Mario Lemieux Flips the Bird at the NHL

After Friday night's shenanigans against the Islanders, and the subsequent suspensions that followed, the usually quiet owner/former player/all around BAMF that is Mario Lemieux decided that enough was enough. By releasing the suspension terms late last night, one could tell that the NHL wanted to sweep Friday night's game under the rug. #66 would have none of that and released this statement in response this afternoon.

“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

“The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

“We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players.  We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.

“If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.”

 Although the suspensions and fines given in the aftermath of the Islanders-Penguins game were good enough for me, I'm glad that Mario spoke generally about the inconsistencies in the NHL's discipline system. Let's just hope the NHL listens.

My Thoughts - vs Buffalo (W! 3-2)

-The Pens came out and looked absolutely lethargic in the first 10 or so minutes of this game. After that, it was all Pittsburgh. And, when I say it was all Pittsburgh, it really was. This was a team win. Everyone put their best effort forward after that horrid start and the Pens got two points out of it. Five straight wins for the Pens now.

-Anyone remember what happened the last time the Pens were down two goals against the Sabres at home? Seeing that highlight makes me miss Sid but, boy, is it encouraging knowing that the Pens can win as a team; rather than having one relying on one guy to be the hero. That’s the difference between this season and last season. The Pens can play in any situation—defensive, tight games, wide open games, physical games like this one, and any game in between. Bring it on.

-Flower had no chance on both goals he gave up. He made some great saves to seal the deal for the Pens. Just another day at the office for Flower.

-Staal really impressed me in this game. I don’t think I’ve seen him play better hockey in his career, than this stretch of game since he’s come back from injury.

-Dustin Jeffrey looked a lot better in this game than he did the last one. Once Geno went down and he was placed back on the “first” line, he looked a lot more comfortable.

-Talbot, once again, played his heart out, had plenty of chances, but got no points to show for it. I thought that that empty netter last game would break the curse but nope, doesn’t look like it did.

-Who the hell is Mike Weber and who the F does he think he is? He’s gotta take his marbles and go elsewhere, because he’s no longer welcome in the Burgh.

-Poor Geno. The guy just has no luck when it comes to injuries. He came out, in his first game back, looked pretty good (a little rusty, maybe), then gets injured again. The news is that he’ll be reevaluated tomorrow, but, with Geno’s luck, he might be out again.

-That being said, I like the way the Pens buckled down after Geno went down that runway.

-Liked Cooke’s game. Did not, however, like the cheap punch he tried to throw.

-Michalek is going to score a goal sometime. He’s been getting a lot of really good chances lately. I’m pretty sure that’s the least of his concerns, though. He was a defensive beast.

-Martin’s looked like the $5 million that he is in the past few weeks, and in these past few games especially.

-Despite being held off the score sheet, Letang had a wail of a game.

-Goose gets tagged with a -2 in the first ten minutes of the game. Then, with 3 minutes left, in a 3-2 game he comes up with a big block. Makes up for that -2, in my mind.

-Bylsma got his 99^th career NHL win tonight. You know who we’re playing on Sunday. Here we go Pens (I sincerely hope you see what I did there).

My Thoughts - at Rangers (W! 4-3 SO)

-How did we win this game? Well, in the past, (rightly or wrongly) fans would kind of sigh at our depth at center and maybe even laugh because we have such a big surplus of them. Tonight, that surplus more than paid off.

-Flower was much better than the score said. Our defense in front of the net was not good and, frankly, Flower had no chance on any of the goals against him. Looking at his shootout stats (7 shots, 7 saves) tells you all about what the score should’ve been, in my opinion.

-Let’s get to the elephant in the room: the Staal-Prust incident. Staal wasn’t having a good game before the incident, so the check on TK by Prust must’ve set him off in terms of frustration. I get that Jordan was trying to stick up for a teammate and I love him for that, but a sucker punch is not needed . Did Prust go down easily? Certainly, but why would Staal try to punch him in the first place? Of all the games to go ape s***, Staal chooses the game where Sid, Geno, and Letestu are out. Stupid, stupid, stupid.  I expect a fine and maybe a suspension to come out of this. To say the least, I thought Jordan would have used better judgment in a situation like that.

-Now that that’s out of the way, on to other matters:

-Kunitz continues to quietly have an awesome season. I don’t know if it’s quiet in that he’s just an underrated player or quiet because he’s shut up all the people who said he was way over paid.

-Jeffrey was very impressive after a slow start to the game. In the absence of just about every other forward on the team, he really stepped it up.

-I thought Martin had a fantastic game. He was joining rushes,making plays in the offensive zone, and boxing out forwards in his own zone. In the past three weeks or so, he’s really played his best hockey and I hope it continues to be that way.

-Marian Gaborik was invisible.

-Letang had a pretty good game, but he only attempted one shot (a missed shot). In a game missing so much offense, that’s unacceptable.

-Poor Talbot has been playing great hockey for a few weeks now with nothing to show for it. Hopefully a primary assist means that he’s getting out of his snake bitten funk. If he doesn’t, he may not be wearing a Penguin uniform much longer. 

