Thursday, May 29, 2008

Sidney Crosby (and Adam Hall) Does It All


Breathe in...breathe out. That game last night was the difference between watching Detroit celebrate on your home ice or tying the series up on Saturday night. It looks like we'll be hoping for option 2, as the Pens win a thriller in game 3. The big news before the game out of the Pens camp was the replacement of Kris Letang by Daryl Sydor. Good move coach "T", it worked nicely. The passion to win along with the fear of losing was in the building and it made for some crazy noise inside the Igloo. Game 3, was on, and everybody in Pittsburgh could feel it.
The first period started off kind of like what we saw in Detroit. They were owning possession and were getting shots on net while the Penguins were trying to survive by clearing the puck to center. Then at around the halfway mark, you could see it. The momentum, the possession, the will to live had been turned to the Pens side. The Penguins were throwing up some great shots that were only finding pads and posts. Then it came, a turnover by the Red Wings and Sidney Crosby was on the puck before Henrik Zetterberg knew what had hit his skate. A sweet little drop pass to Marian Hossa off the turnover created a shot that would rebound right to Crosby who buried it 5 hole by Chris Osgood. 1-0 Pens. HUGE. The Pens got one last good shot on net from Marian Hossa, but his arm was too busy being tore off from a Detroit defensemen. That would do it though, period ends.
Period two, the Pens started the period on the power play and Sidney Crosby skated through about 900 Red Wings before unleashing a wrist shot that would find more pipe than a water sanitation center. Evgeni Malkin woke up for a second and found himself wide open a top the left circle and he unleashed a slap shot that would of made Ron Francis blush. Luckily, Osgood was in the way and the rebound caromed off of him and the Red Wings cleared the zone. It didn't matter, the Pens were OWNING Detroit and the Pens flew back into the zone. Sergei Gonchar threw one on net that bounced around to Ryan Malone, couldn't bury it. Then Marian Hossa got the rebound, couldn't bury it. Then there was Crosby who got Hossa's rebound and said "I got this." Buries it, 2-0 Penguins. After that, the only thing worth mentioning was Crosby flying through the air on a Kris Draper hip check. I like how Eddie 'O on NBC decided to let everyone know that Crosby didn't "whine" or "pout" but simply kept playing on. Derrrrrrrr Eddie. After a Hal Gill trip, hook, or whatever it was put Detroit on the man advantage and Johan Franzen lost consciousness skating through 3 Penguins before letting the puck meet the mesh behind Marc-Andre Fluery. That made it a 2-1 game.
The start of the 3rd showed that the Crosby, Dupuis, Hossa line was one track for pure dominance at even strength. Hossa picked up the puck from behind the net on the back hand and unleashed on that found Peter Piper. Then the insurance came. Andres Lilja had his back to Gary Roberts. That's mistake hockey 101 right there. Lilja gets beat down to the ice by a 42 year old god. The puck worked it's way over to Adam Hall who found the side of the cage before picking the puck back up again and did his best Michael Jordan, Larry Bird McDonald's bank shot commercial. The puck found Chris Osgood and then it found itself underneath the net cam. Goal, 3-1 Pittsburgh picked up some nice health insurance. After that Tomas Holstrom had a shot on net that would find the post and the Pens took a huge breath. The next part of the period was pure NHL hockey and somebody from the Detroit bench must have made a face at Brooks Orpik. The dude, went OFF!




Handing out checks like it was the first of the month.

Detroit would be the first to settle things down with some passes and a goal from Mikael Samuelsson that netted a score at 3-2 and chance for the Wings to tie it up before regulation.Especially when Evgeni Malkin gets called for a hooking penalty with less than 5 minutes remaining. The Penguins, stepped up once again and killed it off and the Pen's would soon kill off an empty net attack before take the game and changing the series. Breathe in. Breathe out. Sleep, eat, repeat Saturday.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Bucco's Start Out Nice, Ends in an "L"

The Pirates had something going last night until the bottom of the 5th inning came. The Buc's were taking advantage of more sloppy play and sloppy pitching from Johnny Cueto. In the 2nd, the Pirates go clutch hitting from arguably, two of the worst hitters on the team. Struggling Jose Bautista and slumping Ronny Paulino teamed up for a double and a single to start off the inning. Paulino however, was throw out at 2nd for trying to stretch what should have never even been thought of for a guy with his speed. In the 3rd, the Bucco's added on a second run on a 2 out base hit by Xavier Nady, driving in Jason Bay. In the top of the 5th Jason Bay reached on a throwing error and a long single by Xavier Nady moved Bay to third. Adam LaRoche, who has slowly, but surely started warming up, hit a sac fly to deep center bringing home Bay, 3-0 Bucco's. The fun would stop there as Ian Snell would load the bases on 3 consecutive walks. Brandon Phillips brought in a run on a sac fly and Adam Dunn would finish off the jobbing with a 3 run homer to right. That home run made it 4-3 Reds, and it also made Adam Dunn the all time leader in home runs by a lefty for the Reds franchise. It marked 8 home runs in Dunn's last 12 games, nothing out of the ordinary. I'll be surprised if he doesn't back this up with a 12 game hitting slump with 49 strike outs. Nothing happened score wise until the bottom of the 6th when hits and walks were being given out like presents on Christmas day. Ian Snell was pulled after loading the bases, again, on 2 hits and a walk. Damaso Marte came in relief and he didn't do much better. 3 hits and 4 runs later, it was a 8-3. The Reds added one another run to make it 9-3 in the 7th when Jay Bruce doubled to deep center bringing in Paul Bako. Bruce went 3 for 3 and the city of Cincinnati thinks they just discovered the next Jeff Francouer, aka GOD. The Pirates tried to get something going in the 9th when LaRoche hit a 2 run homer and Paulino added a solo shot him self, but the damage was done. Bucco's were toast, 9-6 losers.
Other Notes:
-Ian Snell continues to stink the joint up. 5IP, 7 runs. (Picture) It's not your hand! It's your arm, shoulder, wrist, finger, etc....
-Jack Wilson came back for his first game since going on the disabled list since the 3rd game of the season. He went 3-5, but he's not as good as this Jay Bruce kid.
-Even though the last week wasn't all that great, the Buc's are still 24-27. 6.5 back of the first place Cubs, the Red's are only 7.0 back.
-Jay Bruce may become the next Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams rolled up in one.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

A Night of Theatre and Hockey

The Penguins are getting flat out, beaten. Not to say that Chris Osgood, who's extremely jealous that he doesn't see enough shots, flopping around on the ice helped anymore than it did. Is that why he does the things he does? Because he feels the need to act a little more, so he can "feel part of the team"? I swore off watching World Cup soccer because of the fact, those guys take a tap to the shin and fall down like their leg is being amputated. Same deal with Chrissy, Robin Williams (Video below) makes great reference to him at 1:15 in.



