Alex Semin is an idiot

In an interview with Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports today, Washington Capitals winger Alexander Semin had some harsh words for Sidney Crosby.

When asked about how he felt he stood in comparison to Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and teammate Alex Ovechkin, or if there was a rivalry between the youngsters, Semin let Crosby have it.

“What’s so special about [Crosby]? I don’t see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there’s nothing else,” Semin told Wyshynski.

Then, Semin implied that Crosby is “dead wood,” and questioned why the NHL has marketed the superstar so aggressively.

Now, it’s understandable that Semin would harbor somewhat of a bias against Crosby. After all, Crosby has torched Semin’s Capitals ever since he has been in the league.

Yet, one still has to wonder what makes Semin think it is his place to rip the player many think is the best in the world.

Semin asked what was so special about Crosby.

I guess Semin doesn’t consider scoring over 120 points, and winning the Hart, Art Ross, and Lester B. Pearson Trophies as a 19 year old to be “special” at all. Leading his team to the Stanley Cup Finals as the youngest captain in NHL history? Nope.

Actually, Crosby is just your run of the mill, average center.

Semin has had a fantastic start to this season, yes. He is tied with Malkin for the most points in the league, and has been scorching hot offensively. Still, at the end of the year there is essentially no chance Semin will remain anywhere near the top of the scoring race.

Like he has done his whole career, Semin will play well some games, and look invisible in others. He’ll play when he feels like it, and show flashes of brilliance at times. Teams will eventually have to key on Ovechkin (when he returns to the lineup from his personal visit to Russia) and Semin will be able to capitalize for 35 to 40 goals, a few more or less than the pass-first Crosby will net.

He is an inconsistent, unphysical floater with good offensive skills who has done absolutely nothing significant in the NHL for a prolonged period of time.

When Semin scores 120 points, wins a MVP, or finds some way to step out from the shadow of far superior players like Crosby, Malkin, and Ovechkin, maybe he can start talking smack.

It is truly amazing how nine games can make a player so cocky.

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Game 11- Penguins @ Phoenix Coyotes

The Penguins visit Jobing.com arena at 10:00 tonight to close out their west coast swing with a game against the Phoenix Coyotes. Marc-Andre Fleury will be in goal for Pittsburgh, while Hal Gill will likely play for the first time in four games. Pascal Dupuis and Max Talbot have undisclosed inuries, and Talbot is not playing. Dupuis is also a strong possibility to miss the game. The Pens called up center Chris Minard earlier in the day, and may be available tonight.. Head coach Mike Therrien split up his two stars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who will now be centering two separate lines.

There are so many injuries, I can't predict any lines today.

GO PENS!

Pens lose.

Sorry, I was sleeping.

Meh.

Game 10- Penguins @ San Jose Sharks

The Pittsburgh Penguins begin their four game western swing tonight at 10:30 at HP Pavilion in San Jose where they will take on the Sharks. The Pens will look to rebound from a disappointing end to a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday night, and they'll do it with Dany Sabourin between the pipes. Hal Gill remains out for the Penguins, and now, a new Penguin, Max Talbot is out with an undisclosed injury, contrary to Michel Therrien's words yesterday. Matt Cooke will move up to the third line, and Paul Bissonnette will dress in Cooke's place.

Projected Lines-

Dupuis-Crosby-Malkin
Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora
Satan-Kennedy-Cooke
Bissonnette-Zigomanis-Godard

Orpik-Scuderi
Eaton-Letang
Goligoski-Sydor

Sabourin

GO PENS!

Pens blow another late lead, lose to Rangers

Wow. Just wow. The Pens had a 2-0 lead after 2. They had a 2-1 lead with eight seconds left. They blew it. Hard. This team continues to suck it up in the clutch, and it's a disgrace.

Crosby and Malkin were pretty good. Fedotenko and Staal were solid, and Fleury was great.

Yet still, the Penguins could not manage to hold a one goal lead with 8 seconds left. Crosby and Malkin were floating around waiting for an empty net chance, and it never came.

