The Kid Skates, Glass Jaw heads for OR

It's almost like groundhog day in the NHL. Sidney Crosby has begun skating again. Rick DiPietro is going to have surgery ending his season. Mike Green is back on the IR with his groin injury. Brian Burke is trying to trade away his team before the deadline. The Habs are losers and continuing to lose in new ways. The ASG has been set (and how strange it is) and we have another concussed player to add to the mix.

Ray Shero calmly reminds everyone on Earth that Crosby not cleared for contact or games yet because he doesn't want anyone getting excited. The Penguins seem to have this concussion stuff down to a science. Crosby said he knows more of how he should feel and how to deal. The entire team donned a C (or K in the Russian's case) on their practice jersey in response to a ridiculous article about them not wanting Sid as their captain anymore. Ironically the captain himself didn't have a C taped his jersey. Maybe the taped on C's had some effect since the Penguins broke the losing streak and won last night. Kris Letang has begun light exercise in his concussion rehab. Full comments on Crosby and his view on life, captaincy, being a distraction and the league are here.

Rick DiPetro will once again (not shockingly) finish off his season on the IR. He will be under going sports hernia surgery shortly and they might have him back in April. For the end of the season clean out your locker party. Not the playoffs since a- they probably won't make the playoffs and b- he might fall to pieces if they did use him. "I'm almost bionic at this point" he told Newsday. At least he's honest.

RJ Umberger of the league losing Blue Jackets (with a whopping 29 overall points, good enough for last place with no competition) has been put on the shelf with a concussion. Cue his All-Star bid for the concussed team.

Mike Cammalleri was pulled from Thursday night's Habs game in the 2nd period, told to shower and go back to the Boston hotel the team had checked out of. He would stay there while awaiting further instructions and his luggage- he was being traded. Teams have since said they didn't know he was on the trade block and it's possible the Flames (his first team) and the Habs had been discussing the trade for some time, but why pull the plug mid-game is the question. In reality his 'loser' comments about the Habs probably had some underling tone as to why they did it. The Habs are still losers though since they have more issues than the Titanic did. They seem to be most worried about having a French speaking coach more than getting something going on ice. In this case the Flames who have been quietly making a case for a playoff run gained a 29 year old with much upside. Cam Cole of the National Post has a great write up touching on all the issues the Habs have going on.

The All-Star Game roster in Ottawa is set. It oddly enough features lots of Ottawa players (no stuffing the ballot-box though) and has left out an assortment of deserving players. Of course Ovi made the roster and considering how un All-Star like he's been playing (even by normal player standards) him making the team is quite questionable. Here's the roster. Here's Down Goes Brown take on All-Star snubs and their mid season review. Both are funny and quite accurate.

And in case you wanted to find out how Gary Bettman's New Years party went, here's DGB take on that also.

Till next time...

Who Wants to Play for the Penguins?

It's about 4 players away from being a legit question. You may not lace up your skates in the 'burgh, but their entire farm system is on the verge of being emptied so I'm sure somewhere between WBS and Wheeling you can get yourself a roster spot. In fact when I saw WBS play in mid-December they had 20 guys on the game roster. If that's not a ominous sign, then what is?

In case your wondering, James Neal, Jordan Staal and Craig Adams have joined the party. Neal has a broken foot and is out indefinitely. Staal has a torn MCL and out is weeks. Adams re-injured his knee in practice this morning and is questionable. Lets just go with he's on a little vacation. Crosby I think fled the country, and Letang might have joined him. Of course since they have concussions, I wonder who is leading who. Aaron Asham also apparently wasn't interested in playing and has something wrong with him, but won't tell anyone. Dustin Jeffery (remember him) is still having knee issues from last season. I'm thinking at this point he's just scared he goes and plays one game and then he'll end up hurt again. He might as well just stay where he is with one injury. The situation has gotten so bad that Dupuis who typically is a winger (for the MIA Crosby) is playing center somewhere in the lineup. Where is the bubble wrap for the 3 uninjured players on the team? Wrap them up and ship them off to a vacation.

The team already has lost 250 man games to injury this far and it's January 8. Currently they are in first place in this category. They ended last season with 350 man games lost and at the pace they are collecting injuries as opposed to points, they could blow that number away by over 100 games. Glad to know they are good at something. I hope the trainers are being paid well because they earning their keep this season. Just for good measure, former Pen Mark Letestu has a broken hand. It's a curse.

Predators Shea Weber has been cleared to play from his concussion. Senators Chris Phillips has been diagnosed with one. Here's a great list of concussions (it has some suspensions also but still a worthwhile timeline for this season). I'm starting to wonder if the All-Star concussion team should be playing the starting lineup for the Penguins IR. Between the head cases and wonky knees, not sure if they could even last a period.

In some feel good news, Coyotes Captain Shane Doan scored his first hat trick. It only took him 16 seasons, 1,161 games and 308 previous goals to reach this accomplishment. With 38 games where he scored 2 goals, even he wasn't sure the hatty would happen for him. Talk about a jeopardy question.

The NHLPA voted against realignment on Friday. Many players cited reasons such as travel budgets, extra time on the road (longer trips) and how playoffs would look having 2 conferences of 7 teams and 2 of 8. Granted the 7 and 8 is a bit strange, but this solved so many issues and evened out the Western travel a bit by forcing Eastern teams to travel a bit more. The NHL said they are considering filing a grievance against the NHLPA. In case anyone was wondering, the CBA battle has unofficially began and it's not looking like it's going to be pretty. Also of interest, Winnipeg will still be a part of the Southeast division. Because that's not messing with their travel budget one bit...

The final episode of 24/7 this season aired Thursday night and boy did it blow last seasons out of the water. Thanks to the horrible officiating in the 3rd period and Torts being Torts and speaking his mind, he was fined $30,000. Hopefully he views this as the best $30,000 he has ever spent because unless you are blinded by your Flyers love, you know that those last calls were just bad. Torts will be gracing us as a coach at the All-Star game. Can't wait.

Till then, here are my thoughts and opinions on the final episode of Rangers-Flyers

-Sean Avery is a space cadet who was dropped into this world. Free refills on OJ, sunglasses at breakfast? Your not hungover and Brandon Prust is trying to be nice and sit with you. Really not sure if anyone on the team will ever miss him. Also Torts interview on the plane where he address' the Avery being sent down situation was perfect. Avery is more a character than a hockey player and when a guy like Marc Staal is ready to play, you remove space cadets in favor a real player. No questions asked.

-Bryz is on the verge of being an over paid backup goalie who is a loudmouth that goes against organization policy. When your winning, you get some lax and leeway but when your losing and being pulled in favor of your backup in an event like the Winter Classic, you might want to learn to control your mouth a bit. They have a kindergartener on their hands that is making $51 million dollars on a 9 year deal. I think Philly might really be cursed in the goalie position. The major plus for them about Bobrovsky is he still has no command of the English language and uses a translator. So he can't really speak out of line since someone else is really speaking for him.

-Brandon Prust at the bench saying he wanted to punch a Panthers player that sucker punched Michael Del Zotto but didn't because he didn't want to risk a Shanaban. Mike Rupp took over with no fear (and no suspension). This was great to see a player using his brain and realizing everything could have a consequence. Either he's really that smart or Shanahan has truly gotten his message across (at least to some players).

-The projector dying while Torts is having a film session in the hotel on the road was hilarious. You've got guys singing and Torts and company cursing like the Titanic just hit the ice burg. Wonder if they knew it wasn't that serious.

-New Years Eve and Dubinsky's grandfather tells them all to drink up. The family appearances
this season are priceless.

-"If your life is complicated with people in town, make sure you get rid of the people." Sure. No problem. Are we going Soprano style or what?