Is there any way the Pen's can pick up Oscar de le Hoya off of waivers? He's spanish, right?

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't allllll bad calls. I'm not the type who solely puts blame on the refs for determining the out come of a game, but that crap last night didn't help. Osgood has done his stuff before and it happens to be quite annoying and bush league. You can give credit to that of the Red Wings defense though, they're unreal. The Pens have never seen anything like this. The only thing remotely close was that of the Devils, but they didn't have the fire power (goal scorers) and their goalie at least faced 25 shots a game and made some ACTUAL saves. They also played the Rangers, who mid season had a sex change and decided they wanted to take the defensive route, but they also don't have the depth in scoring, nor the depth on defense to make it happen. And their goalie isn't 35 years old...and he's good. Besides Sean Avery, I couldn't point out a single linesman that has once dove for the better good of the game. Or faked an injury so severe that he may miss the last 5 minutes of a game, and then come out on his next shift 50 seconds later. That last sentence was my reference to Johan Franzen and his alleged career ending injury when the medical staff rushed to his service. I'm sure he knows that he's possible to die at anytime on the ice after suffering a concussion 18 days ago. Joke.

And what about poor Marc-Andre Fluery? He's getting hung out to dry like a pair of wet underwear on a clothes line. I think he's aware that the first goal to Stuart last night was a mistake and I'm sure it lingered in his mind all game long. If you can get a piece of it, you should of been able to get the rest of it. Now we all know what it was like to be Ottawa, New York, and Philadelphia. Except, those teams have seen us every year, for the last 3 years. Detroit is something new, and I have no idea how Therrien plans on figuring it out. Unless half the Red Wings defense gets polio over night, I have no clue how the Pens could put pressure on their goal tender. Osgood has been undressed a couple of times this series, especially in the first game, but the Penguins haven't been able to bury anything. Except for visiting the scrap yard and clanging some metal posts.

The only other thing that jags me around, is this Nikki Kronwall guy. Since when were we aloud to fly into a zone with skating strides, only seen in speed skating, so long and fluent and then....we have a player on the ice who just got next week knocked out of him? No wonder Joe Louis Arena stinks. It's because of all the crap going on in there. Wow, it's crazy stuff, I guess all of those Red Wing band wagoners around the nation, really are making the difference. And if the Wings should take the cup and down the road one of those "Red Wings fans" is asked "who their goaltender was in that series in '08?" I don't know how they won't be able to blush, laugh, or lie (that he was a great goalie) their faces off. Were down 2-0, it sucks. The Pens haven't lost in Mellon Arena since February and Peter Sykora (who was responsible for Chis Osgood's mental breakdown in net) said, "I wouldn't be worried if we lose one or both games on the road in Detroit. It wouldn't surprise me. All you gotta do is win at home. The only time home ice really matters is game 7. But you win your 2, and then your 1 at home. And you'll be fine." Thanks for the heart warming speech Peter, I could use a little more insurance than that though.

In conclusion, here's what's bothering me, and you could of saved yourself a lot of time by just scrolling to this part of the "article". Chris Osgood, what a piece of work. How can you even respect the guy? He did his crap in the Dallas series and now he's gonna pull the same stunt in the Stanley Cup? If they were to win, how can you even feel good about yourself after everything you've done in the playoffs? Nikolas Kronwall, you're a joke. Phil Borque said "If your a Penguin and you get hit by Kronwall, serves you right because you know he's on the ice". Correct Phil. But, how many strides is Kronwall going to take before he finds you? He watches YouTube clips of hockey hits online, all the time? Sounds like someone is obsessed. I'm sure George Laraque doesn't watch Mike Tyson fights or Gary Roberts doesn't throw in his latest DVD "How to be a bad ass 101". And finally, the offense. We're explosive and we know it. Exactly how do we become explosive against the Wings? Figure it out, we'll check back Wednesday night and see what you came up with. Oh! And one more thing. Turnovers! We made a living in the playoffs by owning the neutral zone. Four of the last seven goals for the Red Wings have come off of Penguin turnovers. Fix it.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Sigh, Game 1...You Know the Rest


As Barry Melrose would say, "You have to get your ass knocked around before you can win." Let's hope Barry's right on that one after Saturday night. I'm too depressed and tired to blog about the game. Let me just link you up over to my friends at The Pensblog. They'll let you laugh about it before I'll be unable to make any sort of justice out of the game. They'll at least help you laugh it off and get your mind right for game 2.


