The Puck Drops Soon, Right?!

We've only got a little over a month left until the puck finally drops on a new season, and if we stick together, we'll make it through... ;) Until then, I've got a bunch of things for you to help pass the time for today.

Sid's on another ballot. Click here to vote for him in the AskMen.com Top 49 Men of 2008. (OMG, I nearly hurled when I saw that they included IFHSA™ in the running.)


Good Friend of The Show Frank D. needs our help. His blog, Pensburgh.com, is in a blog battle with a Senators blog called Sens Army. PENSBURGH MUST WIN!!! You can vote for Pensburgh over at the NHLArena.com. Log in and VOTE FOR PENSBURGH!!! (If you haven't already signed up, you should because it's free!)

Another good Friend of The Show, Tony F. of The Confluence of the Three Rivers, scored an interview with Penguins’ Director of Content/Publication Joe Sager. Click here to check it out.

Yesterday, I posted a picture of Sid goofing off at a party. It was mentioned that it could have been a photoshopped picture. Friend of The Show Bud located the original picture:

LOL, it's Paris, Britney, and Andy Samburg!!! (Click their names to view the source photos.)

I'm sure most of you have seen this already. Friend of The Show Lauren H. sent this link to travel packages to check out the Pens in Stockholm, Sweden. If you want to go by yourself, you'll need more than $3,000!!! But if you take a friend, the two of you only have to pony up $2,250 each. (My apologies to Lauren, who actually sent this to me a while ago - I kept forgetting to add it to a post!) Check out these pictures of the Globe Arena in which the Pens will face the Sens:



Friend of The Show Melissa G. sent in an article about a PGA FedEx Cup commercial in which Wayne Gretzky offers some advice to golfer and fellow Canadian Mike Weir. Evidently, Gretzky told Weir he should grow a playoff beard - so he did! (Neither one of us could locate the actual commercial, so if anyone finds it, please let us know!)

Friend of The Show AustinLovesCrosby sent in this article that details why Big Georges Laraque chose to accept a deal in Montreal:

Daryl Katz so wanted Georges Laraque here as the Edmonton Oilers' nightly beat cop, the new owner offered the big guy a four-year contract -- one more year than the Montreal Canadiens were pitching the right winger.

Laraque still took the Habs' $4.5-million offer -- mainly because his mother in Montreal wanted to see him play games in the flesh, not on TV.

Aww, that's really nice! I'm definitely not looking forward to seeing him on the opposite bench this season. :(

AustinLovesCrosby also sent in this article written by John Steigerwald (brother of Penguins play-by-play announcer Paul Steigerwald) telling people to get off Mario's back about that ridiculous "Lemieux's Ruse" nonsense. When we discussed it here last week, not one of the responses in the comments or emails that I got were negative towards Mario. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I think Mario could have robbed a bank to pay for the new arena and still be forgiven for it. I don't know who these naysayers are, but evidently they're not Pens fans.


We've got a new member of our Roaming Penguins team making his debut on The Show. Petr Penguin left the home of Stephanie S. in Nashville and arrived in Pittsburgh's South Side...


...where he showed up on Stephanie C.'s doorstep. Her captions tell us what Petr Penguin was up to while they visited:

photo #1: Petr and my books for grad school

photo #2: Petr and his favorite website [snoop: I LOVE IT!!! :D]

photo #3: Petr and a couple of my favorite shirts

Time for another edition of TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"We know that hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death. Life is just a place where we spend time between games."

~ Former Philadelphia Flyers Coach (and father of the current Penguins General Manager) Fred Shero

Big thanks go out to Bud, Lauren, Melissa, AustinLovesCrosby, & Stephanie for helping with today's post! :)

Silly Sid Stuff

Have I got a few good pictures for you today! Yesterday, good Friend of The Show Jan M. sent me this first one. Way back in the day, it seems that Sid experimented with hair dyes. My guess is that he was attempting to go blonde but didn't realize how much bleach it would actually take to make his naturally very dark hair turn into a buttery shade of gold. Instead, what he got was a hue very similar to the color of my car (Dodge calls it Sunburst Orange Pearl):

Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps he really was trying to match his hair to his jersey on purpose.