-Mike Rupp giving plain and simple advice to his teammates before the game. He knew how bad conditions could get (like last years pond) and managed to become the hero of the game with 2 goals. The chirping from the Flyers about him scoring the first goal was great since right after they said he scores once a year, he got the 2nd one on net. Brad Richards got the winner since he likes to constantly remind people that he was actually worth his 9 year contract for $60 million.

-Claude Giroux asking Lundqvist if he can just have one goal tonight. Henrik said no, but Giroux did in fact score on him later.

-The embellishment call on Callahan is still crap. Danny Briere penalty shot in slo-mo was cool, but the whole sequence never should have happened. Even Torts said so.

-They ended this season showing us smiling facing. They opened this season showing us faces of serious guys. No smiles allowed. The bookends to it tie it up in a neat little package they way we like things to be.

In case you wanted to know why the Rangers won the Winter Classic and why they are just on fire right now, here are the 8 reasons according to nhl.com. Good stuff.

Videos, Jeopardy and 24/7

Shanahan has quietly cornered the market on NHL.com videos. He and his team of experts explain hits and penalties methodically, outlining the 5 W's and one lone H on what happened and what the punishment is and why it fits. But the NHL decided they needed to challenge for the video crown with this gem: The Video Rulebook. In theory this is a great idea that was executed horribly. After watching just 2, I was disappointed and felt like an intern did this to prove to his college that he really did something that didn't involve making coffee. It's just not NHL pro level; just video clips of the action that accompanies the rule. The rule is not given through a voice over, its written next to the video. Once you play the video, you can't see the written rule till its done playing. Good in theory, but bad execution. Shanahan you may keep your crown for now.

Crosby is out for the time being with concussion symptoms. He passed his imPACT test with flying colors compared to January's mess of results, but he won't play till 100% again. He believes that David Krecji's elbow in the 3-1 loss against Boston last week is what did him in. Bylsma had this to say, "It is obviously frustrating for Sid. Sid knows his body better than anybody else. He is not feeling 100 percent. He will return to practice and playing when he is feeling 100 percent." I'm thinking this is far more frustrating for Bylsma who is currently rocking a list of walking wounded that tops out at 9, with 2 listed as day to day. Of the 9, 6 are D men and of that 6, 3 were starters. If you check out the WBS transaction page, they have been one busy little team, signing guys off their ECHL team like they are candy since Pitt keeps taking the next guy on the depth chart.

The LA Kings are the next rumored team in market for a new coach. Winning one more game than they've lost on the season will tend to put a bulls eye on someone's back. At 13-12-4, something has to change and it's usually the coach. Ouch.

In case the Kings want some company in their misery, Mike Murphy of the Hurricanes boasts the strangest record in being the first goalie to lose a game while never having had allowed a goal. Brian Boucher, the Cane's backup goalie was injured so they called up AHL goalie Mike Murphy to replace him. When Ward was pulled, they were already losing 6-3 to Calgary and Murphy got to taste his first NHL action. He blocked 2 shots in 9 minutes but was pulled in favor of the extra attacker. With the net empty, Calgary scored their 7th of the night. Since Murphy was listed as the goalie, even though he was not on the ice when the goal happened, he still gets credited with allowing the goal. In conclusion, he never gave up a goal and stopped all shots he faced, but still has to take credit for Ward's disastrous 6 goal allowance. Awesome rule. This is totally going to be a Jeopardy question one day. Also under new Coach Kirk Muller, the team has gone 1-5. Wonder if that BBQ turned into a party....

Wednesday night marks the return of 24/7, this time featuring the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers. Having recently re-watched episodes 1-3 of last years series with the Penguins and Capitals, a few things stand out that I know I'm interested in seeing. Can anyone make practice seem more fun than Disco Dan and who could be more excited about ice cream at 9am than Bruce? We found that Sid is a coach in training and Ovi is learning the English language quite well. Well at least the one that includes curses thanks to a record number of f*ck's that fell out of Bruce's mouth in a speech. Green rides a Vespa and Rupp wore crazy Santa shirts. Sid is just all out crazy superstitious, while Talbot is an anything goes type guy and Ovi has an array of strange tattoos. The Penguins seemed to have been a cohesive group that shared the ups and downs, while the Capitals seemed more like a bunch of guys who just meet and decided to play some hockey.

Since the two teams being featured are a 2 hour car ride from each other, this will be an all out Atlantic Division war. Rangers coach John Tortorella might have the chance at beating Bruce's f-bomb count, though the Rangers are currently riding a hot streak so there might be less ammunition. Peter Laviolette's Flyers are currently without their Captain Chris Pronger who was suffering from a virus that turned into a knee injury that has since manifested itself as a concussion. Not confusing at all. Over the summer there were rumors that the Flyers locker room had a divide and it was Jeff Carter and Mike Richards versus Pronger and co. I wonder if part of the reason Carter and Richards were jetted off to new teams had anything to do with the fact the cameras would be catching every move this December and Ed Snider didn't want his team looking like fools. You don't tend to just trade players that you signed to crazy long contracts that had good stats. Well you do if your the Flyers and needed a goalie that held all the wisdom in the league I guess.

And in case you had any wonder about who will be providing some awesome quotes, look no further than goalie extraordinaire, Ilya Bryzgalov. This is what he told the media about leaving the game the other night. "It was an equipment issue. No, I'm a bad liar. It's an old boo-boo. It's still sore a little bit." Whatever you say Mr. Bryz.

Greetings Once Again

Since I have successfully moved, the NHL decided they too needed a change and managed to vote on a realignment in an hours time yesterday. Yes, they did it in an hour (faster than my move took) and got 26 of 30 votes. It's still nameless and they say they will deal with the naming issues later. Will it become the names of 4 great players or something much more boring? For now, I've dubbed them all something- some are just boring and others have too many fun options)

Conference A (lets just call this the West because that's what it is)
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
LA Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks

Conference B (lets call this the "make Detroit happy conference since we won't let them be in the East")
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets

Conference C (lets call this the Eastern conference, or East part A. Snowbirds could also work thanks to very North to the very South travels)
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightening
Toronto Maple Leafs


Conference D (so many names, where to begin. It's really the East part B but technically its the old Atlantic Division with some new toys, or the "Gary Bettman needs to make us all happy because we are a cash cow", but really the best name is "The All-Staal Conference".)
Carolina Hurricanes (Eric is the Captain and Jared is in their farm system)
NJ Devils
NY Islanders
NY Rangers (Marc)
Philadelpia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins (Jordan)
Washington Capitals

I personally like this division of teams. It keeps many rivalries alive that Bettman and Co. can't afford to lose and of course harbors their love for the Ovi-Sid match-up more often (which vaguely still exists in the back of someones' brain somewhere). The Western teams draw of big name talent to warm all those arena seats still is there while attempting to make the Red Wings happy with central timed games and teams in the same travel circle, rather than all West Coast teams.

The travel budgets are going to inflate wildly as Eastern teams are expecting $500,000 to a $1million extra per season due to added expenses headed West that much more often. It does attempt at evening out some of the travel and a team could probably be relocated much more easily (Phoenix). Of course this whole thing began because Winnipeg is playing the current Southeast and they could have done a much more simple swap. 2 Florida clubs playing teams more North than their Atlantic counterparts just shows you how important that Atlantic area is to the revenue the league can make. Being in the same time zone though helps to alleviate the travel a bit.

In other news....

Bruce has settled in with his new team, the Anaheim Ducks (thank god they aren't on 24/7- can you imagine all the potential screw ups just waiting there for him?) and the Caps are slowly trying to find some wins with Hunter. The Hurricanes don't seem to know what happened when they got a new coach and are having a welcome to Carolina BBQ for him I suppose.