Saturday, May 24, 2008

Jason Bay Impresses Even Superman

Jason Bay, whether he likes it or not, got pumpled by his teamates after pulling through with clutch hits in the final 2 games of the 3 game series. It's good to see the Bucco's bounce back against the tough Cubs, who lead the division and have OWNED the Pirates so far this season. Lets get started, eh?
Game one, was a game that went sour, then good, then sour...so on an such. The Pirates were down 1-0 thru 3.5 until Jason Bay connected on a 2 run hommer to deep left center. The Bucco's added in the bottom of the 6th with a Jason Michaels single that scored Bay. Pirates 3-1. Tyler Yates was charged with the early blown save after he gave up scatted hits and walks in the top of the 8th giving the Cubs a 4-3 edge thru 7.5. In the top of the 9th, Alfonso Soriano led off the inning with a double to right center. Crap huh? Well, when Ryan Theriot attempted to lay down a sac bunt to put Soriano in a situation to score on a sac fly, Matt Capps threw in hard on Theriot and back up Rual Chavez threw down to second to pick off Soriano. The Cubs couldn't muster anything after that. The Pirates came up in the 9th and Kerry Wood started things off in his reputational way, by hitting his 765th batter of the year and Doug Mientkiewicz moved to second after avier Nady single. Freddy Sanchez layed down the bunt of his life to move Mientkiewicz over to third. Luis Rivas, with one out, hit a long fly ball to right allowing Mientkiewicz to tag up and score on the sac fly. 4-4, tie ball game. After John Russell emptied his bench, both clubs were letting their closers to throw up to 3 innings worth of pitches. In the 14th, Sanchez scored and moved to second on an error from Theriot and a wild pitch. Luis Rivas almost goofed up for the ages after he hit a ball to short stop Ryan Theriot, yet Sanchez was able to move over 3rd anyways. The Cubs thought it would be a good idea to walk Nate McClouth. Yeeeeah, not so. Jason Bay played hero in the bottom of the 14th with a 2 hopper off the center field wall. Game. Bucco's 5-4. They're now a dismal 2-9 against the Cubs. I'm sure we'll take wins in any shape or form.
Game 2, was filled with just as much drama in 3 innings less. Nate McClouth got the Buc's all tied up again in the 9th with a shot to left. What should have been a can 'o corn for Alfonso Soriano, turned into a battle with the sound. Soriano, lost the ball, and dropped it off the heel of his glove. McClouth was credited with a double, allowing Brian Bixler to score. In the 11th the Pirates' Chris Gomez beat out an infield single against Jon Leiber. Brian Bixler bunted him down to second. Luis Rivas struck out and Nate McClouth was intentionally walked to set up Jason Bay's 2nd day heroics. Bay lined a base hit down the left field line scoring Bixler and the Bucco's taking the weekend series. Bay had this to say about his efforts, "two in a career doesn’t make me Mr. Walkoff, but back to back is pretty neat.” Xavier Nady had him self a solo shot in the game and Luis Rivas had two solo home runs for the Pirates. Up next for the Buc's is a 3 games series against the Reds in Cincinnatti. The Red's as of this blog, are tied 9-9 in the top of the 15th in San Diego. Hope jet lag is on their side.




Other Notes:
-Phil Dumatrait had a solid outing in the 14 inning game. No win, but a quality start.
-Jason Bay is the last person to drive in the winning run in extra innings on back to back days since Albert Belle did it with home runs in 1995.
-When the Pirates visit Cincinnatti, Ken Griffey Jr. will be sitting on 598HR.
-Paul Maholm went 8 innings in the Sunday game, but gave up 5 ER and struck out 7.

Iiiiiiit's A Hockey Night In Pittsburgh.

If your sporting the black and (Vegas) gold tonight, wherever you are. Like myself here in Atlanta, Ga. Do me a favor. Forget the Pirates, forget Rashad Mendenhall and the Steelers training camp. Forget Super Bowl XL or any other Pittsburgh sports banner. Tonight marks another night to light the candle. Us Pittburgher's will once again stand together, where it's at your house, at a bar, at some buddies house, in your car, and via XM radio to those truck drivers. And to those who are on the journey to Detroit to witness game one in person, to those in Mellon Arena watching a jumbotron, or for those at the Bucco's game watching highlights between innings(Not many of you I'm sure).



Even at the Colonial golf tournament in Ft. Worth, TX
Can you feel the Pens fever?



We Stand Together.



Or as Gordon Bombay would say: "Ducks fly together"



This is it. Where were you during the bad years? With Fata, Murely, Koltsov, Morozov...who cares? You're here now. I don't know if you have goosebumped like me, but I'm chomping at the bit! The only people that want this worst than me....probably those dudes out on the ice. In hockey we have to play a best of 7, that's fine. I brings us together...longer...and gives us more chances the games don't play our for the first 3. We can still do it. Will we have to go 7 games? Let's hope not, but if we do, wouldn't it be worth it? I'm not condoning 7 games. I'm all for 4. Tonight if you feel moved. Be sure that you won't be alone when that chant raises up in you...LETS GO PENS! The Ice Attack is back. Let's do this.



Go Pens!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

You Win Some, You Lose...Well, When Your the Pirates, A Little More, and More, and More, ect.

