Holy Crap They Won Again...

Well boys and girls, today marked the end of the Pens' recent 5 game road trip. Going into it, I would have ventured that a 3-1-1 record or even 3-2 record would be nice, but as most of you already know, they went 5-0, finishing up with a 4-3 shootout winner against the Caps this afternoon.

The usual suspects have been playing pretty well on this trip, with Crosby and Malkin both playing their usual games and Marc Andre is on top of his game, but I think the real difference has been the players we acquired at the deadline.

Chris Kunitz has been a burst of energy on Crosby and Staal's wings. He hits hard, has proven to be a force battling for pucks, and has shown the soft hands needed to help push the loose garbage around the crease into the net. He also seems to be meshing really well with Crosby, which is big because its exactly what Hossa did last year and look where it took us...

Another trade dealine deal gained us Bill Guerin, the former captain of the Islanders. He's played in 2 games and has 4 points - nuff said. But what seems to be his greatest asset is his ability to keep the goalie occupied in front of the net. A perfect example was the goal Sarge Gonchar scored today - the goalie from the Caps didn't even know the puck was shot until it hit the net behind him. That's what good screening can do for a team.

And finally, new coach Dan Bylsma has taken the leash of the dogs as they say, letting the offensive skills of the Pens take over as opposed to Therrien's more defensive approach. The players have been revitalized and seem to enjoy playing again, as they did last year during their run to the Finals.

All in all, I wouldn't pop the champagne just yet, but this fat kid l ike where the Pens are heading...

Until lata...

Bye Bye Whitney...

Today, the Pens took step one towards adressing their need for a scoring winger to compliment Sidney Crosby by acquiring Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi in exchange for Ryan Whitney this afternoon.

Whitney hasn't played up to par since his return from off-season surgery, and he happens to play at a position we have a great deal of depth at, so letting him go wasn't all tha big of an issue in my mind. He was a good locker room personality and has tremendous upside as far as his scoring capabilities go, but there's nothing to say he's going to be the Sergei Gonchar we all thought he'd be.

As for our return, I think Kunitz is a very good, if underrated, player. He's not overly large, and has been known to wear down against physical defensemen, but he has a good scoring touch and isn't afraid to mix it up. He should fit in nicely with Sidney, and his experience on a Stanley Cup champion cannot be overlooked. He's also signed through 2011-12, so he should have enough time to get a good chemistry with his new linemates...

Eric Tangradi is a very interesting prospect, seeing as he's a huge kid (6'4, 240 lbs I believe) who is the second leading scorer in the OHL (behind Tavares, who is a momnster himself). His stock has done nothing but climb in the past few years, and he is looked at as a future power forward, which is exactly what the Pens need. Hopefully he's a Ryan Malone in waiting, which is what the Pens are banking on.

So basically, it was a good run Ryan Whitney. Good luck out west, and welcome to the team Kunitz and Tangradi, you better be good...

Until lata..

Don't Call it a Comeback...

Really, don't. The Pens lost their highly anticipated Stanley Cup rematch with the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 at the Igloo this afternoon. To the fans' credit, they booed everytime much-hated Marian Hossa touched the puck, but that didn't keep him from sticking the dagger in our back in the third peiod, scoring on a backhand from between the circles.

The Pens today looked like the Pens of earlier this season - they couldn't score, they were bullied on the puck, and once again they didn't put anyone effective in front of the net. I personally think a scoring winger to go alongside Crosby would help our cause, not just because of the added scoring said winger would bring, but because of the increse in effectiveness he'd bring to Crosby.

Geno Malkin is the ype of player who can create his own shots, and doesn't need anyone to feed him the puck, whereas Sid is the type of guy who is a playmaker, and who certainly scores better with a strong wingman on his side (see Marian Hossa). This is something that needs to be addressed, as does the rumor this fat kid heard about Miro Satan not being exactly beloved in locker room.

Word on the street is he's unhappy, which may be because he's an old man on a team of youngsters, or it could just be that he's having a crappy season and this isn't exactly what he envisioned when he came to Pittsburgh. Either way, he needs to stop being a bad influence and start scoring or we're gonna miss the playoffs.