The Penguins must have a secret clause in this years agreement with the league to always have a concussed player and since Sid proclaimed that he did time, Kris Letang and Zbynek Michalek have stepped up to the plate. Tyler Kennedy also served his time this season already. No timetable of course. They also have a boatload of injuries: Deryk Engelland is day to day with some unspecified issue and Richard Park is day to day with something lower body (also unspecified). Dustin Jeffrey had a setback in his knee rehab, while Ben Lovejoy (broken thumb) and Brian Strait (elbow) are another 2-4 weeks per the club. Whose left? Has anyone managed to play every game thus far for the team? Wild.

Finally this past May at just 28, Derek Boogaard, a feared enforcer who was known as Boogeyman died of an overdose. His family donated his brain to science at Boston University and in October it was announced they found he had C.T.E. (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which can be caused from getting hit in the head constantly. It bears many of the same symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Although the lethal drug mixture did kill Boogaard, they believe had he lived,he could have started to experience dementia by his mid-forties. The New York Times has a great (but long) 3-part piece on Boogaard. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Here's What We Know

1. Mark Letestu was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 4th round pick in the 2012 draft. Shero claims this has nothing to do with Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy possibly getting ready to come back to the lineup. (All 3 are forwards)

2. Dustin Jeffery and Steve MacIntyre have been placed in conditioning assignments in Wilkes Barre. (Both are forwards)

3. Crosby refuses to speak to the media, while all the hockey media in North America is currently in Pittsburgh waiting to speak with him.

4. Dan Bylsma says today Crosby will not play in the next 2 games. Since when do we use numbers? Strange Disco Dan, very strange.

I have been saying for over a week now Crosby wouldn't play tomorrow nights game at home versus the Dallas Stars simply because its a back-to-back game with Saturdays being in Carolina. I don't seem them bringing him back till its a game followed by an off day or just practice because if he gets less minutes the second game of a back-to-back someone will maintain he's hurt in some way. The Penguins are far too smart to let this happen.

It seems like there's been a lot of roster space cleared this week and its all in the place where there is a log-jam, forwards. Don't read too far into it, but Shero would have held 7 draft picks without trading Letestu for one. He now has 8 in next years draft. Regardless of Letestu being a healthy scratch many nights this season, Shero doesn't trade away a healthy player like this unless he's got a log-jam. And if Crosby and Kennedy are ready to come back, it's a log-jam.

Speaking of healthy scratches, Paul Bissonnette is often one for the Phoenix Coyotes. He is also the heir apparent to the NHL's media guru position. Professor Paul has called his first two classes if Hockey 101 to session. Episode 1 Episode 2

The Washington Capitals didn't seem to respond to much from Coach Boudreau last season from what we saw on 24/7. This season he decided everyone would have to be accountable. Wow, what a concept. How do we make the players accountable? Punish them with bag skate practices when they play horrible games . Also take away minutes from players. Or not really. It really just depends on how you do the math.

Fylers goalie Bryz finally was able to speak to the media again (after a game of course since he's on lock down). This is about how he and the d-men are communicating better. “Oh, it’s wonderful. We’re starting to understand each other … from just the look.” The look? The look of what? Terror, happiness, love, sadness. Do they have that much time on the ice before needing to stop the puck that they can look into each other eyes? Such mysteries surround him....

Don't forget: 3 games is the Avalance in Pitt. It's also a televised game. Could this be the one? Do you think the media will ever leave Pitt or do you think they have bought the hotel out for the rest of the season, just in case?

This, that, and alot of Crosby yapping...

The web and the hockey world have been busy this weekend with teams throwing up baseball scores and possibility of Crosby returning soon reaching epic proportions. But first off, as I was on the Pens website, an ad for the Black Ice jersey was across the top and it's just ugly (for almost every team in the league). Who was the one who came up with this concept and which drunk executive signed off ? Really you think I'm going to pay $160 bucks for this? It looks like I took a magic marker and colored it in. If I ever catch a person wearing one, I'm totally stalking them for a picture. And maybe a reason for buying it.

Does it glow in the dark?

I'm still shocked Dan Bylsma hasn't blown a gasket over the "when will Sid return" questions. I wonder if he goes home and just screams really loud and then shoots pucks with his son all night to relieve the stress. I'd go nuts. Here is Coach's take today on his star players' absence. "We are not waiting for an epiphany to make a decision. He’s progressing. He’s going down that road. I’ll reiterate to you again, there is not a timetable or date right now that we know and you don’t. He’s continuing to practice with the team. He got back out there after the weekend. He’ll continue to practice with the team this week. There is no timetable."

Here's to believing that Sid will just skate out one night and take the first draw, with no warning. It's much more stealth mode. Also does anyone else detect the signs of annoyance from Bylsma or is it just me? Who could blame him really.

Mr. Superstitious himself had this to say about the rumor swirling about Friday being a possible date (11-11-11), "I’m superstitious, but I wouldn’t let that affect whether I came back that night or not. When I’m ready, I’ll be back as soon as I can – no matter what the date is." He talked a lot about how he wanted to come back already and how any game could possibly be the one. Like I said, stealth mode.

The Penguins walking wounded gained another member as Ben Lovejoy went down with a broken wrist Saturday and is wandering around life in a plaster cast. I wonder if the Penguins have a secret injured reserve minimum that just happens to rival a starting lineup, yet they are number 1 in the league. Are the Penguins the Hogwarts of the NHL? It seems like it's magical there and nothing ever seems to bother them. Only thing they seem to be missing is the spell to fix the injuries..

The Flyers and Bruins had some magic on their sides when they to attempt to one-up each other on Saturday night with their baseball-like scores. The Flyers attacked the Blue Jackets with 9 goals, by 8 different players. Good to know anyone can score when called upon. The Bruins dominated the Leafs while Tyler Seguin scored his first hat trick in a 7-0 shutout. I can't decide which is more impressive? 8 players scoring 9 goals (versatility) or a 19year old dominating his team.

While the Flyers and Bruins tried to be the biggest winner Saturday night, some fans on the Island were moved from their seats due to a burst water pipe. So about the new arena that was voted against this past summer....

And if Disco Dan starts to get frustrated with all the questions about Crosby, he can always try the technique of the KHL coach Andrei Nazarov. Fans started throwing plastic bottles so he threw hockey sticks. Sharp edged hockey sticks. He has been banned 2 games which is just enough time to figure out his next plan of attack. Literally.

And where the hell is the quote machine that is Ilya Bryzgalov? The Flyers media needs to loosen the strings a bit. I need someone to laugh at :)

Halloween Scrooge

So yesterday was Halloween and personally I'm not really into it. Maybe I'm a Halloween scrooge but you can buy candy at the store and not have to go door-to-door to get it off strangers in the freezing cold. I'm also really not into the whole dress up and go to parties as adults. To me it's a kids holiday that's become so overblown (thanks Hallmark). Thank god I don't live in England because they do "fancy dress" parties all the time. But since the rest of the world doesn't share in my Halloween issues, we have been graced with some hockey players donning costumes.

Raffi Torres of the Coyotes dressed at Jay-Z and his wife completed the look as Beyonce with a sparkly dress and baby bump. And since he is white, he blackened his skin to better match the look of Jay-Z. And then someone screamed racism. How exactly I don't get. I thought when you dress like someone or emulate them, it's a tribute to them as you like them in some way. Torres is supposed to be a huge Jay-Z fan, and honestly I'm shocked no one thought of this sooner. Jay-Z and Beyonce are two of the biggest superstars in the industry today. He couldn't exactly have pulled the costume off if he didn't "blackface" himself and why should only a black person be able to be Jay-Z for a costume party. Some are calling this racist, I'm calling it "I have nothing better to do with my time and needed something to complain about." I'm sorry but this is nuts. I wish Jay-Z would give a statement about it, but if he doesn't like it what would he say? And if did like it, someone somewhere would mange to contort it into meaning he doesn't see himself as black or something else equally as wacky. Props to Torres and his wife on a great and well done costume. Of course the Coyotes PR department also don't seem to get the massive controversy and they said so in defense of their player.

