TK on Malkin’s Wing for Day 1 of Practice

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Tags: Aaron Boogard, Alex Goligoski, Alex Grant, Ben Lovejoy, Bill Guerin, Brad Thiessen, Brent Johnson, Brian Strait, Brooks Orpik, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Chris Connor, Chris Kunitz, Chris Lee, Craig Adams, Deryk Engelland, Dustin Jeffrey, Eric Godard, Eric Tangradi, Evgeni Malkin, Jamie Hunt, Jay McKee, Joe Vitale, Joey Haddad, John Curry, Jonathan D'Aversa, Jordan Parise, Jordan Staal, Keven Veilleux, Kris Letang, Lane Caffaro, Luca Caputi, Marc-Andre Fleury, Mark Eaton, Mark Letestu, Matt Cooke, Mike Rupp, Nathan Guenin, Nathan Moon, Nick Johnson, Nick Petersen, Pascal Dupuis, Paul Bissonnette, Pittsburgh Penguins, Robert Bortuzzo, Ruslan Fedotenko, Ryan Bayda, Sergei Gonchar, Sidney Crosby, Simon Despres, Tim Wallace, Training Camp, Tyler Kennedy, Wade Brookbank, Wyatt Smith, Zach Sill

Penguins’ Mid-Summer Update

July 19, 2009 by Paul
Filed under Announcements, Features, News

It is another short off-season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, although this summer is much better than last for the players and their fans. A year ago, the team was licking the wounds of a Stanley Cup championship lost and the loss of a not so insignificant portion of their roster to other teams at season’s end. This summer, the players are enjoying the fruits of their labor as the Stanley Cup Champions and celebrating their day with Lord Stanley’s Cup, reflecting upon their accomplishments with their families, friends and home town fans. What a difference a year makes! It will only be a brief pause for celebration, however, as the next season will soon be upon us and the Penguins will have to return to the business of competing for the prize once again.

It has been an eventful summer so far, as Ray Shero has masterfully navigated the challenges of the NHL salary cap with a handful of players who have sacrified pay for the chance to stay with a championship team. First, Shero retained the services of veteran stalwart Bill Guerin for another year at less than half of his 2008/09 $4.5M salary. Guerin agreed to a $2M contract in lieu of testing the free agency market or considering retirement. It turns out that playing on a line with Sidney Crosby, voted the NHL’s best player for the 3rd year in a row by ESPN fans, is worth the cut in pay. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that was one of the big reasons I wanted to stay,” Guerin said of No. 87. “It’s so much fun to play with him.” At the same time, Shero pulled the trigger on a 2-year deal with Craig Adams, signing him at $550K per year (slightly below his $600K salary last season). Shortly after signing Guerin and Adams, Shero again pulled off the seemingly improbable by signing Ruslan Fedotenko to a 1-year contract worth $1.8M, a $400K pay cut over last season. “I think it says a lot about Bill Guerin, Craig Adams, and Ruslan Fedotenko to want to come back here and be part of this group,” general manager Ray Shero said. And as a fan of the game, I have to agree. It says something very special about this team, and even more so about the championship spirit of these players. These are the kinds of players you want on your team.

In the loss column, the Penguins will play next season without the services of Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill and Mathieu Garon. Scuderi signed a three-year deal worth $13.6 million with the Los Angeles Kings, a price tag that the Penguins couldn’t match under the realities of the current salary cap. Hal Gill signed a 2-year contract worth $4.5M with the Montreal Canadiens. Finally, Mathieu Garon signed a two-year contract to back up Columbus goalie Steve Mason for more money. The Penguins responded to the losses on the blueline by signing free agent Jay McKee to a 1-year, $800K contract. The Penguins snatched McKee up at a significant bargain after he was bought out of the final year of his $4.5M annual contract with the St Louis Blues. Earning $2.67M next season from his buyout, McKee could justify the modest salary from the Penguins for a chance to regain his prestige and worth on a championship team. It was a win-win signing for the Penguins, who see a lot of upside potential in McKee, especially at such a bargain price. Known for his shot-blocking ability, McKee fell out of favor with the Blues who were in need of a quicker puck-moving defensemen. A first round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in 1995, McKee anchored the team’s defense in their 1999 run to the Stanley Cup finals. The Penguins will likely rely on the services of Alex Goligoski and John Curry to pick up the slack left by the Gill and Garon deprtures.

The Penguins have also picked up rugged forward Mike Rupp from the New Jersey Devils for a 2-year stint. At 6′ 5″ and 230 pounds, Rupp adds some more grit to a team that already included the services of Eric Godard. While we don’t expect Godard to be moved, Rupp could unseat him as the team’s most feared enforcer. Rupp will earn $800K this coming season and $850K in the following year. The Penguins also signed Dallas Stars right winger Chris Connor to a 1-year deal to add depth to the organization.

