Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do

I am still not feeling good about yesterday's Colby Armstrong trade. I'm psyched on one hand; I mean, we got the most sought after player of the day. BUT on the other hand, I'm really worried that the Pens have paid too big a price to get Marian Hossa. What if he doesn't re-sign with the Pens?! Then General Manager Ray Shero will have dealt away two promising forwards and a first round draft pick for a rental. (Losing Angelo Esposito doesn't really matter - since a guy with his level of talent still hasn't been given a shot in the NHL, you simply can't ignore the fact that there just might be something to those rumors of a bad attitude after all...)

All of this, of course, is moot point. What's done is done; the contracts are all signed. Army's personality, his sense of humor, and his determined style of play made him seem like he could be our friend in real life, so of course it goes without saying that he will be missed. But the awful truth of it is that, especially for Shero, running the Penguins is running a business. He has to do what he thinks is best for business. Unfortunately, sacrificing Army's off-ice assets to acquire Hossa's on-ice skills is what he thought was in the team's best interest right now. It was just another day at the office for him, and I say that with the utmost respect for Shero - I would never want to have to make the kinds of decisions he has to make. And rest assured, Shero knows what he's doing, even if we don't.

Ugh. This just sucks.

Army, like the rest of us, is trying to make the best of the situation. From (of all places) Philly.com:

Armstrong, who had some playing time on in Pittsburgh with Sidney Crosby, may be given a chance to join Kovalchuk.

"Even though he's a few years younger than me, I think he made me a better player," said Armstrong of Crosby. "I learned some things from him, playing with him on a line at times, and it's great to be around great players like that who make you better.

"(Kovalchuk) is an electrifying player for sure. Coming to a team who has a guy like that, it's exciting for sure."

The Thrashers play at Pittsburgh on Sunday.

"It's going to be pretty crazy," Armstrong said. "It will be pretty weird coming down the tunnel and going to the other side of the ice in that rink. It's going to be different playing against your friends like that but when you step on the ice there's no friends. We'll be going for two points. That will be the main goal there."

Added Christensen: "It will be awkward, probably, but exciting."

Awkward?! I think that might be the understatement of the year so far, Crush. (Thanks to Friend of The Show Michelle B. for sending me the link to that story!) So think about how GREAT this would be: Sid comes back for the Thrashers game on Sunday and, off a pretty pass from Hossa, scores a power play goal while Ilya Kovalchuk is in the box. You know what Sid could do after that, right? :P (Here's a suggestion:)

Okay. Now I'm going to try to change the subject to something that's much less depressing. Remember that I told you about an amazing goal Sid scored at practice earlier this month? Here's a refresher from the February 10^th recap:

FSN showed another clip of Sidney practicing with the team. This morning he took the puck while behind the net and popped it up over the net and then came to the front as the puck came over the net and batted it into the net over the goal line behind the goalie. Steigy and Errey correctly pointed out that a move like that would have brought the house down at the All Star skills competition. Errey then mused, "I wonder if Don Cherry would have gotten mad at that move?" To which I say who really gives a damn about Don Cherry?

Guess what? New Friend of The Show Bill in NS found the clip on YouTube! Oh man, just wait 'til you see this:

WOW!!! How about that?! I can't wait for him to come back! Thank you, Bill, for sending in that video as well as this montage video of Sid highlights. Enjoy:

OKAY. Hossa and Pascal Dupuis are expected to make their debut in Penguins sweaters tomorrow night in Boston at 7:00pm Eastern, so get ready! GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!