Monday Links

It was a sad weekend in Pittsburgh for sports fans as the Penguins traded the rights of Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kiss goodbye the days of the ‘Roberts-isms’ and Bugsy Malone blocking the puck with his face.

A $31 million dollar contract should help me reconstruct this crooked nose...

In preparation of tomorrow’s NHL free agency, here is the 2008 NHL free agent shopping list.

The Steelers also released 4 players this weekend. Included in the list of cuts was back up running back Najeh “Dookie” Davenport.

The 50 Best Players in the NFL today.

With injuries-a-plenty to the Pirates pitching staff, the team was forced to make a great deal of moves throughout this weekend in order to restock the diminished rotation and bullpen.

Screw you Buccos fans...

Discussions between the Pirates and first round pick Pedro Alvarez have remained behind closed doors.

Want your kid to be a millionaire? Teach him to throw the knuckle ball.

If you saw the Angels- Dodgers game on Saturday night then you witnessed the crazy nonsense that is baseball. The Angels did not allow a hit, but yet lost to the Dodgers 1-0. However, this game was not considered a no hitter because the Angels only pitched 8 innings, since they lost.

I don’t usually have any NBA news, but here’s an interesting story about whether Jay-Z will be able to lure Lebron James to the Nets.

The Cavs should be worried...

Until lata...

Pens Trade Rumors and Snack's Analysis

Ok, so I decided to throw my two cents into the debate about who to keep, Bugsy Malone or Marian Hossa...If there's really any question in your mind about this one, then someone needs to go ahead and slap you on Big Snack's behalf.

Word is Ray Shero offered Hossa a 7 year, $50 million contract, and he's waiting on his response to see where else to go this offseason. It will really put his word to the test, as this will be only a very meager raise over his previous contract and he said he'd be willing to take less money to stay here and play with Sid. The true character of Hossa will come out here - do you make a grab at the cash or are you more concerned with winning a championship?

Will he stay or will he go?

As for Malone, it's quite evident if we sign Hossa, he's gone. He's going to command $5 million or more on the open market, and teams are already calling the Pens about trading draft picks just to NEGOTIATE with Malone before free agency begins. So even if we don't sign Hossa, we may well find out someone is willing to overpay Bugsy by about $3 million and decide he's not worth that much to us. So unfortunately, I think we're saying goodbye to Bugsy...

Bye bye Bugsy...

Brooks is an interesting case - he could go either way as far as staying or going. He's going to command about $4 million on the open market, but he has also expressed a willingness to stay for a lesser price in order to win. The problem is, do we really want to invest $3.5 million for 5 years to him? He's a solid defensive defenseman and he hits like a freight train, but we also have another ship in the water in the USS Hal Gill. So the question becomes, is he worth it to us? I say let him go and use his cash to try and keep Bugsy or to extend one of our budding superstars. We got a hitman, we don't need two at that price.

We took Flower to arbitation, and Staal seems to be on the backburner till all this plays out, so that leaves us with one big guy left to go - Geno Malkin. What to do with Geno? He's under the impression he will sign a 5 or 6 year deal with the Pens sometime around July 1, when he's allowed to start discussing an extension with the team, but some outlets have him being on the trading block.

I like Geno, a lot, but he needs to show me he can stay fresh for an entire season and that he's mentally tough enough to finish where he started. He did a fantastic job while Sid was out, carrying the Pens on his shoulders, but it seems like when he plays with Sid he falls into second fiddle mode, which for a guy like Malkin is just about the worst thing you can do. He has to prove he can be 1B to Sidney's 1A, not #2 to Sidney's #1. And he has to stay cheap enough that we can afford him along with Hossa and Sid and the rest. If he can do that, then we'd be fools to get rid of him, but if his head isn't right around Sid, then maybe we do trade him somewhere (LA apparently is willing to part with a king's ransom for him). It's definitely a tricky, tricky situation.

Hey, call me Geno...

So the ball's in you court, Shero. Don't crap your pants big boy, this is your first real test - don't pull a Tampa Bay and overpay 3 guys at the expense of the rest of the team. Make it work jagoff!

Until lata..

Pens win, Pitt stinks...

The Pens won 5-4 over the hated Habs of Montreal last evening in the gizzly white north of Canada. Geno had 3 points, and Bugsy Malone and Sergei Gonchar each netted one in front of the sellout crowd.

(pic from nationalpost.com)

Bugsy on the rampage...