Nik Zherdev tied the game for the Rangers, and some stiff, Fredrik Sjostrom, one it in the shootout for the Rags. It was just one of those games that makes you want to put a pistol in your mouth.

Go Pens.

Game 9- Penguins @ New York Rangers

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night for a showdown with the New York Rangers. The Rangers are two games up on the Penguins in the win column for the Atlantic Division lead, not to mention these two teams don't much like each other.

The Rangers have made several solid additions this year, as Markus Naslund, Nikolai Zherdev, and Aaron Voros have all contributed greatly to their early season success.

The Penguins beat Carolina Thursday night, coming back from a 1-0 deficit to score four goals in the third period and beat the Hurricanes. That came without several Penguins who were out with injuries.

Among the injured were defenseman Hal Gill and winger Matt Cooke. Both are expected to be back and healthy for this contest. Winger Bill Thomas, a Pittsburgh native, was demoted to Wilkes Barre on Friday. Between the pipes, it'll be Marc-Andre Fleury against Henrik Lundqvist.

Lines

Malkin-Crosby-Dupuis
Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora
Satan-Talbot-Kennedy
Cooke-Zigomanis-Godard

Orpik-Scuderi
Eaton-Letang
Goligoski-Gill

Fleury

GO PENS!

Third period outburst sends Penguins to victory

In front of a sellout crowd of 17,132 at Mellon Arena tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins came back from a goal down midway through the third period. Evgeni Malkin fired a blistering slapshot on goal, and it was redirected home by Sidney Crosby past Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Michael Leighton.

After a bad giveaway by Brooks Orpik in his own zone, Brandon Sutter scored his first NHL goal on a breakaway on Fleury.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Max Talbot both scored their first goals of the season.

Jordan Staal was solid.

MAF was sick.

I had to go to school at 5:10 this morning, so I'm tired.

Good night Pittsburgh.

GO PENS!

Game 8- Carolina Hurricanes @ Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins will face the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow night at 7:38 P.M. at Mellon Arena. This will be the first meeting of the year between the two teams, and it will mark the ninth time that Penguins forward Jordan Staal will play against his brother, the very talented Eric Staal.

Jordan has been, well, ghastly by all accounts. He has been slow. He has not played with heart. He refuses to shoot anything other than alcoholic beverages, and he has missed several yawning empty nets. He has no goals, and just two assists. This while playing on a line with Evgeni Malkin, mind you. Eric, on the other hand, has been great as usual. He has three goals and two assists for five points in his first five games, continuing to establish himself as one of the best goal scorers in the NHL.

Either way, it looks to be a good game. It will be Marc-Andre Fleury against Cam Ward in goal. Matt Cooke will return for the Penguins after missing the last few games with an injury. My personal expectation is that we'll see Tyler Kennedy on the left wing with Staal and Petr Sykora. Hal Gill, though, will not play with an undisclosed injury, which really sucks. He's been playing fantastic hockey lately.

I'll be at the game, so the recap will not come until late.

Malkin-Crosby-Dupuis
Kennedy-Staal-Sykora
Satan-Talbot-Fedotenko
Cooke-Zigomanis-Godard

Orpik-Letang
Eaton-Goligoski
Scuderi-Sydor

Fleury

GO PENS!

Penguins @ Bruins Liveblog

Just for the fun of it, I'll be liveblogging this one, not doing my normal recap. Here we go.

1st Period-

18:00- The Dupuis-Crosby-Malkin unit has a solid first shift good work by them. Malkin just walked around Dennis Wideman and almost scored a goal for the ages.

12:48- Looks like Godard's going to the box here. Not sure what the call is here. Anyway, the Bruins will be on the powerplay, and that's not a good thing. Can't afford an early goal tonight.

12:15- Zigomanis almost redirected a Wideman shot in with his skate there. Chara has a real rocket of a slapper, obviously, and he almost beat Sabourin. Dany's on his game.

10:48- Pens kill off the penalty. See what happens when you keep the puck to the outside?

