2nd half go!

The Penguins haven't made any trades as of yet, but with rumors about Ryan Malone circulating, there is a bit of interest in the air. I've heard of Petr Prucha from the Rangers (who had a snappy night last night), but no other names have been mentioned. Talks continue in trading about Forsberg, who met with Flyers officials this week to make everything as clear as mud. Thanks, Philadelphia.

The first big news in the trade world was Craig Conroy for Jamie Lundmark. The Flames are possibly getting the better end of the deal, if Conroy improves in Iginla's presence. The Battle of Alberta contestants are rumored to be looking at Darcy Tucker from the Leafs (whoever picked that picture of him gets my thanks for an early-morning laugh). Now, while my first thought is, 'Hahahahaa, good luck with him', it is closely followed by the thought that it would be nice to get him the hell out of the Eastern conference. His play hasn't been that great since the beginning of the year, and with his injury, who knows how he'll fair later in the season. Besides, the Oilers need another forward like I need another morning of -20 degree weather. Are you listening, Kevin Lowe?

Out of the trade world, I'd like to take a moment to comment on the event of the father-son trip that the Penguins just took for their tour down south. This is a great idea, and I'm glad it went over so well...but what about the hockey moms? I am glad that the teams try to get the family involved, I think it makes for a more cohesive team, support group, and functioning 'hockey family', so to speak...but the only events I see the women of hockey involved in are things like the Penguins Christmas ornaments, dinner events, or something that involves children. I am using the Penguins as an example, but as far as I know, no other team has made an effort to reach out to the hockey-loving women that support the men who play.

The only females I see portrayed with any regularity in hockey are cheerleaders (and those are tasteful for what I've seen), or players/wives that are done up pretty and usually have some sort of children around. What happened to the women who like hockey, not just the men who play it? Maybe players just like women who don't care about hockey as a way of getting a break from the game, but it just seems strange to me that there aren't more ladies involved in the NHL (although things are certainly better than they were 15 or so years ago). At least the fanbase seems to include a healthy and growing number of intelligent female fans. Just spare me the pink jerseys.

Some other NHL stories:

-The Habs retire Ken Dryden's 29. Always nice to see one of these ceremonies, especially from one of the 6.

-Stevie Y gets to ride as Team Canada's GM for the World Hockey Championship this spring.

-Speculations on the awards already out. While I'm not a big fan of following the awards, it would be nice to see Sidney come away with a Hart after being denied the Calder last year.

-Mayor Ravenstahl adds to my ulcer by upping the tension with a reminder about the Pens deciding their future this week sometime. Mario said a month...



Pens are tied for 7th in the East with the Lightning and the damn Rangers, 54 points each. People don't believe me when I tell them that every game is important. They obviously aren't watching the same league that the rest of us are.

Penguins v Panthers tonight at the Mellon, 7:30pm. Go Pens!

Welcome Back?

It's really been six days since either of us posted? I suppose that's what All Star break and being lazy does. I meant to live-blog during the Wings game this afternoon...except then my internet died, and then my computer stopped functioning properly. (Last week Elly and I were sending ridiculous text messages to each other that, when reaching the point wherein Pronger getting action happened, froze my phone. I am guessing something similar happened. Jeez, Chris. We know you're unhappy but leave my electronics alone.)

So what I will regarding the Wings game is that I cannot believe that second goal counted, though I'm glad it did, that once again the Eurotwins prove their worth, and Happy Birthday (tomorrow) Dom (even if Cheli thought it was today).

(PS Manny takes out the Wings again? I wonder what Ken Holland thinks.)

I am parenthesis happy, wow. Next time! I kind of want to look at trade rumors. We'll see.

Maple Leafs v Penguins

Yes, this is just a few days late, but aside from getting in at 3am Monday morning, going to class, work, sleeping 4 hours and then class again, this was as soon as I could get on a computer longer than 5 minutes. I won't do a full play-by-play, others have done it enough, but there are a few things I wanted to mention:

If I could have picked one game this season to go to, this would have been the game. Not only did we completely school the Leafs 8-2, Recchi had a hat-trick, Malkin was on fire, Sidney got a goal, and I got to tell off a Leafs fan that said 'find a home, Pens!' in response to 'go home Leafs!'. The only thing missing from this game was a Belak/Ruutu scrap in the 3rd.

