat scoring chances. It's not the forwards who create those chances, it's the defensemen."

Take a Bite out of Crime: Or at least a bite out of Ruuuuuutuuuuu's paycheck. (I still can't help myself) In responce to Yarkko Ruutu biting Buffaslug's Andrew Peters during a recent game the NHL decided to chomp two games out of Yaarko's paycheck($37,707, NHL's got big dentures). Peters, who is still whining like a baby and wearing a bandage, thinks that 'justice has been done'. All the while saying nothing about how his thumb ended up in Ruuuuutuuuuu's mouth (do you think there's a 12 step for that?), I've seen footage and it's not like Yarks grabbed the guy's hand and mistook his thumb for some strange Finnish desert. Peters repeatedly face-washed Ruuuuuutuu (I'm still doing it!) and he had a flashback to his Mike Tyson summer camp experience and.... the rest, as they say is history (burp).

Not right? Re-write!: Joe Starkey of the Trib, obviously had to do a hasty re-write of his story after the win Tues. It's got to be a bitch when you write a story admonishing everyone not to blame Therrien for the poor play of the team, and then the night before you publish the team wins its first game in 6 tries. He seemed to be ready to spread the blame around and then had to backtrack with a lot of 'even thoughs' and 'despite the wins'. The list includes, but is not limited to, Ray Shero, Marc Andre Fleury, Satan, Geno, El Sid, and possibly even the Cotton Candy dude. Yeah Joe, we know it's a team effort, and a team loss, but lay off the CC dude, would ya? He's just trying to make a living.

Tony F. over at KuklasKorner is reporting that obnoxious know it all and all around big mouth Mark Madden has finally lost his mind (what little he had). Ok, really he's reporting that Madden said on his radio show that Michel Therrien is slated to be replaced 'at any moment' with the 'motivational' Pat Quinn. He goes on to say that if the Pens hadn't beat the Thrashers it would already be a done deal. He doesn't site any sources, just the voices in his head, I guess. Every time Madden opens his mouth he proves that his foot isn't big enough to keep the noise from coming out. If you're right once loudly enough, everyone will forget how often you've been wrong, eh Mark?

Natural Flowers: The Tower of Flower Power was more his half-naked, cheery self in the post-game interview after the win. (a lot of people were more their cheery selves after the game, including me, the half-naked part I'll leave to your imagination)

Aw dad, Just another half hour?: The Pens start a special road trip in Nashville, Thursday night. I suppose this means Error and Stogie will get to talk about Country Music while mentioning each Player's father that the camera people pick out of the stands. Because it's that time of year again, the Dad's road trip. This is a tradition started a couple of years ago by Ray Shero where 23 parents of the players and some of the Team Staff get to travel with the team while they're on a short road trip. I suppose it's a cool thing in kind of a hokey way (nothing wrong with hokey) I just hope for Therrien's sake that the dads don't start acting like Little League parents and harangue HCMT about why their kids aren't playing, or yelling at the refs to 'not let that big bully hurt my boy'. That sort of thing could be a bit embarrassing. Oh, and the Dads bunk with their sons, so no sneaking out for brewskies or sneaking girls into the rooms, unless you bring one of each for dad... (ok, that was bad, sorry) No word yet, if they'll be taking the Zombie Voodoo Witch Doctor along(she's on the staff now), just in case there's more need for curse-breaking.

More Schedule News: The Trib is reporting that the Jan 18 game against the Raggers will be at 12:30 on NBC. Its part of their flex-scheduling thing, and it's marked TBA on most schedules. So, I guess it's announced.

Party Penguins:

The Tower of Flower Power, Marc Andre Fleury, was just that tonight, making 27 saves on 28 shots as the Penguins (finally) win against the Thrashed tonight at the Igloo 3-1. On the face of it, you might think it was a 'gimme' game. Atlanta has the worst defense in the League and the Pens are loaded with offensive talent. Until you consider this, the Pens have lost the last 5 games, haven't won in the Igloo in a month (Dec 11th was the last win at home) haven't had a PP goal in some ungodly number of chances, they'd only scored one goal in the last two games and they're in the middle of a slump that has seen them slide from 4th to 9th in the Conference. There was nothing 'gimme' about this game. The Pens finally saw some reward for all their hard work and the Flower was making some awesome saves, denying every rebound chance that Atlanta could come up with. Every time you caught your breath, Fleury caught the puck. A solid performance from a team that had little expectation of a win at the beginning of the game.

Good Stuff: Two Power Play goals, including a re-direct by El Capitan, Sidney Crosby. Malkin gets a bit back on track with 3 points and Syko with another 2 goal game. (I hope it's not another 42 before he gets another hat-trick) TK and Crosby had a couple of flashes at what is possible if they actually click, Ruslan Fedotenko decking Colby, and Geno absolutely leveling Army in front of the Penguin net (sorry Raine, but it was a good play)

Bad Stuff: Pascal Dupuis disappeared mysteriously from the Igloo ( I suspect aliens). The mysterious part is not only did I not notice him leaving, but no footage exists of what happened to cause him to leave (you know aliens control the media, right?) even with the multitude of cameras at the event. Plenty of footage exists of what caused Feds to leave the ice. A one-punch drop of semi-tough Colby Armstrong in the first period. Ryan Whitney suspects that Feds cut his hand on Colby's sharpened schnoz, "That nose could hurt a hand."

The Zombie Voodoo Witch Doctor was stopped at the airport for some reason (go figure) and couldn't make it to New York. But did make it to the Igloo and performed some sort of anti-curse ceremony, I don't know the details, and I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. I'm certain the security guards will recover sometime soon. Modesty forbids me from taking any credit for the win, but doesn't relieve me of the responsibility of bailing my Zombie Witch Doctor out of jail (it was in the contract. Damn small print!). Oh well, it's the results that matter, I guess.

