Too P!ssed to Write:

If Alex O'Retchkin doesn't get at least a game suspension it's because the League doesn't want to screw up their 'Market Share' of the big star rivalry series. Because what he did to Gonch deserves both suspension and a hefty fine. I watched the replay several times and Retch spread his feet to catch Sarge's leg. If it were anyone else.... aww screw it, nothing will happen. The NHL Channel guys are already spinning the hit in what's-his-name's favor. But it was a blatant attempt to injure, and to quote AO himself, 'a dirty hit'.

Update: As I thought, as of this update no action has been taken by the League against O'Retchkin for last night's knee-to-knee hit on Sergei Gonchar. The Pens are making noises about 'how it wasn't as bad as we feared' and 'Gonchar will be a game-time decision', but I'm not buying it. I think they'll do whatever they can to get Gonch back in the line-up, but look to see Boucher (the one they're not talking about) on the blue-line. If Sarge does play (limited, possibly power plays and reduced minutes) look to see Go-Go Gadget Goal doing double time as a winger/defenseman. Bad Idea. The fourth line has been playing very well the way it's configured and Boucher's shot at the point would help make up for the lack of the Power-Play howitzer that is Gonchar's slap-shot. One more thing. The guys can't get caught up in trying to 'pay back' O'Dipshit for last night's hit. They've got to keep doing to him what they've been doing. Put Scuds in his back pocket and leave him there. Of course, if the opportunity presents itself to ... hmmmm say, Mr Orpik, I think O'-Venerealdisease should be mashed into a fine paste against the boards. (vindictive, ain't I?) All in all if the Pens keep doing their thing and put this one in the win column they'll have given another blow to the stake in the hearts of the Craps.... and that'll be a very good thing.

So let's just look at the Tower of Flower Power making a fantastic save on Federov.

Laughed my ass off when Flower told Savran that it was all part of his plan, letting the Craps score first. (first goal in this series hallmarks a losing game so far)Looking for a pic of Brooksie introducing call-up Jay Beagle to the fact that you just don't hit a hitter..... Beagle tried to line up Orpik against the boards but Brooks brushed him off like an annoying insect. Then looked down at Beagle, shook his head and skated away.

Probably see Boucher on the Blue line Sat. And expect Go-Go Gadget goal to get the call-up.... And to the VS and NHL Channel guys.... Anyone that counts this team out just doesn't know the Pens....

Quick Hit and Run:

My computer was attacked by Godzilla (no, really, I swear!) the other day, so now I'm stealing time on a lap-top, and I'm not having much fun with it. But mere discomfort isn't enough to keep me from babbling incessantly (Neither is a court order). So, as a prelude to tonight's action against the Beantown Bears I have this post for your reading and viewing pleasure.

Marc Andre Fleury is once again slated to start in net tonight for the Pens. And the Human Sequoia, Hal Gill is going to hit the ice (I hope not literally).

Ali asked me the other day who I thought would be scratched from tonight's game to make room for the Sequoia. I assumed that Eaton would sit and Gill would play, but nagging somewhere in the back of what passes for my mind was the memory of the Pens dressing 7 defensemen and playing Whitney as a sometime-forward. I should have listened to that particular dark corner of my mind (in my defense, it's not the only dark corner in there) , because the Penguins fooled all the guessers and actually are dressing 7 defensemen, and possibly running Whits at the forward spot, although Go-Go Gadget Goal is shown in the line-up as a forward and a defenseman. ( that's just a guess, Therrien's too sneaky for me) I also remember the beat-down Whits gave Wayne Redden last year when he was put back on the blue-line. It was like he was saying with every punch I...AM.... NOT... PLAYING.... FORWARD.... AGAIN!!.