The Penguins will open the 2009/10 season on Friday, October 2, against the New York Rangers. It will be the final NHL season opener for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Mellon Arena’s 48-year history as they will play the following season in their new arena. The third Stanley Cup champions banner will be raised to ceiling of the Mellon Arena rafters during the season opener, in what is likely to be a night of mixed emotions in the old igloo.

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Bill Guerin, Chris Connor, Craig Adams, Evgeni Malkin, Hal Gill, Jay McKee, John Curry, Mathieu Garon, Mike Rupp, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ray Shero, Rob Scuderi, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sidney Crosby, Stanley Cup

Dupuis and Sykie Both Get Tricky as Pens Blowout Isles 9-2

December 12, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Features, Highlights, News

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The Pittsburgh Penguins exploded for 9 goals on Thursday night as they buried the troubled New York Islanders 9-2 at Mellon Arena. Petr Sykora netted his first career hat trick after going 44 multi-goal games without one, the longest such streak in NHL history. Pascal Dupuis also cashed in on his first career hat trick, uncorking his dry spell to double his season total in just one game. Philippe Boucher, playing in his first game after missing 6 to injury, also scored for the Penguins as did Evgeni Malkin and Miroslav Satan. In all, 9-Penguins players had a multi-point night and the team collectively had a +25 rating. John Curry had another good night in net as he stopped 24 of 26 for a 0.923 save percentage.

In the 1st period, the Penguins jumped to a decisive lead as they outshot the Islanders 19-5 and outscored them 4-1 on the board. Pascal Dupuis kicked it off with his 4th goal of the season after taking a cross-ice pass from Miroslav Satan and getting off a hard blast from the top of the circle that trickled through Islanders’ netminder Joey MacDonald. Sidney Crosby followed the puck into the net for good measure. Miroslav Satan and Rob Scuderi picked up the assists on the goal at 6:25. The Islanders then got into severe penalty trouble as they took 4 sequential penalties, 3 coming in a span of less than 2-minutes to set up some 5-on-3 time for the Penguins. Playing with a 2-man advantage at 13:49, Miroslav Satan collected a cross-crease pass from Sidney Crosby and quickly moved it to his forehand to wrist it into the net to make it 2-0. Matt Cooke joined Crosby on the assist. Then at 16:54, Matt Cooke went off for a tripping call and the Islanders converted on a hard slap shot by Mark Streit through traffic. Doug Weight and Trent Hunter collected the assists on the powerplay goal. The Penguins bounced back just 11-seconds later as Petr Sykora collected a cross ice pass from Evgeni Malkin and blasted a slapper past MacDonald to make it 3-1. Ruslan Fedotenko combined with Malkin on the assists. Then at 18:19, Philippe Boucher scored his first goal as a Pittsburgh Penguin as he launched a slapshot through traffic from near the blueline that deflected off from an Islanders defender. Sidney Crosby and Miroslav Satan picked up assists on the Boucher goal. The Penguins outshot the Islanders 19-5 in the period, went 1-for-4 on the powerplay and 0-for-1 on the kill.

In the 2nd period, the Islanders started with Yann Danis in goal to replace Joey MacDonald, but he too would would soon fall prey to the hungry Penguins. At 2:12, Evgeni Malkin fed Alex Goligoski who fired a hard wrister and then Evgeni collected the juicy rebound and beat Danis from the side of the net to make it 5-1. Petr Sykora joined Goligoski on the assist as Malkin collected his 12th goal of the season. The Penguins kept rolling after Bill Guerin took a slashing penalty at 7:07, as Petr Sykora took a feed from Alex Goligoski and wristed a shot past Danis from between the circles to make it 6-1. Max Talbot collected the other assist on Sykora’s powerplay goal. Then, a few minutes later it appeared that Petr Sykora had finally scored the elusive first hat trick after 44 multi-point games as the puck was clearly poked into the net before the whistle sounded. However, the referee waved it off saying he had lost sight of it and was preparing to blow the whistle before the puck went in. The video replay showed that had it counted, it was probably scored by Ruslan Fedotenko. After receiving some condolences from his teammates, Sykora finally picked up his first career hat trick on the powerplay at 15:42 as he wristed the puck into the net from between the circles again on a laser pass from Sidney Crosby to make it 7-1. Jordan Staal joined Sidney Crosby on the assist. At 19:29, an ever-hungry Pascal Dupuis picked up his 2nd goal of the night as he came streaking into the zone late and took a beautiful wrap pass from Jordan Staal and drove it into the net. Rob Scuderi picked up the other assist as the Penguins finished the 2nd period leading 8-1. The Penguins outshot the Islanders 14-10 in the 2nd and were 2-for-4 on the powerplay and 1-for-1 on the kill.