1st period was good, still pretty even, but mostly a routine game so far. The 2nd had Recchi's hat trick, an injured ref, more chanting, shouting, and cat-calling than I can remember, and a girl who kept holding up a sign that said, 'Jordan Staal, will you go to the prom with me?' There was another one, held up by a similar teenie-bopper pretty girl that was something in Russian (for Malkin, I can only assume), that I couldn't read. It was large, pink, and had hearts on it. I can only guess what it said, but I am guessing it wasn't anything about his ability to play hockey.

The real meat of this game came in the 3rd. After realizing that the Penguins were going to keep on bending them over, the Leafs turned nasty. So did their fans. Pittsburgh's finest had to come in, break up several fights in the stands, kick a lot of people out, and still there were people, like a Leafs' fan walking up the isle two sections over giving Pens fans the 1-finger salute, that were around. I'm happy to say that that particular guy got stopped by some big Pittsburgh dude, beer in hand, and the other hand pointing and waving as they argued. The players weren't much better. Thorburn is my hero from that game, he kept getting caught into fights, one with McCabe and one with Gill, that ended up involving the rest of the players on the ice (the second one with Gill had Sidney in the middle trying to tell off some big 6'4 Leafs enforcer. It was really cute). Both of those got 5 minute majors, as did many other people during the night for misconduct, fighting, and unsportsmanlike conduct. I think about 5 players left the game during the last half of the 3rd, the penalty boxes were full, and still scraps happened. I remember one in particular that started at the face off circle near us. McCabe and Malkin were to one side, waiting for the ref to drop the puck, and McCabe just kept pushing and smacking the back of Geno's head before even the puck dropped. McCabe wasn't even watching the play, he just wanted to pick a fight. As soon as the ref let of the puck another tussle broke out, Orpik, who also gets love for this game, came over and started in with McCabe for him smacking Geno. Talbot then got into another fight with Green right after that, and then people stopped paying attention to the puck, hit it around a few times, and the game was done. My friend Beth, who travelled down with me and is a huge Leafs fan, left with about a minute left in the game because she couldn't stand to see the rest.


Some thoughts:

-Malone's goal in the 3rd was the cutest goal I have ever seen in my life. Malone scored off of a Malkin pass, Malkin came over and literally jumped into Malone's arms. Malone and Malkin are both big guys (over 6'1), so to see them do that was a funny picture. Both were laughing, smiling, and Malone didn't even flinch when he caught Malkin. It looked like they practiced it. What are they doing in the dressing room?

-Thorburn and Orpik were spectacular. Oulette was as well, and Ruutu made a great shot during the first. Wonder what Ferraro thinks now? Too bad that didn't happen during the Flyers game.

-Leafs fans are crazy.

-I saw two Tie Domi jerseys, both by the penalty box. Coincidence?

-I felt bad for Thibault having the stand during the entire game in the tunnel.

-There needs to be more Tim Horton's on 90 through New York. Cherry Timbits will never be the same.

-Pittsburgh was a nice city with some interesting street designs and buildings. It was really nice to get a chance to see it, and the people were friendlier than I thought they would be for a city.

-I finally got to make a 'Sudden Death' joke in the Mellon. Beth didn't get it.



All in all, it was an incredible weekend and a fantastic game. I'd love to go back, and next time I'm flying. Driving 13 hours one way is too much. It was also disheartening to come back and read some rather distressing news this morning about the Arena talks (it was also very nice to talk to random people in Pittsburgh about said Arena deal and have them know what the hell I was talking about and be interested in it). Houston? That might be worse than Kansas City.

Some other notes:

-Schedule may go back to the old way. No more four games of just the Islanders.

-Wank about the new uniforms. The quote at the bottom was pretty good.

-Thoughts about Forsberg's career.


There's more on the Penguins and the All-Star game, but I haven't had time to read it all yet.

YoungStars and Skills Competition tonight.

Go...Sidney!

At least they won the game.

Did they think long and hard about this beforehand? Because I really don't think so.

Go Pens go!

I've been delinquent in Penguins news as of late, and I probably will continue to be over the weekend as I will be IN Pittsburgh watching the Toronto game (at least hopefully, the weather up here sucks right now), but here are some points of interest from around the NHL:

-Ducks are starting to lose more and more.

