Bugsy Makes A Deal

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday because at 1:00pm I was picking up the newest member of our pack - another Greyhound we named Connor - and last night I was at my parents' home celebrating my mom's birthday. Here's a picture I took a few hours ago of our boys all being lazy lumps:

Clockwise from the top - Logan, Baylee (he's a Golden Retriever - the Greyhound rescue we work with has dubbed him an honorary Greyhound because he's now got 3 Greyhound brothers), Connor (the new guy - isn't his coat beautiful?!), and Link

My parents live in an area where their cable provider has Pittsburgh news channels. We were watching KDKA news at 11pm when I found out that Ryan Malone had signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. I couldn't believe it when I heard the reported terms of Bugsy's deal (from The Sporting News):

Ryan Malone has signed a $31.5 million, seven-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The 28-year-old will reportedly earn between $7 million and $8 million in each of the first two years of the contract.

The Lightning traded a third-round pick in the 2009 draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins for exclusive negotiating rights with Malone and forward Gary Roberts on Saturday. According to reports late Sunday, Roberts had signed a one-year contract with the Lightning that could be worth as much as $2 million.


Last week the Lightning hired Greg Malone, Ryan's father, as their head pro scout.

WHAT?! The deal Gary Roberts scored was in line with what I figured he'd be getting, but Ryan Malone's deal is insane. I'm not hating on Malone now that he's no longer a Penguin, but the only explanation for this deal is that Tampa Bay must have more money than they know what to do with. Think about this - the Lightning are paying him almost as much as the Penguins are paying the league's best player for the next two years. MISTAKE.

No wonder Ray Shero didn't really try to stop Bugsy from leaving - Shero would much rather spend that money on a player who is actually worth $7 million next season. I have to admit that I'm quite shocked that Tampa Bay is willing to pay Malone so much money. Only time will tell if it turns out to be a sound investment on Oren Koules's part. For some perspective, check out Illegal Curve's analysis of the deal here.

I'd love to hear what you all think of Bugsy's deal. Do you disagree with me? Is Bugsy worth the big bucks? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Rights To Two Pens

From NHL.com:

The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired the rights to left wings Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts from Pittsburgh in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2009, owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie announced.



“We said earlier this week we would be aggressive in our pursuit of free agents in order to win and compete,” Koules said. “This trade today doesn’t guarantee anything, but we believe it gives us a leg up in our attempt to sign these two impact players.”

OOOOHHHH BOY, Tampa Bay is going to be gooood this coming season. The Penguins picked up a conditional draft pick in 2009 for the trade. If the Lightning is able to sign Bugsy, the Pens' draft pick will be Tampa Bay's pick in the third round. If the Lightning cannot sign him, the Pens' will get Dallas's fourth round pick.

Yikes! I'm not looking forward to having either of these guys on the opposite bench. But it's just part of the business, and now I will take this opportunity to wish the best of luck to both Robs and Bugsy. Thanks for everything. You'll be missed.

Thanks to grriamafrog for leaving the link in the last post's comments section.

(LATE EDIT: In the event the NHL.com link isn't working, here's a link to this story on TSN.ca.)

No Good News - Yet

The Pens' salary cap for the 2008-09 season will be $56.7 million. Evidently, Brooks Orpik wants a bigger cut of it (from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette):

The Penguins found out yesterday that they'll be able to spend $56.7 million on players during the coming season. They also learned that they still haven't offered defenseman Brooks Orpik enough of that money to convince him to stay. ..."We did receive an offer, which we turned down," Gross said. "But we're still talking."

This doesn't necessarily mean that Orpik's not going to sign with the Pens. It's likely just the beginning of an offer/counteroffer process for Orpik to see how much money he can squeeze out of Ray Shero and for Shero to see how much of a discount Orpik is willing to take. Still, with all the uncertainty surrounding this team with 12 guys set to become UFAs on Tuesday, it sure would be nice if Orpik signed a contract over this weekend.


Evgeni Malkin, on the other hand, still plans on offering the Penguins a discount, despite the recent decisions made by Marian Hossa and Gary Roberts (also from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette):

...management's personnel plans took a hit when right winger Marian Hossa informed the team he plans to explore free agency July 1, likely shrinking the chances he will re-sign from nominal to pretty much nil.