8:18- The Kennedy-Talbot-Satan unit just had a great shift. All sorts of chances against the Bruins' checking line. Fedotenko just had a bad turnover. No harm.

8:08- Sid's going to the box. Oh, bugger. Big PK coming.

7:03- Talbot just made a great hustle play to clear the puck along the boards. Beat Lucic there fair and square. He might just be the hardest working man I've ever seen.

6:08- Pens with another big kill. Geno might have gotten away with a trip with a few seconds left on the Bruins powerplay, but we'll take all the breaks we can get.

5:37- It's really great to see Patrice Bergeron back out there for the Bruins. He's a class act, and pure passion as a hockey player. If you don't remember, Philly trash Randy Jones ended his season before it ever really started last year with a vicious hit from behind.

4:13- Dupuis just tripped over the puck when Crosby tried to clear it. Have to be able to get the puck out, just have to.

4:04- Godard vs. Thornton. God dropped him. TKO.

2:30- The Pens find themselves killing another penalty. Unbelievable. Stupid plays right now, and getting outshot more than 2-1. Satan gets 2 for something I didn't see.

1:09- GOAL! Miroslav Satan banks in a Malkin rebound! Delayed penalty was coming right off the PK. Crosby gets the second assist. Miro gets it coming out of the box.

0:00 Penguins outshot 16-10 in the period. Penguins kill all three Bruins PP's. Pens will be happy to get out of that period with the lead. See you for the second period.

2nd Period-

18:33- I'm doing homework as I blog and watch. Bear with me.

16:20- Whew! I'm done. Bissonnette gets his first shift of the game, and Vladimir Sobotka cheapshots him from behind, face first into the glass. Biz Nasty is not amused.

13:58- I'm a bit tired of the cheapshots from the Boston side. Lucic just blindsided Orpik up against the boards. Dirty hit. Free Candy comes at him, but Lucic has his bodyguards.

12:52- Malkin draws another penalty. Wideman broke his stick on Geno trying to keep him from gaining a 2 on 1 with Crosby. Do work now.

12:00- Ugly powerplay right now. Can't even control it.

10:52- Pens did wind up getting something going, but the powerplay ended with only one shot, and another shot by Malkin hit the post. Geno leads the scoring race over Alex Semin by one.

9:27- Is Ruslan Fedotenko playing tonight? Come to think of it, has he dressed yet this season?

7:17- Staal goes to the box. Stupid, obvious holding penalty.

6:07- Oops. Phil Kessel beats Sabu with a wicked wrister on the powerplay. Nice work Staal. Way to take yourself out of the game with a dumb penalty.

5:06- Talbot gets tripped behind the Penguins net. Powerplay time.

2:39- Well, that was a punchless powerplay. One chance in the goalmouth for Satan, but not much else really going on.

0:00- The Bruins just came as close as you can to scoring without actually putting the puck in the back of the net. Savard and Crosby both got two for roughing. They were rolling on top of each other like pigs in the corner. Bergeron beat Sabu five hole, but it hit the outside of the cage. 1-1 as we go to the third. See you then.

3rd Period-

20:00- OK boys. Come on! Time for another goal.

18:20- Sid, Dupuis, and Geno get a 3 on 2, but the play was offside. Always frustrating.

14: 00- The Bruins are getting some solid chances, but Sabu is holding them right now.

12:57- Oh! So close! Crosby robbed by Thomas on a great snapshot.

12:50- Chara gives Malkin the business in front of the net. This line needs to take over the game.

11:27- Sabourin just had 2 phenomenal saves. Robs Savard and Kessel on rocket slappers five seconds apart. Blood pressure rises...

7:15- Sid just set up Dupuis on the left dot, put Pascal couldn't decide what to do with it.

6:17- Kennedy uncorks it from the blueline, but Thomas gets a piece of it and it deflects into the stands. Faceoff inside for Sid and Geno.

5:49- Sid beats the whole Boston team, and sets up Dupuis in front, accidentally. I think he was looking for 71 there, but Dupuis couldn't get it. He was tied up in front.

5:00- Fedex almost scored his first right there. Thomas kicked it out.