-Nice little article about Bavis and Ace's memory. I always think of the Dropkick Murphys song mentioning them whenever I hear their names now. RIP guys.

-The Predators are now leading the league.

-Another little article about the All-Star game and the use of the rail cam.

-An article on Sidney and his thoughts about the All-star game and the games surrounding it.

-Reformed Plan B said to be the 'best deal'. Hopefully Lemieux's group thinks so.

-Official Pens article on the All-Stars game, including a picture of Sidney looking all shiny in his new jersey for the game. Also, Staal, Malkin and Whitney are on the YoungStars team, which I was not aware of until now. I just thought that OLNUSUS was being particularly cruel in showing Malkin's celebratory smacking of the glass.

-And a little somethingsomething about shootouts and the people who suck, and the people who don't.



What else can I say? GO PENS!

And Joffrey Lupul was +3!

MAB did something right! (Of course, this was after he so kindly handed the puck to Selanne, who then scored.)

No, really, that and an open promise to Ryan Smyth that I will sign on has his indentured servant as long as he signs back on with Edmonton, are all I have to say.

Bruins v Penguins

I have one thing to say:

Marc-Andre Fleury, please have my babies. 3rd period never looked so good.



Now will someone tell me why the Pens lost?

Holmer's Odyssey? Maybe so.

With the race for the top of the NHL drawing much closer thanks to losing skids on Buffalo's part and injuries on Anaheim's, tonights Wings/Preds matchup was a far more important game than any of the two teams' previous matchups. Had Nashville won it, they would have clinched the top spot, at least for the time being (though Anaheim and Buffalo would have trailed by mere points) - but instead, Detroit pulled off a beautiful third period and snatched the lead 5-3.

I didn't watch it close enough for a full recap, but the Eurotwins of course played beautifully - that whole line has extended some ridiculous points streaks. Pavel had a beautiful play, faking a drop back and kicking the puck back up to his stick before passing it off to Holmstrom. Dom let in quite a few early, but stood strong in net for the rest of the game, getting a chance Vokoun certainly didn't.

And then Jiri Hudler. I've been backing the kid since the season started, despite a lot of people considering Filppula and Kopecky the more promising prospects, and he's starting to shine these last couple days, pulling off the game winning goals in both of the last two games. The kid's got something. Take his current stats up against Filppula's. Hudler's got 8 goals now, 1 assist, and Filppy's at 6 and 2 - not bad for a couple rookies at all, and not enough to determine either more valuable, but I'd say it at least discredits some of that rabble about Hudler's streaky, skittering play. In the post game interview they were talking about how he likes to go in high, but couldn't do it on Vokoun, who knows how he plays. The second Mason, a lefty, gets in there though, he pulls out that beautiful top shelf shot that's done so well for him so far.

Hudler aside though, that fourth line in general, now Hudler-Filppula-Williams, is just as capable of scoring as any other line on that team - give them an opportunity and they'll pull it off. Hudler's got the least playing time of anyone in the last two games and yet a goal in each. And it's things like this that are pulling the Wings back from what everyone thought was going to be a worrisome season. They're finally, after losing so many veterans that they counted on for so long, learning how to use their youth - and look at what it's doing for them. A line like this backing up their beast of a first, and the definitely skilled second and third, and the Wings have got a damn good shot.

Maybe this is what we need to stop choking in the playoffs; we'll see. Now if only Edmonton started working some similar magic.

Happy Hockey Day!

A big thanks to Steph for posting lately since blogger hasn't let me post anything in over a week. I hope that my computer doesn't break further.

Anyhow, it is Hockey day in Canada today, and so CBC is celebrating with a day of triple headers. They have announced the rest of the line ups for the All-star game and I will post the full rosters when I can find them. (Edit: Here they are) Along with all the lovely Canadian hockey coverage is a bunch of little segments inbetween, going to local towns, speaking with people, and doing specials on home-town hockey teams. The cap to tonight will be the Battle of Alberta, which as always, should be an interesting game.

On a side note to this, there was a little kid by Ron MacLean on the broadcast this afternoon that was decked out in Penguins gear. Pens fans are everywhere.

