Team White defeated team Black 4-3 in the Black and Gold scrimmage, Wednesday night. Matt Cooke scored twice, Tyler Kennedy, and Brandon Sutter scored for team Black. Beau Bennett, Chris Kunitz, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin scored for team White. The scrimmage included pre-planned 5 on 5, 5 on 4, 4 on 4, 5 on 3 and 4 on 3 situations for both teams. Despite team White leading at the end of regulation, the squads played a five minute overtime followed by a shootout. Here are some notes from ... Read More
Penguins’ James Neal must adjust to new role on power play
The Pittsburgh Penguins power play is always a story and a topic for criticism among Penguins fans, but that power play has a new look only two days into training camp. Coming off a season in which the power play lived up to expectations, finishing among the top five in the NHL, Penguins' head coach Dan Bylsma has switched things up by moving James Neal to the left point alongside Kris Letang. Neal and Letang manned the points on the first unit with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Chris ... Read More
The Penguins top three comeback candidates
Despite trading away one of their superstar centers, a top four defenseman, and exiting the last two playoffs in the first round, the Pittsburgh Penguins are favored to win the Stanley Cup. Is that fair? In short, yes. They still posses the top two players in the league, a forty goal scorer, one of the most talent defensemen in the league, and a goaltender entering his prime. On paper, they are the best team in the league. But, as we've learned over the last three seasons, what ... Read More
Thoughts on the Steelers and Pengiuns from The Pittsburgh Housewife
Considering there was not a tremendous amount of actual sports activity this week, the Pittsburgh sports scene has been busy. Mainly off the field/ice. Steelers’ running back Chris Rainey was released hours after being arrested for attacking his girlfriend in Florida. Might you ask, why did this dipshit attack his girlfriend? His answer, she took his phone. Yes folks, the girl took his phone. At least the Rooney’s managed to cut ties with him, even though I’m sure it wasn’t too painful to say ... Read More
Kennedy deserves a spot on second line
The long awaited arrival of NHL hockey has been torturous for Pittsburgh Penguins fans. Luckily, the wait is over and our ailing hockey hearts are quickly being healed by seeing our beloved Pittsburgh Penguins take CONSOL Energy Center ice, once again. Informal practices have been held at Southpointe and continue at CONSOL Energy. On January 8th, the first time back to CONSOL since April, the Pens skated on their home ice. Players who were eager to gear up were: Kennedy, Jeffrey, Vitale, ... Read More
Penguins more prepared for quick start than others
When looking back on the Penguins' 2011-2012 season there are many ways to describe how it ended; blown out, exposed, embarrassed, abrupt. There's no sugar coating a 4-2 series loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Not when its penalty kill had a historic collapse. Not when the defense, a unit that was promoted by hockey circles as one of the deepest in the league, surrendered twenty goals in the first three games of the series. Not when the league MVP who dominated all season looked average ... Read More
How the Penguins stack up in the Atlantic Division
It took the New York Rangers 80 games last season to win the Atlantic Division and top seed in the Eastern Conference. Four of the five teams in the Atlantic finished within seven points of each other as the Rangers, Penguins, Flyers and Devils all ended with 100+ point seasons. The Boston Bruins were the only other team to finish the season with over 100 points in the Eastern Conference. I.E. the Atlantic Division is tough. And while the New Jersey Devils look to fall out of playoff ... Read More
Hockey returns: What you need to know
Early Sunday morning, the news that we were all waiting for finally came down: We will see NHL hockey this season after all. If you had given up hope, you assuredly weren’t alone. As occurs every time a sports league locks out (which is far too often, if you ask me), things tend to move very quickly once a deal is struck. So what I wanted to start our new season off with is a few key points that will be of interest. The agreement that was struck will last for the next 10 years (with an ... Read More
Hockey is back!!!
The NHL lockout is finally over. After 113 days, the NHL and NHLPA announced that they reached an agreement Sunday morning. Negotiations concluded after 16 hours where the most important issue became pension plans for the players; the same issue that was heavily debated last week, nearly collapsing the whole process and season. Then a hero emerged. No it wasn't Ron Burkle or Mario Lemieux. It wasn't anyone from the Penguins that was rumored to be saving the season last month before ... Read More
Previewing the Atlantic Division
With the announcement of a tentative agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA, hockey fans will finally get to see their team back on the ice in a little more than a week. For the Penguins, the new season is a chance to erase the bitter, eight month memory of being humiliated in the first round of the playoffs by the hated Philadelphia Flyers. That being said, the Penguins still put together a very successful season in 2011-12. Evgeni Malkin won league MVP and led the league in scoring. James ... Read More