In the 3rd period, the Penguins had to be careful as the Islanders started to get a bit chippy with the game fully out of reach. At 11:33, Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko got into a scuffle with Andy Hilbert and they all sat 2-minutes for roughing with the Islanders getting the benefit of a powerplay. At 12:55, however, Doug Weight got called for hooking to even the advantage for some 4-on-4 play. The Islanders finally found some offense with the open ice at 13:06 as Andy Sutton found a way to beat John Curry to make it 8-2. But it was far too little, and far too late for the Islanders. At 16:48, Pascal Dupuis took a beautiful feed from Matt Cooke and drove home his 3rd goal of the night to join Petr Sykora for his first career hat trick. Brooks Orpik joined Matt Cooke on the assist, and the Penguins won the game 9-2 amid the crowd chanting “We Want 10, We Want 10!”. It was an electric night at the Mellon Arena! The Islanders ended up outshooting the Penguins in the final frame 11-5,

VIDEO: Game Highlights
VIDEO: Coach Therrien Post-Game Press Conference
VIDEO: Petr Sykora Post-Game
VIDEO: Sidney Crosby Post-Game
VIDEO: Pascal Dupuis Post-Game
VIDEO: John Curry Post-Game
AUDIO: Mike Lange Highlights
PHOTOS: In-Game Photos
Game Rosters
Game Summary
Boxscore
Shots Summary
Faceoff Summary
Penguins Ice-Time Report

Petr Sykora picked up 4-points (3G, 1A), while Pascal Dupuis (3G), Miroslav Satan (1G, 2A) and Sidney Crosby (3A) all had a 3-point night. Evgeni Malkin (1G, 1A), Matt Cooke (2), Alex Goligoski (2A), Jordan Staal (2A) and Rob Scuderi (2A) all had 2-points. Philippe Boucher (1G), Max Talbot (1A), Brooks Orpik (1A) and Ruslan Fedotenko (1A) each collected a point and rounded out the 13-Penguins players to find their way on to the scoresheet. Pascal Dupuis led the game with 6-shots on net, while Petr Sykora, Kris Letang, Miroslav Satan and Sidney Crosby each had 5. Evgeni Malkin fired 4 on net. Tim Wallace and Mark Eaton each connected for 3-hits. Kris Letand led all Penguins with 23:53 in ice time, while Sidney Crosby led all forwards with 21:33.

The Penguins head to Philadelphia on Saturday for a 1PM matinee game. The Flyers posted a 6-5 come from behind victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night after falling behind 5-1.

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Brooks Orpik, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Hat Trick, Highlights, John Curry, Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Miroslav Satan, New York Islanders, Pascal Dupuis, Petr Sykora, Philippe Boucher, Pictures, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rob Scuderi, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sidney Crosby, Video

Penguins Come Up Short in Buffalo

November 29, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up 2-goals in the 3rd period and posted none of their own as they lost to the Buffalo Sabres on the road on Friday night 4-3. John Curry’s first start in goal for the Penguins didn’t go the way he wanted it, despite a couple of spectacular saves late in the game. He ended up stopping 28-of-32 shots for a 0.875 save percentage. But don’t pin the blame on Curry. The Penguins’ defense failed to keep the front of the net cleared, and most of the Sabres’ goals came from the traffic in close. The Penguins faltering power play resulted in numerous missed opportunities as they went 0-for-7 on the night.

The Penguins were first to get on the scoreboard at 10:29 of the 1st period as Tyler Kennedy took a cross crease pass from Matt Cooke and popped it into the net. Rob Scuderi picked up the other assist. The goal was Kennedy’s 6th on the season and it was Cooke’s 7th assist. Less than a minute later, however, the Sabres tied it up at 1-1 as Drew Stafford wristed a puck past John Curry. Maxim Afinogenov and Jaroslav Spacek picked p the assists on the play. The Penguins went 0-for-3 on the powerplay and 1-for-1 on the kill as they outshot the Sabres 12-11.

In the 2nd period, the Penguins’ defense took a blow when Philippe Boucher left the game after one shift due to an unsepcified injury. He didn’t return. The Buffalo Sabres took the lead at 12:21 as they scored on the power play while Brooks Orpik sat for an interference call. Paul Gaustad picked up his first goal of the season on the tip-in, with assists from Drew Stafford and Mark Mancari to make it 2-1. Just 34-seconds later, however, Sidney Crosby tied it back up at 2-2 as he collected a rebound off from Evgeni Malkin’s shot and whacked the puck out of mid-air and into the net. Then at 19:04, Evgeni Malkin created a Buffalo turnover and sent Sidney Crosby streaking in on net. Crosby faked a slapper and then snapped the puck into the far side of the net, beating Ryan Miller to give the Penguins a 3-2 advantage. Evgeni Malkin provided the lone assist on both of Crosby’s goals. The 2nd period was the Penguins best offensive effort of the game as they outshot the Sabres 15-11, but the power play again came up empty on 4 attempts. The Penguins penalty kill was 1-for-2.

