Sidney Crosby's Legendary Return

[Event Summary]

[Empty Netters] [Puck Daddy]

Sid the Kid is back, and he delivered.

We had the game on at my house for a while--and by the time I had turned it on he had already netted a goal to open up the scoring. He would add another two assists and a second goal. He bested the great Mario Lemieux's return.

He proved that he's absolutely a living legend, beyond anyone that we've ever seen before. It's so good for the game of hockey to have this kid back and playing again. Still just 24 years old, Crosby has a real chance to continue building on his legend now.

The Return of Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby makes his emotional return to the sport tonight--about 11 months since he last stepped foot on the ice.

It's good news for the Penguins, and it's good news for the sport. When I started this blog, Crosby was my favorite NHL player. He's an icon. I'll be tuning into Versus tonight to see him hopefully net his first points of the season.

People have to remember that at one point there were rumors that Crosby might never play again. My personal hope is that Crosby never misses another game. I love watching him play and I think that he can still go down as one of the all time greats in the sport.

I'll have a recap tonight. Good for Sidney Crosby.

Oilers Opening Night

[Oilers 2, Penguins 1 (OT)]
[Lowetide] [Oilers Nation] [Empty Netters]

That was an epic opener. 

There were definite lulls in the play last night, but to go with it there was a certain degree of magic. The number one overall draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tying the game 1-1 at 15:05 of the third period with his first NHL goal--spanking in a backhand assisted by Taylor Hall and Tom Gilbert.

It was one of those magical, defining moments that you only know you're witnessing right when you see it.

The Oil battled hard, killing off each and every powerplay opportunity that the Penguins mounted. A huge part of that was Devan Dubnyk. He was absolutely lights out, matching and then outplaying Brent Johnson all the way into a shootout that would see the Oilers victorious after makes from Jordan Eberle and Ales Hemsky.

Something felt different about last night's game. This Oiler team is up and coming, and they can play with anyone on any given night. Tom Renney is now 8-0 in season openers. That is absolutely amazing.

No one out there is predicting them to do this thing this year and make a playoff run. Except this blogger. This team will be in it until the end. No one planned on Dubnyk arriving as a big-time goalie and no one outside of Edmonton and the people who watch the young signature talent on this team will know of the run they're about to make until it happens. But when they are put on notice after a hot start, the Oilers will have to adjust.

I think that this was a storybook start to what is going to be a special season.

And my God is Hockey season magical. Everything about it.

Pens lose 3-2 Opening night to Flyers

[Event Summary]

*Definitely check out Empty Netters for a full recap of Opening Night.



I watched a lot of this game on my computer hoping to see a Penguins victory; but the Penguins begin the season in an 0-1 hole with a nip and tuck loss to the rival Flyers.

-Don't forget that last night was Hockey Night in Canada's opener too.

Missing Sid the Kid

Sidney Crosby is out for the forseeable future due to injury, but ESPN.com is doing a nice write up on Crosby while he's out. Everything you'd want to know about Crosby's career on and off the ice is in this story.

Pens-Lighting setting up weekend

Tonight the Penguins play the Lightning of Tampa Bay trying to get their 8th straight victory. Head over to the Pensblog and leave a comment on the official game post over there. It's Sid and Malkin vs. Vinny Lecavlier and St. Louis.

There's a 7 game winning streak on the line, I'm pretty nervous about it to be honest; but I think that they'll be alright tonight.

Pens win again over Panthers, 3-0

Crosby had a goal in the 3rd period. He added an assist to Evegny Malkin. Malkin assisted Crosby. Ty Conklin had a shut out. Is there a goalie playing better in the entire NHL? What a pleasant surprise he's been.

Yes it's just one big happy family as the Penguins continue to charge towards 1st place in their respective division.


[BOX SCORE]

Crosby delivers in true 'classic'

Assist for the first score. Shootout goal to win it. I'd say he showcased himself pretty nicely to America today.

[Box Score]

And one last video:

It's Sauerkraut Time.

Time for one of my favorite New Years Day traditions: sauerkraut and pork. It's good luck.

Have some, you filthy son-of-a-bitch!

Meanwhile in the Winter Classic, we're locked up at 1, as the Sabres added a second period goal after a flurry of shots to begin the 2nd period. Buffalo overall has turned up the pressure in this game and is creating more chances for themselves. The Penguins just aren't getting anything going.