In the non-controversy corner of Halloween, we have a bunch of random Penguins being rather low-key in comparison. Geno went as a pimp from the 70's complete with a creepy mustache and purple satin shirt. Sid was a gladiator (fan of the movie or does he view himself like one? better question, where do you keep your wallet?), Lovejoy was a banana (and eating one in the picture he tweeted), and Kennedy and Staal teamed up to be Dumb & Dumber (one of the most over done costumes ever in my opinion). There is also a picture of Letang floating around the web where he is holding a dog dressed in some random costume that looks like half a bad superhero costume. I don't even want to know what he was supposed to be.

Moving on, I've had my fill of strange costumes and would like to talk about something more interesting. Like Mike Rupp of the Rangers hurting his knee and Torts calling up Sean Avery. The fans have been dying for this to happen and at noon today he cleared re-entry waivers, meaning no one but the Rangers will deal with him. Maybe his trip to Hartford has taught him something on how to deal with coach Torts better. Hopefully he keeps his mouth shut long enough for his trip back to the Big Apple. Of course don't doubt he might be on the first train back to the AHL once the Rangers are healthy again. I would love for him to stick around through the new year though. Torts versus Avery versus the Flyers on 24/7...it's been than a scripted comedy on NBC.

The Flyers have had enough of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's wacky comments and changed their media policy a number of times regarding Bryz talking with reporters. As of today it's that he won't talk to them the day before a game or game day. So basically after a game or 2 days before at most. Talk about a muzzle! A Sportsnet writer has pointed out this might not be allowed as some reporters don't travel with the team they cover and therefore would only talk with him limited times during the season. This is exactly what the Flyers want to do, but the Professional Hockey Writers Association is looking into the matter since they are the only team to do something this radical.

In Penguins news, Matt Cooke recorded 4 penalty minutes all month and 4 goals. If he keeps this pace up, he will have a career year, in more ways than one. Congrats to him. Staal has some sort of lower body injury but should be able to play this upcoming Western roadtrip. Crosby on the other hand will not be playing. He admits that he's probably got to get hit a bunch more times in practice but that's it. He says he can't be any more conditioned. People now think November 11 is the date. I wonder how much money is up for grabs for the person who guessed right?

And finally, today is November 1, which means the Penguins held their usual mustache boy shootout. Joe Vitale lost, so here's hoping he was planning on celebrating movember because he will be sporting a mustache for the month!!

It's starting to become clear..

..that some teams will never learn since the Jets (the former Thrashers) and Senators are among the bottom 5 teams. The Blue Jackets currently have the honor of the worst team as they are win less. It's still early and hard to truly judge teams since some teams like the Rangers and Capitals have only played 5 games, while the Penguins will play their 10th tomorrow, but eventually it will become clearer. The Pens have played the most games in the league. Break time? I would say so.

One person who might not enjoy a break would be James Neal. He has been on fire and scored 7 goals in 9 games and is currently tied with Phil Kessel for leading goal scorer right now. Of course it's October and history says he is "Mr. October", but we hope we can be "Mr. Every month I score crazy amounts of goals" so Ray Shero can't deny him those millions come contract talks. It seems an off-season to bond with the guys, move out of a hotel and get some quality time to study their system has done him quite well.

Those who might welcome a break in play would be the $8.7 million dollar men. Malkin has sat out the past few games because of soreness to his surgically fixed knee and Crosby can't get the contact he would like since practices are so limited. Of course when Crosby is cleared, we will see the lines roll out 3 big centers again and Crosby very well could have Mr. October on his wing. Another science experiment from the lab of Dan Bylsma. This already looks better than Staalkin did on paper, let alone the actual ice. Imagine Mr. October can play the entire year this way with Crosby. And everyone stays/gets healthy. And no meltdowns.....

Brooks Orpik and Dustin Jeffery both returned last night in the lineup and suddenly the line up is looking deep but is going to be an eventual logjam. When Kris Letang returns from his suspension, they will have to decide who will be the D scratch as they only dress 6 per game. The bigger question will be roster moves as they have 4 guys on IR right now but a complete 23 man active roster. When Crosby is ready to come back, someone will have to be waived and could potentially be lost in transit on his way to Wilkes Barre due to 24 hours of being exposed to the league to be picked up. That is unless someone makes their way to the IR which is entirely possible since its seems how they like to operate these days. Brian Strait, the call up to replace Letang during his suspension was hit and has a hyper extended elbow, which puts him on the IR. Not even sure the trainers knew how to explain it to Bylsma, since even he seemed a bit confused.

In non-jersey foul but seriously questionable territory, the IHL Fighting Falcons will be hosting Star Wars night wearing these jerseys. It's awesome and terrible all rolled up into one.

Jet's Dustin Byfuglien pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his summer boating incident. He apparently passed the breathalyzer but the policeman wasn't happy with that and wanted a urine sample. Byfuglien refused and that was apparently against the law. Can't wait to see where this soap opera goes. His off ice antics are more exciting than the play of his entire team. Pathetic.

Brad Richards was the star free agent this off season and he's doing exactly what the Rangers wanted: scoring and making opportunities for Marian Gaborik. Since he's doing what has been asked, why are the Rangers still struggling? Seems the rest of the team is missing chemistry now. See saw much? Can it be the black cloud named Sean Avery who won't stop going on about being hated by Coach Torts and how he'd never get called up from the Whale. Imagine the drama we almost got to see on 24/7!! And the Oscar goes to....Sean Avery. He's done a lot this year. The police incident in LA, the talking crap on his now ex coach who controls if he ever sees the Garden again. Busy year for him.

And if anyone had any real question about how a few back to back concussions can affect your life, ask newly retired Kris Chucko, who is only 25 years old. A former first round draft pick for the Flames, he played mainly for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. Unfortunately his last game was a year ago when he suffered his second concussion after having missed a bulk of the previous season because of the first concussion. Problem is he isn't sure if he suffered others and never knew. Glad that he is taking control and realizing living with the pain is not worth it, but is this showing the league and all sports just how serious concussions can be? When a 25 year old decides he needs a career change because of how crappy he was feeling, that's saying something. Hopefully more and more people come forward with their stories and are honest about how bad it is.

Brooks Laich might think all this "awareness crap" is well crap, but since Sidney Crosby has made it trendy to say they are not robots, I have a feeling we will continue to hear more and more from various athletes in sports.

Finally a topic that I've been semi-following is the University of North Dakota who are nicknamed the Fighting Sioux and their battling to keep their name and mascot. Of course this goes back their nickname and logo being linked to Native American's and some are finding it offensive. The school estimates it would cost around $750,000 to retire their nickname and logo. This only includes changes to practice and game day uniforms for all sports, equipment, stationary and the website. The cost could skyrocket to $20million to change the logos and names at the privately owned stadium that they use. O-M-G. That's just insane.

My high school went through a similar ordeal when our logo was deemed to be offensive. They were able to keep the Warrior name (not entirely sure how, it is truly a mystery) but they had to remove the Indian head off of everything. For 98 years my high school was the Warriors with the Indian head, but for the past 9, they have been having an identity crisis. I graduated just when this was happening, so no class after me has ever had anything that said Warrior with our Indian head underneath it. 4 years after I graduated they finally decided on a Knight in our colors (a Knight??), but within a year, the Knight was essentially deemed unworthy. It appears only on the city's website for the school, not even the school's own site (that bad huh?). I think eventually they will drop the Knight completely and just be the Warriors with no mascot. They already seem to have given up on uniforms and just go with the school name on them.

