HOME ICE ADVANTAGE, BABY!!!

Geno has officially won the Art Ross Trophy, and with the Flyers' loss to the Rangers a few minutes ago, we've now got home ice advantage. It's a great day to be alive. :D

They're coming to OUR house.
(I took this pic at Round 1 Game 1 last year. Click it to enlarge it for a sweet new wallpaper.)

In the meantime, I'll be getting the sidebar of TSCS ready for the playoffs. Look for changes as early as tomorrow evening.

This is great! The website I've been working on finally goes live at the end of this week, so my work load should lighten a bit (again, I think the hockey gods are smiling on me - how's that for timing?!), so I've decided that I'm going to try to start recapping the games again. What a great day to be a Pens fan!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

TIME TO CRUSH THE ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone Get The Lysol...

This is from TheOnion.com:

Sources within the Red Wings organization confirm that goalie Chris Osgood, who is currently engaged in accompanying the Stanley Cup on a victory tour of talk shows and publicity events, has repeatedly and insistently claimed to have gotten as far as third base with hockey's championship trophy during the past week. ...When asked for comment, Osgood himself initially refused to give details.

[...]

Osgood told ESPN's Jim Rome when asked about his involvement with the trophy on Wednesday's Jim Rome Is Burning. "I mean, everyone dreams of winning the Cup, that's only natural. But it's not like that with me. Come on, man."


However, when Rome attempted to change the subject to Osgood's long and tumultuous Detroit career, Osgood, apparently warming to the subject, continued to talk about his relationship with the Cup.

"Okay, now, I'm not saying there isn't—it's a powerful feeling, when you win the Cup, and sometimes that leads to other feelings that are just as powerful," Osgood continued. "Things happen, but you and the Cup both want them to happen, and you go back to the hotel and ask it to watch Dirty Dancing, and eventually maybe you get into some up and over, or there's some up and down and underneath, or maybe—I'm not saying this happened, but you know—maybe there's more than one way to kiss the Cup."

"A better way," a grinning Osgood added as an evidently stunned Rome remained mute. "A way that brings the Cup as much pleasure as the Cup brings you. Or the great city of Detroit, for that matter."

I laughed until I cried, but now someone needs to tell me what I have to do to erase that image from my head! Read the entire thing here. We'll talk RFAs and outdoor games tomorrow...

'Cause There Ain't No Cure For The Summertime Blues

Today seemed like a good day to dig into some of the stuff I've been holding and/or didn't have a chance to get to during the playoffs. But first (I PROMISE this is the very last time I'm going to bring this up) I have to reopen "The Great Malkin Debate." Now we've got two items that suggest we need to go back to GENO over GINO. First, Pengylady sent me this:

For what it’s worth . . . . After he scored the goal last night – the arena Jumbotron was flashing GENO. And I don’t think that article from the official site was by Penguins staff – it had an NHL.com byline.

Now I've seen "GENO!!!" flash on that Jumbotron with my own eyes (several times!), and yet I have no idea why it never occurred to me to refer to that when we were trying to determine how to spell Malkin's nickname.


Then, Pensgirl sent me this:

Not to drag out the Geno/Gino debate, but I happened to look over at my computer just now and the attached file was going by on my screen saver. It's one of the 'comic book' wallpapers the Pens put up on their official website. Talk about muddying the waters - if the Pens themselves are the best source, we now have both spellings coming from them!

This is the wallpaper she was referring to:

Click it to enlarge it.

This is another thing - I have this cycling through my Webshots so I've seen it probably hundreds of times, yet it never occurred to me to refer to it, either. GEEZ!! Anyways, since "GENO" is how the actual Pens staff is spelling it (and since "GENO" is preferred by the majority of you), it will remain GENO on TSCS unless and until I actually see Malkin himself writing it differently. CASE CLOSED, haha! ;)

Aisha V. sent me this hilarious video of Mad Max Talbot and Big Georges Laraque talking about Game 3.

Lexie101 was at the Mellon when BGL and Mad Max were taping that interview:

Max was nice enough to stop and give her an autograph and take a picture with her.

