Pens 2, Flyers 3

I had high hopes for this game until the second period rolled around. I try not to be too pessimistic in these recaps, but this loss was definitely a team failure.

1. How dangerous is Giroux? He's the Jordan Staal of Philly's penalty kill. Two shorthanded goals against the Pens so far this season...

2. This game started out with the nastiness we've all come to know and love, but it kind of fizzled out. Not to say it wasn't too physical, there was still a lot of hitting.

3. The Pens are starting to remind me of the Avs from last season. Last year, the Avs were notorious for having the lead early on, and then totally tanking in the 3rd period. It's getting aggravating.

4. Who would have thought that Bobrovsky would have as much talent as he does? He looked perfectly at home in net tonight.

5. The two positive things to this game were Letang and Fleury. Letang continues to impress with his scoring touch, and Fleury came up with some big saves. He didn't really have much help in front of him, so this loss can't really be blamed on Fleury.

6. It's surprising that Geno didn't score a goal. He had a lot of good opportunities. No word yet on his injury.

7. Is it just me, or does it seem like the Pens are still having chemistry issues? With a lot of new players this season, it's to be expected. I'm just wondering how long it will take for the guys to seem comfortable together.

8. I hate to be one of "those" people, but the power play just looked like total ass. Granted, I hate when people yell "SHOOT THE PUCK!" at the games when there obviously isn't a shooting lane at all, but all of these pretty passes won't get you shit...shots on the other hand, will.

So I'm a little bit bitter...but it was nice to see Engelland take on yet another asshole in the form of Jody Shelley. I was just lucky I was able to find an online stream of the game because of the blackout issues I talked about in a prior blog. Just in case any of you need to find the games online, I am forever grateful to Pensblog for their list here. I just need to go somewhere and calm down. I have 2 games to watch tonight: Pens/Canes, and Avs/Jackets. Go Pens! Go Avs!

And I continue to suck at life...

No recap for the last Pens game, since I was lazy. But I did wear this yesterday:



So let's not think about how awful the game was (with the exception of the underrated Craig Adams of course), and focus instead on kicking Flyer arse.



I miss Stan. Anyway, I would LOVE to see Asham kick Carcillo's ass tonight, but seeing as how he's just coming back from an injury, I don't think it will happen. Maybe later this year. Now I'm going to go try to finish watching the Avs/Flames game I started watching last night. Have a good one kids, and GO PENS!

Avs 3, Canucks 4

This was a pretty entertaining one, as I figured it would be.

1. Bad news: Anderson injured his knee during warm-ups. Only someone from the Avs would get injured warming up. Hopefully he won't be out for too long.

2. Congrats John-Michael Liles! He now has the NHL record for consecutive games from the start of the season with an assist!

3. The Canucks were sporting some nice throwback jerseys last night:


No nameplates, keeping with tradition.

4. Mike and Peter (the Avs broadcasters) are normally pretty good, but they get all starry-eyed around the twins for some reason. Yeah, they're good, we get it.

5 Both goalies were very strong for the most part. Budaj did make one bad play, playing the puck instead of letting it be icing, which resulted in a Canucks goal.

6. Winnik continues to be an amazing addition to this team. He does it all, I swear. The Avs need all the defensive help they can get, and he's a very defensive forward, but has still managed to score 3 goals so far.

7. The Avs totally dominated the second and third periods of this game. They outshot the Canucks 16-8 in the second, and 15-5 in the third. They deserved the win, but sometimes that's just how the puck bounces.

8. Liles and Stastny both about gave me a heart attack in this game. Liles got smashed into the boards, and looked like he was favoring his shoulder. Thankfully he was O.K. and finished the game. Stastny took one hell of an elbow to the face, but he's fine too. The toughness of hockey players will never cease to amaze me, regardless of how long I've been watching the sport.

9. Nice bit of robbery by Budaj late in the third:




And that's all I've got. Pens face Tampa Bay tonight. Fleury is expected to start. Hopefully he can redeem himself with a nice save on Stamkos or something. I cringe every time Stamkos takes the ice against the Pens. He's a dangerous player, and they need to make sure he's covered. Asham will be back in the lineup tonight. No more Tangradi. :-( Oh well, Arron, show us what you can do! Go Pens!