Milestones and Other Rocks: Sidney Crosby will be playing in his 250th game and Jordan Staal will be playing in his 200th tonight. That's a lot of hockey in the short amount of time they've been playing. Staal will be the youngest player ever to reach the 200 mark and if El Capitan scores two points tonight he'll be 5th on the list for reaching his 250th game.
Paul Biz-nasty was sent back to WBS yet again, probably to make room for the Defense-shuffle.

Concussions are up and some players are blaming the 'safety' equipment the players are wearing. Evidently the new pads and the fact that today's players are bigger, stronger, faster (Where did that weird sound effect from the 6 Million Dollar Man go?) they're especially geared up for melon-squashing. Most players say some of the responsibility is on the player being hit to watch his squash whenever possible, knowing that it's going to take a beating. I'm not sure the guy doing the hitting is always going to warn you when he's coming... but what do I know?

Well, that's all for now, I'll try to sneak the laptop into the closet later and post some more.....

A Great Day for Flowers:

The Tower of Flower Power (aka Marc Andre Fleury) started skating with the team in practices today. So that definitely makes it a Great Day for Hockey! HC Michel Therrien said, "He's getting closer, and closer. That's good. Hopefully pretty soon, he'll get back." Yeah coach, hopefully you're right. I've posted his interview, but I'll save you some suspense, he's got to check with the trainers and see what they have to say. I think the reporters asked that question about 4 different times in different ways, as if by speaking the secret combination Flower would suddenly be able to tell them what they (and we) wanted to know.

In further FPL news, the human sequoia, Hal Gill is out with his 'undisclosed' hurting. (I STILL hate that) Evidently he injured his 'undisclosed' on his last shift against the Sens. I don't know when that was, so I don't know if his 'undisclosed' is the reason it became his last shift, or not, but he's going to see the doctor about it sometime today. Ben Lovejoy will be protecting Sabu-tage against the Buffaslugs tonight. Ben's 6'2"-215, and has been playing in WB for a while now. But the only thing I know about him is that he's big, he's right handed, and he's got a cool last name. Ben and Go-Go will be paired up and it's Therrien's advice that Ben, "keep it simple, he's got some poise with the puck. For him, the challenge is to play really solid defensively." Ben is just hoping he's here long enough that Go-Go can give him a tour of Pittsburgh.
Other Pensaddict Stuff: El Capitan, Sidney Crosby is at the top of the voting for the All-Star Game. Evidently some people really like this guy. Geno is also climbing up the charts for a starting position in the game (I guess people think he can kinda play this game too).
Nutrition seems to be important to NHL athletes (ya think?), but difficult to maintain on the road. I know when I was on the road (non sports or felony related, I have to say) it was so easy to hit McD's drive through and get the food thing over with quickly. The problem is, when you do that you can't figure out later why you're tired, cranky or buzzing like a bee on meth. I could deal with a bit of inconsistency, these guys can't. (If you need a hint about me being on the road, check out the nickname, it'll come to ya)
Other Stuff: It seems that IFSA is going to find out if he just put his foot in his mouth, or the entire skate. Tom Hicks, the Stars owner is meeting with the rest of the brass to figure out what to do with the worm. Not only did Hicks fully support the League's suspension, but he's left the door open to sweeping Avery completely out Dallas's door. He's taking serious consideration to Dave Tippet's recommendation. Dave recommends that Avery hit the bricks. "I'm trying to build a team where the players care about each other, that has continuity." Tippet said. "I find it hard to believe that Sean could come back in the room and we would have that continuity. My job is to build the best team possible. I don't know if we can build the best team possible with Sean in the room." Translation: Sean, pack up your barbies and hit the road, your fashion show in Dallas is over.

Is there a Flower Doctor in the house?