*Also, check out my NFL Playoff Primer for the New York Giants over at The Nosebleeds NFL Blog.

1st intermission: Pens 1, Sabres 0

21 seconds in, Crosby fed Armstrong for the game's only score. The snow has stopped here at the first intermission report. Crosby made an amazing move balancing and bouncing the puck on his stick to get through defenders. This move caught the eye of Bob Costas and the other commentator, who said that mere mortals couldn't make this move; only guys who are not mere mortals like Sidney Crosby.

Ty Conklin had a huge save in the first period that got some glove and some post. Overall it's been a slow game because of the conditions of the ice. The ice crew was out working on the ice during stops in play, spraying CO2 on the ice to try and get the ice to remain solid.

Winter Classic is underway

CROSBY TO ARMSTRONG! 1-0 PENS

The snow is falling. This is what legends are made of in the NHL. The sights, the sounds, the atmosphere. New Years Day Hockey

Barry Melrose on the winter classic

The 2008 Winter Classic

Tomorrow's game is the Winter Classic; a nationally televised NHL game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game is played outdoors unlike traditional NHL contests like the game was originally played. Due to the wind that is caused by playing outdoors, play will be stopped in the 3rd period to allow both teams the wind at their backs.

Be sure to tune into the winter classic to see two of the NHL's most exciting teams. The Penguins showcase the young stars of the league while Buffalo has a very successful veteran team together.

Check out the Pensblog for all kinds of coverage on this game.


Image courtesy of Empty Netters

Help on the way for Crosby & Co.

Ever heard of Angelo Esposito? You will soon enough. He's a poor man's Sid Crosby, a 'centre' who is 18 that the Pens selected 20th overall in the NHL Entry Draft this year.

Read about him and the other Pens prospects in the PPG.

Spezza's Big Night Lifts Sens over Pens

Yeah, so Ottawa kind of ruled shit tonight. Jason Spezza scored 2 goals and tallied 2 assists, while Dany Heatley scored 2 of his own (see picture), as the Senators dumped the Penguins 4-1.

The win was the fourth straight for the streaking Senators. The rough night added up after 3 periods for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby shot again and again (9 SOG) but failed to score, while Dany Sabourin allowed 4 goals in his 21st career start. Crosby also talled a -2 for the night and spent 2 minutes in the penalty box.

Sabourin tallied 21 saves; but he'll need to step it up in the months to come as he now becomes Pittsburgh's most important player in the absence of cornerstone goaltender Marc Andre Fleury.

Some Pens fans like over at the Sweater Ted believe that this is going to be a long and brutal couple of months. I think the Penguins can actually become a more complete team without their former #1 overall pick goalie. I think they must play better 2 way hockey and avoid costly mistakes that young teams do such as looking ahead beyond the next game. For these young Penguins, the game they are playing that night is a one game season, and they need to scratch and claw for every second opportunity, as well as every zero they can hang each period.

[Box Score]

Penguins dominated in Philly, 8-2

Six points? Six f--kin' points?

Joffrey Lupul's two quick goals got him on a fast track for the Philadelphia Flyers' first hat trick at home in two years. R.J. Umberger made the fans' wait much shorter for another one.
Lupul notched a hat trick and had six points and Umberger added three goals and five points to snap Philadelphia's five-game winless skid at home and lift the Flyers to an 8-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

You know, after that dominating of the Canadian coastline put on by Crosby & company, I knew it had to end sometime. I knew this couldn't continue forever. The Pens were destined for this type of letdown to their rivals and hopefully it grounds them and realizes that they can't continue on a meteoric rise through the rest of the league--just yet.

Of course, Crosby notched two more assists on feeds to Ryan Whitney and Petr Sykora.

More then anything, very bad news for the Pens today in the way of their goaltender, Marc Andre Fleury. Fleury has a sprained ankle and will be out for 6-8 weeks. In hockey, that's a huge amount of time to miss. Hell it's a big amount of time to miss in any sport. When I heard that, I said to myself 'thats a serious sprained ankle. that is the cadillac of sprained ankles'. Two things to note, this means Dany Sauborin really has to step it up for this team, and I don't know if this team will be able to make a run to the Stanley Cup Finals or even Semifinals as I thought they would.