At the end of the day, this was a high school who makes no money off apparel and is only known locally, not nationally, so I can't even imagine rebranding an established and storied university. It's not the just money involved, but it's the future students who wanted to be apart of the Fighting Sioux tradition and the alumni who have invested in the school after graduating because of their memories and nostalgia. Of course since it's a powerhouse in hockey (in particular) all those banners will still hang from the rafters with the Fighting Sioux name and mascot on them as a memory for all to enjoy. I personally don't have any issue with these types of names. Better than everyone being a Charger or Dog or a Duck.

'Im not here to score goals' and the Hammer comes down again...

My my, it's been a busy few days in the hockey world. I've also had a rather uncalled for frustrating day of dealing with customers that had an extra side of stupidity with them, so this should be lots of fun! Lets go to the video tape.....

Seriously though, head over to nhl.com and see the Kris Letang boarding video suspension. Shanahan dropped the hammer on Letang for 2 games. There's tons of chatter as to whether or not he deserves to be suspended but it's done with and not as if we can get the ruling overturned. As of 10am this morning the Penguins knew some sort of disiclpline was coming down because they recalled Brian Strait from WBS who just happens to be a d-man to meet them across the country for tonight's game. No way were they flying him to Minnesota just for the hell of it.

Who knew the first Penguin to feel the wrath of Shanahan would be Tanger? (If you guessed correctly you should be entitled to the $37k he is forfeiting for those 2 games.) Anyways, with Letang now suspended and Crosby, Malkin, Jeffrey, Orpik and Kennedy all tending to various aches and pains, there's somewhere in the ballpark of $25million unable to dress for games. Maybe this means part 2 of the season will be excellent because they are doing the opposite of last season. Of course that means Fleury will be having a mental breakdown in his cage somewhere around June just in time for the finals. Yikes.

When Jaromir Jagr came back to the NHL, he picked his team by choosing the GM which would pledge his bank account enough money and would be willing to play cat and mouse with him, but Jagr didn't come back to score goals apparently. Per Jagr in an interview he is quoted as saying "At my age [39], it doesn’t matter if I score. If the team wins and the lines score, that makes me happy. We got scoring chances. But it comes in cycles." Good to know the Flyers won the bidding war for the non-scoring forward.

The Zamboni driver from the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2004 Cup win is auctioning off his ring on ebay, in pursuit to raise money to drive around the world. Yes drive. About those bodies of water in between countries....

Every sport has their way of celebrating a great play. Football players make up crazy end zone dances, tennis players often fall to their knees, but hockey players love themselves some hugs. All you need is at least one other person, but the more guys that can get in on it the more joyous the occasion can be. Harrison Mooney wrote this awesome piece profiling hugs from this young season.

Down Goes Brown is a hilarious blog and up to their old tricks with this post about MLB vs NHL in honor the World Series that begins tomorrow. Too bad that unless you live in Texas or St.Louis, you probably won't be tuning in to the series.

Finally Rick Rypien was sadly one of the many hockey players to die this past summer and most people didn't know much about him, except he worked his way up and had battled mental illness. His former Canuck teammate Kevin Bieksa opens up about who Rypien really was on and off the ice. Very touching and it's nice to know he wasn't alone.

So the Pens minus $25million dollars worth of players (give or take) square off against the Wild tonight. If they can make it through this game without an injury or suspension, I will call this game a success. Wins and losses, need not apply.

Tis the Season for Hockey

Before each season begins, people often make their picks for who will rule the standings and who will tank based on changes from the off-season and injuries. Someone forgot to mention to everyone on planet earth that moving the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg wouldn't change who they are at the core. They are still looking like the Thrashers of yesterday with a new logo and name slapped on them. At least the moving trucks did in fact lose those ugly ATL jerseys on the long ride up north. Hopefully someone in the front office will wake up and make some type of personnel change by the trade deadline. Of course the people of Winnipeg are so damn excited they have a hockey team of their own again, they might not notice if they finish in the bottom of the standings a la the Thrashers of yesteryear.

Moving on. Goalie issues were a hot topic this off season and the Phoenix Coyotes lost Ilya Bryzgalov (to Philly and it's parks) and in turn named Mike Smith the starting goalie for opening night. No pressure since the teams current owner is the league and want to find a buyer like yesterday. Since there was no pressure, he let 6 goals in. Of course there was 52 shots on him since the entire team in front of him forgot the season began. Can't blame it all on the goalie. They can only go up from here. I think. I hope.

And in other goalie news, Islands long-term investment Rick DiPietro isn't starting the season. When he does start that season, that will be news. If he ever plays half a season, the Islanders might feel semi-good about having signed him till he retires and enough cash to sink the Titanic. In the meantime one of the underpaid and over worked backups will start. I think DiPietro technically could be considered the best paid backup goalie. Ever.

Coming back from season ending knee surgery, the Devils' Zach Parise made his mark known scoring 2 goals and trying to right the ship of the Devils and not begin this season like last.Brad Richards also got his first goal for the NY Rangers, showing everyone exactly why he was the prized free agent this off season.

Jordan Staal is having hydration issues per the Penguins, which means what exactly?! The next day it was reported his foot might be tweaked. Fancy way of hiding something or throwing people off their scent? Maybe, maybe not. The Penguins are like the international men of mystery at times. The newest rumor is Crosby should be cleared this week for contact after meeting with the doctors. After he's cleared for contact, I assume he will presume his mission of destroying NHL records which was abruptly ended thanks to David Steckel knocking him out in the Winter Classic.He's been on the bench for 10 months now, the longest time off the ice since he learned to skate (assuming here but it seems like it would be accurate). I'd guess nothing would make him happier than coming back better than ever.

Finally imagine one day your the Captain of the Buffalo Sabres and a few seasons later your the oldest player on an ECHL team. This is the life of Craig Rivet. After spending the last season in Columbus with the Blue Jackets, he made the choice to play for the Elmira Jackals (ECHL team names are strange to say the least) and they have welcomed him with open arms. At least he made the decision himself, but my god. Going from the top-tier in US hockey to basically playing with 18 year old kids that are trying to make a name for themselves. At least he will be a wealth of knowledge for them, like their own skating encyclopedia.

BTW, it's only Monday and I'm ready for the weekend. Going to be a longgggg week. Yikess

Random stuff

Before I begin, the beach wedding was amazing last weekend. Wish it would happen all the time. My cousin put on quite the amazing party and I got to ride a yellow school bus again. Complete with a bus driver yelling at the Bride to sit down. Doesn't get much better. Tomorrow I am headed down to Virginia to see my mom et al for the next week and to hit up another wedding. So excited to see everyone down there and meet my niece!

Moving on to hockey news now....

Drew Doughty finally signed on the dotted line with the LA Kings. 8 years, $56 million (average about $7million a year) and he doesn't have a no-trade clause. Win-win for all. Drew got his money, the Kings got the length and still have the ability to throw him overboard if they have a change of heart. Not bad, not bad.

The new saying in the NHL world is "you've been Shananbanned" in reference to NHL Safety Czar Brendan Shanahan's penchant for suspending players for hits and illegal plays. Many players are now more aware of the game rules (shouldn't they have been to begin with) and are figuring out the pattern to his suspensions and what will cost you more. In particular, stay away from a players head and don't be a repeat offender, otherwise you will be financing the NHL's player emergency fund with your own bank account. We already need a second hand to count his suspensions and its still only pre-season. Long live Shanahan.

Sidney Crosby is still rocking the white no-contact helmet, but he's traveling with the team and possibly will be headed West with them next week. Always a good sign.