Shelly Anderson, over at PPG, (who's never done anything to me) is starting to get on my short list of Quick Karma victims. I know she's only reporting what she knows and it's information that I lack, but she's also setting herself up as the identity for my frustrations. Once again she's reporting that Marc Andre Fleury has not been able to complete an entire work-out and that his 'undisclosed' is evidently still hurting him. She goes on to say that past and future FPL member Ryan Whitney not only completed an entire practice, but his tender tootsies withstood a conditioning workout as well. (It's this kind of good news that keeps her off my list)

Evgeni Malkin still leads the league in scoring, Mike Zigomanis is tops in face-off wins, and Alex Go-Go is leading the league in Rookie Defensman scoring.

Dave Molinari, also at PPG, thinks it's possible that Sabu will be tendered a longer term deal in light of his recent excellent efforts. Sabu leads the league in Goals against and is third in Save Percentage after getting enough ice time to qualify. I think this makes Dany just too tempting for a struggling team with a melt-down goaltender. I'd love to see Sabourin stay a Pen, but I've got to admit I'd much rather see him get his shot to lead a team. (not too far, and definitely not against us) It pains me to say it, but I think this is the last year for Sabu-tage in a Penguins uniform.

HC Michel Therrien is shuffling the Power Play lines again. I'm not sure new combinations are what are needed. Rather, a different approach to the PP, working harder, not fancier. But then again, I'm not the coach of a SCF hockey team, so what do I know?

Other Stuff: If any of you remember Claude Lemieux listen to this. And for those of you who don't, think of a Canadian Yaarko Ruutu with less funny and more nasty. Claude at the age of 43 has persuaded long time friend and General Manager of the Sharks, Doug Wilson to give him a shot with their AHL Worchester affiliate. A try-out contract for a guy that's won 4 Stanley Cups with 3 different teams, but hasn't played since '03.

Ryan O'Byrne has joined the happy crowd of players to score goals in their own net. I'm looking for postable vids, but from what I've seen it was a complete brain-fart. He was passing of the wall to Carey Price who had left the net for a delayed penalty. Ya gotta feel for the guy. More to come as it occurs to me....

Reviews and Perspectives:

Shelly Anderson, over at the Post-Gazette doesn't think there's much of a chance that Marc Andre Fleury, the Tower of Flower Power, will play Wed. against the Islanders in her Penschat transcript. Speculation (which is all we have) is now that he's suffering from some sort of leg injury.

With 0.25 (that's 1/4 for the mathematically impaired) of the season in the past, it seems to be time to do a review of some type. Aw hell, everyone else already thought of that! So, being the lazy sub-human that I am I'll just direct you to a couple. Rob Rossi over at the Trib seems to think that we can cut and paste this years start with last years finish and add a cup. Nice idea, but let's not forget the 62 games yet to play. PP.com has stolen an article by Phil Coffey, Senior Editor of NHL.com, so I'll jump on that bandwagon and steal it from them. (Recieving stolen news articles isn't a felony, is it?) Basically he says that the Pens are doing a good job, Flower is winning, El Sid and Geno are leading the way, and you'd hardly even notice that Gonch and Whitney aren't on the blue-line. ( I notice, I really do). Also, at the end of the article there's a mini-tribute to St. Patrick Roy, patron saint of goaltenders and my and Flower's favorite retired goalie. It's only wild speculation that Roy is behind the injury plot to keep Uncle-Daddy from breaking all his records. The reports of the Vudu doll with the pins in the elbow at Patrick's house was greatly exaggerated.

The Pens are firmly ensconced in 4th place in the Conference (with more points than the 3rd place Crapitals. I have a problem with that, but I'll get into it later in the season) Their 27 points places them 3rd in the Division and that's much better than last year at this time.

FPL member Ryan Whitney began practicing with the team Friday, and hopes to be ready to play by Christmas. That could be something to ask Santa for, yes?

By all accounts HC Michel Therrien is less than pleased with the power-play. (16th in the League) Too much emphasis on 'style' and not enough on 'sweat'. Translation: When the crowd is screaming 'Shoot!' it's probably a good idea. Oh yeah, and sit someone in front of the net to bash in some 'garbage' and create some traffic might be a good idea.