Ben Eager is a coward; Pens lose. [The Pensblog]

[Box Score]

Crosby's 2 Goals lift Pens over Stars

14 Goals now for young Sid

Three wins in a row now for the Penguins, after their 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars tonight in Pittsburgh. Crosby did his thing. Two more goals for the kid, and it's getting pretty obvious to me that he's decided he wants to be known as a scorer this season, not just a guy who sets up the scoring. In his first two seasons, he failed to reach 40 goals, finishing in the 30's. I think it's safe to say that if he wants to do it; he'll get to 50 this season. 50 goals is the benchmark of a legit scoring threat, wouldn't you say?

What is amazing about this Crosby, is that he seemingly does his nightly show with such ease at such a young age. He is the most dominating young player in any sport, in the history of sports. I know that people will eventually want me to shut up about Crosby, but it isn't going to happen unless he gets hurt or stops doing it. I'm sorry. It's just the way it goes. More hockey talk to come. I'm too fuggin' tired to write anything else tonight.

[Box Score]

Lights Out Dick. Pens Win. [The Pensblog]

Sidney Crosby is on a pace to score 48 goals this season. [The Sweater Ted]

Pens back in action tomorrow night

I did something very, very shitty today. It ruined my day. I was playing NHL 2008 on my Xbox 360 with my friend Tyler. I saved our stupid ass shitty franchise over my prized Penguins franchise. I was in the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Boston Bruins, up 3 games to 0, at home; and ready to move on to the conference finals as the #6 seed. Sid the Kid was on a roll. 53 goals in the season of which I played 95% of the games, no simulation. I am a loser. Not because I really took the time out of my life to play these games; but because I erased my season and with it goes my manhood, my will to live.

So tomorrow night; we start over.

The Penguins play host to the Dallas Stars. They'll try for their 3rd straight win. This coming after a full week off. I have to say, this is what I'm NOT a big fan of if anything in NHL hockey. Too much time off between games. Pens were on a roll. In my mind, don't they wanna get out there and just keep playing as much as possible? How could any team get in a rhythm with this kind of gappage between contests? I am falling in love with the NHL and Hockey in general, but I wish there were less days off. I've waited all week to listen to the Pens on the radio tomorrow night.

I'll also start over, a new franchise on NHL 2008. I'll pack a lip of Skoal while doing so, and I'll climb that mountain back towards the Stanley Cup (and losing another few weeks of my life).

**********

The NHL did get something right today in the model of Major League Baseball, College Football/Basketball, and the NFL. The NHL decided to make a change for 2008 scheduling, so that every team will get to see new opponents and foes.

I find this to be very good news, as I was extremely pissed that my Pens didn't come to Columbus this year, so I couldn't get a glimpse of Crosby, Malkin, Ga. Roberts, Laraque, Staal, etc. in person.

I'll be posting a lot this weekend. Don't you fuckin' move.

Pens thrash Atlanta 5-0

Dominating win for the Penguins tonight at Mellon Arena. In beating Atlanta 5-0, they won their second straight game and now sit at 10-11-2, just one game under .500 for the season. The game was the Penguins 13th home game compared to just 10 away contests.

Sidney Crosby had a goal (12) and an assist. Jordan Staal added his second goal of the season.

Marc-Andre Fleury pitched the shutout with 28 saves.

Coach Michel Therrien typically has stuck with a winning goalie to start the following game this season, so it was a bit of a surprise Fleury started Saturday. Fleury -- still the youngest regular starting goalie in the NHL -- allowed two goals on four shots Thursday before being pulled in favor of backup Dany Sabourin (who I traded away in NHL 08 because he was bitching too much).

[Box Score]

My saturday night; WVU wins; listening to the pens; playing NHL 08

The West Virgnia Mountaineers came out and played a huge game that will make many of my relatives happy today. They beat Connecticut 66-21. I was watching it in it's entirety until ABC Sports decided things were getting out of hand and they switched it over to Georgia and Georgia Tech. I'm happy for WVU and while I can feel it spelling the end of my Buckeye's Nat'l title hopes, I wouldn't mind seeing WVU in the title game, as I predicted at season's beginning for them to win it all.

I'm spending this saturday night listening on NHL.com radio to the Penguins who play host to those nasty Thrashers from Atlanta. Nothing good ever came out of Atlanta; I swear. There's a shitload of crime and the people drive like assholes. Hopefully the Penguins get the 'W' and Sid the Kid's point streak continues. That's what I'm here for. That's worth the price of admission for me.

I'll be eating dinner and playing some NHL 08 tonight on the Xbox, where I've figured out how to fuck people up online.

Full wrap to come after the Pens game.