I cuss, you cuss, we all cuss for asparagus!

Neither of the teams played last night, so this will just be a silly post today. Just some fun links.

From the Rink had their greatest moments in uncensored NHL broadcasts, with lots of cuss. I have to add one of my own:



And a heart-warming story from Detroit about a long time Wings fan who recently passed away.

What a nice thing for the team to do in remembrance of him.

Scott Hartnell may not be such a bad guy after all. He cut his hair and donated it to Locks of Love.



That just looks so strange...

And by the way:



Totally looks like:



Don't ya think?

Anyway, the Avs play the Canucks tonight at 10. Looks like I'm gonna be bustin out the coffee. Recap will (hopefully) be right after the game. Have a good one! Go Avs!

*Bonus points to anyone who knows where the title of this post comes from.

Pens 0, Blues 1

I was more awake watching this game than the one against the Preds, so I got a little bit better recap out of it. Once again though, I couldn't watch the FSN Pittsburgh broadcast, and had to watch FSN Midwest. Oh well, at least I got to see more Jack in the Box commercials. :-)

1. Welcome back Orpik! Also, we see Johnson in net again. Sorry Fleury, but I think that was a good decision by Bylsma.

2. Pietrangelo is frighteningly good. He was just all over the place. Every time he took the ice, I was scared. Ditto for Oshie.

3. The Blues played a very physical game, and their defense played very well.

4. With the exception of the Adams/Crombeen "fight", the first period was like watching a game of chess. A lot of strategy, but not a lot of action.

5. Second period brought more offense, and a great save on Oshie by Johnson.

6. I honestly thought that either Mike Rupp or Max deserved a goal this game. They both worked their asses off.

7. Does anyone know if Polak is OK? I hope he is...it's always scary to see a player run off down the runway with a trainer like that.

8. FSN Midwest was having some technical difficulties, so a lot of the second period was glitchy. I'm not a fan of the thing they have called the "Dirt Cheep shot of the game." Just going out and looking for any hit, just to be able to call it that is asinine.

9. And for Aubrey, I have the WTF media award: "Johnson's knob came up big twice."


Now for the shitstorm that was:

Avs 4, Kings 6

Ok, so it wasn't really a total shitstorm. The Avs played very well, as did the Kings.

1. Hey kids, it was Bernie's 1st birthday!



I think that the cutest mascot award goes to the Islanders though:



And here I thought they would have the fish stick guy as a mascot...

2. The first goal of the game was scored by Poni...it didn't help that Andy lost his stick and had to use Radar's. Can't really blame Andy on that one.

3. After allowing the initial goal, the Avs went on an offensive tear. Great puck possession for once, and everyone was skating hard to the net.

4. Welcome back David Jones!

5. The Avs still need help when it comes to special teams. They allowed the worst power play in the game to score two goals, and also allowed yet ANOTHER short-handed. Surprisingly, they weren't the undisciplined team in this game, and Duchene managed to stay out of the box for once. At least our guys don't butt-end players in the junk (but more about that later).

6. John-Michael Liles gets his 10 millionth assist, tying the NHL record for consecutive games from the start of the season with an assist. Now all he needs is a goal. 10 assists already...the man is a beast. He also had his second NHL "fight", if you can call it that. He didn't get destroyed, and didn't break his hand...I think that's all we can ask for.

7. Hannan left the game with a head injury...just great.

8. Huge penalty kill on Hejduk's 4 minute penalty. Avs needed that.

9. And about halfway through the 3rd period, Wayne Simmonds pulls the dick move of the year, and butt-ends Galiardi in the balls with his stick. Galiardi is not one to drop easily, and I just knew when I saw him go down that it had to be something bad. Simmonds got a 5 minute major and game misconduct for it. I think this is the first time I have ever seen a butt-ending penalty called. This is what T.J. is good at though, he pisses everyone off enough so that they do something stupid. The man is a friggin tank, and came back later to finish the game. He just takes the punishment and keeps going about his business. That's one of the reasons he's my favorite Avs player, and one of my favorite players in the entire league. So, should Simmonds be suspended? I say no. He got his punishment, and it was a cheap shot, but I think for once, that the penalty fit the crime. It was a dick move though, and I'm relieved to see that Galiardi and his boys are OK.