In the final period, the Penguins offense withered as they only managed to get off 3-shots on net while the Sabres fired 10-shots and connected for 2 goals. The Sabres tied the game just 3:11 into the third on Drew Stafford’s second goal of the game. Off the rush, Stafford redirected Thomas Vanek’s pass to beat Curry on the open side. Then at 16:36, Paul Gaustad redirected a Jason Pominville pass by Curry to put Buffalo ahead for good. There were no penalties called in the 3rd period.

Sidney Crosby picked up 2-goals and led the team in shots with 5. Kris Letang and Tyler Kennedy each posted 4-shots, while Evgeni Malkin only had 1 shot on the evening. Evgeni Malkin did pick up 2 more assists to boost his NHL-leading points total to 37. He is 7-points ahead of #2 Alexander Ovechkin (30) and leads the league with 27 assists, 5 ahead of Boston’s Marc Savard. In the faceoff circle, Tyler Kennedy was 2/2 (100%), Max Talbot was 4/5 (80%) and Mike Zigomanis was 7/12 (58%). Ruslan Fedotenko and Mark Eaton were healthy scratches. WBS call-up Janne Pesonen skated 6:02 and had no shots on goal. Sidney Crosby led all players in ice time with 24:29, with Evgeni Malkin second at 23:25. Kris Letang led all defensemen with 23:14.

The loss was just the Penguins’ 2nd regulation loss in November. They return to Mellon Arena on Saturday to take on the New Jersey Devils.

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Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Highlights, Injury, John Curry, Matt Cooke, Philippe Boucher, Photos, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rob Scuderi, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Video

Malkin and Crosby Loom Large in 3rd Period Comeback

November 27, 2008 by Paul
Filed under Highlights, News

The Pittsburgh Penguins staged yet another impressive comeback performance by scoring five unanswered goals in the final 21 minutes of the game, including a 3rd period hat trick by Evgeni Malkin, to beat the New York Islanders 5-3 on Wednesday night. After being largely outplayed through 2 periods, the Penguins got on the boards in the final 19-seconds of the 2nd period on a rare goal by Brooks Orpik. That goal, and the reunion of Sidney Cosby and Evgeni Malkin on the top line, set up a furious 3rd period in which the Penguins outshot the Islanders 14-6 and outscored them 4-0. Coming in halfway through the 2nd period, rookie goaltender John Curry relieved Dany Sabourin and was perfect in net in his NHL debut as he stopped all 11-shots he faced.

In the 1st period, the Islanders got on the scoreboard with a 5-on-4 powerplay goal at 7:45 as Mike Zigomanis sat for a goaltender interference call. Hal Gill had just left the box 6-seconds prior to the goal after the Penguins managed to kill off 21-seconds of a 5-on-3. Doug Weight was credited with the goal, but the replay showed that after Dany Sabourin stopped the puck, he inadvertently kicked it into his own net as he tried to close his legs on the puck. Trent Hunter and Mark Streit picked up the assists on the play. Then, just over a minute later, Trent Hunter backhanded a goal past Dany Sabourin to make it 2-0. Hunter beat Kris Letang after taking a chip pass that landed in the feet of Letang, and then surprised Sabourin with a quick backhander. Assists were given to Andy Hilbert and Joshua Bailey. At 9:38, Eric Godard picked up a fighting major with Mitch Fritz. Fritz managed to get Godard tied up in his jersey and neither player was able to do too much damage before being sent to the box; it wasn’t enough to get the Penguins going. The Penguins were outshot 12-10 in the first and were 0-for-2 on the man advantage and 1-for-2 on the kill.

In the 2nd period, the Penguins continued to be outplayed by the Islanders as they were outshot 7-6. At 9:27 with Evgeni Malkin in the box for a high sticking penalty, the Islanders powerplay connected again as Bill Guerin beat Dany Sabourin to make it 3-0. Joshua Bailey and Mark Streit picked up the assists. After the the 3rd goal on 14-shots, Coach Michel Therrien pulled Dany Sabourin and gave rookie John Curry his NHL debut. Curry stopped all 5-shots against him in the remainder of the period. As the period wound down, defenseman Brooks Orpik stepped into a slapshot with 19-seconds left that beat the Islanders netminder Joey MacDonald and gave the Penguins something to build on as they entered the 3rd period. Pascal Dupuis picked up the lone assist on Orpiks 2nd goal of the season. The Penguins were 1-for-2 on the kill in the period and were afforded no man advantages.

