Buffaslugs 4 - Penguins 3 (Pre-Season)

Blinded by those awful uniforms, the Penguins dropped another preseason contest.
Ho-hum

Adam Mair’s goal gave Buffalo a 4-3 overtime win over the Penguins at Mellon Arena on Friday.

Pittsburgh wraps up its preseason schedule Saturday night in Buffalo.

Colby Armstrong wristed a shot past Martin Biron 7:27 into the first period to give the Penguins a 1-0 edge. Nils Ekman and Sidney Crosby assisted on the play.

Jocelyn Thibault turned away a quality Buffalo scoring chance 10:00 into the second period. Jaroslav Spacek came out of the penalty box and went on a breakaway. However, Thibault turned aside his shot.

Daniel Briere wristed a shot past Thibault with 5:56 left in the period to knot the game at 1-all. It was a power-play goal.

John LeClair put the Penguins up 2-1 just 1:20 later. From the blue line, LeClair carried the puck into the zone and powered his way to the net and flipped it past Biron. Karl Stewart and Kristopher Letang assisted on the play.

Teppo Numminen intercepted a pass in the Penguins’ zone and slipped the puck past Thibault for a short-handed goal 30 seconds into the third to knot the game at 2-2.

Armstrong netted his second goal of the game with 8:34 left in regulation. He one-timed Ryan Whitney’s cross-ice pass into the net. Crosby earned an assist on the play.

Buffalo evened the score at 3-3 when Maxim Afinogenov netted a short-handed goal.

The contest went to overtime when Mair tallied 2:53 into the extra period.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS HERE

Sidney Crosby Teleconference

This happened a few days ago, but I just caught it now.
Sid the Kid gave one of those teleconferences where jabronis from across the many nations can ask him questions and he can pretend he enjoys answering them. You can get the full transcript HERE!

The highlights:

Q. Looking at your numbers from last year, you saw at least a minute less in ice team per game than all five guys who finished ahead of you in the scoring race. This season, do you expect your ice time to change? Has Coach Therrien said anything to you about that?

SIDNEY CROSBY: We haven't talked about it, so I'm not really sure. I think with the way we play, we usually go with two units on the power play that are pretty even. I think they like to keep it close to a minute each. That might be the difference.

We haven't really talked about that a whole lot. It depends on the situations you play in, if I'm going to be used on the penalty kill a little bit more, things like that. It's not something I'm really worried about. I think when he feels it's right to put me out there in the right situation, I'll be out there.

It's up to me to earn those situations, as well, late in the game, on the penalty kill, things like that. We'll see what happens.

Q. Looking back to last year, it seems that you and Alex Ovechkin will be linked for quite some time because of the great rookie years you had. What is your relationship like with him?

SIDNEY CROSBY: We've met on a few occasions. I don't really know. I think we talk about each other more than we actually know about each other. It's just one of those things where we bump into each other, say hello. It's not someone that I talk to weekly or anything like that. We're opponents. We respect each other. I don't think it goes beyond that.

Q. After Mr. Ovechkin rejected captaincy in Washington, and you were not awarded it for Pittsburgh Penguins this year, are you ready to be the next leader after Lemieux retired in Pittsburgh?

SIDNEY CROSBY: I haven't really talked about it a whole lot to be honest. Coach Therrien talked to me after they decided to go with three assistants. He told me to focus on being a better assistant captain. That's what I told him I wanted to work on. After he told me that, that was completely cool with me.

A Rude Welcome for Evgeni Malkin

Thanks to readers of this blog for pointing me to this...

So, somebody posted the clip of John Chocolate LeClair running into Evgeni Malkin and causing Evgeni to suffer a painful shoulder injury.

Seeing the play, it was obviously not due to any 'dumbness' by LeClair, but rather a slippery ice surface that hadn't completely set. LeClair almost does the splits himself before the collision.




It's an unfortunate incident, and will hurt Malkin's change to win the Calder unless Gilbert Brule suffers his 3rd injury of his short-to-date NHL career.

Why couldn't this kind of thing happen to Sean Avery?

Penguins go to Boot Camp!

Yes, the Pittsburgh Penguins have taken a page and copied what the Flyers did last year by going to Westpoint for some good old bonding.



From PittsburghPenguins.com:

The sore muscles delivered to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Tuesday’s early-morning workout at the United States Military Academy will fade quickly. Hopefully, the life lessons that First Sergeant J.B. Spisso delivered along with those fatigued muscles do not fade as fast.