Second to this great hockey treat is a triple showing on NBC, who as I am watching them, keeps talking about how great of a hockey channel they are. The shift clocks are a nice touch. I do have a few bones to pick, though:

1. During the first intermission Ferraro and Hull were having a discussion about Ruutu. Basically, the gist of their comments were that people like Ruutu do not belong in the nhl and do nothing or contribute anything to the game and should be taken out. I disagree with this. True, Ruutu doesn't score many goals (something like 1 in the last 46?) but he does serve a subtle purpose, and that is to fire up his team with a few well placed shots and shoves. How many times this season have we seen a renewed jump in the Pens' steps after Ruutu pushes another player just a bit too far and they have words? It seemed like a harsh thing to say that a player shouldn't be in the nhl unless they are truly terrible. If the scouts, the coaches, and the owners think so, then we should trust them on their judgement about who they want on their team. Sure, they can be wrong (and boy, don't Penguins fans know this), but most of the time they can at least see nhl caliber talent.

2. Second intermission had Hull and Ferraro arguing points. Some were interesting, such as who would you pick to start a franchise (Sidney, duh), but I like their discussion on who was the best goalie. They chose Brodeur and Luongo, but I think they're missing a lot of really good goalies. Hasek has his own certain charm (like trying to take out players ankles), Kiprusoff is still my favorite, Roloson has been great this year, and I do have to admit that Giguere has been on top of his game behind an excellent defense.

3. This would be my biggest gripe with NBC. Notice all the blue spots, the blue spots that cover most of the country? I would be in the little spots with the red. The spots that are showing me the friggin' Rangers beat up the Bruins. I almost cried when I turned on the tv to watch the long-awaited match up in the comfort of my home and got the Rangers instead. As a cruel twist of fate, I am also getting a lot of announcer babble about Jagr and Straka. Shades of Penguins past?


Other NHL thoughts:

-Devils and Islanders tonight. Wonder who will win that one? Too bad both can't lose. Devils are tied with Atlanta for second in the East. The Ducks are still slowly falling...or at least not rising as fast. The Slugs are still first in the East.

-Watching the Bruins lose to the Rangers is never really fun, but I do miss seeing Jagr....in black and yellow, that is. He's so easy to pick out of a lineup. Seeing him and Chara smushing each other in the first was fun.

Some fun things:

-Ovechkin's new commercial. I have to say, as cheesy as these are, they crack me up. Thornton's is my favorite so far. Where's Sidney's trying to bake a cake?

-New compilation of the Oilers mic'd. Again I ask, where are are Sidney's version of this? Or Colby's? Or Malone's?

-Ottawa kills the Habs. I don't know if this is 'fun', but it's close.

-And finally, Reasoner being....well, Marty. I can see Army doing something like this.




And now, the best thing about today:

Penguins 5 - Flyers 3.

Go Pens!

Tidbits. Not as Tasty as Timbits.

It's been a while, with getting home from Columbus and then heading back to school, but having taken a few days to return my apartment to it's state of cleanliness (and to hang my Legace jersey prominently on the wall of my bedroom) things have settled back to normal.

I only have a few actual hockey tidbits to share, none of which are really all that important, but here we go anyway.

• Dwayne Roloson is being recognized for that baseball batting technique he picked up from our crazy Czech Hasek. I love Roloson a little bit more every day. I love seeing that technique from any goalie though - it's so rare but it looks so excellent. At this rate Roli will be doing a better job than any of our actual defensemen; MacT's gotta love it. But hey, MAB scored a goal a couple games ago, should we forgive him yet?

• Matt Greene, aside from looking like a meth addict, apparently shouldn't be trusted with...well, just about anything you don't want the guy to lose. The bigger question is, what was he doing at Marty's, anyway?

• Manny beats out Martin Brodeur in a shootout the other day. I'm certainly not going to argue that makes him the better goalie or anything, but you have to admit the guy is good at shootouts. Also it makes me happy.

• Chris Chelios is back after dealing with the stabbing at Cheli's Chili - and I don't care what anyone says about the guy, his age, or his face, the Wings benefit from him. Still.
  

Lame post, but hey, I haven't caught a full game all week long.