That almost certainly will bring about a major adjustment to the Penguins' offseason plans, but what it did not change was Malkin's willingness to take a reduced salary -- probably something in the neighborhood of $8.5 million -- for the sake of the franchise.


"Evgeni understands that some players will not stay for many reasons," said J.P. Barry, his agent. "He simply hopes that his approach helps the team either re-sign existing players or bring in new players so they can be one of the best teams in the league.

"We have provided Ray our proposal and I will continue to speak with him this week as he works at putting together the best team possible, given salary-cap constraints."

I've come to the conclusion that even if none of the 12 UFAs re-sign with the Pens this summer (a highly unlikely scenario - I'm sure we'll get to keep at least one, haha!), if we can get a contract extension signed, sealed, and delivered to Geno, this off-season can still be called a success.


The Pens will be okay. Shero has proved time and time again that he knows what's up. He'll be able to fill gaps left by Hossa and (probably) Malone. Just look at what he's done in the past. Last season, Shero brought veteran Robs in to show the very young, inexperienced Penguins what discipline, commitment, and grit really are and how to achieve longevity in the NHL. This season, it was clear Sidney needed a winger capable of capitalizing on his unmatched play-making ability, so Shero orchestrated the coup that scored Hoss at the trade deadline. I have no doubt that Shero will be able to come through for the team again.


[*Sigh*] So let's review what we know so far:

• Gary Roberts & Kris Beech = basically gone.
• Ryan Malone & Marian Hossa = one foot out the door.
• Brooks Orpik = undecided.
• Jarkko Ruutu = talks are set to begin before July 1.
• All the rest of the UFAs = ???
• Evgeni Malkin = more wanted than Osama bin Laden.

Sidney Crosby = A PENGUIN UNTIL 2013.


I guess it's not all bad, eh? ;)

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!!! :)

Mr. Roberts' Neighborhood Isn't Pittsburgh Anymore

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

What Would Gary Roberts Do?

Move on, apparently.

Rick Curran, who represents Roberts -- a veritable folk hero in his season-plus with the Penguins -- said yesterday that Roberts will continue playing, but not in Pittsburgh.

"He very much enjoyed his time there," Curran said. "But he understands that Ray [Shero, the Penguins' general manager] has a number of items on his agenda that would take priority."


Curran added that Roberts, 42, "most definitely" intends to continue his career and will decide where after reaching unrestricted free agency next Tuesday.

UGH!!! Pens fans with ThePensblog.com WWGRD wristbands = STUNNED. It was a good run, though, and I think what Robs taught our young Pens (specifically the Saint) in the time he spent here was invaluable beyond measure. He is legendary for his diet and workout regimens, and his passion for the game at age 42 showed the youngsters what commitment really means.

Thanks for everything, Gary. You will be missed.
(Photo courtesy of Friend of The Show Lexie101.)

Thanks to Friends of The Show Lexie101 for the picture and Stephanie S. for sending in the link.

Oren Koules Is Awesome

Long time no post, eh? ;) On Sunday I spent the day watching movies with my husband, and yesterday it felt like I didn't even get a minute to breathe because we're working hard to meet deadlines this week to get ready for shutdown next week. (I'm really sorry about that - I wouldn't have skipped posting on Sunday if I'd known how crazy Monday was going to be.) Anyhoo, I've been thinking about what the Tampa Bay Lightning did on Saturday at the draft and thought it was cool enough to mention here on The Show.

In the seventh round, the Lightning selected 18 year old defenseman from the University of Denver named David Carle, who was attending the college on a hockey scholarship and is the younger brother of Matt Carle of the San Jose Sharks. Big whoop, right? Wrong. It turns out that during the pre-draft physical examinations, doctors found out that Carle has a potentially fatal heart condition (from College Hockey News):

Denver recruit David Carle has retired from competitive hockey after doctors discovered a heart abnormality. The condition, known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — or thickening of the heart — can cause sudden cardiac death if there is too much exertion.

[...]

Carle got an EKG at the NHL's scouting combine, which is where an abnormality was first detected. He went to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for more tests.


Carle said a nurse was the first to inform him that the news wasn't good. "...I just lost it and had a good cry. ...The doctor came in, and I was pretty shell-shocked at first. After a few hours passed, you can step back and evaluate it, and move forward.

"I'm really quite fortunate they were able to find it. I've still got a long life ahead of me. I have a lot to look forward to and a lot of opportunities ahead of me."