It was good to see us beat a good team in Montreal, and even better that we did it with Danny Boy in net. I think when Sid gets back this team is going to be an absolute juggarnaut. They're looking good just at the right time, and hopefully, the addition of a scoring winger (they haven't made a trade yet but certainly could use one) can put them over the top - let's face it, if we have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, it will be a huge edge because we play excellently at home. Make sure you check Mondesi's House early next week as me and Diego's newest top 10 list hits on the Pens trade needs...

I didn't see much of the Pitt game as the Pens were nunmber one on my list, but as I (regrettably) kinda expected, they lost to ND. Apparently ND went on a three point rampage, which is to be expected, and those Irish bastards kept their 34 game home winning streak in tact.

Duquesne also got killed last night. Xavier (number 10 in the country) wiped the court with them, but hey, they're still having one helluva season.

And finally, since we've never mentioned them, I figured it's time for us to give some props to Robert Morris, who won their tenth in a row yesterday. Good job boys, keep making PGH proud...

Until lata...

Sid's down - Steeler sighting

OK, I'm not even going to post a link up to last night's debacle, that's how hurt I am by it. The Pens lost 3-0 to the Lightning and in case you haven't seen the TV yet or live under a bridge, Sid the Kid now has a dreaded "high ankle sprain" from sliding into the boards feet-first, and will be sidelined indefinitely. He'll be re-evaluated early next week, but early prognosi from all the amateur doctors out there has him down for at least 6 weeks. You gotta learn to protect them legs man, sliding into the boards at full speed is never a good idea...

The Pens now have to rely on their "secondary" players like Sykora, Geno, Malone, Colby and the like to score. This could actually work out, making the team stronger and less dependant on Crosby...Of course, this could be the downfall of the season and we could miss the playoffs because of this crap...Only time will tell, but let's hope it's more of the former and less of the latter...

In much, much better news, last night was our first official PNA street sighting of a Steeler.

As Diego and Snack pounded cheap booze at Rumshakers to celebrate White Marcus and Shiver me Timbers' bdays, Snack noticed a rather large SOB walk through the door. He says, "Dude, I think that's Matt Spaeth"....Diego checks it out, and he agrees. So we commence to ask every one of our friends in attendence, and half of them (mostly the girls) said "who the hell is Matt Spaeth" and the guys all said they wouldn't know Spaeth if he kicked them in the face.

So, being a little "under the weather", neither one of us wanted to go up an make an ass out of ourselves in front of someone who may or may not be a Steeler...So as he makes his break for the door, I yell out "Spaeth, you're the shit"...horrible line, I know, but I was drunk, so get off me. Anyway, he looks over, give the "you're the man" point, and walks out with his crew of large men and beautiful blondes...

It looked like my man was handlin' his booze well, and his ladies were definitely top-notch...my only question is, if you're making about a million dollars a year, why, in the good name of God, would you go to Rumshakers. I mean honestly, there's classier places in Greenfield. I guess his ladies wanted to boogie down a little or something, but thankfully, for his sake, he was only there for like 30-45 minutes at most.

Until after the Pens game tonight, when hopefully we start another winning streak...

PS - we did look at a pic of Spaeth when we got back to the penthouse, and it was definitely him. We wanted to make sure it wasn't another look-alike dude, but considering this dude is 4 inches taller then Snack (who's 6'3-6'4 himself) it kinda confirms it.

Snack and Diego Spur Pens Victory...Pitt loses again...

Last night, before a standing room only sell-out at the Mellon Arena, the Pens won 5-0 over the Thrashers. It was a great showing by our boys, and it was nice to see them building off that hard fought win at Ottawa earlier this week...

It was also nice because your boys Snack and Diego were in the house, sitting our uppity asses in the West Igloo Club...I know, it's not usually the type of seating you would associate with PNA, but the tix were free and everyone deserves to watch a game like a rock star every now and again...

But back to the game...Every facet of our team was running on all cylinders last night, from the powerplay to penalty killing to 5 on 5...Jordan Staal scored his second goal of the season, and Ryan Malone continued his hot streak by adding a rebound goal on the powerplay...

Kudos also go to Marc Fluery, who shrugged off his horrible showing versus the Senators to pitch his second shutout of the season...Maybe he'll turn it around, maybe he won't, but at least he has the potential to be something amazing...Now if only that damn Canadian would do it game in and game out we'd be going somewhere...

Check back with PNA for Diego's Monday Morning Hangover for more details from the game...

And finally, the Pitt Panthers ended all the talk about them squeezing into a bowl game by losing at home to South Florida, 48-37. After a deflating 80 yard TD scamper by South Florida's QB Matt Grothe to start the third quarter, the offense reverted to their early season form and could not match the Bulls punch for punch...It puts an end to any bowl hopes, and hopefully puts an end to Matt Cavanaugh's career, but I guess we'll have to wait a few weeks to find that out...