Frustration Overcome

Slug repellent = Check


Pens win with a beautiful empty-netter (first since April 2004?), and the poor Buffaslugs are stomped out.

Wonderful game. Close, good action, great skating, and a cute victory dance by Malkin. Some thoughts:

-Both teams played great, there was no fault in either of them...the Penguins were simply better and luckier (broken stick goal anyone?)

-Was there smoke behind Malkin? Because he was on fire. That's the Russian we recruited right there.

-Sidney was beautiful as usual, although I expected him to net a goal at least. He was everywhere though. 15 points in the last 15 games on the powerplay alone (according to the post game). The Sidney/Malkin combo is better than a shiny new bike to an 8 year old.

-Talbot has been wonderful, tonight was another great showing. Whitney was also doing pretty well, keeping the puck out and working with the rest of the team to be everywhere the Sabres didn't want them to be. Great disruptive playing.

-The announcers for the MSG station (I'm going to be hungry for more hockey in a half an hour) weren't that great, and the audio kept sticking, so along with the Comcast internet broadcast, I booted up the radio feed out of Pittsburgh. It was a nice combination for such a stopgap way of watching the game. I will not ever be able to hear Mike Lange say anything about Elvis leaving the building without thinking of the '91 Cup.

-I had a nice long post about other things around the web, as well as the Pens starting up a father/son trip for the whole staff....and Blogger ate it.

Now for the most important piece of information tonight

With this win the Pens are now the 9th in the division, 1 point behind Toronto. What does this mean? This means that the playoffs are in reach. Every game from now until April 7th is going to be important, and I can't wait for it. What a thrilling time to be a Pens fan...not to mention one of the scariest.

Go all the way, boys, bring the Cup in.
We have faith in you.


Next game against Tampa Bay on Sunday. Go Pens, go!

I should have stopped after the Leafs game (who says that?)

I'm in Columbus this weekend (I know, hub of hockey, this city is), and I didn't expect to actually catch any games at all that weren't Blue Jackets flavored. And then my hotel had free (albeit wired, and obnoxiously easy to disconnect) internet, and Comcast saved the day!

I had lots of faith in hockey this evening, getting in just in time to see the Leafs score three goals in 51 seconds--and then they kept right on going (even though I think I missed every single one thanks to my feed sucking). Ten? Seriously? And not a single one Mats Sundin? All was not right in the hockey world, but I was happy with it.

And then Edmonton starts off strong and Nedved scores to prove his worth (it's weird getting used to a new name on the Oilers roster). And then it all goes to hell--and keeps right on going. I didn't see any of this game but I've been assured that 2-seconds-left Hemsky goal was amazing, but damn.

Karma kicked in a little later on in the Wings game which also started off promising--Jiri Hudler getting that first goal on his birthday was awesome not to mention adorable--and then Vesa Toskala took the ice and everything fell apart. Dom Hasek lets in 8 goals for the first time in his entire career, more than 5 for the first time since 2000, and Ozzie comes in for relief and to see us one more. I just want to thank Brett Lebda for not letting those wind up 9 unanswered. Good man.

I don't think I'm mentioning anything worth reading here, and I can't recap because my feeds weren't good enough, but I couldn't sleep without a bit of whining first. Now let's see if tomorrow makes me cry a little less.

(Oh but Manny won again!)

Hurricanes blow

Although I did not watch the game (my computer is being a pain in the ass and so I decided to watch the CBC special instead), my obsessive refreshing of nhl.com's scores page tells me that the Pens won over the Hurricanes in a lovely 3-0 shutout. Perhaps it was the loss of all of their shiny trophies for Steve Yzerman's retirement ceremony (such as the Cup, which I would love to see back in Pittsburgh, hinthint), but after their smackdown by the Flyers, they have got to be questioning their play right now. Good man, Fleury, keep 'em coming.

In other Pens news, it seems that Mario wants to give me an ulcer by going to Kansas City to meet with officials there. People say it's a power ploy, but I wouldn't rule anything out at this point. I never thought it would go this far, and really, Kansas City Penguins would suck. As would the Las Vegas Penguins, and the anythingelsethatisnotPittsburgh Penguins. Tomorrow Lemieux is going to talk to the Pittsburgh officials about a better Plan B. Here's hoping it's a lot better.