Because of the severity of the disease, he withdrew his name for consideration once the diagnosis was confirmed. But that's when this happened (from The Denver Post):

On Saturday, however, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected Carle in the seventh round (203rd overall).

Incoming Lightning owner Oren Koules pushed for the team to select Carle.


"The kid worked his whole life to be drafted in the NHL, and I didn't see a reason he shouldn't be," Koules said on the club's website.

It's only symbolic, since even slight physical exertion could lead to sudden cardiac death. But what a gesture! This kid's entire life changed through no fault of his own, and Koules used the draft to pay tribute to Carle's lifetime of commitment to the game of hockey. Carle still plans to attend the University of Denver, and Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky told Carle that, despite the fact that he now cannot play on the team, his scholarship would be honored.

It's a bittersweet ending to a career that never had a chance to get started.

PROOF!!!

This came to me a few minutes ago courtesy of Friend of The Show Sooska:

I took a screen shot from the HERE a few minutes ago and photoshopped it only to draw a line and circle and add the text. The rest of the image is unchanged. Go to the site and see for yourselves. On Geno's page the menu is in the lower left. The file of the screen shot is attached. Please note it says GENO- not Gino. Nike says it is Geno, therefore God Gary says it is Geno.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

I think we can safely put this controversy to rest and concentrate on the rumors of his trade. Pensgirl told me last night she had been alerted to a rumor that our boy Geno had already signed with a team from Tokyo for all-you-can-eat-sushi. This rumor has credence since we all know for a fact, as he stated it openly on Inside Penguins Hockey, that his favorite place to eat in Pittsburgh is Umi in Shadyside.

That's very difficult to argue against! Looks like it's CASE CLOSED for good on the Geno v Gino issue! :) And speaking of Geno's alleged possible relocation, it turns out that Ray Shero was actually listening to some of the offers being sent his way, though he ultimately didn't accept any of them. Check out this article that details what Geno's agent has to say about the coveted star's future:

Sidney Crosby cracked the door open last July.

Evgeni Malkin wants to rip it from its hinges next month to allow teammates - specifically impending unrestricted free agent Marian Hossa - a clear path toward long-term futures with the Penguins.


Malkin's agent, JP Barry, said Friday his client would follow the precedent set by Crosby last summer and sign a long-term extension at less than his presumed market value to provide the Penguins salary cap space necessary to remain a Stanley Cup contender.

I believe the words you're looking for are "BOO" and "YAH." But, as they say, you've got to take the good with the bad: Unfortunately, talks with Marian Hossa have broken down. He has decided to decline the Pens' offer for a longterm deal in favor of trying his luck in free agency. (>_<) Evidently, "[Ray] Shero said he is 'not optimistic and not pessimistic' about keeping Hossa." Okaaaaaay...

Sid will definitely still need a winger if Hossa leaves, but I'm so glad Geno wants to stay!!! This photo of Geno comes courtesy of good Friend of The Show Teka of Talk Hockey To Me. She took the photo in Philadelphia when the Pens met the Flyers on 11-10-07.

Oh, and in HOLY SCHMIDT news, the Philadelphia Flyers traded Pittsburgh native Penguin killer R.J. Umberger to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Here are the details of that trade:

The Flyers received the Blue Jackets first round pick (19th overall) and third round pick (67th overall). The Blue Jackets also received the Flyers' fourth round pick (119th overall) in the deal.

Umberger, a graduate of Plum High School, was a restricted free agent that the Flyers were having difficulty re-signing because of the salary cap. The Blue Jackets will now have exclusive negotiating rights with Umberger until July 1, when other teams can make a contract offer that the Blue Jackets would have to match or risk losing him.

Umberger and the Saint play in Philadelphia on 01-13-07.

Umberger ...was a restricted free agent that the Flyers were having difficulty re-signing because of the salary cap.

Hmmm, do you think that had anything to do with the fact that the Flyers had no money to spare after shelling out $10 million to Danny Briere?

Finally, in draft news, the Pens picked up right wing Nathan Moon, and goaltenders Alexander Pechurski and Patrick Killeen in the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th rounds, respectively. Don't forget to keep working on our TSCS Summer Project! I've already gotten some really good ones. :)

Big thanks go out to Friends Sooska (for sending in the PROOF! screenshot) and Teka (for the shot of Geno).