Pens 4, Preds 3

Again, I am horribly late with this post. I'm on vacation from work this week, so hopefully that will help me stay caught up. Pens recap:

1. I honestly thought that Bylsma was going to continue starting Johnson until he lost. I was surprised to see Fleury in net.

2. Fleury looked shaky, but he hasn't played for a while, so I guess that's to be expected. Allowing a goal 53 seconds into the game was definitely not a good way to start. Kunitz was also to blame for that...he just seemed to wander away from who he was supposed to be covering.

3. I never realized how tall Pekka Rinne is. Apparently Nashville has an obsession with tall goalies, since their backup Lindbach is 6'6".

4. The penalty kill didn't look too bad, and the power play continues to thrive. The power play is just aggravating to watch...they'll seem like they're getting into a groove for a couple of games, and then just fall apart. Hopefully that doesn't happen this time around.

5. Tangradi continues to look good, and what else can be said about Test Tube? Yet another point this game. Dude is amazing!

6. Is it me, or does Sid seem like he's playing a little more aggressively this season? At the end of last season, it looked like he was beginning to, but it's becoming a little more evident this season. It's good to see.

7. Now that the Pens have Engelland, does Godard have a job? I think we'll see Godard traded at some point this year. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Godard, it's just that now we have an enforcer who is a more complete player in my opinion.

8. One thing I noticed about Fleury in this game was that he did seem a little more comfortable playing the puck. The pass he made to Sid was great!

9. How huge did Geno come up in this game? He was just on top of everything.

10. I was stuck listening to the FSN Tennessee broadcast for this game. Say what you will about Steigy and Errey, but they're way better than these guys. One good thing about watching the Tenn broadcast was this:



Jack in the Box has the best commercials. Too bad there aren't any anywhere near where I live. Or any in the state of Ohio at all for that matter.

11. Dupuis saved the day when he made that great play to clear the puck out of the crease on the one play.

Sorry for how sucky that recap was, but I was starting to fall asleep watching it. Now for the Avs:

Avs 2, Sharks 4

I was more excited to watch this game than the Pens. It ended up being a hell of a lot more entertaining.

1. Welcome back Brandon Yip!

2. Lots of back and forth action in this game. Neither team seemed to have the upper hand for too long, and both teams played very well.

3. Anderson is a beast. He looked confident for the most part in net, but then again, when doesn't he?

4. Good thing Sacco decided to dress 7 defensemen. Adam Foote left the game with a concussion. As far as I know, it is unknown when he will return to the lineup.

5. Kyle Cumiskey's skating ability never ceases to amaze me. He's a quick, strong skater. I'd even go so far as to say he skates like Pavel Bure.

6. All in all, the Avs still need a little bit of help when it comes to special teams. Taking so many penalties in the second period didn't help things.

7. The Sharks pretty much went into a defensive shell once they were up 3-1 going into the third period.

8. Congrats John-Michael Liles! He's the first Avs player to score in 7 straight games to start the season. He's also the first Avs defenseman to have a 7 game scoring streak. He played very well in the playoffs last year, and it's good to see that it carried over to this season.

9. The Avs can be irritating to watch sometimes. One minute, someone is making a beautiful, unreal pass, the next minute, a terrible turnover.

10. I call bullshit on the 4th Sharks goal. The puck clearly hit a Sharks player on the bench, and then ricocheted (that's not a fun word to spell) off of the linesman, resulting in a nasty bounce which resulted in a Sharks goal. It was a non-reviewable play. I think everything should be reviewable.

So there it is. Two games to recap again tonight. Have fun kids!