Well, the Pirates may have lost the series to the Brewers, but at least we didn't let them leave PNC with brooms in hand. Sure, it hurts to lose to Milwaukee, who had lost 5 straight before head into the 3 river city, but when you're so close to .500. MAN! It hurts even more. I don't understand if it really is the talent we lack or if the number in general, that for the past 15 years has become such a pressure point to the ball club that it may never be reached. Look at the Marlins, a young talented team with a lot of potential. They even got rid of two of their best players, who were both Cy Young and League MVP candidates. Why is this such a problem for the Pirates? When I started writing, it was going to be just another typical run down of the last two games. Well, I started thinking....and when I think about the Bucs and there decade and a half of losing, I get pissed. How can a team like the Marlins compete and win two world series in the past 10 years? Then they fire sale off all their talent and yet, they still compete. Do you know who Hanley Ramierez is? You should. He's one of the best players in the National League this year, boasting a .309 AVG with 9 dingers and 23 RBI, all from the lead off spot. Oh, and what about that guy that threw a no hitter a couple of years ago? Anibal Sanchez, yeah, both of those guys came down from Boston via trading Josh Beckett away. The young talent the Marlins have is unreal: Mike Jacobs (11 HR), Alfredo Amezega (Is speed a stat?), Jeremy Hermida (23 RBI, .276 AVG), Dan Uggla (.323 AVG, 14 HR, 32 RBI, 36 R), Matt Treanor (.287 AVG), Mark Hendrickson (6-2), Scott Olsen (4-1 2.82 ERA), & Kevin Gregg (9 SV). They're loaded with young talent. You can argue the same for the Bucs, but there's a problem. The Marlins young core actually performs! We've had our one's and two's of guys who perform like Jason Bay during his Rookie of Year parade and Freddy Sanchez's batting title. Sure, that's great and all, but where's the hardware?In Even in the market, Florida does it better. The Marlins pick up free agents like Jacque Jones and Luis Gonzalez, the Pirates....Chris -effing- Gomez. Kudos on that one. The Pirates are 6.5 back of the Cubs while Florida is 27-19 and is leading a division that boasts ball clubs that dish out enormous pay rolls, own home run titles, Silver Sluggers, and former Cy Young Winners in players like Carlos Beltran's paycheck, Ryan Howard's home runs, Chipper Jone's Silver Slugger's, and Cy Young's from John Smoltz, Johan Santana, and Pedro Martienez. What the -ef? Really. The more I go on, the more and more I realize, sure the Pirates don't spend money on big free agents. The Marlins don't either, but they do keep their talent around until they get the most they can out of them. The Pirates see a hot commodity and a good escape on possible arbitration or out right losing out on "something in return". So, it's not so much -shame on the ownership-, but shame on the front office for doing a terrible job in scouting, trades, and free agent signing. How many #1 draft picks have the Bucco's had in the last decade?! Thanks for Kris Benson, he was a treat. Or at least his wife was. The Pittsburgh Pirates, a ball club full of jags behind wooden desks and one year salaries bigger than Nate McClouth's 3 year contract.
-In other news, the Pirates won (Yay!) 8-4 over the Brewers. They're now 22-25 and 6.5 back of the Cubs. Speaking of which, guess who comes to town this weekend. The Pirates are 1-8 against Chi-town's north side team. That can only mean positive things, right Bucco fan's?

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Apparently .500 is Cancerous

It looks like us Pirate fans will be living with an eternity of losing. It seems every time the Pirates smell getting back to .500, the bats and arms go completely cold. It happened last night against the Brew crew in Milwaukee. The Brewers were riding a 5 game losing streak coming into the Pittsburgh, that's good. Right? Apparently not. Paul Maholm had a solid start until giving up a 2 run bomb in the 7. That paved the way for 3 more runs, putting the Pirates at a loss 7-2 and now 6.5 games back in the division, at a 21-24 overall mark. Has anyone else started their disappointed sigh of disgust this year? There's still hope, but there's absolutely zero consistency from this club. You know you're pitching is having an awful night when you allow Bill Hall's .207 batting average reach base 4 times. Let's start things off anyways, in the first, former Bucco money bagger Jason Kendall brought in Corey Hart on a fielder's choice. 1-0 Brewers. Kendall's been having a decent season this year in Milwaukee besides his latest batting slump, batting .268 with 14 RBI. In the 5th, the Brewers tacked on their second run after Rickie Weeks reached base on a single and then moved to second after Mike Cameron walked. That allowed Ryan Braun to single to center driving in Weeks. 2-0 Brewers. In the 7th, after Rickie Weeks was hit by a pitch, Mike Cameron brought them both home to make it 4-0 Milwaukee. That would be the end of Maholm's night. The Pirates would motion to bring in Sean Burnett, wrong move mister Russel. Burnett got slapped around in the 8th by allowing 3 hits, one walk, and two runs. 6-0 all Brewers. Milwaukee takced on their final run in the top of the 9th on a Corey Hart solo shot and Jason Bay would pad his stats in a worthless 2 run shot in the bottom half of the inning bringing Nate McClouth with him. Game, 7-2 Brewers.

**Other Bucco News**
-Jose Bautistia was back in the line up after a long lay off to get his batting worked out. Yeah, it almost worked as Bautista went 0-3.
-Ryan Doumit has been said that he expects to be back sooner than thought. He says his thumb is healing faster than normal.
-Jack Wilson is expected to be back with the ball club sometime within the next week said John Russell.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Lord Stanley Invites Pittsburgh, Detroit



In the spirit of all this hockey mayhem, I felt the need to write about the comparisons of Pittsburgh and Detroit. Even though the two have never faced each other with their current squads, it should be fun to see what kind of details we can find. Let's try to have some fun with facts and some not exactly fact, but truth. Lets talk and think about come the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Let's get it on!



-The Red Wings own 10 players of 35 years or older on their current roster, including 46 year old defensemen Chris Chelios. The Penguins have 2, Gary Roberts, who has seen limited but effective action these playoffs and Daryl Sydor, who owns his name twice to the cup, but has yet to see a single minute of action. Apparently age isn't much of a concern for the 'Wings, because their goalies (Dominik Hasek & Chris Osgood) combined age alone is 78, as opposed to the combined age of 56 between Ty Conklin and Marc-Andre Fluery. Does age come wisdom? We'll see.

-The Red Wings have a stacked team of names and talent, but how far does it go? There top line has been their scoring touch these playoffs with the likes of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Samuelsson. Besides that top line, the only other name to make headlines in scoring is Johan Franzen, who finds himself on the 2nd line and leading the NHL playoffs in goals.


-Of the 55 goals scored this post season by Detroit, their top line of Zetterberg (9G), Datsyuk (11G), and Samuelsson (2G) own 40% (22G) of those goals scored. Franzen owns 12 goals of his own and 2 hat tricks coming in consecutive games against Colorado, he has scored 1 goal in the 6 games versus Dallas. During the regular season the top line for Detroit accounted for 1/3 of the goals scored.

-The Red Wings have managed 550+ shots on net, scoring 9.2% of the time. Pittsburgh has shot the puck 452 time yet is shooting at 11.3%. Penguins were 10.6% during the regular season while Detroit was 8.9%. See a trend?



-Marc-Andre Fluery has saved 93.3% of the 364 shots on net he's faced while Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood have saved 91.4% of the 319 they have faced. Fluery owns 3 shut outs, while Detroit owns only 1(Game 6 against Nashville). Fluery has allowed an average of 1.84 goals a game and Detroits tandem averages 2.00 goals a game.