Geno's Not Going To Russia

Poor Geno. Everyone in the media seems ready to put him on the next train and ship him out of Pittsburgh. This morning, I was greeted by emails with links to this article from Sportsnet.ca:

Russia's Continental Hockey League is hoping to make Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin the world's highest-paid hockey player to the tune of $15 million per season according to a Toronto newspaper.

That's a lot of freaking cash!!!

According to the Toronto Star, several teams in Russia's revamped hockey league are prepared to offer Malkin a multi-year deal worth $12.5 million a season. The offer would be equivalent to at least a $15 million per year in the NHL, where players have to pay state (or provincial) and federal taxes.

$15 million a year?!! I don't think any one of us would have blamed him if he'd chosen to go after that kind of cash. But there's one problem: The IIHL has just released a statement saying, in short, that the offer was NOT made to Geno and this story is just B.S. (from the Pens' website):

Although the International Ice Hockey Federation does not usually issue statements following unsubstantiated media reports, the IIHF finds it principally important to address the newspaper story (Toronto Star, June 20) that reports about the Russian league allegedly preparing an offer to Pittsburgh Penguin player Evgeni Malkin, who is under contract with the NHL-club.

Geno scores in Russia. Imagine actually seeing this in person. AMAZING!

...we are confident that the report is not substantiated.

There you have it. No matter what anyone in the media says, I continue to believe that Geno won't be going anywhere. If - I said IF, people! - a trade was in Geno's future, I can't possibly imagine a good enough reason why Ray Shero would do it this summer. I find it extraordinarily difficult to believe that Shero would give up one of the best players in the world while he still costs under $1 million per year.

Where you goin'? Nowhere!

I'm not trying to poke any bears here, but I would think if Shero was looking for a way to save some room in the salary cap by unloading a center, he might want to look at trading Jordan Staal. (See? This is why I'm glad I'm not Mr. Shero!) Don't get me wrong - I like Staal well enough and he's a freaking beast on the penalty kill, but if money is going to be an issue, I'd MUCH rather part with the Gronk than Geno. Staal is good - good enough to demand millions. But Geno is elite. Without Geno and Ty Conklin, the Pens wouldn't have had a snowball's chance at even getting into the playoffs. And up until the Stanley Cup Finals, Geno along with the dynamic duo of Sid and Marian Hossa were the team's offensive one-two punch. If I was Shero, I'd be doing everything in my power to keep both Hossa and Malkin right now. And my bet is that he's doing just that.

I took this at the 04-02-08 Pens v Flyers game.

Now to lighten the mood a bit, our main man finds himself in TWO top 10 lists today! :) He came in at number 6 in the Wall Street Journal's Top 10 Athletes of 2008. (Noticeably absent - one hockey-hating golfer named Tiger.) The Saint earned the top spot in AskMen.com's Top 10: Athletes Under 21. Another great thing about the AskMen list: three spots are occupied by NHL'ers! :)

He tops our list!

Thanks go out to Friends of The Show Aisha V. and Vanny V. for the Sportsnet link, Daily Su for the Pens' website link, and to commenter Alyssa for the WSJ link.

Did Shero Offer Geno to the Kings?

Have you heard this one yet? From The Ottawa Sun:

The Penguins are trying to make a blockbuster move before tomorrow night's NHL draft at Scotiabank Place.

League sources say Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero offered all-star centre Evgeni Malkin to the Kings for the No. 2 overall pick in the draft and a player, possibly centre Mike Cammalleri.


While many NHL executives refused to believe the Penguins would trade the 21-year-old Malkin because he has one year left on his entry-level contract at a bargain $984,000 (all terms US), the indications are that Shero wants to sign winger Marian Hossa before he becomes an unrestricted free agent -- a deal that could cost Pittsburgh upward of $8 million a year.

If the Penguins retained Hossa, signing Malkin next year could be dicey because of salary cap considerations.

[devil's advocate] As unpleasant as this move would be, it would also have its benefits. Releasing Geno now for a top draft pick would give the Pens an opportunity to get another highly skilled and low cost player to save some room in the salary cap. That would free up a significant amount of cash over the next few years that could be used in salaries for guys like Hossa and Marc-Andre Fleury.