Until lata on...

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Pens win, Some links and Video Game of the Week...

Well sports fans, first and foremost, congrats are in order for our Pittsburgh Pens who defeated the Senators last night 6-5 in a shootout. Jarko Ruutu scored the deciding goal on an amazing fake-then-thru-the-5-hole move that left Ottawa crying in whatever it is those damn Canadians cry in...

Player of the game goes to Ryan Malone, who scored two goals and was playing every shift like a man with a mission...The fourth line also looked pretty good, flying all over the ice and hitting anything that moved...We also overcame two seperate two goal deficits, which is a good sign for this team that has had it's heart questioned in recent weeks...Maybe this will be the turning point we're all talking about when we win the Cup...Maybe...

YEA!!! Somebody other then me scored a goal!!!

In football news, yesterday's games were about as exciting as a kick in the balls...Indy, Green Bay and Dallas all won, and all won pretty big...At least Brett Favre and the Pack are a feel good story in this era of Spygate, but I still think the AFC's best would eat their children...

In college football news, USC stayed alive in it's bid for another Rose Bowl birth by beating the hell out of Arizona St...JD Booty didn't play as his name would suggest, throwing for 375 yards and 4 TD's...It's kind of a shame Oregon might miss the Rose Bowl because of the injury to Dixon, but that's the way football is I guess...

Today is also Black Friday, aka the day my crazy mother wakes up at 2:30 AM to go shopping...Jesus H is she wild, but not as bad as those jagoffs going to Grove City at midnight last night...That's all we need; a bunch of overfed, overdrunk bastards driving 100 miles to go fight each other for bargains...I also learned from someone who went last year that most of the people who go are Canadian...I swear those bastards are invading our country one shopping outlet at a time...

Blame Canada...

Finally, check out MLB Trade Rumors, as they still believe Ian Snell is on the block...I don't know why anyone in their right mind would trade someone so young and so good, but if it brings us closer to winning (I don't really see how it can) I guess I'm ok with it...

I am going to post a new segment later today called Snack's Video Game of the Week, which will let yinz know what game the big guy is playing on the regular and why it's so sweet...Until lata...

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Pens Win 4-2

The Pens won 4-2 tonight against the Wild in Minnesota, showing they put that overtime loss to the Habs behind them.

The first period of tonight's game was some of the most boring hockey I've ever seen. The scoring chances were few and far between, and it seemed as if they were just feeling each other out...Thankfully, the second period brought some excitment.

The scoring started at 3:30 of the second when Geno Malkin wrapped one under goalie Josh Harding for a 1-0 Pens lead. Sidney Crosby made a charge to the net but lost the puck behind the net, where Malkin took the puck. The Wild followed it up with a goal at 6:14 by Veilleux to tie it up at 1..The original shot hit the post and Danny Boy was a lil too slow finding the puck and made a lunging effort to save it. But 15 seconds later Malkin tickled the twine again, finding a rebound and slamming it home. Crosby and Malone had the assists on both of Malkin's goals.

In the third, things started off with an Adam Hall vs. Jake Sheppard fight that looked more like a slow dance. That punk Sheppard high-sticked Hall and then leveled him in the neutral zone...My guess is Hall said enough with this crap, I'm gonna teach this kid a lesson, but Sheppard wouldn't let go of his arms...Grow some nuts Sheppard.

Danny Boy let in a stuffer of a shot with a little more then 13 minutes left to tie the game at 2. The puck was just sitting in the blue ice and he shoved it in the goal. Peter Sykora gave the Pens the lead at 10:05 of the third on the power play with a wrister from the middle that found it's way behind Harding. Crosby got the assist on that one too, along with Sergei Gonchar.

The Pens gained a two goal advantage when Crosby scored on a break away at 14:29 and in doing so shut the door on the Wild. It was another good showing by Danny Boy in goal and Sid the Kid ended up getting four points on four goals, netting one and gettng three assists.

This is just the kind of convincing win I was talking about us needing earlier, however the Snackster was wrong about Fluery getting another shot. Hopefully this send us on the road to another 100 point season. We'll see... GO PENS!

PS: Did anyone catch Brian Engblom's hair on Versus? Good Lord the man looks like he's wearing a hair piece made of cat fur. Either that or a small marsupial fell asleep on his melon, I'm not sure which. He'll be on the 10 worst haircuts in hockey list for f-ing sure.

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