Pens 5, Sens 2

Finally the Pens look like they're in a groove. Everyone worked together for this win last night, it wasn't just the efforts of one player. Here's the key points:

1. No surprise to see Johnson in net again. He's played with confidence, and you have to go with the guy who's been giving you wins. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start Thursday against the Preds. He just had a fantastic night.
2. Max has been looking more and more like his old self. Last season he just wasn't playing to his full potential. I think the off-season shoulder surgery last year contributed to that.
3. Test Tube. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Staal and Asham come back, but he's guaranteed a spot in the lineup. He just played like his amazing sexy self. (At the risk of sounding like a puckbunny, I saw my first interview with him during the first intermission. Had no clue he was hot.)
4. Where did this power play come from? Hopefully this isn't just some fluke thing.
5. The Pens just totally owned this game. The Sens looked lost and sluggish.
6. Engelland fought his second asshole of the season, Chris Neil. It wasn't really much of a fight, but it still counts. I hate Chris Neil.
7. You gottta love how Lovejoy played. He was all over the place, and had some nice hits. I also love how he's turned into the new Dupuis, shooting the puck from anywhere he happens to be. Get the puck to the net and hope for a rebound.
8. Interesting double-minor for Johnson's accidental high-stick. I wonder who the last goalie was to get a double-minor...probably Hextall...and it probably wasn't an accident. That bastard was crazy.
9. Speaking again of Johnson, I was a little nervous seeing him take that shot right off the mask. Anytime a goalie gets hit like that, I automatically think of this:



10. Apparently Letang thought he was Shea Weber. What a friggin goal!
11. Last I checked, if you had two teeth knocked out, you'd probably bleed. (Anyone who watched the FSN Pittsburgh broadcast knows what I'm talking about)
12. All games on FSN Pittsburgh will now be broadcast exclusively with the AGH Cam. They will take 29 hours to watch. (All kidding aside, it is a cool camera).

So there ya have it. Now we get a nice little break. I have been a total failure when it comes to Avs recaps. Hopefully that won't be the case all season. Let's go Pens!

Pens 3, Isles 2

Yeah, so I'm a little bit behind on watching the recorded games. Well, at least now everyone can shut up about Consol being cursed.

1. It was kinda strange seeing Test Tube on the fourth line.
2. Also interesting to see Adams out and Godard in. Bylsma must know something that we don't.
3. Godard did have a nice fight with Gilles though, so I have to give him some credit.
4. I can't stand watching DiPietro play. First off, if I was an Isles fan, I would probably have a heart attack any time anyone came within 300 feet of him for fear he would get injured again. A fly could land on that man and he'd be out for half the season. Second, he should have been penalized for hitting Kunitz in the nuts with his stick. You can try to get someone out of the front of the crease, but that's just a low blow (literally).
5. Martin and Test Tube continue to impress me.
6. With the exception of the OT goal, the power play continues to suck ass. I think Mike Yeo is still coaching, but he's just hiding under the bench so no one can throw shit at him.
7. Mike Rupp was playing like a man possessed.
8. Tangradi finally got his first NHL goal! Yay!
9. The 2nd period was really when the Pens got a fire lit under their asses. That's more of the play we need to be seeing from them.
10. I'm not generally one to complain about the officiating, because I realize that these guys have a really tough job, but it was incredibly awful this game. Letang should have never gotten a 5 minute major and game misconduct for his hit on Comeau. It was a solid, shoulder-on-shoulder, clean hit. There were also plenty of calls that should have been made against the Isles that were just ignored.
12. By the way, after Letang was given a game misconduct, did anyone else hear the crowd chanting "bullshit", or was I just imagining things? Speaking of the crowd, how huge was their involvement? Nice to see everyone finally waking up.
13. I will openly admit that Bailey had a really nice goal.
14. Goligoski is having a really strong start. Hopefully he can keep it up. He started out well last year, but gradually fizzled out. To be honest, and I'm normally not like this, but I was ready to write him off last year.
15. Comrie really needs to start producing...we all know he has it in him.
16. See what happens when you shoot the puck...you score goals. Imagine that.

Avs 3, Devils 2

So this was just a great night overall!