Good article here about some of the monetary importance of the Pens and a new arena in Pittsburgh.

Jim Rutherford talks about how much he loved Pittsburgh in the wee days of the Penguins.


Next game is on Friday against Buffalo. Should be interesting to see how the Pens go against the Buffaslugs. Go Pens!

Oh Captain, My Captain

RED WINGS VS DUCKS

We did it for the captain.

Steve Yzerman has been the Red Wings captain since the year I was born. Up until this year I have never known my team (and they are my team, as much as I love Toronto, as much as I love Edmonton, I live in Hockeytown, and they are my team, and he is my captain) under anyone but Stevie Y.

We were hopefully going to have tickets to this game, but it didn't end up happening, so I watched the ceremony on FSN and the game on CBC. The ceremony was nearly two hours long, but it was two hours well worth it. It's still almost hard to believe he's finally retired.

For anyone who didn't see it--I can't get over bringing in Sid Abel's grandson and Terry Sawchuk's son, and then obviously Lindsey and Delvecchio and Howe, and Konstantinov... And then all those coaches and former players and the current roster in uniforms from all of his former teams (Jiri in a Petersborough Petes jersey was absolutely adorable, too). And Stevie refusing to even talk about himself and spending nearly the whole time on Scotty Bowman and his teammates was so typical. The guy is just such a class act, more than any other hockey player I can think of, and what an amazing way to honor him.

WINGS VS DUCKS 2-1 WIN

20 seconds into the game, holy fuck Hasek is crazy. And Ilya is in net for the Ducks! I've missed him.

4 minutes in Hasek makes ANOTHER insane save. Seriously he just laid down on it, on his back, and let Samuelsson knock Ducks away.

The Wings aren't looking bad tonight, but they seem to be having some issues completing passes--no one seems to be taking them all that well. Hopefully this is just because they're a little cold after waiting so long through the ceremony. They got through the first ten minutes fine and got themselves a pp, but they really need to work on actually getting some plays completed.

One of the Wings just yelled out Shannon's name, and Shannon rewarded him by passing him the puck. Maybe we should try this more often (or maybe Shannon should learn his teammates' voices).

Bryzgalov pulled off a nice save--the guy's so big that he can sometimes nab some pucks he has no business stopping, and this was definitely one of those.

This has officially been the most boring period of hockey I've seen all year. It's like watching Devils hockey. With about sixteen seconds left in the period Dom makes another awesome save to wake us all up, and then it's over.

In the second period we decided to start playing some Toronto style hockey. AKA taking a stupid amount of penalties. Other than that, though, and the two goals, not a whole lot happened yet again. At least it was more interesting to watch.

I really really liked seeing Getzlaf take all those penalties.

Nice Zetterberg goal. Poor Ilya though, I really like him. I'll cheer for him Saturday in Columbus.

There were approximately zero actually good Detroit shots on net for 90% of the third period, and Ilya stopped everything really easily in typical stoic Russian fashion. I started really hoping the game was not going to revert to period one, but it was at least still a little more interesting than that. Eventually we pull off a nice second and then we just have to hold it for the rest of the game.

Around 10 minutes left the Wings go back to very boring bat it around a bit, dump the puck, change the lines, lather, rinse, repeat. But hey, they have the lead, why not. Samuelsson does eventually get a nice shot off but somehow Ilya stops it.

Valtteri Filppula has been playing some really nice hockey lately. I'd like to see him back with Hudler (of course I'd always like some more Hudler, but really). I miss Kopecky.

And victory! Good to see them win it for Yzerman, especially against the Ducks, who we now move within seven points of. The Wings are out to prove that there's no reason any of us should expect any less of them this season even without Yzerman--and what a night to do it.

---

In other news, Hemmer tearing it up out there with a goal and Pisani, Torres, and finally Smytty as well to make it 4-1. Apparently they do better when I don't watch, but thank god, a victory at last.

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a good New Year's Eve. Everyone tells me I did, since I can't really remember the latter half of the night, and the hangover till 5pm corroborates their story. Ah, fun times.