The extra cash would also increase the possibilities of retaining Ryan Malone, Brooks Orpik, Jarrko Ruutu, Georges Laraque, and Mark Eaton. (It should be mentioned that, because he seems to be injury prone, we might be able to keep Eaton - who is one helluva defenseman when he's healthy - for a discounted price anyways.) Don't forget that Jordan Staal's entry level contract is up soon, too, and my guess is that he'll be asking his bosses for a substantial raise.

The benefits of keeping Geno are more than obvious, but I can see some benefits to letting him go, too. And I don't see how the Pens have much of a chance at another Stanley Cup run in the immediate future without key players like Bugsy and Orpik. And it's not as if Geno is our franchise player. Add to that the fact that we'd be getting the #2 draft pick this year, and it seems like the deal would actually make some sense. [/devil's advocate]


The part that has me puzzled, though, is that all this comes only days after Geno released a statement he'd be willing to give Shero a rather significant hometown discount (recall that he said he didn't need to exceed or even meet Sid's $8.7 million, 5 year deal). This is why I just find this particular rumor very difficult to believe. I'm not the only one wondering about that - Puck Daddy Greg Wyshynski is confused by the timing of this one, as well:

Perhaps Shero is infatuated with flipping his Russian star for the next Scott Niedermayer or the next Pavel Bure, and saving major coin in the process. Maybe he knows something we don't about Malkin.


But on the surface -- and with the very important [author of the article Bruce] Garrioch grain of salt -- hearing Evgeni Malkin being shopped weeks after declaring he'd give the Penguins a Crosby discount is absolutely stunning if true.

I don't think "stunning" is quite a strong enough word. Just remember - this is still purely rumor and speculation. But even so, I'm curious as to what you all think: If you were forced to make a choice, who would you rather see come back in a Pens sweater next season, Geno or Bugsy & Orpik? Why? (I know - it's like Sophie's Choice for Pens fans.)


Thanks to longtime Friends of The Show Mike @ Japan and Allison Y. for the links! :)

Winter Classic II: Penguins in Lion Country?

First things first: You'll have to forgive me for the links to two of the following articles. CentreDaily.com archives their articles after only a short time of availability. The articles are then made available for their paid subscribers only. I am not a subscriber, and I am fairly certain most of you are not, either. So the links I've used below will direct you to Google's cached version of the articles. However, I'm not sure how long Google stores their cached pages, so make sure you check them out now if you're interested.

Siddo was in front of Geno (click to enlarge - you can only see Sid's shoulders).

Waaaaaaay back in December 2007, when all the hype for the highly anticipated Winter Classic was in full swing, I told you about reports that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell proposed holding an outdoor game between the Pens and their cross-state rivals the Flyers at Penn State University's Beaver Stadium. It may seem to some like that idea has been forgotten, but here in central PA, this rumor has grown legs:

Gov. Ed Rendell wants to see an annual outdoor hockey game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers at Beaver Stadium. He suggested the idea in a letter sent to the owners of both teams and the National Hockey League’s commissioner Gary Bettman.

Bettman discussed Rendell’s letter at a May 24 news conference, saying he didn’t “envision” a scenario where both teams would play annually outdoors, saying those events are “special and need to stay special,” according to a transcript.

“We’re not going to overdo it. The possibility of having the Penguins play the Flyers at some point in Happy Valley is intriguing and it’s on the list of possibilities that we are and will explore,” he said.

I must admit that I definitely agree with Bettman (WHAT?!) that having an annual outdoor game would definitely cheapen the experience. And if I'm being brutally honest with myself, I should also admit that I think the next outdoor game should be a few years from now and, in the interest of fairness, it should NOT include either the Buffalo Sabres or the Pittsburgh Penguins.

You have no idea how much I now wish I'd bought my new camera BEFORE the Winter Classic.

With that said, I don't think there are words in the English language to describe how excited I would be if the next outdoor game came here. But not everyone thinks it's as awesome an idea as I do. Why? In short, the region's weather and Beaver Stadium's parking (or lack thereof):

Two thoughts immediately sprang to mind on seeing Rendell’s request: Do you really think Central Pennsylvania’s weather will cooperate for you every year? And, more importantly, even for just a single game, where will everyone park?

While Penn State is certainly equipped to host a major sporting event in that stadium and in this town, where do the vast majority of football fans park? On the grass fields surrounding the stadium. Would you care to take your chances in one of those parking spots if there are a few inches of snow on the ground? Or if we’ve had several inches in December and it recently melted?