1. It still feels strange watching a more offensive-minded Devils team.
2. Speaking of offense, even though they won this game, the Avs really need to start getting more shots to the net. (This sounds familiar...almost like I was just writing that about another team not too long ago)
3. The Avs defense needs to step it up a little bit. Craig Anderson is like a brick wall in net, but they need to stop relying on him quite so much. They are allowing too many shots.
4. Honestly, the Devils should have won this game. If not for the amazing play of Anderson and some luck, the Avs probably wouldn't have won. The Devils were clearly the better team.
5. And yet another game misconduct for the night. McLeod scored the Avs first goal, only to be followed shortly after by getting a 5 minute major and game misconduct for boarding. The Avs' analyst hit the nail on the head when he said that he understood why they kicked him out, but his only problem was that the NHL wasn't being consistent. Now it makes you wonder with every check whether the player is going to be sent off for it or not.
6. Killing off the McLeod penalty was a huge relief.
7. The Avs' scoring depth is absolutely amazing! This early in the season they already have goals from 10 different players.
8. Early in the game, the Avs had some real problems with puck possession. One common theme I've noticed in all of their games so far is a brutal number of turnovers, and not the yummy pastry kind. (Sorry, I'm hungry)
9. My man T.J. Galiardi scored his first goal of the season, and later got cracked with a high stick. Typical game for him.

Rant of the day:
I may have mentioned this last season, but I hate when the Pens games are shown on NHL Network. For some reason, Time Warner Cable thinks that I live in the viewing area for FSN Pittsburgh, and the game gets blacked-out. I'm about to call and bitch about that, since I missed the game last night because of it. Heard it was a good one too... Avs/Isles recap later tonight. Have a good one kids, now you can put away the matches.

I want a do-over!

For the Pens' season, and my blogging season as well. I finally got caught up on watching the games I had recorded, so I'm going to only post notes on the latest display of suck.

Pens 3, Leafs 4

When did the Leafs get good? Anyway, key points:

1. Both teams played pretty sloppy...one was just sloppier than the other.
2. Sid finally scored a goal!
3. Nice to see Engelland beat the hell out of Colton Orr...someone still needs to take out Luke Schenn.

What can I say? This game really didn't have much going for it.

I generally try to stay optimistic, and there are plenty of games left in the season, but it's still a little disheartening to see this shit fest. I was more than a little upset that Comrie was a healthy scratch, but I could understand wanting Godard in the lineup. On a lighter note, Billy G was in the building, and got a nice ovation. Seth from Empty Netters is a ray of sunshine for busting out this fact:

The only three times the Penguins lost their first three home games of the season was 1983-84, 2001-02 and 2005-06. They failed to reach the postseason in all three of those seasons.

Thanks Seth.

Injury updates:
-Michalek is out 2-4 weeks with an upper-body injury
-Asham and Staal both skated today...finally some good news.
-Orpik is still day-to-day.

If you're a Hawks fan with some money to blow, you need this.

Oh, and Johnson will be in net for the game against the Isles tomorrow. I love Fleury, and these losses are everyone's fault, not just his, but I can't say that this surprises me. The Pens have back to back games this weekend. Anyway, try to keep your chin up kids, it's only the start of the season. We still have 78 games to go.

Pens 2, Flyers 3

Shitty way to open the new arena, but what can ya do? Let me start by saying that Consol is absolutely amazing! All I could say when I walked in was, "Wow". The first thing I noticed was how open and spacious the place was. The second thing I noticed was that it didn't smell like the Igloo. Not the the Igloo smelled bad, but it had a unique odor. The seats were incredible, and the crowd noise was unbelievable. Now for pics:



This sign will take some getting used to.




The old barn.




Love this window display!



Another pic of the Igloo.



The new guy on the block.




Pregame warm-up.



The banners.



R.I.P. Barbero. They had a really nice tribute video during one of the T.V. time-outs, followed by the biggest standing ovation I have ever seen.



Matt Cooke with some clean-up duty.



Ben Lovejoy...who I didn't get to see play. :-(




Tangradi is a beast.




This was a great idea. When they melted the ice at the Igloo for the last time, they saved a bottle of the water. Lemieux christened the new arena at center ice with it. Solid.