It's been quite a week in hockey, and even though I have somehow managed to miss each and every single Penguins game since after Christmas, it's nice to see that the boys have broken their losing streak with a nice, neat win over Toronto on Friday. Hopefully tonight will see them doing the same to the Hurricanes, who really need their asses kicked again after the Flyers bent them over on Sunday. (Speaking of the Flyers, someone asked me last night why I don't like them as much as I do. Please bear in mind that the person who asked me was a Flyers fan. From Philidelphia. I couldn't answer him for a few minutes because my voice had been robbed by shock) It has been interesting to watch the turn around some teams have been dealing lately, such as Philidelphia. While I don't think that Carolina is a good enough team to win the Cup, they are undeniably a good team...while the Flyers are not so much this year. Luck of the puck, perhaps?

What about Pheonix? Are they turning their fortunes around? It certainly seems like there may be hope for them after a recent 3 game winning streak.

Also, has anyone else noticed Anaheim losing? I would say that their loss of Pronger will hurt them, and it undoubtably will, but they lost a few before he fell. Of course, they are still kicking everyone's asses in the league, but a few injuries can take a toll. I guess tonight's game against Detroit, where they will retire Yzerman's jersey, will be a good indication of things to come.

Speaking of injuries: ouch. Ekman will be a big loss. Hopefully the MRI will have good news about his elbow.

On a bit more Penguins news, here is a nice little recap article for Sidney, and although I am about a week behind, Mario says he'll meet with officials about a new arena for the Pens. There is still talk about moving the boys to a different location, such as Kansas City (which seems to be the most viable area, since they have been expressing an interest in a team and have a ready-built arena), but naturally all the fans are hoping for a Pittsburgh-located arena. I don't have anything personal against Kansas City, but the Pens belong in Pittsburgh. Besides...Kansas City Scouts anyone? Nice to see that they went on to harass us as the Devils. For a great comments war on this subject, head on over to the Pensblog.

Tonight's game against the Canes will be interesting, and hopefully the Pens will be playing like they did against the Leafs. Game starts at 7 pm, home ice. Go Pens!


P.S. On a personal side note, I will be able to make up for missing the last Leafs game by seeing the next one, on the 20th of this month, in person. While I have been a Pens for over 15 years, this will be the first time I will be able to see them play at home. It will be a nice change to be one of the fans of the majority, instead of the lone crazy girl screaming for a goal no one else cares about. I will be there with my friend, a crazy Leafs fan, so if anyone else is in the area, we will be the two yelling and cussing ladies with opposing jerseys, quite possibly with face paint on. Go Pens!

Lame Duck?

Chris Pronger wants me to hate him. He wants me to.

If you told me that he and Lauren sat up at night in their darkened room in balmy California, shrewdly, cunningly, plotting (Lauren because she likes to make peoples' lives miserable and Chris because she's promised him the return of his pants upon the discovery of a viable solution as to the problem of how to make every Oilers fan in existance consider him and him alone their mortal hockey enemy so that there would be no chance of his return to such a terrible place) just exactly how to deal me the lowest blow possible because I was one of those lingering fans who hates themselves for not quite hating him, I'd believe you.

I've hated him just enough to be an Edmonton fan this season. I've hated Anaheim as hard as I could, second only to Carolina, bitched whenever they won, whenever Pronger did something good--but I never entirely forgot last year's playoff run. Yeah the guy's a jerk for what he did, but damned if I just can't pretend he was never my playoff hero. Come on, you all remember that penalty shot goal too. So for two months I've been stuck in Pronger-limbo.

And now, finally, Chris Pronger and his Ducklings come to Detroit and I will have my very own chance to to boo him with all my Oilers-loving heart. When that man steps on the ice January 2nd, I tell myself, and Detroit wrecks the Ducks in memory of Stevie Y, I will get my chance. And then I will be satisfied. All I want is one good game of booing, of deluding myself into believing that with that, Chris Pronger will know just how I feel about what he did, and all will be right with the world. (Well, maybe two, since I plan to be down in Columbus watching the broadcast of that game, too.)

And the bastard goes and breaks his foot one damn game beforehand. Pronger you bitch!

(In case it wasn't apparent to anyone, I'm well aware that Chris Pronger has no actual care in the world as to my feelings--this has been shown quite clearly every time he has a press release--and did not break his foot just to spite me. Also, I really can't believe we're like, the first blog in the Oilogosphere to touch this at all?)