-Pittsburgh has given up 26 goals in 14 games while Detroit has surrendered 31 in 16 games.

-The Atlantic Division's combined record was 212-150-48. Detroit's own Central Division was behind 202-159-49. A cool 19 points better than the West's Central. And 4 of the 5 teams out of Pittsburgh's Atlantic Division made the Eastern Conference playoffs. Detroit had themselves and Nashville finding post season success. Detroit, however, had themselves beating the teams in there own conference as I would find out. I can also remember the Atlanta Thrashers rolling into Joe Louis Arena in January and walking out with a "W". What are we supposed to make of this?


-Does anyone else remember the last time a Pittsburgh sports team had to go to Detroit for a championship game? Hint: February 2005.

-Can someone let Mr. Hasek and Mr. Osgood know there have been some great R&D technologies in the goalie helmet division lately?

-Chris Chelios had a stirring series against the Pens in 92 with the Blackhawks. We didn't like him then, why change?



-Pittsburgh's been to the Cup finals twice. Record 2-0. Perfection is a must.


-It's easy to get a nomination for coach of the year, when your team racks up 112 points in a division that owns the likes of Columbus, St. Louis, Chicago, and an underrated Nashville. What about clinching the Atlantic with your star player out for 28 games and having to go to option 3 on a goaltender that was signed to a minor league contract at the beginning of 2007.



-Star Power: Detroit-Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Mikael Samuelsson, Brian Rafalski, Nicklas Lindstrom, Brad Stuart, Chris Chelios, Chris Osgood, and Domink Hasek.
Pittsburgh-Sidney Crosby, Marian Hossa, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Ryan Malone, Sergei Gonchar, Hal Gill, Ryan Whitney, Peter Sykora, Jarko Ruutu, and Marc-Andre Fluery.
That's one talented covered sheet of ice come Saturday.



-Someone look up the average age of both teams and get back with me. I just don't feel like looking up dinosaurs all night.



-Speaking of, here's a clip of the Red Wings practice today.



-You gotta hand it to Detroit, they have talent and still run themselves 5 million bucks under the cap.

-The Nicklas Lindstrom award, oh excuse me, the Norris Trophy handed out each year for best defensemen just snubbed maybe one of the best candidates this year. That being Sergei Gonchar. I'm sure he'd rather have the bigger trophy anyways.

-Detroit = A Puck handling team. Pittsburgh = A steal, poke check, back check, and fore check possession team.

-How many Buicks and Cadillacs will be in the players parking lot come Saturday?

-Do they even make Buicks anymore?

-Detroit's head athletic trainer has been quoted, saying his team should be ready for 7 game against Pittsburgh now that Vick's vapor rub has jumped on to sponsor the Red Wings.

-Deroit's players prefer milk over Gatorade. When asked why, they simply replied "Osteoporosis."

-God knows how many cups or Stanley Cup Finals experience the Red Wings own. Every one keeps spitting out that the Pens are running 100% on talent against a well oiled experienced team. Truth is, the Penguins have some Cup finals experience with a few of their players. The shame is, none of them are named Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

Pittsburgh in 6

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Start Spit Shinning Those Shoes; Pen's Win





Game! 4-1, Pens Win Series

It was a day to remember for Pens fan's everywhere and one to forget for Philadelphia's. The Penguins absolutely just took the Flyers to the wood shed in Game 5 on Sunday, putting themselves into the Stanley Cup finals against either Dallas or Detroit. Let's get things started though. It didn't take lone for the shellacking to begin. 2:30 in, the Pens on the power play 12 seconds in, Sidney Crosby fakes a slapper on net that finds the skate of Ryan Malone to put the Pens up 1-0. about 8 minutes later the Penguins forced the puck into the corner where a hard fore checking Ryan Malone pinched the puck off before Martin Biron could get a handle on it, Biron losing his stick in the process. The puck bounced around to find the tape of Evgeni Malkin. With Biron in net with out a stick, was completely lost in his position as Malkin wrapped the puck around the pipe and under the pad of Biron. 2-0 Penguins, halfway through the first period. A few minutes later, Marc-Andre Fleury had a 5-11 in progress as he absolutely robbed Scottie Upshall off a one timer to his right. The Flyers would draw a couple of penalties in the first, but no dice. The Pens were all business shutting down and threat the Flyers had. That brought the 1st to a close. Pens up 2-0. The 2nd period came like the first. The Penguins started the first 2 minutes killing off a power play started by Ryan Malone's high stick at the end of the first period. THE FLYERS HAD NOTHING ON THE POWER PLAY. The came the 8:24 mark of the 2nd. After a Flyer steal at the Penguin blue line, Sidney Crosby skated back for the back check, picked the Flyers of the puck for one of the best hustle plays of the game. The Pens would get a couple shots on net before the puck would float to the corner as Sidney, as he always seems, looks through the back of his head to find Marian Hossa atop the left circle for a one timer that wouldn't have missed this century. 3-0 Penguins. A little more than 3 minutes later, the Penguins would find themselves on the power play again after the greatest defencemen in the history of the NHL (Kimmo Timmonen) accordingng to the Flyers, would trip up Jordan Staal after a gutsy face off win. 11:42 in, Sergei Gonchar puts a hard wrister for the purpose of deflection. Ryan Malone being the waiter of The Crease Eatery says "Coming right up!" Malone deflects the shot past Biron making the Pen's 2-4 on the power play and having a commanding 4-0 lead. In the last closing minutes of the 2nd, Adam Hall and Max Talbot are putting some serious pressure coming into the Flyers zone, the puck is shot and blocked. Then comes Jordan Staal to find it sitting like a bowl of gold on the back of his stick. Fire it home big guy. 5-love Penguins, and the heart and soul of "brotherly love" falls off the face of the earth. The 2nd period would wind to an end and thoughts of the Cup started dancing in every Pittsburgher head. We had gotten the shoes for spit shinning out of the closet before the start of the 3rd. And just when we went to grab our rags for shinning , Marian Hossa received a pass from Pascal Dupuis just inside the Flyers blue line. With Dupuis skating backwards facing Hossa, Hossa put a shot on net that found a deflection off of Dupuis. Officially sinking every jags soul east of State College, 6-0 Penguins. The last 16 minutes were a showcase of Penguin defense, Pittsburgh style. Not quite Bliztburgh, but damn near as stubborn. The Flyers couldn't manage squat and Marc-Andre Fluery polished off a perfect game for the 3rd time these playoffs. PENS WIN! Stnaley Cup Finals! It takes 16 wins to take the cup. 12 down, 4 to go.
*Other Notes*
-Marian Hossa, 4 point day. I think that's what the Penguins were hoping at the trade deadline.
-It's not even over yet, there's still 4 more left.
-Who else wanted to see Laraque throw down with Derian Hatcher in the first?
-Kimmo Timmonen made the world of difference.
-That Timmonen guy and Sergei Gonchar held the most ice time with 21:43.
- The Penguins haven't lost at home since they lose to San Jose in a shoot back in February.
-Marc-Andre Fluery is 22-4-1 since November.
-Asked about why they didn't want to touch the Price of Whales trophy following the victory. “We want the big trophy,” said Marian Hossa.
-Did anyone watch the stick handling 101 Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa were putting on? If you taped that game, show it to your kids when they pick up a stick.
**The Pirates lost today to the Chicago Cubs 4-3. Adam Laroche had two RBI's as the Buc's look to get to .500 tomorrow night back in Pittsburgh**