3:22- Ryder sends a weak wrister in on Sabourin, who gloves it down. Fedex made his first good defensive play of the night, tying up a Bruin on the way to the crease.

3:10- As far as early season games go, this one is crucial. It could really decide the way this team thinks about itself. A win would be so sweet.

2:08- Puck is frozen along the boards. Sturm was sprawled out on top of it.

0:00- We're going to overtime at 2-2. The Pens have played a very solid road game tonight. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this game DOESN'T end in the five minute frame, but rather in a shootout. We'll see if I'm right.

Overtime-

4:26- Satan and Malkin get a 2 on 1, but it is offside. Malkin made a drop pass before he made it over the blueline. Oops.

4:01- Crosby with a hard slapper from the point gloved down. Alert play by 87 to back up Letang, who had broken in as a forward.

3:44- Ryder and Krejci work magic, and the puck goes to Krejci in front, but Sabu was there!

1:52- Staal refusing to shoot! Malkin set him up perfectly, and Staal didn't bury it, but he DID draw a penalty. Powerplay Penguins for the remainder of OT. Score please.

1:35- Staal shoves down Wideman, and it's 3 on 3. Wow, Jordan just wow. It was a ballshot too, and I'm not impressed.

37.3- Malkin sets up Orpik, but Thomas makes the save. Bruins ice the puck, and call time.

0:00- We're going to a shootout. Crosby, Dupuis, and Letang almost scored, but could not.

Shootout-

-Kris Letang is the first shooter. He loses the puck! Save Thomas.

-Phil Kessel will go for Boston. He scores. Ouch.

-Petr Sykora is up. He scores! Off the post and in!

-Patrice Bergeron now. He shoots wide! Even.

-Crosby is up. He can't get it home.

-Ryder can now win it. He is stopped! Sabuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

-Satan now. No chance. Right into the logo. Bruins with another shot at the win.

-Krejci is up. Stopped!

-Geno's turn. GOAL!

-Savard will try to tie it. No dice! WE WIN!

Night!

What a road win. Sabu is the easy number one star.

Game 7- Penguins @ Boston Bruins

The Penguins are on the road tonight in Boston, MA, where they'll be hosted by the Boston Bruins. The Bruins are .500 coming off of a four game road trip to start the season, and tonight will be there home opener. The Penguins were hoping to have winger Matt Cooke back in the lineup for this one, but he missed practice yesterday and has been ruled out for the game. His place will be taken by Paul Bissonnette. Dany Sabourin will get his first start of the season between the pipes against Bruins netminder Tim Thomas, who appeared in the All-Star Game last season. The projected lines:

Dupuis-Crosby-Malkin
Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora
Satan-Talbot-Kennedy
Bissonnette-Zigomanis-Godard

Orpik-Letang
Goligoski-Eaton
Scuderi-Gill

Sabourin

GO PENS!

Crosby and Malkin star as Pens beat Leafs

In front of a standing room only sellout crowd of 17,132 at Mellon Arena tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 4-1. Sidney Crosby reached 100 goals on his career, 200 assists, and 300 points, while Evgeni Malkin reached 200 points. Miroslav Satan, Pascal Dupuis, and Petr Sykora scored goals to compliment Crosby's first of the season. Marc-Andre Fleury turned in another fantastic peformance between the pipes for Pittsburgh.

The Penguins came out flying, but did not in fact get the game's first goal. The Pens played shorthanded for almost eight consecutive minutes due to a high sticking double minor to Alex Goligoski and a too many men on the ice call. During their fourth powerplay in the first period, Nik Antropov banged home a Jason Blake rebound and the Leafs were ahead 1-0.

Less than a minute later, however, the Penguins bounced back. Malkin worked the puck down low to Crosby, who banked the puck off of Maple Leaf defender Luke Schenn, and Dupuis was there to pick up the trash, backhanding one through the wickets of Maple Leaf netminder Curtis Joseph. The score was 1-1 as the first period came to a close.