So I found this next gem several months ago after an anonymous tipster pointed me towards a forum on which someone had posted it. Some of you actually may have already seen it. I debated whether or not I should post it since there are two other people in the photo - mostly because I didn't receive the photo from either one of them. Ultimately, I decided that if I blurred out their faces, the picture would be okay to use on The Show. (They both look perfectly lovely - I just didn't want to post their images without their permission.) Anyhoo, when I first saw the photo, I imagined a scenario in my head. To relay my vision to you, I've given the girls fake names - "Jennifer" and "Jessica". This pic was taken at a party, so in my mind, it became a graduation party...

Jennifer: Oh, Jessica! We're about to graduate and go off to college. I'm going to miss you soooo much!!!

Jessica: I'm going to miss you, too, Jennifer! You know, we need to take a really nice picture that we can put in a frame and hang in our dorm rooms. That way we'll always remember to keep in touch!

Jennifer: GREAT IDEA, JESS! Hey, do you think you could you take our picture?

Photographer: Yeah, sure. Hold my drink for a second, would ya, Sid?

Jennifer: Thanks so much. Okay, ready?

Jessica: Ready!

Photographer: All right, girls, say cheese...

[*CLICK*]

And here is what the girls saw when they got their camera back:

If I was "Jennifer" or "Jessica", I'd be more offended by that sweater.

Recently, Friend of The Show Jill E. sent in a picture for us. Recall that we mentioned earlier this month that everything around us reminds us of the hockey we're not yet enjoying. Well, this week Jill was reminded of Evgeni Malkin:

My hockey team was sent to run around Baltimore, Maryland today to participate in our own "Amazing Race". This consisted of many random events and A LOT of running. We ended up finishing over by the Orioles Stadium and the Ravens Stadium where I spotted a Sports Bar named GINO's. I couldn't resist and managed getting a picture as my team ran by.

Sidney Penguin is still making his way around North America. (Hahaha, according to Google Maps, he's traveled more than 9,800 miles!) He came back to the East Coast to visit Friend of The Show Carlie D. in North Tonawanda, NY:

Holy gas guzzling, Batman! Check out that cross-country back-track! Sidney Penguin must drive a hybrid.

Here's a zoomed view of Buffalo and North Tonawanda:


Here's Carlie with our own Roaming Sidney Penguin:

I have that Sidney pennant, too. It's hanging up in our guest room. :)

Finally today, I unfortunately don't know the name of the person who coined TSCS's Quote of The Day, but I figured since today's post was so light-hearted, we'd need a funny quote to close it out:

"Hockey players wear numbers because you can’t always identify the body with dental records."

~ Anonymous

That's gonna hurt tomorrow!

Many thanks go out to Jan, Jill, and Carlie for their contributions to today's post! :)

Long Time No Post

Haha, I did something this weekend that I haven't done since before I started college - after I left work on Friday at 5pm, I didn't even touch a computer until this morning at 8am!!! :) It was my husband's birthday yesterday, and I spent all weekend preparing a big turkey feast and a homemade tiramisu for him (if you like this dessert, here's the recipe I used - it was so much easier than I had anticipated and SO FREAKING GOOD), so I didn't really have time to fire up my computer at home.

I'm taking you up on your offer, Jan. This is the next picture of the Saint that I'd like to see in pencil - but feel free to omit the blue Gatorade sweat. ;)

While I was away, it certainly doesn't seem like I missed much. The dog days of summer are winding down, and the Pens are going to start training camp soon, so we just have to make it through a few more weeks.

Friend of The Show AustinLovesCrosby sent in an article that will help us get to know our new tough guy, Eric Godard, a little better. Here's a sample:

The 28-year-old Godard, who played minor hockey in Vernon, is going to his third NHL team. He will be the Pens' main enforcer.

"I got my start in that division (with the Rangers). They've got such a good young team and I'm really excited to see how it works out and where I fit in."

Godard is the one on the right "discussing things" with George Parros.

On Penguin franchise-saver Sidney Crosby: "He's a good player. You could see from his first year, when I was in New York, he was definitely the real deal."

Also in the news, Head Coach Michel Therrien thinks that the Pens' injury plagued 2007-08 season has better prepared them to deal with the loss of Ryan Whitney. Besides, he's missing games at the start of the season - there will be plenty of time to move up in the standings when he returns IF the Pens struggle without him.