Evgeni Malkin has been on fire this preseason, rocking it like the Geno from the Cup run. Can he hold on for the actual season? Staal has also shown why he's the best 3rd line center in the game. When Crosby is back, the Penguins will be a serious threat if things stay the way they are. No team has the ability to roll out 3 deep centers like the Penguins do.

The Penguins have also cut their opening day training roster from 55 to 32. Just a few more cuts and the team is set. Another issue few teams encounter is having too many good goalies but that's an issue here. Flower is number 1, and Johnson has been a more than solid and capable number 2, but the AHL goalie of the year happens to be a Penguin. Thankfully Theissen signed a one year deal with them. Can he repeat last year's AHL stats and force them to make him Flower's number 2 next year? He's far too good to stay in the AHL forever. I actually had seats right behind the goal in Wilkes last season and he never was rattled, even when everyone on his team fell flat on their face in front of him. (This actually happened too, everyone fell down for the first few minutes like they had never been on skates before).

Brooks Orpik who had to have abdominal surgery over the summer has appeared at practice this week in a different way. He has his own effigy on the ice for his teammates to skate around. Umm ok. Cardboard cutout Brooks also made an appearance at practice with him. Not creepy at all. Have you looked at his eyes? There's a reason why he's called the 'Candy Man' or 'Free Candy'. One set of his eyes is enough, let alone 2. Yikessss.

Season starts so soon, you can almost smell it.

Not Enough Time in the Day...

This week is going by slowly and flying by all at the same time. In my defense, my brain is wandering around on it's own since I am leaving Friday morning for a family wedding at the beach and work is making my head spin non-stop. But enough with the excuses, the puck has FINALLY dropped on the pre-season and there's plenty of news to go around.

The Staal brothers (count 'em, there's 4) are all big, competive guys and apparently last season oldest brother Eric (Hurricanes) knocked down second oldest Marc (Rangers) during a game. All these months later, Marc is now expereincing concussion symptoms after practices. As if we needed to add someone else to the non-stop concussion list. Hopefully they are occuring simply because he hasn't skated this hard in months because this is the last thing the Rangers need to deal with. It's bad enough they are starting the season on the longest road trip ever due to renovations at MSG. Currently they are regulated to the MSG training facility and will venture to Europe for pre-season games and to actually start the season. Once they return state-side, they won't have a home game until October 27. After a month at home, they will throw HBO into the mix for 24/7. If no one has a mental breakdown in Ranger-ville, I'd consider that a successful season. Gearing up for the playoffs potentially might the least stressful aspect of their season. Good god. I'm tired just thinking about their schedule.

Mike Modano announced he is retiring as the most successful US born player. He might have left out the second part, but it's the truth. Check the stats. Everyone above him is shockingly, Canadian. Who would have thunk it?! He is hoping to get a position in the Star front office, once they have new owners.

Speaking of the Stars, I'm going to skip the fact they have declared bankruptcy since it's the first step to their potential new owners taking over in the next few months. Opppps. Moving on....

The Devils have a new coach, Pete DeBoer. They have no captain yet. “It’s down my list of priorities on things we’re trying to get done right now," DeBoer said. "For now we are at camp." That's because first on his priority list is making sure Lou Lamoriello is on his good side, so he doesn't get fired in case the team has an epic meltdown a la last season. The second would be to make sure that Jacques Lemaire is somewhere fabulous to ensure that he won't return for another stint in case of an epic meltdown.

The Winnipeg Jets have officially picked up where they left off. They sold out their arena for their first pre-season game, fans were dancing into the arena (seriously?) and Byfuglien had a fight with a Blue Jacket within the first 37 seconds. The Jets also scored 6 goals (each team played a split squad with NHLers and minor league talent mixed) so it's safe to say Winnipeg is running on pure adrenaline right about now. Hopefully the crash back to earth doesn't hurt too much.

The NHL has approved (conditionally) the green goal verification line and to use a thinner mesh on the top of the net. These are 2 changes we should see in place this season. A third change that was experimented with at the R&D camp this past summer is a shallower net. That change along with the mesh and verification line were used during the Maple Leafs-Senators game on Monday night and got the best type of feedback possible. Essentially none. The verification line never needed to be used (but its under the ice so it's not in the way, it's an aesthetic change) and the thinner mesh made no difference either. The only thing that semi mattered was the shallower net and one player thought something was different but had no clue they were testing it. He stated he had a "bit more" room behind the net to maneuver. The shallower net seems like a shoe-in for next years changes. The NHL also has acknowledged that by December they will unveil their new alignment plans.

Finally the Penguins held their Black and Gold game. Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin told the world they are healthy and ready to go by scoring 2 goals a piece for their teams. Staal played on the black team, while Malkin was on the gold side. The gold side prevailed and in a bit of friendly rivalry, the loser had to untie the winners skates after practice the following day. Hope Malkin's skates smelt good! Crosby has been skating in circles around practice. Literally. In. Circles. He showed he knows his shapes and followed the red circle on ice. He is not allowed to have contact yet, but seems to be on the verge of being in the way of another player based on the pictures the Penguins are posting. Clearly he is more ready than people knew or were letting on. He also gets to wear a nifty white helmet.

In continuing the grand tradition of acting like he barely knows who the hell Crosby is (this has only happened since he has been injured), Bylsma has said he has no clue if he is trying new helmets nor where he fits in the lineup when ready. A monkey could tell you where he fits. First line. Center. Give him 2 guys on skates with a stick and it will all magically work out. Meanwhile on the other side of the locker room, James Neal said it was exciting to be centered by Crosby during a non-contact practice drill. Neal will play on his head if it means to be on a line with Crosby (as would most of the league).

Pens are currently playing the Red Wings in their first pre-season game right now. In case you didn't know, I live in the Bermuda Triangle of sports, so although the game is being aired on NHL Network, I am blacked out since I'm expected to get Root Sports for Pittsburgh even though I live in Eastern PA. I also live in Philly, NJ, NY and Buffalo territory all depending on what map you are looking at. Maybe Bylsma drew up the map when he lived in the area for a bit just to mess with us......Pens are tied with the Wings 1-1 and I need to stop listening to whatever disgrace to my ears Simon Cowell has come up with on NBC.

Peace out....I'll try to be more on top of news next week :)

Hello September!!

So quietly the page has turned on the calendar once again and we find ourselves in September. September I tell you! It's just nuts. In a whopping 17 days my little corner of NEPA will be THE place for Penguins fans. September 19 the big boys from Pitt come to the Baby Pens home turf and they play a game. But it's not AHL versus NHL, its random drawing for the Black and Gold game so essentially Jordan Staal can be denied a goal by Marc-Andre Fleury. Pretty cool if you ask me. They have been alternating the past few years who hosts this kick-off to the preseason which is awesome for our area since it's a huge draw. Of course getting tickets is open first for season ticket holders and from there on out who knows how it really works. I honestly didn't really attempt to do much research on it. Shocking I know, but c'est la vie.

This last week we seem to have picked up the pace in hockey news, but it's still the off season so some ridiculousness must be reported. Enter Dustin Byfuglien and BWI. It's like a DWI but instead of driving, it's boating. Yup he was drunk and boating on Lake Minnetonka. I wish I could make this up. Of course he refused urine and blood tests and was released a few hours later. He also has apparently gained approximately 40 pounds since the Thrashers became the Jets this off season, which is only the size of a kindergartener. No biggie though.