Saturday, May 17, 2008

.500 Still In Reach; McClouth Saves Them Again

Another day game at Wrigley, they have too many of those as it is, but this time the Pirtaes would find the sunny side. The Buc's were a previous 0-7 to Chicago's north side team, and at a 20-22 record. Today the Pirates would get thing's started off in the 2nd by, of all people, Brian Bixler. Bixler would single to left bringing in Doug Mientkiewicz, who reached via walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. The Cubs would fire back in the bottom half of the inning scoring 3 runs on 5 hits. A single to left by Reed Johnson would get things started, scoring Geovany (what a name) Soto. Then Alfonso Soriano, and no Pirate pitcher can get this guy out, would double to left center scoring Reed Johnson and Mark Does It All DeRosa. Them would come the 4th inning, where Adam LaRoche led things off with a double to deep center. Doug Mientkiewicz would come trhough for the Buc's with a single driving in LaRoche. 4-2 Cubs however. The Cubs seemed to want to play tit for tat, as Soriano came up in the bottom half to homer to deep left. Geez, no one can get this guy out! The Pirates would find themselves in a position to really put a hurting to the Cubs in the 5th. Zack Duke, who had mediocre start in what was an offense throbbing on both sides, led off the inning with a walk. 2 hit Freddy Sanchez, from the lead off position, lined a single to center. Nate McClouth would fly a single to center driving in Duke and move Sanchez over to third. A Jason Bay walk would load the bases and Adam LaRoche would come through for the Pirates again with a single to center bring home Sanchez. With still no outs in the inning, Xavier Nady would draw the first out with a sac fly to right bringing home McClouth. Then the Pirates would succumb to reality. Doug Mientkiewicz would line out, the Cubs doubling off LaRoche at 1st. Inning over. The Bucco's although, would get 3 runs off of 3 hits, Buc's lead 5-4. Then the 7th would come...and it would be the same old story. That Soriano guy would hit is effing 4th home run of the series, hit 2nd of the day for 2 days in a row. Game tied, 5 all. We go to the 9th and if Nate McClouth owned stock, it must be called Clutch Enterprises. He's done it before and he did it again. Top 9 with one on, no one out, McClouth hit's his 12th home to put the Buc's up 2. Yet, that damn pesky Alfonso Soriano would hit a shot to deep center, only this one would stay in the park before it bounced over the fence for a ground rule doulbed. Ryan Theriot would make things close by singling in Soriano, but that's the closest the Cubs would come. Matt Capps would close things off with his 10 save of the season.



Game Notes:
-Nate McClouth is sick. What took him so long getting to the Majors?
-Alfonso Soriano is the new Bucco killer.
-The pitching is going south. But you have to admit, they have been playing the best 2 teams in the division.
-Carlos Zambrano who?
-Soriano's 2 game stats ----> 7 for 9 4HR 7RBI
-A Pirates win on Sunday means a 22-22 record.
-Staying on the Soriano deal; does skinny girl legs and a 43 foot long bat produced home runs?
- Pirates, 9 wins in their last 12 games. Still hot yinz.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Cubs Own the Buc's

This makes it 0-7 against the Cubs this season and Tom Gorzelanny really didn't help the cause starting with the first batter. Alfonso Soriano did what he does best from the lead off position. He led off the game this afternoon with a solo home run to put the Cubs up 1 to nill. The the cubs sprayed around some hits in the 1st after that leading to a FC groundout of former Pirate and nosebleed Aramis Ramirez, that help Ryan Theriot score. The next batter up was Geovany Soto, and he placed a ball somewhere on Waylon Ave. 3-0 Cubs. The Pirates didn't do jack in the top of the 2nd, but that guy Soriano, with the 34 foot long bat, put another ball over the fence making him 2 for 2 with 2 HR. Mark "Does It All" DeRosa and Reed Johnson score. End of the 2nd, Cubs 6-0. That's one hell of a hole to dig out of. Nobody did anything for the next 4 innings, and Tommy G settled down, but the damage was done. Top of the 6th inning came where Nate McClouth hit his 14th double of the day and Xavier Nady drove him home with a single. Pirates are no where near the Cubs though. 6-1. The bottom half of the inning comes, and Does It All DeRosa put one into the bleachers in right. The Cubs go right back to their 6 run lead. Franquelis Osoria would come in to relieve Gorzelanny in the top of the 7th. Gorzo gave up 7 runs on 7 hits with only 3 strikeout's on the day. Giving up 4 home run's doesn't always help. The came a desperate Pirate club in the top of the 8th. With one out Jason Bay delivered a bomb to deep right. 2-7 Cubs. After Adam LaRoche kncocked the crap out of a ball that barely made it to the pither, Xavier Nady drew a walk and Doug Mientkiewicz added the 2nd home run of the inning for the Pirates and that made it a 3 run game. 4-7 Cubs. Never say die, these Buc's have been clawing back the last few games. But, eventually they do, the Pirates would wind up with a loss, 4-7.