Plus, you cannot count on 30,000 students walking to the game from campus, like they do for football, because they would be on break and the dorms are closed, putting even more pressure on the parking situation.

Both of these are legitimate concerns. There's a saying here - if you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes. It's cliché, but it's true. But the argument can be made that the weather is going to be a variable in any city that is chosen to host an outdoor game. Case in point: The weather in Buffalo switched back and forth between rain and snow throughout the entire game (haha, and the looooooong, careful drive home).

Our view of the National Anthems. I still can't get over how big the flags were.

As for the parking situation, I'm pretty sure it could be worked out with a mandatory shuttle system. This town has more than a few parking garages. Local businesses might even want to get in on the act and close their stores down for the day (everyone's hungover on New Year's Day anyway, haha). Instead they could make a decent amount of money charging for parking spaces. Over the winter break, enough of the students return home for the holidays that perhaps even PSU could designate a few parking lots for ticket holders... Okay well, and maybe pigs could sprout wings and fly, but you get the point. Because of the number of students living here, there is a decent public transportation system, so shuttling fans to Beaver Stadium wouldn't be a difficult feat to accomplish at all. I can't wait to see how this all pans out. If it happens, I'm SO THERE. :)

Now I leave you with few links for tonight:

• Seth of Empty Netters drops some knowledge on the Ryan Malone situation.


• IFHSA™ gives us the nauseating quote of the day:
  

  "...and I'm rocking a straight Speedo all summer."

  Uncool. If anyone cares, he completed his Vogue internship.


• Frank D. of Pensburgh.com is using his summer break to take a look back and appreciate the Pens of the past. So, can you guess who the first entry is dedicated to? ;)

Thanks so much for your feedback on our TSCS Summer Project. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's hometown + Penguins pride!

A TSCS Summer Project

I will declare today a Rumor Free Zone since some of you requested a day of respite from all the recent speculation. I promise that just for today, I'll only post an update if a player actually signs a contract. Instead, I want to talk about the summer project I mentioned yesterday. The idea for this project came to me from two ideas I received from several Friends of The Show.


The original idea was one that grew in the Game 6 recap's comments section. We all wanted to express our thanks to the Pens for a fantastic season, but I think in those hours following the loss, none of us were really thinking about how quickly the Boys of Winter would be heading back to their homes for the summer. We didn't have much time to get anything together, so that idea quickly lost steam.


Since this was my first season as a hockey blogger, I still want to use this public forum to express my thanks to the Pens for making it memorable, but sending thanks to them for just one season seems somewhat inadequate - especially since the Penguins organization has given me so much over the past 11 years.

So then I got an email from across the pond from Friend of The Show Dave D. He had this fantastic idea:

Just wanted to throw an idea to you guys. I got it from looking at the map you added last week with all TSCS fans from around the world. Just thought it would be a cool idea if we all sent in pics of us in our Crosby / Penguins gear holding our national flags.


[It] would be great to see all the nations together showing the love and support of Sidney Crosby and of course you guys at TSCS.

How awesome is that idea?! I thought I should expand on Dave's idea just a tad to make sure everyone could be included: It doesn't have to be a picture of you in the Pens gear. All that I want to see is your country's flag with whatever you have to support the Pens. It can be you in a Pens jersey waving a huge flag, or it can be a miniature flag hanging next to a Sidney or Mario poster on your wall.

Add your country's colors to this picture and you've got yourself an entry.

Just be creative and have some fun with it! I'm pretty sure we'll get a lot of pictures of the US and Canadian flags, but they'll all be different so it'll be okay. (You know, you could use a state flag, if you have one.) I'll take your submissions until Saturday July 12^th. That should be plenty of time to think of a unique way to get a picture that shows your pride in your country and in your Penguins. (Perhaps some of us Yankees can get a great picture at our Independence Day celebrations!)