We've got more Friends in faraway places - Andrea H. sent in this picture all the way from Germany:


Over the weekend, Sidney Penguin continued on in his adventures across North America. He made a long, transatlantic trip from Nova Scotia to Seattle...


...where he met up with good Friend of The Show Daily Su. He alleviated his jet lag with a bottle of Crosby Cabernet and then, well, I'll just let her tell you all about it:

Today was "Take Your Penguin to Work Day". Sidney Penguin went to visit a TV station in Seattle. He liked everything he saw, but loved hanging out with the helicopter the most. He now wants to learn how to be a pilot (our helicopter is called "SkyKing" - our station call letters are KING).

I'll leave you today with TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"Half the game is mental; the other half is being mental."

~ Jim McKenny

Many thank yous to Friends AustinLovesCrosby and Andrea for their help with today's post! :)

Seriously, What Is All The Fuss About?

Here on The Show, I haven't yet brought up the recent revelations that Mario actually never intended to move the Penguins (which, by the way, has been dubbed "Lemieux's Ruse"). I've failed to mention it mostly because I didn't think it was really all that shocking. Of course business executives have to bluff to get the best deals - this is how tons of deals are made every day in Corporate America, and whether we want to admit it or not, running a professional hockey team (or any sport team) is ALL business. And occasionally, the execs have to do things or make decisions that are unpopular but are made in an attempt to ensure the future health of the business (remember the Alexei Kovalev trade?).

I was super pissed about losing this guy. I loved him. I even named my first dog after him.

Personally, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. If you really listen to what Mario was saying, what he meant was that he did everything he possibly could to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh, which included using his best poker face when taking exploratory trips to Kansas City and Las Vegas. And guess what? MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. So why should any of us fans give a damn how he got it done? If he hadn't done what he did, the Pens would not have a new arena, and he'd likely be putting the team on the market, and once the team was sold, it would be out of Mario's hands as to where the Pens would end up. My opinion of Mario has not changed since finding out that he and Ron Burkle had dinners and not meetings while out of town. If anything, I actually respect him a little bit more (← haha, I didn't realize that was possible) for using every tool in his box to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh under the Lemieux Group's ownership. For an more in depth look, Tony from The Confluence of The Three Rivers drops some knowledge on the subject here. Tell us what you think of this whole situation in the comments below.

Lie to me, I promise I'll believe.

Moving on, I've got some more stuff - WAIT. Holy crap! Did I just use a Sheryl Crow lyric?! Someone really needs to smack me... Anyhoo, I've got some goodies from our Friends of The Show to share. First, we have an email from good Friend of The Show Sooska:

PensBob and I went for a short jaunt to Canada because he had business in Toronto. Afterwards we drove east from Toronto about 2 hours along the lake to a small Ontario town near the 1000 Islands (of dressing fame) to see the beautiful islands of the St. Lawrence River.

Click to enlarge the map to see where Gananoque (A) and Crosby (B) are in relation to the city of Ottawa.

To my surprise as we were exiting 401 to Gananoque (Gan-an-ock-wee) we came upon this sign. HELLO! It is only about 20 km (~12 ½ mi) north of where we were. Next visit will be longer so we will go see what’s there. Most likely not Sid but I bet the residents are big fans!

ROAD TRIP!!!

Stephanie B. found this article about The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Shelly Anderson's trip to the Beijing Olympics. It features a greeting from Alex Ovechkin to our title man. (It's near the bottom of the article.)

Jan M. sent in another Siddo sketch. She started with this picture of the Saint:


And created this reproduction in pencil:

I think this one is my favorite so far, Jan! :)

In Roaming Penguin news, Sidney Penguin made his way to his namesake's stomping grounds...


...where Friend of The Show MichelleInNovaScotia caught up with him:

"First, here is Sidney Penguin visiting the welcome to Enfield sign. Sidney Crosby drives by this sign everyday on his way to his summer home in Enfield."

"And here's Sid Penguin sitting next to my computer and pic of his pal Sid Crosby."

And now it's time once again for TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"If it was a negotiating tactic, it was a good one. We're just pleased that the Penguins are in Pittsburgh where they belong. As to how real the possibility of their moving was, I think it is a matter of history."