Nostradamus Sends A Message

My boy Nostradamus sent me this along. Letting me know that since I won't be in Philadelphia anytime on Sunday afternoon. This is what I could expect to see however after game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.



A Flyers fan, portrayed by Dawson himself.
Thanks to the guys at the Pensblog for posting this up.

We Go To 5, Crap

Let's make this short and sweet. The Flyers had the best game of there lives of the series in the first period, that was it. It barely held on at that. It irritates me that the Pen's have to put up with it (the Jag Off Flyers) for at least 3 more days. First off, I hope Derian Hatcher's car gets hit as blind sided and illegally as he he did Jordan Staal in the 3rd period. The Penguins have the perfect opportunity to embarrass the Flyers while on home ice. However, it would have been nice to see the tears on the ice after last nights game. But real fans deserve a win on home ice and their chance to see that Eastern Conference Championship trophy. As for the game, Jordan Staal was on a mission for his grandfather and besides a 1st period wash up, Marc Andre-Fluery still has everyone noticing if you want to win, you'll have to catch him on an off day. Well Flyers jags. May 15th, 2008 was one of Marc Andre's scheduled days off. Fluery is like 23-4 since February or some crazy crap like that. We'll see you Sunday, and that should be about the last time. I hope, for Christ's sakes.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Mendenshall & Sweed; Polamalu Not Mini-Campin'


I promised I would get to these stories following draft weekend. Here we are, now looking at the newest additions to the Pittsburgh Steelers team. The Steelers surprised everyone by NOT taking an offensive lineman to replace Alan Faneca, but by taking a speedy, powerful tailback out of....Illinois? Yes, Rashard Mendenhall out of Illinois is everything his stats play out. If we can try to look back for a second on January 1st when the Fighting Illini got the Orange knocked out of them by USC. There was one guy, who seemingly had a great game. Mendenhall on that night carried the ball 17 times for 155 yards on the ground and added a touchdown. Rashard also had a breakout year at Illinois during the '07 season, gaining over 1,600 yards on the ground and adding 17 touchdowns. Making him the Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year. What does this mean for Fast Willie Parker? Well, Parker seems to have a smile on his face about the situation. He's been reported to have said that by adding another stable and talented back allows him to rest more on the sidelines, allowing him to be fresher for the late season runs. There's even been talk of pairing the two in the same back field on certain offensive schemes. Mendenhall has been comapared to that of Edgerrin James, yet, with more power. That's scary folks. He's just under 5'10" but at an astounding 224 lbs. making him strong enough to pound it between the tackles, yet possess the quick speed that enables him to break some runs off for long touchdown scores. Mendenhall also entails a great reputation as a great pass blocking, blowing up blitzes and also as a double threat out of the back field as a very skilled receiver. Everyone on the Steelers draft board couldn't believe their eyes when Mendenhall dropped all the way to #23. They didn't hesitate, can you blame them?
In the second round the Steelers seemed to have listened to some of the off-field talk of Ben Roethlisberger. There was talk of Roelthlisberger making a comment that he would like the Steelers to invest in a taller wide out for him come this next season. Hines Ward to somewhat of offense o that, stating "Peyton Manning doesn't need tall recievers". Well, apparently the feud has settled and the Steelers grabbed 6'5" wide reciever Limas Sweeed out of Texas with the 53rd overall pick in the 2nd round. I only have one bad thought of Limas Sweed. Ohio State and Texas, at the Horse Shoe in 2005. Vince Young threw the ball to the back of the end zone in a tight game and Limas Sweed made a great catch falling backwards (see picture right) to pull it in which was the inevitable game winner. Sweed had a solid career at Texas which included a national title in 2006. Sweed however spent half of the year in '07 injured. The Steelers however took a gamble and Hines Ward has been supportive every step of the way. With Ward having off season surgery, he's been a spectator mostly at mini camp, yet that hasn't stopped him from playing coach for Sweed.



In other Steeler news, Troy Polamalu has decided not to train with the Steelers during mini camp. Troy has made it known that with the injuries to his knee, oblique, and calf last season we felt in result of him going away from his normal training habits. He will be doing his off season training with the methods of non conformist guru Marv Marinovich on the west coast. Let's hope Troy returns to his pro-bowler figure and his on the field presence is restored.