A short while into the second period, with the Penguins on the powerplay, Crosby and Malkin worked their magic on the points. They played catch for a moment before Crosby threaded the needle through three Leafs penalty killers onto the tape of Satan, who had an easy finish for his third goal of the season, all on the powerplay.

Fleury had several outsanding sequences of saves in this period. The best, perhaps, came when Fleury stopped Mikhail Grabovski's backhander, then Nik Hagman hit the post past Fleury on the rebound, all before Fleury sprawled in his crease to somehow keep the rubber out.

In the third period, the Leafs pressured on an early powerplay, but could not beat Fleury.

Midway through the frame, Crosby got his first goal of the season, and 100th of his career. Malkin, Satan, and Kris Letang made several nice passes before dishing to Crosby, who drew Joseph out of his net. With Joseph scrambling to get back to the net, Sid shot one off of Grabovksi into the twine for the insurance marker.

On another late powerplay, Crosby made a cross-zone shot-pass to Sykora, who scored his first goal of the year. That goal closed the scoring.

Notes-
-Ruslan Fedotenko had 6 hits. His best game as a Penguin.
-Brooks Orpik was a monster. 7 hits for him.
-Crosby and Malkin combined for 8 points.
-Malkin is tied with Alex Semin for the NHL points lead with 10.
-Fleury is an elite NHL goaltender.
-Zigomania has hit Pittsburgh. Mike was sick tonight on the fourth line.

GO PENS!

1967!

Game 6- Toronto Maple Leafs @ Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins will attempt to close out their four game home stand in a positive fashion on Saturday night when the Toronto Maple Leafs will visit Mellon Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM.

In the wake of the Penguins' disgusting loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, head coach Michel Therrien has hit the panic button. He has completely wiped out his old lines for the tilt with the Maple Leafs. Therrien has moved Evgeni Malkin onto Sidney Crosby's left wing, sandwiching Crosby between Malkin and Pascal Dupuis. This makes the seemingly incompetent Jordan Staal your new second line center. Matt Cooke is unlikely to play due to injury. Dany Sabourin is likely to get the start.

Malkin-Crosby-Dupuis
Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora
Satan-Talbot-Kennedy
Bissonnette-Zigomanis-Godard

Orpik-Letang
Goligoski-Eaton
Gill-Scuderi

Sabourin

I'll be at the game, so my recap likely won't come until late at night or even into early morning. This is a Saturday night game against the Maple Leafs, remember, so it's more than likely that a large number of Leafs fans will make their way to the Igloo for this game. It's always fun to watch 5,000 blue jersey wearing clowns leave the arena drunk and upset.

GO PENS!

1967!

Disgraceful

The Pittsburgh Penguins blew a game 4-3 to the Washington Capitals tonight. The Pens powerplay rebounded nicely, and scored 3 times in the first 25 minutes of the game. After that, the Pens were an utter joke tonight.

They let the Capitals climb back into the game, sucking a fat one in the third period. Hal Gill took a high stick to the face, which somehow went uncalled, and the Caps scored on a 2 on 1 to go ahead with 4: 17 left in the game.

Then, with 30 seconds left, Kris Letang kept the puck inside the blueline as the Pens were preparing another rush, but the linesman ruled it offsides, amazingly.

I'm not a Capitals fan, so I'm not going to blame this loss on the stripes, though.

The Pens played like shit after the first period.

This team, presently, is a joke.

Killing myself.

Game 5- Washington Capitals @ Penguins

The Washington Capitals will visit Mellon arena at 7:38 tonight to take on the Penguins. The Penguins have pretty much made the Caps their bitch over the last three years, and they'll look to continue that trend tonight. Matt Cooke is out for the Penguins. Projected lines for the game are:

Dupuis-Crosby-Satan
Staal-Malkin-Sykora
Fedotenko-Talbot-Kennedy
Thomas-Zigomanis-Godard

Orpik-Letang
Eaton-Goligoski
Scuderi-Gill

Fleury

Figure out that powerplay, boys, and...

GO PENS.