Stephanie S. sent in pictures of herself with her beloved Dallas Stars' goaltender Marty Turco as well as one of her standing beside hockey's Holy Grail:

Haha, Marty's kind of skinny. I wonder if he's got stems like our Flower! :P

Christine sent me an article that eased my mind a bit. Evidently Marian Hossa wants silver more than salary:

"If I wanted to make a couple more dollars, I would probably just re-sign with Atlanta," said Hossa. "...There's always a limit, but I'd rather take a little less and play on a good team, definitely."


...captain Sidney Crosby made it clear that he does not want to enter next season the way he did this one -- without a high-scoring winger to make best use of his talent as a set-up man.

Crosby, whose five-year, $43.5-million extension begins this fall, said yesterday that he is willing to drop his tag as the team's highest-paid player in order to keep his right-hand man in Hossa. [snoop: Another reason Sid is the Saint...]

"I want to play with him," Crosby said. "He's a great player. I hope it works out that he's able to stay. He's a great person. He works hard. I enjoy playing with him. As we played together more and got used to each other, things started to happen, and it was a lot of fun out there. It would be a lot of fun to keep playing with someone like that. I hope it works out."


...[Hossa said,] "Sid is an incredible player and even better person. But there's lot of players to be signed. We'll see what's going to happen. I'm sure Ray's going to do everything he can to keep everybody together."

That is freaking awesome. Of all the players set to become UFAs this summer, I hope Ray Shero can find a way to keep Hossa, Ryan Malone, and Brooks Orpik. They are my top 3. If Shero can pull out the magic pixie dust and keep them all, well, that would be FANTASTIC! But realistically, we should be preparing ourselves to say goodbye to a few of them... Leave your top 3 UFA "keepers" in the comments section below.

Finally, this one is for our Red Wings loving Friends. Our Friend Daily Su keeps a blog over at NHL Connect where she writes under the name MotleySu. Here's an interesting story she found:

WDIV sports babe in hot water! WDIV sports reporter Katrina Hancock is embroiled in controversy among Detroit sports fans.

Hancock followed the Red Wings to Pittsburgh to cover game six of the Stanley Cup finals. While there, she allowed herself to be interviewed by a KDKA reporter. He stated that she was the only reporter from Detroit willing to admit that Penguins fans are better than Detroit fans. She then admitted to that on camera.

Dissing your viewers is not exactly a smart thing to do...

The KDKA reporter followed her remarks by saying he had to promise Hancock the interview would never run in Detroit (I guess he never heard of the internet).

Internet bulletin boards and sports talk radio shows have exploded with fans calling for her head.

Interesting...

Seriously, even if she only has limited knowledge of modern technology, how could Hancock think that no one from Detroit would find out about this?! Haha, I can't wait to hear her mea culpa. :P

OH!!! One last thing before I let you go - I know most of the regulars here have already checked out RaleighSkyline.com (aka: the site with the stunning pictures of the Stanley Cup). BUT YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT AGAIN!!! At some point between when I first linked it and now, Matt Robinson added an absolutely unreal closeup photo of the Penguins' spot(s) on the Stanley Cup. It's amazing.

Many thanks to Friends of The Show Pengylady, Pensgirl, Aisha, Lexie101, Stephanie, Christine, and Daily Su for the assistance with today's post!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Playoff Facial Hair (...and lack thereof)

The Saint's lightly peppered face has been the subject of much discussion here amongst the Friends of The Show. So far, it looks like most of you are giving Sid's (haha) "beard" a big thumbs down. Leave it to Dave Molinari of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to go get the full story on which Pens are capable of growing face forests and which Pens need magnifying glasses to prove that there are in fact whiskers on their chins:

For every guy like Ryan Whitney, Ryan Malone or Max Talbot -- who modestly claims to grow the world's finest playoff beard -- in the Penguins' locker room, there is a Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby or Kris Letang.

Members of the first group probably could morph from clean-shaven to a full-fledged lumberjack look if they'd devote a long weekend to it; those in the latter look as if they could be cleaned up with nothing more than a soapy washcloth and some vigorous rubbing.

HAHAHA! I, too, thought Sid's face looked a bit more dirty than hairy! Here's a good closeup shot of Sid's fuzzy work in progress:

I think he's going to need some help with that...

And here's Mad Max and Bugsy shown presumably after forgetting their respective morning shaves in two separate pictures taken by Friend of The Show Lexie101 just before the end of the regular season:

Maybe HIS nickname should be Bugsy. I mean, MY GOD - he looks like a mobster! ;)

I bet the real Bugsy is one hairy dude, LOL!