Getting Better; Buc's Take 2

Can you honestly be upset by the play of the Pirates last night and then see what they did today? The Pirates got slapped around last night, slowly but surely. Paul Mall' (Maholm) had an ever so slightly deteriorating outing. You knew it was inevitable however, to see the struggling Cardinals win a game. Especially when Albert Pujols is in mid slump, at least it's no Adam LaRoche slumpage though. I don't know how the baseball world, and douche bag Tony LaRussa, can consider Pujols reaching base safely in 41 straight games. You've also got to hand it to Mr. Wellemeyer on the mound for the Cardinals. He kept, what was a warming offense, quite frozen. Pitching well into the 8th inning on what was then only 2 hits alloud. The Bucco's needed a sweep of the Cardinal's to reach .500 for the first time into a season since June 11, 2005. John Russell commented on the .500 plateu and said it's not a record the Pirates are aspiring too. “You pick .500 as a goal, where do you go from there?” Russell said. “I don’t think that’s anything we’re going to pop a champagne bottle over.” No, but maybe a couple bars in the strip district might. Last night, there were a couple of amazing feats pulled off last night. The first came in the 2nd inning off yet another long shot to center from Adam LaRoche. Only, this time Rick Ankeil caught up to this one, making a Jim Edmonds like leap up the wall to make everyone in black and gold urse under their breath. The other feat came from the Cardinals and Pirates of their overall performance. The Cardinals managed 5 runs on 15 hits and stranding 15 runners. The Pirates weren't much better, leaving 10 runners on base as well. The sad part is the Buc's got their only run off of a 2 out, 8th inning Nate McClouth pop-fly when Ceasar Izturis fell flat on his back while backpedaling. Oh well, you can't win them all, especially when you're these Pirates. Buc's lose 5-1.
The Buc's are showing two signs of threat now. Ian Snell had a rough day on the mound going only 4 innings and giving up 5 runs on 11 hits. Yikes! Nate McClouth however added his 11th homer in the first. The Pirates trailed though, but then, something happened. The 5th inning came and Chris Gomez singled in Doug Mientkiewicz. Newly aquired, and quite a pick indeed, Jason Michaels singled in Gomez and Ronny Paulino. The bull pen came in and, man did they ever take charge of the game. The game came to the 8th with the Bucco's trailing 4-3, then Chris Comez, AGAIN, reached on a fielder's choice allowing Doug Mientkiewicz to score. Ronny Paulino made it to 3rd on a throw by Jason Isringhausen that reached the first baseline seats. After John Grabow had finished out the 7th inning, Jason Bay stepped in to pinch hit for him. And he did a fine job making it a 8-5 lead, making it 8 unanswered runs. The Buc's would get more issurance int he top of the 9th adding 3 more runs from Chavez double and 2 hit Freddy single, driving in 2 more runs. Pirates win, 11-5. John Grabow picking up the win and the pirates moving to 20-21. The Buc's now head to Wrigley Field to play the division leading Cubs, whom they trail by 5 games. Tom Gorzelanny will get the start against Sean Gallagher (0-0 6.48ERA).

-Other News-
The Pirates will find themself without the breakout season of Ryan Doumit for at least a month.
The Pirates are set to play the Cubs tomorrow at 2:20 in Chicago.
Our Bucco's are 0-6 against the Cubs this season. That needs to change.
Pirates are winners of 8 of their last 10.
Jack Wilson started his rehab today in AAA Indianapolis for 4 days.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Bucco's Look to Get to .500


Tonight, the Pirates will try to reach a milestone number the fans of Pittsburgh would be happy settling for at the end of October. Here we are in mid May and we only have 5 months left. The Pirates are red hot however, winning 7 of their last 8 and pulling to within 1 game of .500. The Pirates pitching has been spectacular from all 5 starters in the rotation. Even Phil Dumatrait out of the 'pen has been pitching solidly in his last 2 outings. Tonight, the Pirates send Paul Maholm (2-3 4.79ERA) to the mound against Todd Wellemeyer (3-1 3.56ERA). If the pitching holds up like it has, let's expect good things. A once potent offense that went cold is starting to heat up again. Buc's and Card's 8:15p. in St. Louis.

The Pens Can Smell the Cup; Bucco's On A Roll

3 in a row, 1 to go

The Penguins continue to impress. God gave me a call during the game to tell me he wanted his mistake back. I think he was referring to the Flyers. I just want to point out, that after watching these first 3 games that I want to let all the Flyers fans know...they were right. We didn't want to face them in the first round. We wanted to save the easiest chance of making it to the Cup for last. What is there really to say about last night? The defense was the best I have seen it in the playoffs thus far. Besides a garbage rebounder for RJ Umberger, it's a shut out. I think I looked at the screen at one point and saw the Pen's out shooting the Cryers 17-6. My my my. It was domination part III at the Wachovia Center. Ryan Whitney got things started off by taking a sick cross ice pass right on the tape from Crosby. Whitney held the puck for about a day and a half before cracking one off to make it 1-0. Less than 3 minutes later, Crosby then found Hossa who made the Flyers defense look like they had lost the draw strings in there shorts before firing a wrist shot that even Jesus would of been impressed by. 2-Love Penguins. RJ Umberger got the Flyers hopes alive with a garbage rebounder to make it 2-1. We played a pointless 2nd period to find no goals scored and to see the Flyers manage 2 shots on net. In the 3rd, with 10:02 left in the game, Ryan Malone punched home a rebounder himself to make it 3-1 Pittsburgh. The silent crowd behind Mike Lange's voice never sounded so sweet. That was until Marian Hossa buried an empty netter with all 75 Flyers fans left in attendance to moan one more time. Philadelphia's Stanley Cup Playoff slogan is "Why not us?". Um, well there's a reason...it's called offense, defense, and goal tending. You don't have it. Hey make sure you check out the picture of the jag off holding up the sign that says "Your Not That Good". Can someone please forward to him via face punch that the Penguins did just take a commanding 3-0 series lead and that they also shut down the entire Wachovia
Center for about 3 hours. Thanks.

The Bucco's are making a fun game out of this winning streak. The Pirates were leading 2-0 going into the 6th, via a Nate McClouth 2 run homer. Troy Glaus decided that the Pirates had been winning enough so he thought he should just go ahead and poke a 3 run home run himself. 2-3. The Buc's however took the lead again in the 7th from a Ronny Paulino double and Jose Bautista single himself. 4-3. Note: Ronny Paulino entered the game due to Ryan Doumit injuring his thumb while trying to handle a muffed pitch in the 2nd. The Cards' tied the ball game up with Albert Pujols 8th homer of the season. 4-4. Then came the 10th inning. Ronny Paulino again stepped up to the plate to drive in another crucial run. This time singling to center allowing Freddy Sanchez to score. 5-4. By the way, Freddy Sanchez is LOVING the lead off position, another 2-5 night with 2 runs scored. Meanwhile, with Jason Bay on 2nd, the Cardinals and ADD ridden coach Tony LaRussa managed to load the bases. That's when Adam LaRoche thought that then was a good time to send a telegram to the base of the center field wall. Rick Ankiel just seemed like he was running forever. LaRoche clears the bases full of Bucs and the Pirates win 8-4. The Pirates have now won 7 of their last 8 and are now 19-20. They were 4.5 back at the start of today. The ride to .500 is almost official. Now what do we gotta do to stay there?