I, being the special person I am, am fixated on 2 details that have sprung endless questions from my little brain, which are the boat and the weight gain. How exactly do you pull a boat over on a Lake? What happens to the boat, since I'm guessing they don't have a boat impound (or do they). It's not like you can just call a relative to go dock the boat, you have to have a boating license for this task. Also this 40 pounds of weight gain in a few months time. How is that possible? As a professional athlete you are paid to work out. I can see 10-15 pounds since they drop the intensity for a period of time to recover, but what was he eating, all of the McDonalds he rolled upon. Was he eating his feelings about having to move to Winnipeg from Atlanta? I'm just baffled. I understand Buff is built more like a typical NFL linebacker than hockey guy but still. I hope he has an amazing trainer to whip him into shape because time is ticking and he's a good player.

Back to serious news, Wade Belak, a former enforcer who had only just retired, is reported to have committed suicide. Today his mother came forward and said that her son struggled with depression and she thought he was getting help. Belak had signed on to work with the Predators, his most recent NHL team, as a broadcaster for this upcoming season and was slated to compete on CBC's Battle of the Blades. Sadly this is the 3rd death of a player who was known better for his stats on hockeyfights.com than goals and points this off season. Many people are trying to tie them all together somehow, but I am hoping that it's all just a bad coincidence.

Derek Boogaard died from a toxic overdose of pills and alcohol, but could he have been somewhat depressed after an injury ended his season early? As an enforcer your role on the team is limited and rather specific. You don't make the lineup each night because you can score a goal or 3 each night, you are in to patrol the ice and ensure your teammates aren't messed up. Rick Rypien, another enforcer, did suffer from depression and had taken time off from a number of seasons to seek help. Sadly those demons got to him this summer just when many thought he was finally in control. The NHL and NHLPA released this joint announcement on the tragedies and their hope to revisit all avenues in place to ensure players have any help needed.

While I'm sure what they have in place is decent, I wonder if many players just don't use it because they think they are just having a bad week and it will pass. These guys are some of the toughest athletes out there and have dedicated their entire lives to play the game, and maybe they feel admitting something is wrong is a sign of failure. The average person off the street has a a hard enough time admitting problems, so multiply that by a hundred and put the pressure they face to be the best and you have a recipe for disaster. Many of these players don't know a life without playing hockey and that could be an issue. Interestingly enough, blogger/writer/former player Justin Bourne wrote this column for Yahoo's Puck Daddy this week and it's rather fitting and worth a read. I wonder if they mandate psych evaluations as they do with physicals because maybe they should. Someone to talk to isn't the worst idea the NHL could enforce.

One more piece of sobering news to pour out of the NHL this week: Marc Savard has been ruled out for this season and training camp hasn't even opened. Those concussions seem to be saying career over to Savard at 34. Another player who was forced out at 34, Eric Lindros, the original concussion poster child. As sad as this is, lets hope the newest poster boy (Crosby) doesn't lose his season as he is a full decade younger than his concussed friends. I wish Savard the best if he decides to call it a career and hope that the rumor his name will be included on the Cup is true. Savard can decide to not retire and collect his salary by having the Bruins' exam him each year through the end of his contract (through 2016-17) and declare him unfit to play. Personally I think he should just retire instead of doing that dance each season but it's all up to him.

The end of summer is upon us as it's Labor Day weekend, which is the unofficially the final weekend of summer. Instead of attending one last cookout this weekend, it seems I will be trying to find my voice and breathe through my nose once again. It hasn't even been 24 hours of my illness and I'm already annoyed by it. Thank god for Netflix. I received Soul Surfer in the mail and am excited to finally see it! Hope everyone has a better and more fun weekend than me :)

Roundup.....

First off, I demand to know where summer has gone. The sun has been hiding for 5 days now and it's been rainy and miserable. Uncalled for since it's still August. Even in PA, summer usually still exists in August. Of course this fall-like weather just ushers in those feelings of football and hockey creeping back into our everyday lives. Now the question is how many days left till the first puck is dropped and I'm so glad you asked. Please click on this handy dandy link to find out. Seriously someone must be losing his or her mind waiting for the season, but this is pure genius. Love it.

The Penguins had to go into damage control somewhere between last night and this afternoon thank to a tweet from Josh Rimer of NHL Radio on XM. Rimer tweeted "Hearing from 3 sources now that Sidney Crosby won't b ready 2 start season. I hope it's not true because the NHL needs its best players!" Of course this set the free world into a frantic frenzy that Crosby was dying again. Seriously people, he most likely suffered 2 concussions in a 5 day period and the symptoms from the first at the Winter Classic never came to a head till the second one really rattled him. Yes, it was scary and still is, especially since he's only 24 and has been out this long, but the Penguins have set the new standard for how a concussion should be dealt with if you ask me.

SuperShero held a media scrum this afternoon to defend against Rimer's tweet. He said the same stuff anyone with half a brain already had figured out. Crosby has been practicing, he's been ramping up his workouts and it's when he tries to be superman that he begins to have issues. Well Shero didn't say that exactly but based off what people have said about his off-season workouts over the years, they aren't for the faint of heart and we all already now what is acceptable for the average hockey player is probably an F in the Crosby school of grading. I have faith he will be okay in the end.

Shero of course pointed out the obvious once again since some people in the world don't quite get it yet. "....That’s the thing for me and for the organization is the bigger picture with Sidney Crosby making sure that he is 100 percent cleared and ready to play when he does come back. He’s not going to be pushed to come back to practice or play. I want to make sure a year from now, three years from now, five years from now that he’s still the best player in the league and take the appropriate steps and back him, and go from there." Couldn't have said it better.

Another gem from this media scrum was when someone asked if he thought it would be better for Crosby to be in Pitt and not in Nova Scoita. "No, I don't think so. I think he’s a creature of habit and this is what he does in the summertime." Understatement of the year that Mr. Crosby is a creature of habit. This is the guy who walks around the arena to avoid the visiting locker room door and has to have a PB&J like a 5 year old before every game, just to name a few of the quirks he exposed us to on 24/7. I'm sure him being in Pitt for the off-season would be similar to a lost puppy dog.

One positive piece of news out of the Crosby world was he celebrated his 24th birthday last week. Yes, 24. He's already won everything in hockey so I guess he'll be looking for duplicates and triplicates now. A cup ring for each finger? No clue, but this is why he won't be rushed back. He's a whopping 24. The real question is when do people stop referring to him as Sid the Kid? I'm thinking 25 might be the cutoff but what do I really know.

Moving away from Crosby and onto the Great One's son. Trevor Gretzky has signed with the Chicago Cubs and will be playing in their farm system for the time being. Probably the smartest thing Trevor ever did was pick up a baseball bat. It's one thing to follow your father into a sport. It's another when he's considered the Greatest one to play the game. He's much better off making and breaking records in a sport where he won't be compared to or put down by critics if he doesn't match his father's records. Wayne was a generational talent and by not having his son follow him into the NHL I think will let Trevor truly be a great baseball player in his own right.

Captain oh Captain....
Many teams wait till training camp to announce new Captains and Assistant captains and many let it be a team vote/decision which really justifies the title of Captain to me. Of course many Captains are obvious choices so here are 3 teams with some easy decisions that should have little drama surrounding them.

The Flyers have apparently been Chris Pronger's team but the wrong guy was wearing the C. Since shipping Mike Richards to the Blue Jackets, the C is Pronger's for the taking. Unless the equipment guy sews the C on 68 by mistake, this a shoo-in.

Another no brainer is the Rangers putting a C on Ryan Cahallan's chest. Since he got a 3 year deal done to avoid arbitration, I don't see why there would be any issue. I also would put money on the home grown talent of Marc Staal and the $60 million dollar man that is Brad Richards to be wearing the A's this season.

Parise wearing the C for the Devils should be a no brainer. Since he only has a one year deal, I wouldn't be shocked for the Devils to go with 3 A's this season or a rotating C (which to me is the most ridiculous thing to ever happen in the world of Captaincy). I vote for 3 A's and if they get a long-term deal done with him then give him the C he has earned. No point in making him a Captain if he could leave after a season.