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders

In the 3rd period, Coach Michel Therrien reunited Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby on the Penguins’ top line. At 6:18, it paid off as Malkin fed a beautiful cross ice pass through traffic to Crosby who snapped it into the empty side of the net to beat MacDonald and make it 3-2 with plenty of time left in the game. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang picked up the assists. Then at 11:03, Sidney Crosby returned the favor as he drew 3-Islanders to the boards and fed Malkin streaking through the center of the ice. Malkin walked in unchallenged and beat MacDonald with a quick wrister to tie the game 3-3. Brooks Orpik picked up the other assist. Then, just 50-seconds later, Sidney Crosby undressed an Islanders’ defensemen who was looking to set up a play from behind his own net. Crosby stole the puck at the side of the net and looked as if he was going to shoot on MacDonald. Instead, he made a perfect blind backhanded pass to the slot. Malkin, reading the play perfectly, had jumped in from the blueline and made a diving shot that beat MacDonald 5-hole to gain the 1-goal advantage. Finally, with 18-seconds left and MacDonald pulled for the extra attacker, Evgeni Malkin completed the hat trick with his 10th goal of the season, an empty netter to seal the game 5-3. Rob Scuderi picked up the lone assist on the play. The Penguins’ domination in the 3rd period was evident in the 14-6 shot total. The Penguins were 0-for-1 on the powerplay in the final frame. John Curry stopped all 6-shots in the 3rd to pick up his first career NHL win.

Sidney Crosby led all Penguins with 5-shots on net, and had 3-points (1G, 2A). Evgeni Malkin had 4-shots and picked up 4-points (3G, 1A) to maintain his lead in the NHL points race with 35-points, 5-points ahead of 2nd place Simon Gagne. Malkin also leads the league in assists with 25, 5-ahead of 2nd place Sidney Crosby and Boston’s Marc Savard. Max Talbot was a perfect 2-for-2 on faceoffs before he left the game with an apparent foot injury after taking a hard shot to the skate. Talbot appeared unable to put any pressure on the skate as he left the ice with the help of the team trainer. Tyler Kennedy won his single apearance in the faceoff circle, while Sidney Crosby (12/28) won just 43% and Mike Zigomanis (8/19) and Jordan Staal (8/19) each won 42%. Sidney Crosby led the team with 24:39 of ice time, while Malkin registered 21:29. Amongst defensemen, Brooks Orpik led with 22:09 of ice time with Philippe Boucher following close behind with 21:43.

The Penguins will get Thanksgiving Day off before playing against Buffalo on the road on Friday evening. They will then return back to Mellon Arena to face the Devils on Saturday night.

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Tags: Brooks Orpik, Dany Sabourin, Evgeni Malkin, Game Recap, Hat Trick, Highlights, Injury, John Curry, Kris Letang, Max Talbot, New York Islanders, Pascal Dupuis, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rob Scuderi, Sidney Crosby, Video

Penguins Back in Pittsburgh, Working on Power Play

October 9, 2008 by Paul
Filed under News

With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ European vacation now over, they got back to work on Wednesday with their first practice at Mellon Arena in nearly 2-weeks. The Penguins, who split their opening weekend with the Ottawa Senators, got busy by working on key areas that need improvement. Chief among those are special teams and the power play. Having one of the most lethal powerplay units in the league last season, something was definitely missing last weekend as the Penguins went an abysmal 1-for-14 in their first 2-games. Sergei Gonchar was missing. With the accomplished defensemen out of the lineup for an extended period of time, the Penguins will need to find other ways to put the punch back in their powerplay.

Last season, Sergei Gonchar was the highly effective quarterback for the Penguins explosive powerplay. But with Gonchar out of the lineup and Whitney sidelined too, no other Penguin defenseman possesses the ability to effortlessly move across the blueline and set up Evgeni Malkin for the one-timer or to load up and blast one in hard from the blueline. It is a time of great opportunity for young defensemen Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski to step up and into the void, but it won’t come easy. As easy as Gonchar made it look, his skill was one borne out of experience…something the two young defensemen have not yet acquired. Look for Michel Therrien to try and speed up their development in this role, as he has few other stop-gap options in the current lineup. He will also stress getting back to basics as a time tested method of getting the powerplay back on track. The good news is that the season is just getting started and their is plenty of time to work these things out.

All this being said, I do have to give some credit to the Ottawa Senators for their aggressive penalty kill. They never allowed the Penguins’ potent offense to get their powerplay set up. As a result, the Penguins got very few quality scoring chances or set plays where a blast from the blueline could have resulted in a juicy rebound and an ensuing scrum in front of the net. This could become a problem, however, as other teams scout the Penguins’ injury-shortened blueline and determine that an aggressive penalty kill can effectively defuse their potent offensive line.

The defensive pairings continue to undergo change as Michel Therrien tries to deal with the loss of Gonchar and Whitney. The current pairings are Hal Gill/Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik/Kris Letang, and Mark Eaton/Darryl Sydor/Alex Goligoski.