With that being said, I'm off to watch some good Sunday night TV - at least I won't have to think about that pathetic performance during my Simpsons and King of the Hill...

Until lata...

Mid Week Review

Well boys and girls, it's a hockey/football night in Pittsburgh this evening...and it will be cold as hell with a couple inches of snow, which means it's a true Pittsburgh sports night. So without further ado, here's some things to watch for and such, and make sure you tune in next week when I post a Pitt Hoops preview (at the request of my lil bro, who seems to think I know a thing or two about sports...sucker)

First and foremost, if the Steelers lose tonite, someone (anyone) will be getting smacked. I mean honestly, they're playing a team who 1) we pounded earlier this year, 2) is absolutely horrible, sporting the impressive 1-8-1 record, and 3) has a QB from HARVARD!!! If I wanted to find a cure for cancer or run for president, I'd probably call Ryan Fitzpatrick, but when I need a QB you can best your last dollar I would never look to an Ivy-leaguer.

Plus, Diego has informed me that Ocho-Stinko (thank you Diego) will not suit up tonite as he broke some kind of team rule, probably something stupid that only he owuld break. Maybe he was trash talking the bell boy at the hotel, or was threatening to do some ridiculously weak end zone dance or something moronic like that. Either that, or Starvin' Marvin Lewis decided enough was enough and this jackass (who's having his worst year and is blaming everyone but himself) is gonna sit out the rest of the year so he can get released and have someone else overpay him to score 4 touchdowns (his total this year). My hope, is obviously the latter.

With the weather the way it is, look for willie Parker and Gary Russell to carry much of the load tonite, as it's gonna be mighty tough for Big Ben to throw the ball in crazy winds and a couple inches of snow. The good news about that is the Begals stink at every form of defense, so we SHOULD be able to impose our wiill on them, however we decide to do it.

My biggest worry tonite, however, is that someone will take a cheap shot at Hines Ward for his crushing (and season ending) block on Keith Rivers. The Bengals are known criminals (like the Ravens) and I certainly wouldn't put a late hit or low block past them. Luckily for us, if someone does get to Hines, we have the ultimate equalizer - James Harrison. If someone takes Hines out wiith a cheappy, you know Silverback will be foaming at the mouth when our D gets on the field. In fact, if this situation arises, Silverback may actually kill Fitzpatrick. Literally, dead.

(Pic from postgazette.com)

Round 2 tonite?

Now for the Pens...

Well I guess all good things come to an end, as our 6 game winning streak did the other night against the Minnesota Wild. I knew we couldn't win them all, but that horrible trickler of a goal that Sabby let in to cause the tie really stung. All wasn't lost, however, as new Penguin Philippe Boucher played well in his first game manning the Pens' blueline.

As for what to watch for tonite, first and foremost, look for the Pens to unload on a much improved Atlanta team. If there's one thing I've seen in the past two seasons with these guys, it's that they very rarely have two bad games in a row, and when they lose by some fluke goal or something like that they usually come out swinging the next game.

And the othr thing to look for is the Colby Armstrong/Sid the Kid dynamic. As we all know, we traded Colby for Hossa, but this will be the first time the best friends will actually take each other on as Sid missed last year's game right after the trade. I'm guessing these two lovebird will probably just talk a little smack and jab each other in the faceoff circle and little rinky dink stuff like that. God knows Colby would get worked if he fought Sid, and there's no way in hell Sid lets him live it down. Ever.

We definitely miss how classy Colby was....HAHAHAHA

Until lata...

Jagr is a Tool

Since the Washington Capitals decided to crap themselves and lose game 7 of their series with the Flyers last night, the Pens now play the New York hockey Rangers in Round 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs starting Friday night at 7PM at the Igloo.

I am personally kinda glad we get to play these jagoffs - hopefully Sid the Kid and Geno will show the Jagr-bomb who the real deal is in these playoffs, and send these whiny women (I'm talkin' bout you Avery - email me at Pierogiesnat@gmail.com and I'll call you a woman to your face) back to NY with their tails' between their legs. And don't even get me started on the rest of the clowns on that squad. As far as I'm concerned, they can all climb the Empire State Building and take a flying leap off...