Spisso, the head of Elite Leadership Training LLC and a member of the West Point staff, has been entrusted with putting the Penguins through their physical and mental paces during a four-day stay here. Tuesday marked the first full day of Pittsburgh’s tenure and Spisso kicked things off with a grueling regimen of military physical fitness exercises.


Penguins players jog down stadium stairs at West Point.
For 60 minutes, as the early-morning sun warmed the turf at legendary Michie Stadium, Spisso worked the Penguins in ways many of these physically fit players have never been worked before, running the team through a series of punishing drills involving the use of a 7-pound rubber rifle designed to simulate one of the assault rifles used by Army soldiers in the War on Terror.

“I look at them as an elite military unit, as far as fitness level,” Spisso said. “It’s the same way I would work out with a Special Forces unit or a Ranger unit in the military, you give these guys the same kind of workout.”

So, the Penguins did a variety of PT exercises – pushups, lunges, crawls and the like, all with the omnipresent rifles – before moving onto other drills designed to develop team concepts and chemistry. The buddy drills – fireman’s carry, the wounded buddy assist carry and others – involved teamwork and trust, along with physical strength, to complete.

...

The jumping-jack session to end the program was a prime example. The players were in perfect form for the first 20, but by the time Spisso reached 50, chaos was breaking loose in the formation. Sidney Crosby couldn’t help but laugh – until Spisso informed the group that they were only halfway done at 100 jumping jacks.

“It was funny because we were all watching each other and we were perfect for the first 20, myself included, and then after that you don’t jump up as high or out as far,” Crosby said. “Suddenly, everyone’s sliding a bit. Then, when we were at 100 and he said 100 more. You could just see everyone’s head drop.”

Penguins 5 - Flyers 4: Malkin Bowl!

It's funny...we got a place called Malkin Bowl here in Vancouver (an outdoor theatre place in Stanley Park), yet it described what happened to Evgeni Malkin in his first NHL preseason game as he got smoked by John LeClair in one of the biggest bloopers this calendar year. If anyone knows where I can find the highlight online, let me know!

Game Recap:

The Pittsburgh Penguins closed out their Canadian Maritimes trip on Wednesday with a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Moncton Coliseum.

However, the team got a couple scares along the way as Evgeni Malkin and Mark Recchi were both injured in separate plays and were taken to local hospitals on the evening.

Malkin, the Penguins’ star rookie, had a nasty collision with John LeClair 1:02 into the second period. Malkin fell awkwardly face-first onto the ice and left the game with an upper body injury.

Meanwhile, Recchi absorbed the brunt of a high stick to the face early in the contest. He remained on the ice and played for a while, but also left the game to be evaluated at a local hospital.

“Malkin will be evaluated further [Thursday] by doctors in Pittsburgh. We’ll just see how he’s doing and go from there,” Penguins General Manager Ray Shero said. “I was happy he got up because it looked [bad] with the way he went down.

Perhaps it did look worse than it felt. Malkin will be out day-to-day with a bruised ego for sure.


As for Crosby...

The Flyers grabbed a 4-3 advantage with a short-handed goal 2:54 into the third.

Crosby tied it 11 seconds later with a highlight-reel goal. He went coast-to-coast with the puck, blew past a defender and headed towards the end boards. He fired a shot at goaltender Martin Houle from behind the post and it bounced off his leg and trickled into the goal. Gonchar assisted on the play.

Late in the third period, Armstrong put the Penguins ahead, 5-4, when he took Crosby’s pass and backhanded it into the net.

Preseason: Senators 5 - Penguins 2

Ahh, yes, it's time for the games that matter not.

Well, at least the hometown Crosby fans in Halifax got a nice thrill by seeing their boy play against the Ottawa Senators in the pre-season tilt.

The kid even made it worthwhile as he scored a goal in the loss.

From TSN.ca

In a building where he was often jeered as a junior, Sidney Crosby was enveloped in cheers Tuesday night on his return as a forgiven hero.

The 19-year-old phenom, who grew up mere kilometres from the Halifax Metro Centre, played for the first time as a pro in his hometown during the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators in NHL pre-season play.

No Captain's C for Crosby this season

The Pittsburgh Penguins decided not to burden Sidney with the scarlet letter C on his sweater, and will not be going with a Captain this season.

From TSN.ca:

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Michel Therrien ended the speculation Monday, delaying for now the inevitable inheritance of the captaincy by 19-year-old superstar centre Sidney Crosby.