The Penguins get back into action on Saturday night as they play their home opener against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils will be playing their 2nd game in 2-nights after coming off from their home opener Friday night against the New York Islanders. The Penguins will have had several days to recover from the European trip, and will hopefully be fully recovered and ready to play. Petr Sykora, who has yet to play a game due to a groin injury, is questionable for Saturday’s game.

The Penguins went out today and added center Mike Zigomanis from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for future considerations. Drafted 46th overall in 2001 by the Carolina Hurricanes, he was signed as a free agent by Phoenix on July 21, 2006. In 167 career NHL games, he has scored 33-points (19G, 14A) and accumulated 58-penalty minutes. Zigomanis will wear #15, and rounds out the Penguins roster at 23. Forward Jeff Taffe cleared waivers today and will be assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Kris Beech was placed on unconditional waivers, and will leave the team and play in Europe if he clears the unconditional waiver wire. The Penguins assigned forward Janne Pesonen and goaltender John Curry to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as expected.

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Janne Pesonen, Jeff Taffe, John Curry, Kris Beech, Kris Letang, Mike Zigomanis, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Whitney, Sergei Gonchar

It’s Time for Hockey!

October 3, 2008 by Paul
Filed under News

Just a couple short months after the Penguins lost in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, a redesigned Pittsburgh Penguins’ team starts the long haul again as they open the season against the Ottawa Senators in Sockholm, Sweden, on Saturday afternoon. While some of the faces have changed from last season, the desire to win hockey games and advance deep into the playoffs remains the same. But before the season even gets underway, the Penguins have been blessed with more adversity in losing their top-2 defensemen for an extended period to injury and surgery. Will it serve as a handicap to the team, or a catalyst for other players to step up and take on the mantle of responsibility? Only time will tell, but if recent Penguins’ history is any guide, watch out!

In accordance with modified league rules, the Penguins have trimmed their roster to 24-players for the first two games of the season which will be played in Sweden. Typically the team roster would need to be cut to 23 by the start of the season, but the league has permitted an extra player for the 4-teams opening their season in Europe. To get to 24, the Penguins announced today that forward Janne Pesonen has been assigned to the AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The development comes as a bit of surprise to some, as Pesonen put up 2-points (1G, 1A) in 3-preseason outings for the Penguins. All in all, I have to agree with the move as Pesonen did not distinguish himself well enough to earn a top-2 line position, and he is not the type of player you want on your lower lines in my opinion. Better to grow him in the AHL, and have him on ready call-up should one of the top-4 wingers get injured. After the weekend games in Sweden, the Penguins will have to make one final cut to their roster to get to 23-personnel.

So, to start the season, the Penguins currently have 14 forwards, 7 defensemen and 3 goaltenders. The roster includes forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Saal, Petr Sykora, Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Max Talbot, Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke, Eric Godard, Jeff Taffe, Bill Thomas and Paul Bissonnette. The current defensive corps consists of Mark Eaton, Darryl Sydor, Hal Gill, Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. In net, the Penguins have kept goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury, Dany Sabourin, and John Curry. You can expect that the final cut next week will be a goaltender, likely John Curry.

What better way for the Penguins to start the season than a back-to-back matchup against the Ottawa Senators. Last season, the Penguins avenged their 1st round exit of 2-seasons ago by sweeping the Senators and eliminating them during the 1st round of the playoffs. As a result, a rivalry has developed between the two teams that the players are well aware of. Coach Therrien noted, “we can’t ask for a better situation than to play a team that we have a rivalry with to make sure you are ready.” The Senators will try to capitalize on the home town hero crowd advantage with native Swede Daniel Alfredsson. Coming off from a shortened training camp and a successful pre-season in which they went 4-0-1, the Penguins are hoping for a strong start to the season this weekend in Stockholm.

A new season, a new challenge, a new start……..it’s time for hockey! Let’s Go Pens!

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Tags: Janne Pesonen, John Curry, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins

Shortened Penguins Roster Arrives in Sweden

September 28, 2008 by Paul
Filed under News

The Pittsburgh Penguins arrived in Stockholm, Sweden, at about 3:30 AM this morning (Pittsburgh time) after a tiring 10.5 hour flight (including a refueling layover in Ireland). Despite the lengthy trip, the team got checked into their hotel, met for a team meal, and then hit the rink at Hovet Arena in Stockholm for practice. The goal for today is for the team to get adjusted to the 6-hour time change by staying awake through the evening and getting a good night’s sleep tonight. According to Max Talbot, most players managed to get some sleep on the plane so that fatigue was not much of a factor in this morning’s practice. The Penguins’ schedule is part of a program put in place by the training staff to help the players adjust to the change.