~ Chuck Ardo, spokesman for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, on Mario's admission that he was bluffing

Big thanks to Friends Sooska, Stephanie B., Jan, and MichelleInNovaScotia for their help with today's post! And an enormous amount of gratitude goes out to all of the Friends too numerous to name who have left comments and/or sent me emails saying such nice things about how The Show is helping them make it through a bad day, a tough time, or a boring summer. You truly have NO IDEA how much that means to me. You guys are all SO AWESOME!!! :D

Old School Sid

Before we get started, I wanted to make you all aware of a slight (yet significant) change I made this morning to the layout of The Show: The Archives section was getting a little long, so I threw it into a drop down menu box. Now it only takes up one line! :) The menu is located at the very end of the blogroll on the right underneath the site's stats counters.

Good Friend of The Show Narmeen A. sent in the inspiration for today's title: she took her copy of Reader's Digest Canada from October 2005 and scanned in the pages for us so we can read it! Click the scans to enlarge them for supersized views.






Friend of The Show Jordan L. sent me an email that said, "I was driving on I95 between Baltimore and Washington DC on Tuesday and saw this. It’s supposed to say 1-800-GO-PENSKE:"

Sweet!

Time now for a Roaming Penguin update! Sidney Penguin has taken quite a long trip for the third leg of his world tour. He left Omaha and headed to Buffalo, NY - the site of one of the bigger moments in his namesake's life:


While in Buffalo, he stopped by Friend Blankiegreen520's house:


Meanwhile, Marc-Andre Penguin has departed Nashville and landed in Dubois, Pa...


...where Friend Terri A. snapped a picture of MAP "with his major league counterpart's jersey:"



And now I leave you with TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"It was my first move as the coach. I knew the kid and what he'd been through since he was 13, 14 years old. It was going to be his team at some point down the road anyway, and I thought he was ready to start handling the responsibility."

~ Head Coach Michel Therrien, on his decision to name an 18-year-old Siddo as an Alternate Captain of the Pens on December 16, 2005 - just two months after the Saint's first NHL game. (If you'll recall, the move drew tons of criticism from many, including fashion plate Don Cherry.)

Many, many thanks go out to Narmeen for scanning her magazine for us, to Jordan for sharing her truck photo, to Blankiegreen520 & Terri for sending in their Roaming Penguin pictures, and to Friend Jan M. for pointing out the article with today's quote.

Ryan Whitney and I Now Have Something in Common

Ryan Whitney has had successful foot surgery. From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Ryan Whitney's critics have considerably less ammunition today. Turns out, the defenseman skated on one healthy foot last season.


Whitney, whose point total dropped from 59 in 2006-07 to 40 last season, underwent surgery to correct a left-foot misalignment Friday in Charlotte. Full recovery from the procedure, an osteotomy, [snoop: you don't have to worry about clicking that link - there are no pictures of the surgery] usually takes three to five months.

As someone who has gone through multiple foot surgeries, I can say with authority that the next few months will be painful and difficult for Whit. I feel so bad for him. I honestly can't tell you whether the surgery itself or the physical therapy that follows is worse because they're both AWFUL. Actually, I think the therapy is worse because you've got some smiling jerk (apologies to any and all Friends of The Show who happen to be physical therapists) pushing you to keep doing exercises that force your body to move in a way that usually causes "great discomfort" repeatedly. ...Though, I owe my therapists a debt of gratitude since without them, I would have spent the rest of my life walking with a pronounced limp. At the end of the day, this is going to give Whit two healthy feet, and that's all that matters.

TSCS wishes Whit a speedy recovery.

On to happier news - Sidney Penguin decided to take another road trip. He left Oklahoma and ended up in Omaha, Nebraska:


While there, he stopped to visit Friend of The Show Janine L.'s adorable little daughter, Melia:


Many thanks go out to Friends of The Show Kellie D., Mike @ Japan, and AustinLovesCrosby for sending the link to the article and to Janine for sharing her Roaming Penguin picture!

Since it's his Show and I've yet to mention him in this post, I figured I'd look to the Saint for today's TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"In this jersey, I promise to play for the logo on the front, not the name on the back."

~ Sidney Crosby

This amazing shot of Sidney comes courtesy of good Friend of The Show Teka of Talk Hockey To Me.