Marc Fluery needs to continue his lights out play and Hal "I have a big stick" Gill needs to keep pummeling people or we could be in some serious trouble. I mean honestly, NY is prolly the hardest team left for us in the East - Philly would be a toss up due to our rivalry (but obviously we'd beat them silly) and I think we can beat Montreal somewhat handily. They're a good squad but I don't think they match up well with the Pens in a playoff series; we're more talented, bigger and tougher then they are, which is not a good way to start the series.

Although, I think we're more talented, bigger and tougher then everyone left in the East, so I guess everyone we play is behind the 8-ball from the get go...

As far as all the other Pittsburgh sports, the Buccos won yesterday (they still stink) and the Steelers draft 23rd on Sunday. The draft starts at 3 PM, so my guess is we'll pick around 6ish.

And make sure you check in with PNA during the draft - as of now (subject to change because we suck), we plan on live blogging the first two rounds of the draft. I know, it's a crazy idea, but with enough beer, anything's possible...

Until lata...

Pens Win 4-2

The Penguins battled against an eastern conference team. the Washington Capitals, early on Sunday. Before the game even started, when the TV cameras where panning the crowd, I saw almost the same amount of Penguins fans as I did Capital fans - it was as if the game was to be played at home in Pittsburgh. The first period ended scoreless and it was looking as this game was going to be won by fighting hard for the puck down deep in the corners.

The second period started out much like the first period ended. After a hard hitting beginning to the period the Capitals took the lead when Brooks Laich scored a power play goal. Not more than Ninety seconds later did Geno Malkin send a beautiful pass to Petr Sykora, who fanned on it but still scored to tie the game at one. Ten minutes later Geno had another great pass to Sid "the Kid" Crosby who scored with a low line wrist shot. It looked as if the Penguins would enter the locker room with a one goal lead, but they were penalty plagued and allowed the Caps' Alexander Semin to score another power play goal with only seconds left in the period.

(Pic from img.timeinc.net)

First goal since he returned...

At the beginning of the 3rd period both teams seem to have a little more jump in their skate, and both teams had great goal scoring chances in the gridlocked game. With less than thirty seconds left to go, it looked to me that both teams would get at least one point and the game would go to overtime. Sid the Kid threw the puck to the front of the net hoping that something would happen……. And something did! Trying to clear the puck the Capitals' Nick Backstom ended up putting it into the back of his own net, which gave the Penguins a one goal lead with seconds left. With an empty net Geno showed how unselfish he really was by taking another assist on the night and handing the game ending goal to J Staal.

PS - This was our boy Danny "Tteado" Hahn's recap of the game. Not too shabby, me thinks. So thanks buddy.

Until lata...

A few quick links for yinz...

Diego made some links up yesterday - and I forgot to post them. So I'm an idiot. But here's some links I found and he told me about to hold ya over until we post our pens game recap. Enjoy....

The Steelers are looking at Chris Crocker in free agency. I personally don't know much about him, but we need all the help we can get at safety. But he did just come off a stint playing with the Falcons, so god only knows what kinda attitude this jagoff has...

The Pens look to go 2-0 with Sid back in the lineup when they face Florida tonight at 7:30. Let's hope they don't stink up the joint like they enjoy doing against crappy teams - especially crappy teams from Florida...

(Pic from steelerstuff.com)

Here we go Steelers, here we go!

Speaking of the Penguinos, PNA's boy Gary "I'll Eat Your Children" Roberts seems to be rounding into form right in time for the playoffs. The Trib is saying his goal is to play 5 regular season games to "warm up" and be ready to kick a lil' ass come playoff time.

Some people think Old Balls Roberts is too old to make an impact on our playoff run - I say he's a proven playoff winner and should be added to our playoff roster every year until he's 50. The way he was punishing people in Game 5 last season, even when it was clear we weren't going to win, was an inspiration to the guys. Plus, he scored 2 goals in 5 games, which ain't shabby for someone roughly my dad's age.