Big thank yous go out to Friends of The Show Allison Y. for the link to the article and Lexie101 for the awesome pictures. :)

Crosbymania Gets Out of Control

I've probably said more than a dozen times that Sid is my favorite player. But the hype surrounding him is getting out of control. Sidney isn't the only Penguin, and he's certainly not the only guy in the NHL. The media (mediots, as Jes calls them) and even some fans are so obsessed with the Wizard of Croz that they are being disrespectful and discourteous to other NHL players. I submit to you these items as proof:

Exhibit A

As I wrote earlier, the Stanley Cup made its way to Cole Harbour on July 31, 2007, by way of Anaheim's defenseman Joe DiPenta. Festivities included a parade. DiPenta graciously invited Sidney to join him, his family, his friends, and the entire Cole Harbour community, but Saint Sid declined. I don't know Sidney personally, but my guess is that he declined the invitation in hopes that DiPenta would remain the focus of the day. But of course the media would not let that happen. Crosby's name was spoken by every reporter except for one - Global's Ray Bradshaw. Halifax's The Daily News reporter Alex J. Walling scolds his peers:

This day was all about DiPenta, not No. 87.

Bradshaw didn't ask a question about Crosby, nor did he mention anything about him. The other channels should have done the same.

It was DiPenta's Stanley Cup, his parade, his family, his friends and his community of Cole Harbour. That's what it should have been about. But I kept hearing reporters talk about Crosby.

Here's a tip: One can do a local story on the NHL without mentioning Crosby.

By the way, who will be the next person from Cole Harbour to win the Stanley Cup? I loved Bradshaw's answer last Friday morning on Q104 to B.J. Burke:

"Who else? Joe DiPenta."

We'll just see about that last comment, Bradshaw. We'll just see...

Exhibit B

Apparently Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury gets requests for autographs... Sidney Crosby's autographs. All right, now I am (quite obviously) a huge Sidney Crosby fan. But even I wouldn't do something like that. MAF is a great Penguin himself! Why don't these people just be satisfied with his autograph? Or, if they don't want MAF's autograph, why don't they just leave him alone? Asking him for another player's autograph is disrespectful and selfish. Either be happy with the opportunity to meet the Penguin in front of you, or keep walking and don't bother him!

---

The Lighter Side of the News

This picture is for reader Sydney: Check out THESE pleats!!!

Michael Buble performed at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh on Friday, August 10. Why do we here at TSCS care? Because Buble "rib[bed] the city for Sidney Crosby being here and not in his native Canada." Jealous much, Buble?! ;)

And finally, today I got an email from longtime reader Adrienne, who sends in this gem of a video (it's a direct link - you'll need Windows Media Player to see it). Check it out and tell me that doesn't look like a dead animal on his head!!! It's difficult not to laugh as he talks about taking his promotion to alternate captain seriously while he's wearing a hat that looks frighteningly similar to a mullet wig!!! Thanks, Adrienne!

Stanley's Upcoming Trip to Cole Harbour

Okay Sidney fans, the draft starts tomorrow, and the Penguins don't make an appearance until the 20th pick!!! What a difference a year makes, no? First up on the shopping list should be a right handed defenseman. The Pens' defensive roster has nine southpaws - a couple more righties would come in very handy. I know - they've got Kris Letang and Jonathan D'Aversa, but those two may end up spending most of their time in Wilkes-Barre. But then again, there was a time when a lot of people thought Jordan Staal should have been sent back to Peterborough...

Let's get to the news. First up: there doesn't appear to be an instant superstar like Sir Sidney in this year's draft, and Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found out that Jay Heinbuck doesn't exactly have lofty expectations for the type of player that the Penguins can get this year.

...it wouldn't matter much to the Penguins because, after selecting first or second in four consecutive drafts, they won't choose until 20th this time. Even in years when the quality and depth of the talent available border on legendary, the superstars-in-waiting aren't stacked 20-deep.

No matter, though. The Penguins, after all, already have a stable of rarefied young talent and having the No. 20 pick hardly dooms them to getting a guy who will be manning a drive-through window before the decade is over. Consider that in recent years, Alexander Frolov of Los Angeles, Buffalo's Daniel Paille, Travis Zajac of New Jersey and Minnesota's Brent Burns are among the players who have gone 20th overall.