-With all these injuries, I really hope Malkin isn’t rushed back tomorrow. We all know he wants to play really badly and with the shortage of offense,  you never know…

-I’ll be straight up here and say, honest to God, I don’t think we deserved to win this game. We didn’t play well enough to win, in my mind. The Pens have the performances of  select players to thank for the two points tonight.

Pre-Game Reading, Watching, Ooh-ing and Aww-ing

Sorry, folks, I've been really busy lately. I just started a new semester of college, so things have been really hectic. Thankfully, I think things will be back to normal soon.

-In case you've been living under a rock, Crosby is still out with a concussion [ EveryNewsSourceThereIsInCanada].

-Meanwhile, his sister, Taylor, is finding her way as a freshman goaltender at Shattuck St. Mary's (same one Sid went to at age 15) [SSM News]

-When looking at her stats, remember that this is her first year of playing against great competition consistently, not to mention that she's only been playing hockey for 4 years before this. It's going to be exciting to see just how much she improves over her high school career (it's bound to be a lot). [ SSM U16 Season Stats ]

-Kris Letang had a pretty good ASG debut [ Post Gazette ]

-Tanger also had a sweet goal in the ASG. Wow, what a snipe job. [ YouTube ]

-Speaking of the ASG, the Flower had a lot of fun. Take a look at how he got there [YouTube]

-My favorite picture of the All-Star Weekend [ Twitpic ]

-My favorite picture ever [ Wordpress ]

Let's Go Pens!!

My Thoughts - at New Jersey (L 2-0)

  

Okay, so the Pens weren't that bad, but the game sure was boring.

My Thoughts - vs. Detroit (W! 4-1)

-Flower was on his game tonight. He seemed to be in a good position to stop everything. Besides that one goal that wasn’t his fault, he was perfect.

-He wouldn’t of been so good had if not for his defense stopping all those second chances. Michalek was a beast.

-Along with Flower, Staal’s really stepped it up in Sid’s absence. You can tell  Staalsy’s really back when he’s dominating along the boards.

-It’s amazing how much better TK and Cooke look when they’re put with Staal.

-I thought Kunitz was flying all around the ice tonight and deserved that easy tap in goal. His price tag doesn’t look so bad when he’s healthy does it?

-Letang continues to impress.

-Zetterberg looked like he was ready to have a multiple night, but the Pens kept him largely in check points wise.

-With Geno, I’m in between the haters who think he needs to wake the F up and the apologists who think he’s just snake bitten and is ready to break out. I honestly don’t know what to say anymore. I do know that he’s one of my three keys that have to be tweaked in order for this team to be in prime Cup position (the PP and penalties being the other two). This whole Geno issue has been beaten to death and nothing has changed. Therefore, until things are no longer status quo, I will not be commenting on Geno.

-Nice to see Letestu get rewarded with a new contract.

-Although that could not bode well for a guy like Max Talbot who, by the way, looked great tonight.

-This is one of the fews games where I really don’t have many complaints. Just about everyone played well. That’s how it needs to remain with 87 out.

My Thoughts - at Montreal (W! 5-2)

 

Game Summary

Event Summary

-Well, the Pens finally, finally won a game without Crosby. I’m sure no one feels better about this win than the Captain himself. If seeing his team win makes him rest a little easier, and therefore get healthier, then this was an even bigger win for the Pens than just getting the monkey of playing without Sid off their backs.

-Lost in Tanger and Gogo’s three point nights and Staal’s reemergence, is the solid play of Flower. He, luckily, didn’t have to do much in the final period, but he made some huge saves to keep the game close for his team mates. Loved the pose at the end. Revenge is sweet and pay back is a you-know-what.

-Staal easily had his best game since his return. He looked like the Staal of old. Not only was he a major factor on offense, but he also did a lot of the little things. For instance, he was really physical; that’s something we hadn’t seen from him. Maybe the assurance that he could be more involved physically is a cause of him having more confidence offensively because he sure looked confident with the puck tonight. Staalsy gets my nod for best player on the ice.

-Speaking of confidence with the puck, Tanger had an excellent game as well. There was nothing ground breaking about his game. That’s a good thing though. A three point night and I’m talking about usual Letang? Tells you all you need to know about his season.

-The PP really stepped it up tonight. The key for me where the battles to keep the puck in the zone; when the PP isn’t clicking, that’s one of the main reasons why. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not that saw his first action on the PP tonight, I’d bet on not being one.

-I think it’s great that Goose had two goals tonight. He took two penalties (I’ll give him slack on the second one since it was the end of the game) and he had a team high three giveaways, but the goals made up for it.

-After the Montreal series last season, I had a lot of respect for PK Subban. Now, I’m trying to figure out who he thinks he is. He obviously doesn’t realize that he’s really good and doesn’t need the extra shenanigans. He won’t be getting any respect from me, or his peers, until he knocks it off.

-Asham made his case to be a healthy scratch once Sid comes back.

-Meanwhile, Engelland played a quiet but solid game.

-Kunitz quietly had a two point night (yes, he was credited with the PP goal).