The 10-day trip to Sweden comes on the heels of Friday night’s 5-4 pre-season win against the Leafs in Toronto. Despite playing from behind most of the night, the Penguins won the game late in the 3rd period on goals by Kris Letang and Matt Cooke. Sidney Crosby, Mark Eaton and Janne Pesonen also scored in the win, advancing the Penguins pre-season record to 3-0-1. Sidney Crosby picked up the game’s 1st star with 2-points (1G, 1A) and Ruslan Fedotenko got the game’s 3rd start with 3-points (3A). The Penguins will officially complete their pre-season play on Thursday, October 2nd, playing against the Jokerit of the Finnish Elite League in Helsinki, Finland.

Before boarding the 5PM flight to Stockholm, the Penguins skinnied their roster down to 25-players through assignments to the AHL and injured reserve. Forward Connor James and defenseman Danny Richmond were both assigned to the Penguins’ AHL-affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday. Injured defensemen Sergei Gonchar (dislocated shoulder) and Ryan Whitney (foot surgery) have been assigned to the injured reserve and will not make the trip. The Penguins will have to make one more roster cut by Friday, October 3rd, to get down to a 24-man roster before the season-opener in Sweden on October 4th. The Penguins will ultimately need to make an additional cut after October 5th to get down to the 23-player roster required by the league for the rest of the regular season. The league made an exception and allowed 24-players to be on the roster for the games in Sweden, so that the team would have an extra player in-country in case of injury.

The Penguins remaining 25-man roster for the Sweden trip is comprised of 15 forwards, 7 defensemen and 3 goaltenders. This includes forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Petr Sykora, Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, Eric Godardm Jeff Taffe, Janne Pesonen, Bill Thomas, and Paul Bisssonnette. The defensive corps consists of Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill, Mark Eaton, Darryl Sydor, Kris Letang, and Alex Goligoski. The goaltenders are Marc-Andre Fleury, Dany Sabourin, and John Curry.

After arriving in Stockholm early this morning, the Penguins went to Hovet Arena for practice at about 8AM Pittsburgh time. The Hovet Arena is located alongside the Globe Arena where the Penguins will practice for the rest of the week, and where the Penguins will face off against the Ottawa Senators next weekend. After practice, Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and Max Talbot spoke to the press. The following videos of practice and those interviews are courtesy of PittsburghPenguins.com:

VIDEO: Team Practice’s at Hovet Arena
VIDEO: Sidney Crosby Post-Practice Interview
VIDEO: Marc-Andre Fleury Post-Practice Interview
VIDEO: Max Talbot Post-Practice Interview

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Tags: Alex Goligoski, Bill Thomas, Brooks Orpik, Connor James, Danny Richmond, Dany Sabourin, Darryl Sydor, Eric Godardm Jeff Taffe, Evgeni Malkin, Hal Gill, Janne Pesonen, John Curry, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury, Mark Eaton, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Miroslav Satan, Pascal Dupuis, Paul Bisssonnette, Petr Sykora, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pre-Season, Rob Scuderi, Roster, Ruslan Fedotenko, Ryan Whitney, Sergei Gonchar, Sidney Crosby, Sweden, Tyler Kennedy

Penguins Send 13 Players to AHL, Trim Roster to 29

September 23, 2008 by Paul
Filed under News

As anticipated, Pittsburgh Penguins’ General Manager Ray Shero announced the next round of training camp cuts today, sending 13 players to the AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 13 players sent to Wilkes-Barre includes forwards Kris Beech, Ryan Stone, Adam Henrich, Aaron Boogaard, Tim Wallace, Jonathan Filewich, David Gove and Christopher Minard. It also includes defensemen Deryk Engelland, T.J. Kemp, Ben Lovejoy and Joey Mormina, as well as goaltender David Brown. The cuts trimmed the Penguins’ training camp roster to 29 players

Of the 29 remaining players, the Penguins have retained 16 forwards, 10 defensemen and 3 goaltenders. That list includes propsects Janne Pesonen, Connor James, Paul Bissonnette, Bill Thomas, Alex Goligoski, Danny Richmond, and John Curry. With surgery/injuries affecting the normal Penguins’ defensive lineup, Defensemen Alex Goligoski and/or Danny Richmond could find themselves on the roster as the season starts. There is potential for one or two positions on wing being open for competition, as well, as training camp and pre-season hockey winds down.

The current roster includes the following players (by natural position, not necessarily the position they are being played)

Left Wing
- Ruslan Fedotenko
- Jeff Taffe
- Matt Cooke
- Janne Pesonen
- Paul Bissonnette (Converted from D)
- Connor James
- David Gove
Center
Right Wing
Defense
Goal

The Penguins’ prospects will have two more opportunities to impress the hockey staff before the team leaves for Sweden on Saturday night. It is uncertain whether the Penguins will make the final roster cuts before they leave. While I wouldn’t be surprised by a few cuts, I don’t expect they will cut to the final roster since they will still have several more days of practice in Sweden and a final pre-season game in Finland on October 2nd before the season starts in Stockholm on October 4th. I expect that the Penguins coaching staff will keep their options open and guard against any late injuries while on the road overseas. Therefore, I expect at least 1 or 2 extra forwards and defensemen to make the trip to Sweden.