"There are a lot of guys [selected] at 20 who are playing in the league," said Jay Heinbuck, the Penguins' director of amateur scouting. "There are a lot of guys who aren't playing, too. We just hope we get one who does."

Well, that's not exactly a pep rally, now is it? Oh well, maybe the Pens will score a couple of good ones with the free agents (say it with me now - Roberts! Roberts!!! ROBERTS!!!!!!).

Moving on, the NHL Board of Governors has changed some of the rules for next season. None of the changes are particularly earth shattering.

And finally, since this is Sidney Crosby's show, I figured I should include a little something about him in this post. ;) I found this article from Canada.com detailing Sid's plans for the big day when Joe DiPenta brings Lord Stanley's cup to Cole Harbour:

He says he's not upset that he won't be the first player from his Nova Scotia community to return home with the Stanley Cup. Anaheim defenceman Joe DiPenta will get first crack at that now that the Ducks are NHL champions. He'll get his day with the Cup. Arrangements haven't been finalized.

"I don't think I'll be around when the Cup is around," said Crosby. "I'll stay away while that's going on. But it's great for him, and it's great for the kids there. A lot of kids, hopefully, will get the opportunity to see it up close."

Good for DiPenta, Crosby added. "I'm sure there are a lot of people there who coached him or helped him get to where he is," said Crosby. "It's a great way for him to come back and say thanks."

Something tells me if the kids miss seeing hockey's Holy Grail when it visits Cole Habour this year, they'll have more than a few opportunities to see it in the coming years. :)

2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The following are all TSCS posts related to the Penguins' 2008 Stanley Cup run. It didn't work out the way we wanted it to, but it was a heck of a ride!! :)

• snoop is Going to Game 1!!!
• Playoff Predictions
• Round 1 Game 1: Pens v Sens (W 4-0) Oh. MY. GOD!!! (pt. 1) (Recap/eyewitness account of the game)
• Round 1 Game 1: Pens v Sens (W 4-0) Oh. MY. GOD!!! (pt. 2) (Recap/eyewitness account of the game)
• Round 1 Game 2: Pens v Sens (W 5-3)
• Round 1 Game 3: Pens v Sens (W 4-1)
• Pictures of Game 3 From A Pens Fan in Sens Country
• Round 1 Game 4: Pens v Sens (W 3-1) We've Got A Sweeping Series Win
• Pens v Sens - 2007 v 2008
• Round 2 Game 1: Pens v Rangers (W 5-4)
• Round 2 Game 2: Pens v Rangers (W 2-0)
• "I'm working on that right now."
• Round 2 Game 3: Pens v Rangers (W 5-3)
• More Stuff from Game 3
• Round 2 Game 4: Pens v Rangers (L 0-3)
• Round 2 Game 5: Pens v Rangers (W 3-2 OT)
• The View From The Lawn
• Round 3 Game 1: Pens v Flyers (W 4-2)
• Round 3 Game 2: Pens v Flyers (W 4-2)
• Call the Sheriff - Gonch Was ROBBED - And I Have Proof
• Supportin' Our Pens
• Round 3 Game 3: Pens v Flyers (W 4-1)
• Another Day Off
• "How's It Going, Baby?"
• Round 3 Game 4: Pens v Flyers (L 2-4)
• More of Your Stuff
• Round 3 Game 5: Pens v Flyers (W 6-0)
• TSCS's Frozen Moment
• The Wings Are Gonna Get Clipped
• Work = Insane
• Stanley Cup Finals Game 1: Pens v Red Wings (L 0-4)
• Stanley Cup Finals Game 2: Pens v Red Wings (L 0-3)
• GO PENS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - A TSCS "Pep Rally"
• Stanley Cup Finals Game 3: Pens v Red Wings (W 3-2)
• Photo of The Day
• Stanley Cup Finals Game 4: Pens v Red Wings (L 1-2)
• There Is Still Hope
• Stanley Cup Finals Game 5: Pens v Red Wings (W 4-3 Third OT)
• Stanley Cup Finals Game 6: Pens v Red Wings (L 2-3)
• Greetings from Hockeytown!