More to follow, when interviews and such are posted.

No MSG, Please:

Would you buy a used car from this woman?

I was getting ready to post today (sleeping on the couch) when it occurred to me, that sending my Zombie Witch Doctor (Certified Professional) to the Igloo wouldn't help take off the curse that's been plaguing the Pens in Madison Square Garden (House of Hate) this year. The Pens are 0-2 there this season and, other than the play-offs last year, they haven't won there in two years. I tried to contact my Zombie Witch Doctor, and was promptly told to go do something to myself that I'd always considered anatomically impossible. (I'm just not that flexible) After further negotiation, (begging and pleading) and the purchase of one of the Voodoo Dolls (looks just like Jagr), at her roadside stand she agreed to 'do what she could'. Actually if I'd been thinking I'd have remembered how many Zombies already live in New York, and just made a phone call. (they're in the Yellow Pages) If that doesn't help I'll have to give her a talking-to (She scares me)

Stuff Not Zombie Related: Mike Zigomanis (Ziggy) has been placed on Injured reserve according to PP.com. I don't pretend to understand all the strange, other-worldly intricacies of the CBA, or the aliens that wrote it, but putting Ziggy on IR must have something to do with Salary Cap, because all it seems to mean to us is he definitely won't play for the next week. After 15 games what's one more week? The Pens could really use his face-off win percentage. (duh)

TK also mentions in the article that he's 'Feeling sore, but good', and despite his 13 minutes of ice-time it'll still take a while to get his 'legs under him'. (who are they under now?)

Update-ish: Tyler Kennedy will evidently be boosted up to the first line. This could be a good thing, but might take a while to develop. TK's speed and lack of concern for his bodily parts could open up some chances for El Capitan and Super-Duper. Also it's going to cause someone fits to have the three fastest skaters on the team on the same line. Having someone willing to crash the boards (and anything else) will keep Sid from having to hesitate about getting caught low and not be able to get back on defense. He can cruise high in the zone and cut off the pass or defend the rush. No one has to tell TK to go to the puck, because he'll already be there. I don't often make predictions, but it wouldn't surprise me to see a multiple point game out of that line. If not tonight, then soon.

Therrien is not saying who he's going to send in tonight out of the 8 (count them, 8) defensemen he now has at his disposal. With Boucher now healthy enough to join the line-up HCMT almost has enough defensemen (for a while) to start a new team. (I hear angelic music in the background) Right now PP.com has Eaton and Boucher as scratched, but that's just someone's guess.

Some Time for Sergeants: When I saw this article about how the Pens are missing Sergei Gonchar, I thought, 'Well, Duh. But it actually had more to do with how they're missing the presence of the Veteran Defenseman, more than his goals or play on the ice. (though they're missing that too) I forgot to remember what I already knew (huh?) Sarge is more than a force on the ice, he's a stabilizing influence on some admittedly young players. He's the ultimate 'Been there, done that, calm down it'll get better' guy in the locker room. Frankly, the guys might need that more than his ice-time (which they need a lot). The frustration these young guys are going through isn't going to make the come-back trail any easier, or quicker.(PPG's similar article) There's still no time table for Sarge's return, but he'll see the doctor next week and take it from there. Gonchar and his wife are expecting the arrival of their second daughter sometime in March, leaving Sarge and the Cat (Why name it? They never come when you call) as the only males in the house. (4 sisters growing up, I feel your pain Sarge)

Staying the Course: Ray (you gotta love him, he looks like a Smurf) Shero has no plans to make any major deals.... well, let me rephrase that, what he actually said was, "I would not make a trade now, that I wouldn't have made in the first 20 games.". That still leaves the possibility that someone already at the ticket counter may still be on the way out. There's not much in the way of 'blockbuster trades' going on right now anyway. But Ray doesn't think that a trade is what the team needs to get better. I agree. Won't keep me from being as frustrated as a married sailor watching the ever tightening spiral of flush-water that is the season at the moment. But I agree with him, freaking out at this time of the season and bailing on the guys isn't going to solve anything. Stay the course, Ray, and try to ignore all the cursing I'll be doing, it's just a Pensaddict venting.

Younger Hockey: I haven't been watching much since the US team was torpedoed by Canadia and some Former-Russian Country team in successive nights, but Team Canadia and Team Sweden will meet tomorrow night in the gold medal game. The Coach most well known for his motivational speeches, Pat Quinn, thinks that Sweden looks like the better team 'on paper'. Much more of his brand of motivation and the Canadian team will concede with a 5 goal lead.

Ramble on, Ramble on: Rob Rossi over at the Trib seemed to have some problem filling out the space he needed in an article, so he called his Trib-pal Joe Starkey in to give him a hand. They both proceeded to keep babbling about in circles about everything from hardest places to play, best places to play and so on and so forth, until I couldn't remember that the article started out talking about how MSG is a tough place to play, but some of the Pens (Crosby, Geno, Whitney) actually like playing there. (yep, they're crazy) Oddly some of the current and former Rags don't like the 'attention' from the fans at MSG. (don't they put that in Chinese food?) Then, evidently because the article hasn't covered two pages yet, he calls in John Bombulie (hell of a name) to cover the prospects coming up through WBS. (spoiler: Lovejoy is a good defenseman) (what insight, what knowledge). Then, all the way at the bottom of the article they mention that Monday's game against the Rangers will be on VS at 7pm. (Good thing I've got a schedule.... uh... never mind).

I'll probably post more on this Monday evening, (hey, I did that) but don't look for any more interviews until the Pens stop acting like someone killed their collective Kittens.... If I wanted to look at someone who looked like that, I'd look in the mirror, ya know?