-Seems like Letestu is spending some time in Dan Bylsma’s dog house. His decreased minutes are a result of Staal coming back. At the same time, you’d think he’d be higher on the depth chart than 4^th line and getting more minutes while Sid was out.

-I don’t have to tell you that the Pens were under 50% in the faceoff circle again. I also don’t have to tell you the reason why.

-Michalek had a really tough night. He seemed to be coughing the puck up left and right. You can bet those two statements won’t become a recurring theme—that’s why the Pens pay him $4 million a year.

-Malkin had a very nice first period, but was kind of quiet after that. He's been pretty good while Sid's been out, but he needs to be better. His team mates stepped up the offense for him, but, sad to say, that's not going to happen every night.

-Conner and TK did a lot of little things right. I think this has been missing over the past four games and it made a difference tonight.

-Boston on Thursday. Another big game.

Apologies For Not Posting

Hey guys! I got a cold (which I'm still getting over) after the Winter Classic, then traveled back to California to start a new semester of college. So, needless to say, I've been really busy lately. I won't be posting a "My Thoughts" for the Boston game tonight, but I should be back for the game against Montreal.
See you then and thanks for your patience.
Allie

My Thoughts - Winter Classic: vs. Caps (L 3-1)

 Game Summary

Event Summary

-I was really disappointed with this game for a variety of different reasons. The least of those is Pens losing. The weather and the ice were terrible and the camera angles NBC had made me dizzy. In fact, I’m still dizzy. Anyway, back to the ice. I said this morning that the NHL would not let its most prized possessions (Sid and Ovi) play on anything less than adequate ice. Boy, was I wrong. As a result of the camera angles, I had a hard time deciphering who was who. It’ll be tough to do my usual analysis and I’m sure others will have differing opinions because the camera angles were so sporadic.

-First off, there seems to be a lot of belly aching over the refs. Besides the blatant interference on Sid, I thought it was a well officiated game. Both “no goal” calls were good and both teams had calls let go as well.

-Speaking of the interference on Sid, I was shocked that none of the Pens responded. Maybe they didn’t see it (it was behind the play), but I its still surprising to me. The Caps did a pretty good job on him over all. He created a lot of good things and was pretty good on cycles, but the Caps did well getting sticks in his lane. The bad ice could’ve been a factor into that as well. I’ll be biting my nails hoping that he didn’t play the third period with a concussion. I think he’s okay, and I’m fairly certain that the training staff checked him out but, if I’m not mistaken, concussion symptoms can come a little later than you would think.

-It would be easy to blame Flower for the loss, but you just can’t. The ice conditions definitely played a role in that big miscue he had. Other than that one mistake, he really did have a good game. He kept the Pens in it. And it’s not like the Pens deserved to win either. The team that played the better game won it.

-Even with limited ice time, Staal looked good in his return. Any lack of speed that he may have had, was made up for with size. It’s great to have him back. That being said, Staal’s addition definitely messed with the lines and the chemistry the team had. There were never steady lines throughout the game and I think it showed.

-Malkin was easily the best player for the Pens. He didn’t create a whole lot of chances but he got a bunch and, in a slow game that this turned into, he was really galloping out there. I hope (I really do) that this is what Geno looks like with Staal.

-Michalek quietly (how else does this guy work?) had a very nice game defensively.

-Ovechkin was pretty much shut down. If anyone tries to tell you Ovi had a better game than Sid, they’re liars. Ocho was completely neutralized, while Sid had great chances and made some good plays.

-Martin was the guy who let Fehr get past him for a break away. My assessment: a defensemen of Paul’s caliber can’t let that happen. What makes me really upset was the fact that he was just watching the puck instead of preparing to make a play. Terrible.

-Letang and Orpik both had decent games. Tanger got some good shots off and Orpik saves a goal.

-The “new” third line with Talbot, TK, and Letestu was easily our best line. I think Conner comes back next game.

-Talbot had two or three really, really good chances that he didn’t bury. Ugghh.

-I hate calling it this, but this whole game was pretty much a joke. I want to be gentler, but I don’t know how else to put it.

-No one should be surprised to see any of the players come down with colds in a few days.

-Whatever. TB on Wednesday.

Miscellaneous Stuff...Geno Interview, WC Weather Update, Another Award for Sid, etc etc

 "Can you tell I got hit?" Uhh, yes, Benny boy.

Geno did a 6 minute long interview the other day. I haven't gotten a chance to watch the whole thing, but it looks cool. [ WPXI ]

Sid got another award. The sky is also blue. [ The Hockey News ]

Your Winter Classic forecast (hint: it's not lookin' too good). [ Weather.com ]

I may be making a mistake by doing this, but you can watch all the episodes of "24/7" here. [ Youtube ]

Random Rhys Adams picture (just because I can't get enough):

I'm hoping to have an album of "24/7" Part 3 screen caps as well as a "My Thoughts" edition of part 3 up tomorrow, but with all the alumni game and Pens practice hoopla, you never know.
A list, at the side of the page, featuring my favorite Pens sites should be up later tonight, though.