(Pic from postgazette.com)

"...and you can count, on me, waiting for you in the parking lot."

PS - I searched Google Images for this pic of Gary Roberts, like I would for any picture. But when I typed his name in, let's just say there were some images DRAWN by some jagoff named Gary Roberts, and they're f-ing crazy. I won't even link you up to Google Images they're so wild, but if you're daring, you can check it out for yourself...

In celeb news, Patrick Swayze has cancer. It's a sad day for me (and apparently Mark Madden - who knew?), mostly because I always like Road House. Luckily, the reports of him having only 5 weeks to live were untrue, but his prognosis isn't necessarily all that good. So we'll have to see how this one plays out.

And finally, It's Always Sunny in Philadephia, a show Snack and Diego both think is funny as hell, has been picked up for another season. Check it out on F/X when the new season rolls around. And don't forget to catch the series finale of The Wire on HBO. It's on Sunday night at 9, and it looks like Marlo and Chris are about to get busy livin', or get busy dyin'...It's gonna be sweet.

(Pic from hbo.com)

RIP Snoop - someone will be joinin' ya shortly girl.

Until lata...

Link's N'at

Sid the Kid will be back in action for your Pittsburgh Penguins tonight in Tampa Bay. It’s been too long - we miss ya Sid. Just for the love of god, be careful out there...

Geno “Milkman” Malkin has been honored as the NHL’s top player in the month of February. People are starting to finally catch on to the sophomore phenom...

WV made up for being embarrassed in this years football version of the Backyard Brawl by scraping up Pitt last night 76-62. Does this team even deserve to play in the NCAA tournament? I know losing Mike Cook shouldn’t hurt this bad.

Rotoworld's list of the Buccos top 10 prospects.

It’s a sad day for John Madden (and the state of Wisconsin) as the player whom they love, Brett Favre, retired today after 17 long seasons in Green Bay. How much you wanna bet the gray bush doesn't stay retired?

In true PN@ fashion here is ESPN’s Top 10 Favre career moments.

And here’s a link to a funny Madden/ Favre clip...

Old man stregnth at it's fullest...

Welcome aboard?

The Pens lost 5-1 to the Boston Bruins last night, but that might not be all they lost - uber star Marian Hossa hurt his knee, but thankfully, it doesn't appear to be all that bad. Initial indications are that he'll miss up to a week, but he's going to be re-evaluated today.

(Pic from postgazette.com)

Nice game, Conk.

Check back with PNA for an update if any more news on his injury becomes available.

As for the game, Ty Conklin looked like crap, and had to be yanked in the second. Granted, one of the goals was a deflection that he couldn't do anything about, but still, he let in a softie and didn't look as sharp as he did in his 50 save performance a few nights ago.

Pascal Dupuis looked good on the top line with Malkin and Sykora, and he also netted our only goal of the evening. I like the way he plays, and I hope we sign him for a few years after the season - he shouldn't cost all that much.

But back to Hossa. He looked pretty good out there - although that knee-to-knee hit looked bad. Hopefully Sid and him both return on Sunday...wouldn't that have this city in a frenzy? Two of the top players in league making their "comeback" performance on home ice to start the playoff push; it doesn't get any better then that.

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...

Link's N'at

ESPN does a nice story on Sid the Kid, on and off the ice. Scott Burnside wrote it, and it shows you all of the crap he has to go through on a day in, day out basis. And it also shows how Colby Armstrong and the boys keep him grounded with some practical jokes and wild revelations...

Kris Beetch is is stuck in Canada and can't play tonight against the Devils. I guess life truly is a "Beetch" up in the grizzly north (hahaha you know you love it)...

Here's a breakdown of the Big East on Fanhouse. Pitt better turn it around after that disappointing loss to Rutgers...Maybe they need Snack to meet them at Peter's Pub in Oakland and give them a Van Wilder-esque pep talk to get that fire burning again...

Plax got his Anthony Smith on yesterday by predicting the G-men would make history by defeating the Pats. Somewhere, Joe Namath is smiling (probably at a picture of Suzy Kolber while holding a tall boy in his hand...)