NFL Corner
The NFL pre-season officially began this past weekend!! Woohoo. About time. I think the most interesting thing I've learned is that even the most die-hard of Eagle fans are scared of their "Dream Team" busting up at some point. I kind of love it. Especially since they acquired Steve Smith of the NY Giants with his surgically repaired knee, now it seems the Eagles have backtracked a little bit on how ready he really is. Didn't the Giants say this all along?

I also would love to know what Kevin Boss was smoking when he signed a contract to play for Al Davis. Forget the fact that it's the Raiders, the man agreed to play for one of the craziest owner in all of sports. I understand few players will stay for less money but I'd stay for less if it meant I'd never have to decipher the cryptic sayings of my owner. Good luck because I seriously think you might need it.

I've become something of a twitter head this summer. I write something sporadically but the best part of twitter is stalking people. Especially famous people and athletes. I've been following some semi-boring, semi-interesting and highly amusing athletes this summer and will share with you tomorrow my thoughts on social media and it's place in sports. Plus my take on who has the most fun and uses it best. Hint: BizNasty takes the cake.

More Free Agency Talk

Here is a list of all the signings that have happened since the beginning of free agency. Obviously there's tons of in-depth articles on NHL.com that are worth the read to get more details on the situations. Lots of moves have happened and many rosters are starting to truly take form. For example, Terry Pegula opened his wallet for the Buffalo Sabres and suddenly they seem like a team to watch out for. Dale Tallon had no choice but to start spending some dollars because his Florida Panthers were under the cap floor, and he's managed to add some pieces that could translate to some success for him. I hope. Lots of these guys signed for unreal numbers but that's what happens when the UFA class is weak. Less supply, same demand means someone is going to get a nice payday. Hey there Max Talbot, you got yourself a sweet payday. Its overpayment for sure but can't blame the man for cashing in. He's 27, this is probably his last chance a decent contract. Moving on....

The Capitals locked up Brooks Laich for 6 years and a cool $27 million for his services. He's a solid player and as we saw on 24/7 he is a true leader on that team. Even in an overpayment market for UFA's, he was going to get a solid deal for his leadership qualities. It was really a question of if he wanted to stay with the Capitals or leave.

The Caps traded goalie Semyon Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche, where he is expected to be their number one guy. Colorado added Jean-Sebastien Giguere who is a former Conn Symthe winner to back up and mentor the young gun. This is a great move for them and if Varlamov can stay healthy, he should be able to have a decent career in the NHL. It seems that Washington is going to roll with the tandum of Michael Neuvirth as the starter and Braden Holtbly as the back up. For now. Anything goes in the D.C. so nothing can really be a shocker at this point. The fact that they acknowledged a rotation of 3 goalies won't win a Cup was the first step in acceptance. (Edit- The Capitals have signed Tomas Vokoun to a one year deal after I wrote this originally. I would guess that Neuvirth is the starter, Vokoun the back up and Holtby gets the start in Hershey. At least that's how I see it.)

The crown Prince of free agency 2011 was Brad Richards and he has taken his talents to Broadway. Not totally shocked to be honest. It's rumored he left some money on the table to play for John Tortorella again, but after the Rangers bought out former Captain Chris Drury's contract, this seemed like a move they would make. If they hadn't bought out Drury, I'm not sure this would have happened. For 9 years and $60 million, Richards should be set for quite some time. Good for the Rangers. Hopefully this one contract that won't bite them in the ass because they have a recent trend of some serious screw-ups in that department.

The Flyers continued to dismantle their team by sending Kris Versteeg to the Panthers for draft picks. The Panthers also picked up a former Predator, Flyer, Coyote, and Bluejacket in Scottie Upshall. He's 28 and hasn't stuck with one team for a decent amount of time which is kind of baffling. He's a good player with lots of upsides to him so hopefully the Panthers are the answer for him.

Raffi Torres came within a game of raising the Stanley Cup to heading to the desert dogs of Phoenix for a 2 year deal. Talk about a change in every possibly way. He went from the Stanley Cup to a team that could be moved to another city after this season. Guess the unknown is better in his world? At least he'll have nice weather for at least one season.

Steven Stamkos still hasn't gotten a deal done. I wonder what is it that's stopping this from getting done already. Money, years, combination of both? He's 21 and already considered a top 5 player in this league so get him signed already Tampa Bay.

Speaking of years and terms for contracts, few players are truly ever worthy of a long-term, high priced contract. The names of players you pay that type of cash to are the big boys. The ones that are expected to deliver and then go and above and beyond their expectations. Few players are ever really worth banking your entire future on and when you have them, you bow down and do it. Since the fallout of Jagr and Pittsburgh, and Jagr saying other teams had more on the table (really, who the KHL?), many people have realized Jagr's ego is still in tact and Philly fans seem to be having a hard deciding if this was a good or bad move. They seem to be expecting him to shoulder a serious work-load, but today Jagr said he has no expectations for what he can really bring. There's some confidence if I ever heard it. More and more I'm glad he isn't back in Pittsburgh.

A reporter from Pittsburgh actually pointed out some interesting money facts on twitter that I have to pass along on here about Crosby versus Jagr. The league max for a players' yearly salary is $10 million. Crosby in 2007 signed his first post entry-level contract (where he made less than a million a year) to a deal through the 2012-2013 season that pays him $8.7 million annually (not obsessed with the number 87 whatsoever). He left $1.3 million on the table to continue playing for the Penguins and to ensure that there was some room to surround him with talented players to win a Cup. The money he left on the table annually is the difference that Jagr took to sign with the Flyers. He claims there were other teams with more money offered but I doubt any where in the NHL. It's interesting to also note that the $1.3 million is about 1% of all the money Jagr has already made playing hockey in the NHL alone. He says it wasn't money but the numbers prove that money actually doesn't matter to Crosby, who wanted to be sure he had teammates to win with. I think for his next contract we can probably expect him to leave some money on the table again to stay with the Penguins. Funny how actions really do speak louder than words.

I need more time in a day....

I haven't completely forgotten about the blog, but I've had a busy past week. This week is looking much better so check back soon! As the hockey season is winding down to 2 teams, I will start this off by looking back at some parts of this past season. From 24/7 to a horrible TV deal (in my opinion) to concussion gate and relocation possibilities there's lots to reflect on. We could even make up our own awards show since I for one can't go to Vegas for the real one. Plus we could have more fun categories like Best Goalie Fight (step up Brent Johnson), Best Use of F-Bombs (Bruce Boudreau, it's all you all the f'ing time) and Best Use of an AHL team when your starting lineup is partying on the IR together (it's all you Penguins).

Speaking of relocation if this Thrasher to Winnipeg move happens, do you really think people, outside of the players making at least a six-figure paycheck really want to move there? We already heard from Ilya Bryzgalov and his love for parks and sunshine. I guess those rumors of Russia having brutal winters were all a lie?! If you paid me that much money, I'd move to Winnipeg. Think that the possibly to be reformed Jets or whatever they shall be named need someone to work for them in PR/Writing/Ops/Jack-of-All-Trades type person? Hiiiiii call me!

Next post will be some fun topic about the season that was. I really like the idea of venting about Versus and NBC's enormous ego to be honest, but with Winnipeg looming who knows.

Side note- I want to move to Arizona. They were selling season tickets for $10 a seat and you got to go in and look at them. Umm what? I know it's partially because the league owns the team this type of wackiness can happen, but a Baby Pens ticket can run you almost double for a game and they are AHL. That's pretty awesome and I hope the residents in the area of Glendale actually take advantage of it to show they want and truly support the team. Next step is getting them an owner.