Alex Go-Goligoski has his very own Pop-Up Video over at PP.com, and since I was over there stealing stuff I thought I'd swipe this too.

For some 'strange reason', The Cookie Monster, doesn't want to talk about his early game misconduct exit in the Vancouver game. Could it be, that he's not happy about it? Hmmmm... could be. BTW, that Player's Emergency Fund is getting lots of contributions this year from suspended players. I don't think Cooke needs to contribute.
Other Stuff: Roberto Luongo is going to be out 4-5 weeks according to his agent. Luongo pulled his groin (on national TV?, the sensors are going crazy!) on an odd double move during a save in the first period of Saturday's game. Sanford will be getting most of the Net-time, with Cory Schneider serving as his back-up. This is a guy the Canucks can ill afford to lose. He's been a beast in net, he's 11-2 with a .928 save percentage and a 2.17 goals against. That's two big-time goaltenders out and the season's only 1/4 the way through.

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.

Give the Flower One Point Again:

Let's see if we all know this song: Penguins take a lead into the third period, get out shot 1,863 to 2 and end up losing the game 3-2. Marc-Andre Fleury looked awesome at times fighting off a Dubinski shot through a screen, a highlight reel diving stick save during a 5on3 penalty kill on Chris (watch him, he's sneaky) Drury and an SCF style double save on some Ranger I forgot to write down.(probably Drury again, I told you he was sneaky) The Tower of Flower Power was 'standing tall' for the shut-out until 5 minutes into the third when the Pens (well on there way to California by this time), started acting like Henrik Lundqvist (who was a beast in goal, damn it) was the carrier of some kind of embarrassing social disease, and refused to go near him for most of the period. Fleury even seemed to get into the absent minded hockey act for a while, and took a 'I shouldn'ta oughten to have done that' penalty by touching the puck in the 'no-fly goalie' zone, but bailed himself out by playing tough in the penalty kill.

Zherdev put in the heartbreaker with 8 seconds left in the game with a wicked shot. The 4on4 overtime was exciting, but unproductive with both goalies making solid saves. The shoot-out? Sucked. There's no other word that fits as well. All three skaters for the Pens were sluggish and Lundqvist didn't break a sweat, making Letank, Syko, and El Sid look like they should go for a shoot-out refresher course. Someone gave the Raggers some bad scouting information when they told them they should go low stick-side on the Flower, the first two shots were in exactly the same spot, with the exact same result... denial. Sjonstrom tries the other side with a flubbed backhand and slid it under the outstretched pad of MAF. Total Suckage: 2-3 OTL.

Flower report: Couldn't ask much more from the Floral one, stopped 42 out of 44 and went 2 for 3 in the shoot-out. Just at the wrong end of the 20 minute penalty kill that was the third period. And somehow I missed MAF talking Friday about the shot he tried in Thursday's game, and the 'what Flower did last summer report:

Personally, I thought that second question had been covered several times already.

FPL Report: Scuds was virtually a backup goalie on the ice again swatting away anything that MAF didn't gobble up, and just a pass and shot blocking beast during the 5-3 pk. Brooks Orpik, was throwing out the hits including one run were he put a Rag on his butt, turned around beat another one to the puck and flipped a nice pass out of the zone. Darryl Sydor (gotta come up with a name for him) played a solid game and should stop off in Vegas on his way out west, because that was one of the luckiest goals I've ever seen: bouncing off two different NY defensemen and past Lundqvist. Le-tank played about as solid a game as he has so far this season, throwing the body, starting the rush, joining the rush and was as close as anyone to matching the Energizer Bunny that is Kennedy. Eaton even showed a couple of flashes of why the Pens keep waiting for him to heal up, blocking a couple of shots and playing some solid defense. Go-Go wasn't quite up to his usual form, but still wristing the shots on the PP, and using the angles in the Pens zone to make up for his lack of size. Hal Gill was back out on the ice today during the conditioning portion of the morning skate, and expects to play sometime during the road-trip