That's right, they're making a GI Joe movie with real people as the stars. What's next, a TV sitcom based on the movie Clueless? Oh yea, I forgot, they already did that. Surely this is a sign of the Apocalypse...

Until after the Pens game...

Pens lose 6-5 in shootout...

The Pens lost last night to the Caps, 6-5 in a shootout. I watched the entire game, and I gotta tell ya, it was not at all what I expected.

It was a high scoring game, which shocked me, seeing as Crosby, Armstrong, Hall and Roberts were all out, but it was good to see nonetheless. Granted, Olllie the Goalie always plays like crap against the Pens, and he didn't dissappoint in that regard last night, but we have to find a way to not give up 5 goals in regulation.

I think if Ty Conklin had started, he may not have let up those soft goals Sabby did, but in last night's case, I agree with Therrien for staying with him. You can't bench a goalie who pitched a shutout in the team's last game. You gotta give him a shot, so I can't blame him for it.

Malkin played well, as usual, but his two goals and one bone jarring hit on Alex Ovenchkin just wasn't enough. Our boy the Tal-bot also had a goal, but our lack of discipline in the defensive end is not a good sign. We cannot count on scoring like this every night, and, let's face it, the only way we're going to stay atop our division is with good defense and solid goaltending.

Next up for the Pens is the hated Philly Flyers...Time to get it together boys, and Ty, you gotta keep the ship from sinking my man...

In other Pens news, Sid the Kid will be out for 6-8 weeks with his high ankle sprain...That has him returning in March, so let's hope we keep on the right side of the .500 until his comeback...

Until lata, when we post a new Swineburna and possibly a new MMH...

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.

Nice little Monday...

Yesterday turned out to be a great day for your Pittsburgh sports teams, with the Pens beating the Rangers 4-1, and Pitt winning at the Pete against G-Town.

I'll start with the Pitt game, and man, what a game it was. Georgetown looked like they expected to roll right over us, but Dejuan Blair and Keith Benjamin would have none of it. Ronnie Ramon was nailing threes left and right, and we out muscled the "bigger, badder" Hoyas on the offensive boards, leaving John Thompson III in fits. And we won without Sam Young playing well, as he only scored 9 points, his first game under double digits this season.

To be honest, I thought Pitt may have some trouble in this game. G-Town was 4-1 against Pitt under J.T. III, and they are absolutely huge height-wise, so I figured they could outrebound us and just own the paint. Which they kinda did, but what we lacked on the defensive boards we picked up on the offensive ones, and our lack of height was made up for with hustle and athleticism.

It was a big win for the guys, and it finally proves they can live without Fields and Cook, at least for the time being. Kudos to Coach Dixon for not letting the guys feel sorry for themselves...Hail to Pitt!!!

As for our Pens, the only word to describe their recent run is WOW...Geno Malkin netted his second hat trick in as many weeks (hmmmm...didn't Snack mention he could go on a hat trick tear now that he scored his first one two weeks ago? Yea, he did.). I guess somebody was a little pissed they didn't make the All-Star game...(Come on, how can the NHL throw Marc Savard into the game and not Malkin? They should be ashamed of themselves, Malkin's 13th in total points in the league and 11th in scoring, and they guy who went instead of him, Savard, is 21st in points and only has 11 goals...)

Sid the Kid had two assists and Sergei Gonchar scored the other goal for the Pens, who have not lost a game in regulation (insert Les Miles joke here) since before Christmas. Everyone has been on top of their game, and Big Georges and Ryan Malone have been "handling business" with the best of them...Hell, even little Kris Letang is leveling people...

Ty "Who?" Conklin stopped a career high 43 saves, continuing his excellent goaltending. This guy is playing great, and is the major reason for us being in the midst of a 10-0-1 run...The Ty Train is rollin', and all we can do is hop on and go for the ride...

One more little note to pass on, the Steelers are planning that entertainment complex on the North Shore again...If it didn't work last time, I doubt it will work this time, but you never know...

Until lata...

Pens win 3-1...