The Penguins return to Mellon Arena on Wednesday night to host the Toronto Maple Leafs. The roster for the game has not yet been released. The game will be aired nationally on TSN.

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Tags: Aaron Boogaard, Adam Henrich, Alex Goligoski, Ben Lovejoy, Bill Thomas, Christopher Minard, Connor James, Danny Richmond, David Brown, David Gove, Deryk Engelland, Janne Pesonen, Joey Mormina, John Curry, Jonathan Filewich, Kris Beech, Paul Bissonnette, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pre-Season, Prospects, Ryan Stone, Tim Wallace, TJ Kemp, Training Camp

Penguins Beat Lightning 3-2 in Penalty Filled Matchup

September 22, 2008 by Paul
Filed under News

Despite being outshot 39-24, the Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender duo of Dany Sabourin and John Curry stopped all but 2-shots to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Monday night. In what could have been billed as a battle of mostly third-line players, there were 5-fighting majors, a boarding major, 3-game misconducts for a total of 101-minutes in penalties. The Penguins beat the Lightning on goals by Kris Letang, Max Talbot and Tyler Kennedy. Kris Letang contirbuted with 2-points (1G, 1A), as did Alex Goligoski (2A). Letang and Goligoski played very well with good chemistry together.

The Lightning struck early as Jussi Jokinen scored the first goal of the game on their first shot just 46 seconds in on a feed by Evgeny Artyukhin, beating Dany Sabourin. The early goal spurred some much anticipated emotion amongst the largely rookie lineups and ultimately resulted in a fight between Zenon Konopka and Aaron Boogard at 2:06. The Penguins subsequently failed to convert on two power play opportunities as Evgeny Artyukhin took back-to-back penalties at 4:16 and 7:09. However, as they say, the third time is a charm. At 14:36, with Paul Szczechura in the box for tripping, Kris Letang tipped in a shot by Alex Goligoski to tie it up 1-1. The Penguins failed to convert on another power play opportunity late in the 1st as Ryan Malone sat for a high stick. But at 18:!9, Max Talbot put the Penguins ahead 2-1 on a nifty even-strength backhander that beat the Lightning’s Olie Kolzig. Ruslan Fedotenko and William Thomas picked up the assists. Less than a minute later, Zenon Konopka continued his quest for a fighting hat trick by taking on Danny Richmond. A total of 30-minutes in penalty time was called in the period, including 20-minutes in fighting majors. The Penguins were 1-for-3 on the power play, and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. Despite the extra man advantage opportunities, the Penguins were outshot 15-9.

In the 2nd period, the Lightning found the back of the net at 2:56 as former Penguins Michel Ouellet let a wrister go that beat Dany Sabourin. Dana Tyrell and Ty Wishart got the assists. With 10:15 left to go in the period, Coach Therrien swapped goalies and put John Curry in net. At 14:32, David Koci and Paul Bissonnette squared off and each picked up a fighting major. At 16:59, Ruslan Fedotenko was given a 5-minute major for boarding Janne Niskala. The Penguins went 0-for-1 on the power play and were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, including the 5-minute major to Fedotenko. The Penguins were again seriously outshot by 17-6.

At 4:12 of the 3rd period, the referees got to doll out the penalties as David Koci slashed Paul Bissonnette and all hell broke lose. Koci and Bissonnette quickly squared off, while Zenon Konopka was eager to get his fighting hat trick by squaring off with Adam Henrich. When the dust settled, all four players picked up 5-minute majors for fighting. Additionally Koci and Bissonnette each got a 10-minute game misconduct. Zenon Konopka also picked up a mandatory game misconduct for his third fighting major of the game. In all, 52-minutes in penalties were handed out at this stoppage in play to 4-players. When play finally resumed, it only took the Penguins 42 seconds to convert the emotion into a goal as Tyler Kennedy beat Kolzig with a wrister from Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. The teams finished the period with 5-shots aside.

NHL Official Game Summary
NHL Official Rosters
NHL Official Event Summary
NHL Official Play-by-Play
HockeyFights.com Fight Log
PENS PODCAST: Phil Bourque Interviews Ryan Malone
PENS PODCAST: Phil Bourque 1st Intermission Report
PENS PODCAST: Phil Bourque 2nd Intermission Report
PENS PODCAST: Phil Bourque Post-Game Wrap

The Penguins return home to Pittsburgh where they will face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. It was reported by Phil Bourque that there will likely be a big cut in the Penguins’ training camp roster announced sometime on Tuesday. In other news, Sergei Gonchar is expected to get an MRI this week to further evaluate the shoulder injury he received in Saturday night’s pre-season opener.

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