A Hockey Grab Bag

I've got a plethora of stuff from several Friends of The Show, but first I wanted to let you know that the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has some status updates for us: Brooks Orpik is hoping to work out a longterm deal with the Pens. :)


But that article has some unpleasant news, too:

The Canucks also plan to chase left wing Ryan Malone, who said last week he will exercise his unrestricted option.

Vancouver likely cannot offer Hossa $8 million annually over five years - the deal he is believed to be seeking - but would bid high for Malone, possibly more than $5 million annually on a long-term contract.

What I don't understand is, if it's supposedly not about the money, why is a $40 million, 5 year deal better than a $50 million, 7 year deal? Well, here's a possible explanation for that:

...Hossa told Pittsburgh reporters two days after the Stanley Cup final that he would "take less to play on a good team."

"I only read where Marian said that," Ray Shero said. "He never said that to me."

Hossa - WTF?!

Looks like Shero's going to have to go wing shopping for Sidney...

My former co-conspirator from Taking One For The Team, good Friend Loser Chris, has started a new project called The Flower Shop. It's a blog dedicated entirely to our young netminder. Chris recently posted an in depth analysis that compares Marc-Andre Fleury's performance to date to what the top goalies in the NHL had accomplished by age 23. It's a must-read!

Frank D. over at Pensburgh.com is having a contest to win a prize:

Jack Falla's most recent work, Saved, is a fictional story of John-Pierre Savard, a veteran goaltender for the Boston Bruins. Through his years of hockey, JP Savard has experienced love, loss, grievance and rebirth. It's the story of two grown men pursuing their boyhood dreams of hoisting Lord Stanley high above their heads. As the two continue to tally up the seasons, put wear and tear on their bodies and fight through the late stages of their career, the dream starts to become a reality that pits the two "brothers" in a friendly yet competitive civil war.

Jack Falla was kind enough to donate not only his time, but also a signed copy of his book as a gift to the readers of Pensburgh, SBNation and hockey blogs in general.

Head on over to Pensburgh.com to enter.

The guys over at The 2 Man Advantage have a new video clip. I won't ruin it for you. All I'll say is that there's a few NY Islanders players, Hungry, Hungry Hippos, and Jenga in the first 30 seconds.

Lexie101 happened upon Kris Letang at the airport:

Okay now i have to say that i am pretty lucky! I was picking someone up from the airport and we were just walking around and i saw letang! I had him sign my shirt (penguins shirt)! The ONE time I do not have my camera with me I see a penguin!AHHHH! He was having trouble with finding his bags so while his little helper was looking for his bags we said he could come talk to us and he did! And he told me right to my face that geno is not going anywhere! He is going to a golf thingy [the Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational] on wed. with Sidney and Max but we did not stay long enough to see those two which is depressing :(

Here's the autograph she got:


I know we settled the Geno v Gino thing, but Laurel K. sent in this picture of a new T-shirt from Reebok and I wanted to share it with you:

Yet one more piece of evidence in favor of the E.

Brandon started an online petition aimed at trying to persuade Marian Hossa to resign with Pittsburgh. Click here to sign it.

Christine sent in an article she found that details why the Pens were glad they didn't win the Cup...

Michelle D. designed this wallpaper for us:

Click to enlarge.

Just a reminder - keep sending in your pictures for our TSCS Summer Project. I've gotten quite a few, and all I have to say is you guys are so creative! Keep 'em coming!!! (Special note to our international Friends: You guys need to catch up! So far the majority of the photos I've received contain the red, white, and blue...)

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the Friends who contributed to today's post!!! :)