The Pens beat the Panthers 3-1 Tuesday night in front of a much-lower-then-capacity crowd in Florida.

The goals were scored by Petr Sykora, Sid the Kid and Big Georges, and all of them came in the second period during a three minute and six second tear. To be honest, we probably should have won 6-1, that's how good our offense has been playing. We've been looking like the Pens of old during our seven game win streak (our longest in almost a decade), and even our defensemen have been getting in on the action.

I actually saw a play today where we had a breakout from our end and who was out there leading the rush, Sid the Kid, Geno Malkin, Ryan Malone? Nope, it was Brooks Orpik. The same Brooks Orpik who hasn't scored a goal in something like 2 seasons. You know you're playing with confidence when a player like him is leading the charge to the net.

Sid's goal was a thing of beauty too. He split two defensemen and then wristed one right past the goalie, a move that, as Bob Errey said, only a handful of people can actually pull off. God bless the fact that two of the maybe four or five people who can currently reside on the Pens team, and don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

And what can I say about Ty Conklin that every major media outlet hasn't already? He's playing some incredible hockey, and would have had his second shutout in a row if it wasn't for a late goal that trickled through his pads. He's won all 8 of his starts this season, and I swear to God, if he's still playing like this and Therrien yanks him to put Fluery in (when he returns), I will go down and beat some sense into that no good Frenchmen.

Three Stars

Third Star - Geno Malkin

Second Star - Ty Conklin

First Star - Sidney Crosby

Notes - The All-Star starters were announced today, and as expected, Sid the Kid led the league in votes. Surprisingly, veteran Niklas Lindstrom crept to within 30,000 votes of Crosby to lead the West All-Stars in votes. This will be Crosby's second All-Star game, and look for fellow Penguins Geno Malkin and at least Sergei Gonchar and possibly Ryan Whitney to make the squad as bench players.

Real quick post...

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you all know the Pens won 3-0 against the Panthers behind strong goaltending from Ty Conklin.

Conklin stopped 35 Panther shots to record his second shutout of the season, and has won his sixth in a row. During that run, he's only allowed 8 goals. Absolutely amazing goaltending cheif.

Geno Malkin, Sid the Kid and TK48 (Tyler Kennedy...I will make this nickname stick) all scored for the Pens, and Crosby and Malkin each added an assist. That also makes it back to back games that Geno and TK48 scored goals in, which is another very good sign for the boys.

The last thing I noticed about the game was the Pens only had one penalty the entire game, which is great to see. I'm going to take it as a sign of us maturing, but I can see some people saying they just got lucky enough not to be caught. I'll let you make the decision for yourselves...

Sorry for the quick post, as I am about to sit down and watch the Steelers beat the ever living snot out of the Jag(off)s...GO STEELERS!

Until lata...

PS - We have some very exciting news about PNA's future that we can't discuss yet, but believe me when I say it will make us bigger then Jesus (Sorry God)...More to come on that as we can release it...

---

Quickie for yinz...

Well yesterday was a sad day for Snack, as he saw White Marcus defeat him by 3 in fantasy football...Now all we can hope for is tanning shop Frank to beat the piss outta him...get em' cheif...

Now for some real news...

The Stache' must know his stuff, as he just signed three more high profile WPIAL recruits, including QB Tino Sunseri (son of famous Pitt player Sal Sunseri) from my old school, Central Catholic...why he would choose Pitt, seeing as we have about 34 QB's on scholarship, is a mystery to me, but hopefully he redshirts a year, cause I think he's gonna be a good one...the kid knows how to win...And what about the other two recruits you ask? They're two WR's who are six-feet-five and six-feet-six...I can definitely see the upside of having two huge kids like that...Plus we stole them from schools the likes of Miami, Florida and WVU...HAHAHAHA...Well played Wanny, well played...

The Pens are playing tonight on Versus at 7 PM agaisnt those tools from Philly..This could be a historic night, kinda, because only one other time have the Pens have swept a road trip 4-0 was in 1988...Not really important, but what is important is the Pens coming within 3 points of division-leading New Jersey...