LATE EDIT 1: Friend of The Show Mer R. pointed out that our Northern Friends can use provincial flags. :)

After it's all said and done and the resulting post is complete, we could use the comments section of that post to express our thanks to the Pens for everything they have given to us fans over the years. Everyone should feel free to let me know what you think of TSCS Summer Project in the comments section below. We've got lots of time to tweak the idea if you guys have improvements. FYI: I'm going to try to think of a way I can get my three dogs in on the action for my photo... :)

LATE EDIT 2: Read the comments below and you'll understand why Friend of The Show Stephanie S. created this:

More Geno & Hossa Rumors

I hope all the dads reading TSCS had a great Father's Day! My sister and I took my dad to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (confidential to the ladies → Ben Barnes alone makes it worth the price of the ticket. YOW-ZAH!!!), and then the 3 of us headed back to his house to join my mom for dinner. Since I seemed to have missed a lot while I was hanging out with my family yesterday, I'll try to get caught up:

Another day, another set of rumors! Friend of The Show Daily Su sent me this article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that, in short, makes the case that, maybe not this year, but eventually Evgeni Malkin will be leaving Pittsburgh. (A lot of you were discussing it in the last post's comments section yesterday.)

Though the two [Crosby and Malkin] appear to get along just fine, nobody can predict the dynamic over time when two elite-level players share the same locker room. This is especially true in hockey and basketball, where only five players (not including a goalie in hockey) share the playing surface at once.


Sometimes it works, as in the case of Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg for several years in Colorado, or Gretzky and Messier with the dynastic Edmonton Oilers, or even Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux of the mid-1990's.


Other times -- think Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal or Lemieux-Jagr after Lemieux's return from retirement -- the mixture implodes.


Every superstar athlete has an ego. If you're that good, you probably want to be regarded as the best, and you definitely want the ball (or puck) at critical moments.

As hard as I looked to find a point I could make that would make this all go away, author Joe Starkey has a point. I don't think circa 1991 anyone would have even entertained the thought that the Mario Lemieux/Jaromir Jagr story would have such an ending, so Starkey is correct in his point that no one - not even Sid or Geno - knows how the two will get along in the future. And another good point Starkey made was that the only reason that Geno is not the Pens' franchise player is because the Pens already have one in our title man. Whether that is something that drives Geno away remains to be seen. Basically all we as fans can do about it is sit back and enjoy the Sid and Geno show as long as we're fortunate enough to have them both.


Then there's the rumor that the Pens are offering a 7-year $50 million deal to Marian Hossa. All you Hossa fans can thank me, haha - over the weekend I bought my husband a Hossa t-shirt because I'm just that confident he'll stay. :P Seriously, though, that would be great to keep Hossa for 7 years, but at $7 million a year + Sid's $8.7 million a year + $7 to $9 million a year likely earmarked for Geno = nearly half the salary cap in 3 guys! This will make it much more difficult to hang on to key players like Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik, for sure.


But if we've learned anything this season, it's that the Pens have an embarrassment of riches in talent at their disposal on their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Pens farm team. Recall that more than a few times guys like Connor James and Jeff Taffe were called up to help out when seemingly everybody but Michel Therrien suffered a high ankle sprain, and the Baby Pens had their own championship run for the Calder Cup, although they, too, lost in 6 games. No matter what happens this summer, we aren't going to have a mass exodus of all of our superstars. Ray Shero has shown time and time again that he knows what he's doing, so I guess the point I'm trying to make is that the Pens are going to be a good team for well into the future. Feel free to keep leaving your thoughts (and links!) about in the comments.


I'll end the day with a video sent in by Friend of The Show Pensgirl. It's highly likely our Northern Friends have already seen this on Hockey Night In Canada. But for anyone who hasn't, here's a video of Siddo's pre-game superstition stretching ritual.



Come back tomorrow for information about a TSCS Summer Project with which I will be needing your help... ;)

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Many, many apologies for not following through with my promise to discuss RFAs yesterday. It may seem like I'm a day late and a buck short now on some of this stuff (mostly because I am), but in my defense I started writing this post yesterday morning and ended up taking ill later in the day (I think it was something I ate, blech). I had hoped to be able to finish the post later in the evening, but when I came home from work, I became one with my couch and never even powered up my laptop at all last night. But, hey, I guess it's better late than never, right???

(Written Friday:) Right now what I'm going to do is get you up to speed with as much information about all the contract talks as I can so we can all talk about everything in the comments. There are a lot of rumors circulating on the Internet and on XM satellite radio about the future of the Boys on the Penguins' roster. The most laughable one is that Penguins are mulling the idea of trading Evgeni Malkin. These rumors can be traced back to Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury. And in the interest of not reinventing the wheel, I will direct you to a great write up about it on the Bleacher Report. Click here to read it, then come back for the discussion. Go ahead... I'll wait. ;)

He cleans up well, eh?