Unexpected heroes give Pens a 3-2 victory

Pascal Dupuis got a great cross ice pass from Brooks Orpik. He kicked it to himself, and broke in down the left wing on Antero Nittymaki. Dupuis wound up, and undressed the Flyers netminder with a wicked slapper over his left shoulder where grandma hides the cookies. So there it was, an overtime winner for #9, his first big goal as a Penguin, when his team desperately needed a win.

Eric Godard and Riley Cote dropped the mitts in the first period in what was the best fight a Penguins has been involved in for years. Godard and Cote whaled on each other for 45 seconds, with each landing a few bombs, and Godard coming away with a narrow edge.

With Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney out, it is obvious that the Pens need as many people as possible to step up in key situations and deliver for the team. Brooks Orpik did that tonight with a goal on a slapper that just got over Nittymaki, and Rob Scuderi did that with a few fantastic defensive sequences, inlcuding backing up Fleury to keep the puck out of the net in the second period.

Mike Zigomanis, newly acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes, scored on a one timer off of a great pass by Matt Cooke. Cooke and Godard worked on the end boards, and got the puck out to Ziggy who pinballed it past Nittymaki. That goal and Orpik's a few seconds earlier gave the Pens a 2-0 lead.

The lead would not last for long.

The Flyers scored twice in the second period's final minute. Hal Gill put another pick in his own net, redirected home a Jeff Carter pass, and Simon Gagne tipped in a Kimmo Timonen slapshot seconds later to tie it up at 2-2.

After a third period full of stupid penalties and missed scoring chances, the game went to OT.

A few minutes passed before Dupuis scored on the only quality shot of the extra frame.

The Penguins are 2-1-1.

Notes-
Jordan Staal looked out of place on the left wing
Mike Zigomanis is a steal of a pickup
Sidney Crosby was absolutely flying
Evgeni Malkin rebounded nicely from a rough game Saturday
Alex Goligoski, Brooks Orpik, and Rob Scuderi were solid

Star of the Game- Mike Zigomanis- He was phenomenal in the faceoff circle, and he scored a huge goal.

GO PENS

Game 4- Philadelphia Flyers @ Penguins

The Battle of Pennsylvania will be renewed Tuesday night at the Igloo when the Philadelphia Flyers pay a visit to Mike Zigomanis and your Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers, like the Pens, have started the season sluggishly. They are 0-2 with two tough home losses to the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. The Pens are 1-1-1 and coming off a devastating overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils. Petr Sykora is likely to return for the Penguins.

GO PENS.

Darryl Sydor- What To Do With HIm

Penguins defenseman Darryl Sydor has enjoyed a very respectable NHL career. He’s approaching his 20th season, and he has been a top four blueliner for two different Stanley Cup teams. He has acted very professionally since he’s been in the NHL, and he has always exhibited pure class.

Unfortunately, Sydor’s otherwise solid tenure in the greatest hockey league on earth has taken on a pretty serious turn for the worst.

Since he put pen to paper on a two year, 2.5 million dollar contract with the Penguins before the 2007-2008 season, Sydor has often been criticized for lack of offensive output and a general tendency to not make big plays for his team.

This past off-season, trade rumors swirled around Sydor constantly, with the Los Angeles Kings being frequently mentioned as a possible destination.

However, those rumors have yet to be validated in any way, as Darryl was not traded, and he still sits on the Penguins roster.

Sydor cannot be too thrilled about his situation at the moment. He’s so far in Michel Therrien’s doghouse that Therrien moved him to the fourth line left wing spot for Saturday’s tilt with New Jersey. “I’ll keep my thoughts to myself and just be professional,” said Sydor about the situation.

This is an established veteran we’re talking about here! He has almost never played forward since reaching the NHL. To make him start now, at the tender age of 36, is not fair to Sydor in any way.

It’s not that Alex Goligoski shouldn’t be taking Sydor’s spot. After all, Alex is much better offensively than Sydor, and the Pens desperately need offensive defensemen in the absence of Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney.

Still, it’s just not right that Sydor has been reduced to this, and it seems only fair that Ray Shero trade him immediately to a place where he’ll get a shot to contribute.