''As an organization we've decided this year not to have a captain,'' Therrien said after practice at the Moncton Coliseum. ''The biggest reason why is out of respect for what Mario Lemieux did for this franchise. So we decided for this year that there's no rule that we need a captain. So we'll keep doing what we did when Mario retired last year.''

That means they'll carry three alternate captains, and although Therrien wasn't ready to announce who they'll be, it's a given that Crosby is one of them.

''For me, my focus is on being a better assistant captain,'' Crosby said two hours earlier when asked about the captaincy. It wasn't clear at that point whether he knew of Therrien's decision.

''But that's the last thing on my mind right now,'' Crosby added. ''I'm worried about having a great start.''

---

Now, not naming a captain because of Super Mario is just dumb. Mario is selling his stake in the team, and seems to have no interest in being a part of the franchise.

On the other hand, the Pens don't really have the greatest C material on the roster? Recchi? He's got issues and may clash with Sid the Kid. This move likely gives Therrien more control of the team and that may be by design.

A Season with Sidney Crosby...now in book format!

Shawna Richer, the Globe and Mail reporter who stalked Sidney Crosby for an entire season is releasing a book about her year with Sid the Kid.

The book comes out on October 24th, and you can pre-order over at Amazon.ca for C$ 19.79!

Product Description:

A Season with Sidney Crosby and the New NHL. A gripping account of the rookie season of the NHL’s next great saviour.

When Sidney Crosby was first drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, we knew he was bright, photogenic, personable, and a media darling. The only question that remained was whether he could handle the big time. From an international advertising deal with Reebok to a season of personal triumphs and gut-wrenching challenges — with a little argument from Don Cherry along the way — Sid the Kid has proven that he is the man.

Evgeni Malkin Finally Signs!

At long last, the Evgeni Malkin Saga has come to an end, and the Penguins can get to work not sucking so much next season.

It will be interesting to see how Malkin/Crosby are utilized. Both are centermen, but you can expect both to play on the primary Power Play unit. Does Colby Armstrong stay with Crosby? It wouldn't be wise to mess with that chemistry. Mark Recchi? It would probably be best to put that veteran on Malkin's wing.

This is shaping up to be a lot like the old Nordiques/Avalanche, albeit with less of a supporting cast. For now...

From ComCast SportsNet

Evgeni Malkin signed his first NHL contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, slightly more than three weeks since slipping away from his Russian team and making a clandestine trip to the United States.

Malkin, who skated with Penguins star Sidney Crosby earlier in the day during an informal workout, watched wide-eyed as the team showed a highlights reel of some of his top plays to reporters.

The 19-year-old Malkin, widely considered the top player in the world not previously in the NHL, said while speaking though an interpreter that he was worried at times about his safety after sneaking away from his Russian Super League Metallurg Magnitogorsk team in Helsinki.

"I definitely was a little concerned," Malkin said, speaking through interpreter Olga McQueen.

While waiting for his visa, he stayed for three days in a hotel only about a half-mile from the Russian Embassy and had to walk past it to go to the American Embassy and get his travel visa to the United States.

Malkin has been training in Los Angeles since arriving in the United States on Aug. 17, but will begin working out with the Penguins as they prepare to open rookie training camp Friday.

"It is a very exciting day for the Pittsburgh Penguins and we commend Evgeni on his courage to come to Pittsburgh and live out his dream to play in the NHL," Penguins general manager Ray Shero said.

Malkin arrived in Pittsburgh on Monday night and had dinner at team owner Mario Lemieux's house, then took part in an informal skate with some Penguins players before attending Tuesday's news conference.

"I've always been very open in my desire to come to come to North America and be one of the best here," Malkin said.

Malkin's contract terms are effectively set by the NHL labor agreement, and he signed a deal identical to that reached by last season's rookie of the year, Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

Ovechkin, drafted immediately ahead of Malkin, has a base salary of $984,2000, plus incentives worth $2.85 million per season. Ovechkin's contract includes $850,000 in relatively easy-to-reach incentives and another $2 million in additional bonuses such as winning a major league award.

Sidney's First Fight?

Late Edit: This is an old post from a year ago. If you're looking for footage and photos of Sid's actual first fight with Andrew Ference from the 2007-2008 season, click this link.

The Evil Swede, Ingmar "W" Bergman, goes on an acid trip and predicts Sidney's first fight.


Sidney Crosbys first NHL Fight
Date: December 19th
Opponent: Barret Jackman's fists.


I'd burn my Ikea furniture in protest, but Ikea is Dutch owned now. Hmm, I guess we could always take a sledgehammer to the nearest Volvo.