Pens 2, Stars 5

Sorry for the hiatus, but I needed to get caught up on school work. The Pens just played sloppy overall in this game, and who would have thought that all of that nastiness would have gone on? And who would have thought that none of the fights involved Godard or Engelland? This game was just full of surprises I tell ya, including that surprise that the Pens lost by such a large margin. Key points:

1. Brent Johnson looked a tad shaky. He made some great saves, don't get me wrong, and the defense didn't do a great job of helping him out either.
2. If I was playing, I'm too A.D.D., and those glowing boards would throw me off...
3. How unlucky is Jordan Staal? You'd think that the Pens were the Devils with luck like that.
4. Michalek and Martin really need to step their games up. Michalek can be forgiven a little given that he's just coming back from an injury, but Martin's play has really declined.
5. Congrats Pascal Dupuis on the birth of your daughter!
6. Once again, the defense has failed us.
7. The offense wasn't that great either for the most part. Given that Dallas' defense typically blows, the Pens should have been able to generate more offense. You need to be in the offensive zone to score goals, you aren't playing against Vesa Toskala.
8. Even with the Stars' shitty penalty kill, the Pens STILL couldn't score on the power play...including a 5 on 3. I think that makes them 0/1,000,000 now, but I lost track.
9. Do the guys listen to the broadcast on the bench? I just think it's creepy how not long after Errey suggests that the Pens need to get more physical, all hell breaks loose.
10. Tyler Kennedy can be a good enforcer when he wants to be. And apparently, so can Sid. Great leadership, sticking up for Letang like that.
11. Steiggy actually made me LOL when he referred to the power play as "the power shortage".
12. Let's give credit where credit is due: Loui Eriksson is damn good.
13. Another nominee for the Douche of the Year award: congratulations Brenden Morrow...you're a dick. Now take your place alongside Wayne Simmonds, Chris Neil, and Luke Schenn, we'll announce the winner at the end of the season. The prize is Engelland's fist in your eye.
14. Not everyone sucked, Adams, Goligoski, Kennedy, and Talbot all did a good job in my opinion.
15. If Asham is going to take so many penalties at the end of the game, one of them should be for fighting.

Wow, I'm a little angry today. Hopefully the Avs can make me feel better by kicking some Canuck ass tonight. Big game guys, GO AVS!

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.

I didn't want to say I told you so...

But...I told you so.

Canucks win...ugh.

The Canucks have taken the first game by storm with a 5-1 victory over the Hawks. I don't have much of a vested interest in this series, other than the NHL Playoff Challenge (tryin' to win that sweet bubble hockey table). It just makes me sick thinking about all of the Canucks fans gloating over tonight's victory. This might get me some hate mail (or worse, a beer bottle broken over my head or laser pointer shined into my eyes), and I know that not all Canucks fans are douchebags, but there are some of you who have just made a bad name for your team and city. From the Rink does a great job of pointing out this fact. Calm down...you are starting to rank up there with Flyers fans. And Canucks Day, even though you've only made it into the second round of the playoffs? Give me a break. Learn a lesson from the Caps fans, and please don't have the audacity to think you have already won the Cup. You may be sorely mistaken.