It could be for a bag of pucks, a draft pick, or an average prospect, but Sydor must be dealt. Surely, some will be reluctant to give up defensive depth right now, but so what? Danny Richmond is ready and waiting to be a 7th or 8th defenseman if the Penguins really need it.

Sydor is a professional, and it is detrimental to both parties if he remains on this roster. There is no need to pay the man 2.5 million dollars against the salary cap to sit in the press box or play left wing.

#5 deserves better, and so do the Pens.

http://www.faceoff-factor.com/pittsburgh-penguins/2148/what-to-do-with-darryl-sydor?commented=1#c007334

Written by me, for the Factor.

Rangers prospect Cherepanov dead at 19

New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov collapsed on the bench today playing in a KHL game for Avangard Omsk. He later died in the ICU. This is a sad, sad day for hockey. He was an exceptional talent, only 19 years old, and with a bright future ahead of him.

Rest in peace, Alex.

My attitude has improved

We need to just be glad we got a point in this one.

Go get Philly on Tuesday.

Go Pens!

Epic Fail

Everyone except Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury utterly sucked tonight.

I want to jump off a bridge right now.

Parise sucks. I hate this.

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

We could be in for a long season.

Game 3- New Jersey Devils @ Penguins

Tonight at Mellon Arena, the Pens will begin the North American portion of their schedule with a game against division rival, the most boring team in hockey, the New Jersey Devils. The Penguins won the season series against the Devils last year by one point, and won the division from them as well.

This offseason, the Devils brought in scorer Brian Rolston and veteran Bobby Holik, who both have had previous stints with the team. Petr Sykora is not likely to play for the Penguins, and Tyler Kennedy will get a shot once again.

The game will mark the Pittsburgh debut for center Mike Zigomanis, a faceoff specialist.

Go Pens!

Zigomania hits Pittsburgh

The Pens signed Mike Zigomanis today. He scored 3 points last year with Phoenix.

He's now the Pens' fifth center.

Start planning the parade.

Yuck.

The Pens lost.

Sorry for half-assing it.

It's just not the type of thing I want to recap.

Go Pens.

Game 2- Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators

Coming off of a thrilling 4-3 overtime defeat of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, the Penguins will look to move to 2-0 in the second game of NHL Premiere 2008 Stockholm. The game is at 2:30 EST in Stockholm.

Petr Sykora is unlikely to play for the Penguins, and Tyler Kennedy will once again fill in for him.

Hopefully, Bill Thomas will get a shot on the 4th line.

Go Pens.

Kennedy shines as Pens open season with win

When Tyler Kennedy was told today that he'd be the replacement for injured Petr Sykora on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, he was already swelling with confidence stemming from a strong preaseason, but there's no way he or any of us expected the game he turned in tonight in Stockholm. Kennedy scored two goals, including the overtime winner with half a minute to play in the extra frame. Ray Shero knew what he was doing when he signed TK to a nice new contract last week.

The Pens started off fast when TK took a pass from Jordan Staal in the game's first minute, and wristed it under the arm of Martin "Swiss Cheese" Gerber to put the Pens up 1-0.

Ottawa evened it up a few minutes later when Penguin castoff Shean Donovan redirected a pass into the top corner, just sneaking the puck under the crossbar to tie the game 1-1.

Spezza added another goal for Ottawa just five minutes in the wake of Heatley's goal, putting the Senators in front for the first time in the game.

The Penguins powerplay looked atrocious in the first, and for the entire game. In the first period alone, the Penguins got five chances on the man advantage, but didn't score a goal.

In the second period, the Penguins pulled back ahead when Fillip Kuba shot the puck off of career joke Chris Neil. The puck bounced to the tape of Evgeni Malkin, who broke in on Gerber and backhanded the puck between his legs while following to the ground.

Just a short while later, Ottawa once again tied up the contest. Danny "The Exterminator" Heatley took advantage of a Rob Scuderi misplay behind the net, getting a pass from Jason Spezza and firing it past Fleury to make it 2-2. MAF didn't have a chance on this one.