Are ya done? Okay now, in my opinion, I think it would have to be a trade for an elite player and several first round draft picks to make Ray Shero even entertain the thought of trading Malkin right now. Geno is just too good to let go, and if his improvement from last season to this season is any indication, he's only going to get better. Trading Geno now would be like selling all of your Apple stock in September 2001. (← Just so everyone is perfectly clear about what I'm trying to say, the iPod made its debut the following month.) McGuire's being awfully shortsighted by not taking into consideration how much the Pens relied on Geno this season after Sid got hurt. MAKE NO MISTAKE - there would have been no post-season for the Pens if Geno hadn't taken the reins (well, that and Ty Conklin's goaltending domination). PERIOD. There's no way Shero's going to let Geno go without a fight.

(Written Saturday:) Since I wrote this, Friend of The Show Allison Y. has sent me this article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review where Geno himself makes McGuire look like a complete idiot:

Evgeni Malkin did not leave the NHL Awards Show at Elgin Theatre on Thursday night with either the Hart Trophy or the Lester B. Pearson Award.

But he said the prize he really covets -- a long-term contract extension with the Penguins -- is on its way.


"I'm thinking maybe five or six years," said Malkin, set to enter the final season of his three-year entry-level deal. "I'm an easy guy to deal with. I'd love to stay in Pittsburgh."

SWEET!!!!! While sometimes you'll hear guys praising the city they play for one day then talk about how they couldn't wait to get out of there the next, I think Geno really does want to stay in Pittsburgh. If you'll recall, earlier this season, we were told that his parents loved the 'Burgh so much that they were actually house shopping and considering a move across the pond.

Allison also sent me news that the Pens filed for arbitration with Marc-Andre Fleury:

"By filing for salary arbitration, it gives us extra time to continue to negotiate a contract with Marc-Andre," Penguins general manager Ray Shero said in a team-released statement. "As a result of the filing, Penguins fans are assured that Marc-Andre will be under contract to our club for next season. Marc-Andre has done a tremendous job for us. We remain committed to negotiating a contract with him in the near future."

As I was driving home from work yesterday trying not to focus on the pain in my stomach, I heard on XM Radio that "word on the street" is that Shero low balled an offer to Ryan Malone. I wasn't all that concerned, thinking it was probably just the beginning of an offer/counteroffer process to find out exactly what kind of hometown discount Bugsy was willing to take... until I woke up this morning and saw an article that Friend of The Show Daily Su sent me. From Puck Daddy Greg Wyshynski:

The Sweater Ted recently examined the same sort of situation happening for the Pittsburgh Penguins and two of their UFAs: Forward Ryan Malone and defenseman Brooks Orpik, both of whom could command significant raises this summer.

Check out those tats!

In Malone's case, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been mentioned several times since the Stanley Cup finals ended. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Post Dispatch reports on his blog this afternoon that the whispers remain strong, especially with Evgeni Malkin nearing a contract extension with Pittsburgh. Even if that contract fails to reach Ovechkin-levels of years or dollars, the Penguins still can't break the bank for a player like Malone with no less than a dozen other UFAs to consider.

Ohhh, I think I'm getting sick again... This seems to fall in line with the idea that Shero's real goal this summer is to sign Marian Hossa to a long-term deal. Haha, Friend of The Show Michelle B. literally just sent me this article basically stating the very same thing:

The Penguins have made signing right wing Marian Hossa to a long-term contract their No. 1 priority, according to several players, agents and team officials who spoke to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on the condition of anonymity.

He's a keeper, but will he stay?

All other offseason moves will be determined by the Penguins' success or failure in this pursuit of Hossa, who scored 12 goals and recorded 26 points in 20 Stanley Cup playoff games skating alongside star center Sidney Crosby.

For an idea of exactly how much work Shero's got cut out for him, TheNHLarena.com has this complete list of who's under contract, who's a UFA, and who's an RFA. I'll do my best to keep The Show as up-to-date as I possibly can throughout this summer, so please keep sending links my way - I know I'll get by with a little help from my Friends. :)

I found this yesterday and thought it would be a good way to go out today with a laugh: Which do you think is taller, "Mini-Me" actor Verne Troyer or the Stanley Cup? Click here to find out.

Thanks go out to Allison, Su, and Michelle for the links. :)