FSN Report: Is there some reason it seems like I'm watching every game in Steggo's basement? Too many times the Stegmeister and Error have been so wrapped up in their stories, that they forget to watch or comment about the game. And here I thought that was what they were getting paid for. I wish we were all watching the game in Steggie's basement, then we could send them out for more beer and pizza just like you do to the terminally annoying at any sports watching party. I'm tired of saying 'Shut up Bob' when he makes some superstition breaking comment, or saying 'Shut up Steggy, we know the Staals are brothers', or just 'Shut up!' at the TV like a psychotic bag lady talking to people that aren't really there.

Final Mouthing Off: There was considerable game-watching going on at times on the 'Burgh side, by players on the ice. Sid didn't seem to have his usual 'this is my game' energy and at the end of the periods was to be found hanging on the boards by the bench, seemingly wiped out. The rest of the offense take their cues from El Capitan and he was just out of gas by the 3/4 mark of each period. Someone needs to smack these guys in the back of the head (watching too much NCIS) when they 'go into a shell' when leading in the third. 40 minutes of hockey just ain't gonna cut it, and it's a bad habit to get into. Getting out shot 44-29 is a bad habit you don't get to the play-offs with.

Warm up

Begin preparing yourself for 1,347 repeats of Bob Error telling us all that the two guys on the ice with the same last name are actually brothers. Then here's a lead in to tonight's match. First a little FSN love for the Flower:


According to several rumors, Marc Andre Fleury will be back in the blue paint tonight as the Pens face the Carolina Sprinkles tonight at the Igloo. Dany Sabourin played as well as could be hoped last game, and seems to understand his role and hopes of ice time and contracts. Personal note. I like Sabu, I like him a lot. He's one of, if not the best back-up goaltender around. I like him so much, that I have to agree that there's no way (knock on wood) that he's going to become a #1 goalie playing behind the Tower of Flower Power, and agree reluctantly with his assessment of his chances of being back next season. So enjoy him while we've got him folks.


Futility Report: If you happen to have been sitting in front of the Igloo since 6:00 last night, or are willing to mow down the 800 or so people that will be in line ahead of you, tonight is one of the Student Rush Nights. 600 tickets will be sold to College and High School students at some ridiculously low price. (I'd tell you, but it's waaaay to late for it to do you any good.


FPL report: Hal Gill will not be playing, due to some unspecified leaf-miner injuries sustained in Monday's game against the Beanie-Bears the Sequoia won't play. The FPL lines projected for tonight are.. (drum roll please) Brooks Orpik-Rob Scuderi, Kris Letang-Mark Eaton, and Alex Goligoski-Daryl Sydor. PPG.com has some nice things to say about FPL member Alex Go-Goligoski and honorary member Mike Zigomanis (Ziggy). Hey, if your defensive zone PP faceoffs were this good, yoiu'd be a member too.
Wishful thinking report: Chip Alexander over at The News and Observer in Raleigh (an obvious enemy propaganda rag) is suffering from an almost terminal case of wishful thinking. He's pinning his hopes on yesterday's after practice video as an assessment of El Sid's health. Got bad news for you there, Chip, you should have checked out today's vid:



He's also surprised that the Flower doesn't look at Carolina's stats, noting the 0-13 record on recent Rainsquall power plays. Hey Chipper, the guy doesn't even look at his own stats. I personally would rather have him over prepared, thank you. The Cookie Monster will also be out of tonight's match, but at least he practiced today with his bruised ribs. The projected lines for tonight via PP.com: Dupuis-Crosby-Malkin, Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora, Kennedy-Talbot-Satan, Bissonnette-Zigomanis-Godard.
One last note: Did you know that the Staals are brothers? PP.com is leading the pack with another intevitable heart-rending brother story. Sorry Bobbo, but you weren't the first, maybe next time...