It's always a great day for hockey in Pittsburgh!



In case you didn't know what night it was.



Almost time for the inaugural faceoff.



Blurry faceoff.



Best license plate ever! I was actually wearing my Straka jersey, and I waited in the parking garage for this person, but they never showed up, and I was getting hungry.

Anyway, key points:

1. The Pens just seemed like they were lacking the chemistry that they had in the preseason. Hopefully they'll get back into the groove soon.

2. Everyone seemed like they were trying to get too fancy with the puck. Just put it on the net.

3. Lots of shots, but they didn't have much quality.

4. Philly's goaltending situation is just bad. Who the fuck is Bobrovsky anyway?

5. How big of a game did TK and Tangradi have? Nice to see TK back to normal. I hope he can keep it up.

6. I think Craig Adams saw more ice time in this game than he's ever seen in his life.

On a better note though:

Avs 4, Hawks 3

If you have never seen these two teams play against each other, you really should. Always fast-paced and exciting to watch. Avs win in OT. My man Galiardi was all over the place. This team is going places this year. They've matured a lot from last season, and I can't wait to see how well they do this year.

That's all for now. I'll have a recap of tonight's game against the Habs as soon as I watch it. TTFN! :-)

Predictions for 2010-11

And the countdown begins. The Pens have until 3 p.m. tomorrow to cut their roster down to 23 players. It's depressing to see Craig on waivers given his impressive play at the beginning of the preseason, if he didn't injure his groin, things may have gone differently. If he clears waivers and ends up in WBS, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get called up at some point during the season. Hutchinson didn't really do much to really impress me in what little I was able to see of him. Billy G got cut by Philly, so at least I don't have to buy an industrial-sized bottle of bleach.

Prediction time! Here's my predictions for the season (mostly Pens-related):

1. Malkin will finish the season with a career high 125 points (at least).

2. Orpik will be given the "A".

3. Comrie will have a 30 goal season.

4. Sid will score 50 goals.

5. Fleury will be so great this year that anyone still doubting his talent will finally shut the fuck up.

6. Simon Despres and Lovejoy WILL be on the starting roster Thursday night (maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part).

7. New Jersey might actually be a little less boring to watch. Brodeur will be forced to face more shots, and as a result, will have the worst GAA of his life. Lots of drama will play out in their locker room.

8. The Avs will make it to the second round of the finals, but no further. (Sorry guys, I gotta give my honest opinion.)

9. Calgary will continue to be injury-prone, and will not make it to the playoffs this year.

10. Columbus, Toronto, Florida, and the Islanders will be placed on waivers by the NHL because they perpetually suck.

11. Arron Asham will beat the ever-living shit out of Carcillo. (How fucking great would that one be!?)

Part 2 of predicions: the standings:

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic:
1. Pens
2. Devils
3. Philly
4. Rangers
5. Islanders

Northeast:
1. Sabres
2. Habs
3. Bruins
4. Sens
5. Leafs (go figure)

Southeast:
1. Caps
2. Lightning
3. Canes
4. Thrashers
5. Panthers

Western Conference:

Central:
1. Wings
2. Hawks
3. Blues
4. Preds
5. Jackets

Northwest:
1. Canucks
2. Avs
3. Flames
4. Wild
5. Oilers

Pacific:
1. Sharks
2. Coyotes
3. Kings
4. Ducks
5. Stars

We'll come back to this at the end of the season for a comparison. Here's the last commercial, a fan favorite:



You knew that had to be included. Go Pens! (And by the way, happy birthday Mario!)

Mr. Mcfeely brought me some awesome!

My tickets for the season opener came in the mail today, and I must say I am impressed. Section 120 Row W. I checked out Consol's site, since they have a nifty feature where you type in where your seats are, and it shows you what your view will look like. VERY awesome seats! I'll be sure to post plenty of pics. Anyway, the undefeated streak has ended tonight...it was a good run though. Unlikely goals from Goligoski and Adams. I haven't been able to watch or even listen to most of the games, which pisses me off. Oh well. That's all I have to report for now. Have a nice weekend kids! Go Pens!