Mark Eaton took a hooking penalty with under two minutes to go, and just 30 seconds after that, Hal Gill put the puck over the shortened Swedish glass to give Ottawa a 5 on 3 powerplay.

In the third, the Penguins killed off that powerplay, giving them some tremendous momentum.

Only three minutes later, the Penguins unleashed their secret offensive weapon, Rob Scuderi. Sidney Crosby had a great game, but his best play came when he passed between an Ottawa player's skates, right to Scuderi, who beat Swiss Cheese with a beautiful rising wrister.

Jesse Winchester almost won the game for Ottawa when Fleury booted the puck in front of his own net, off the spot on the bar where the crossbar meets the goalpost. The threat was thankfully averted.

In overtime, with less than a minute to go, Kennedy took the puck from Spezza, and broke in on Gerber. He used the defenseman as a screen, and with Malkin flanking him, fired the puck into the twine, sending chills down our spines.

Time stops.

Pens win.

Tyler Kennedy played the game of his life.

Game 1- Penguins @ Ottawa Senators, Sweden

The real quest begins at 2:30 PM Saturday.

That is when the Pittsburgh Penguins will face off with the Ottawa Senators in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of NHL Premiere 2008. The game will, of course, be the first of the regular season for the Penguins, Senators, and the rest of the NHL.

Petr Sykora is unlikely to play for the Penguins, still nursing a sore groin.

Janne Pesonen was cut from the active roster today, and is set to head to Wilkes Barre after the Sweden series with the Senators. His departure clarifies the Penguins lines for tomorrow, assuming Sykora does not play. My best guess-

Fedotenko-Crosby-Satan
Staal-Malkin-Talbot
Dupuis-Kennedy-Cooke
Thomas-Taffe-Godard

Orpik-Goligoski
Letang-Eaton
Gill-Scuderi

Fleury

These lines will only last one game, or until Sykora gets healthy.

Ottawa seems to be ready for a decent season. They've got some young guns in Cody Bass, Brian Lee, Jessie Winchester, ane Nick Foligno. Antoine Vermette seems primed for an absolute breakout season. Still, Martin "Swiss Cheese" Gerber, is an atrocious netminder.

LET'S GO PENS!

HOCKEY'S BACK!

Penguins Beat Jokerit in Preseason Finale

Today, before a sold out crowd at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, the Pittsburgh Penguins closed out their exhibition schedule with a dominating 4-1 win over Jokerit of SM-Liga.

Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring for Pittsburgh in the first period on a powerplay. Sidney Crosby passed to Alex Goligoski, who dished to Malkin for the hard wrister into the back of the net.

Ruslan Fedotenko put the Pens up 2-0 when Crosby set him up in the slot with nine seconds left in the first period. Fedex delivered, snapping the puck into the twine.

Tyler Kennedy and Pascal Dupuis also scored for the Penguins, with Dupuis' goal coming on an empty net. Sorry for the bare recap, but I was at school.

It all begins Saturday.

Go Pens.

Preseason Game 5- Pittsburgh @ Jokerit

The Penguins will close out their preseason schedule Thursday in a game that would usually be nothing more than a throwaway. However, this game will have a decidedly different tune to it, as the Penguins will play it overseas in Finland against SM-Liga club Jokerit.

Jokerit does not seem to pose much of a threat to the Pens on paper, but this game is of epic proportions for them. It's a chance for their players and fans to see two of the best players in the world in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and an opportunity to prove themselves to the hockey world.

Jokerit's only familiar face to Penguin fans is Jani Rita. An underachiever in the NHL, Rita spent a brief stint in spring of 2006 with Pittsburgh before returning to his homeland and SM-Liga. He's enjoyed a good amount of success since his return.

The Pens will play fairly hard, and they'll play their best roster save Max Talbot, who is likely to be held out as a medical precaution for a lower body injury. Max hopes to be ready to go for the games against Ottawa this weekend.

The only goal for the Pens in this game is that nobody gets hurt.

I expect an easy victory for the Pens.