And in other Pens news, Sid the Kid won the Lou Marsh Award, which is apprently a big deal to our Nieghbors to the North...My first thought was that it was an award named after Stan Marsh's Dad for taking a 9 Couric dump(please tell me you guys get the South Park reference), but apparently it's the sportsmen of the year award up there...Good work Sid...

In Steeler news, it appears Aaron Smith is done for the year...I know, I wish it were the other Smith too, that loud mouthed bastard...I don't know who's gonna fill in, but I sure hope they can do better then Nick Eason and Travis Kirschke...They're both older then my dad and I can see Jacksonville doing very bad things to them...

And finally, those hoopies in the West Virginia Band got in trouble for posting derogatory comments in their instruments...Wow, those poor bastards probably wrote "Bite me, Pitt" in their little horns and now theyre being disciplined...But, seeing as I hate everything about that state (other then legal poker games and, in two weeks, table games, of course), I think it's appropriate...I also think we should take this another step further, and have them all arrested for slander and/or harrassment depending on what the wrote...Maybe even hate crimes, seeing as they do hate us...

Until lata...and write some comments people...everyone wanted them, now we got them, and no one's made a comment besides my fat ass...I expect some funny shit guys...

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Pens win...Big Hamp eats $350K...

Well, looks like the Pens are still rolling, even after five days off...Last night, they beat the Stars 4-1 at the Igloo...

They have looked good for three games in a row, and dare I say it, may be on a hot streak...The fourth line has really picked it up, with Big Georges looking like the player we traded for and Tyler Kennedy providing hustle and an offensive spark...of course, I call these guys fourth liners but God only knows where they will end up on any given night, since Coach Therrien changes his lines every other shift...

And, as with any good winning streak, the big time players have been performing very well, with Sid the Kid scoring twice last night and Geno Malkin adding another...These two, along with Marc the Flower (who has looked good now two games in a row), are the cornerstones of this team, and they must perform well if we have any hope of taking home the Cup this season...

And finally, a random note from the sports page today...

Four Steeler players were subpoenaed in the Hines Ward bar case...Ike Taylor, Big Hamp, Deshea, and Nate Washington all got the nod...I don't understand what the hell these four could have to do with anything, so basically I think some jackass lawyer is trying to get his name in the news...Unless, of course, the charges are eating the $350k thats missing...Then Big Hamp may be someone to look at...

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Pens lose, Pitt wins...

Doesn't quite sound right does it? It's not very often PNA gets to sing the praises of the Panthers and bash the Pens on the same day, but I'll give it a shot...

The Pens squandered yet another two goal lead in a 3-2 loss to the hated Islanders last night...

Sid has been one of the few bright spots this season...

They looked OK, seeing as they had some chances (including Sid ringing one of the crossbar) but just couldn't capitalize...and what really pisses me off is old man Al Arbour got a win in his swan song, coaching his 1500th game...Fluery was alright, making a ton of saves, but the goals he did allow were partly his fault, partly just shitty luck (pucks bouncing off boards, etc...). I am sticking with my comment about needing a new, veteran goalie to be competitive..Marty Turco anyone?

As for our Panthers, they actually won, beating Syracuse 20-17 at Heinz Field yesterday..Shady McCoy was a beast again and the special teams contributed two big returns that lead to points...I didn't like the fact that we couldn't punch it in in the first when we had the ball on the 1, but, considering all we've seen this year, I'll take a win any way it comes...

Thank God Shady is a freshman...

Until tomorrow, when our Steelers will be eating Raven for dinner...

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Pens lose 3-2...and a link or two...

The Pens lost last night, 3-2 to the Colorado Avs...It was an OK game, with the Pens jumping out to a 2-0 lead, but, of course, the hometown Avs made a rousing comeback and put young Danny Sabourin in his place...At least Sid had two goals, maybe this and his four point game against the Wild will get him back on his usual God-like pace...

Hang your head buddy, hang your head ...

It looks like no matter who we have in the crease, the soft goals continue...I think we may need to get another goaltender for the stretch run if we plan on winning the Cup this year...Maybe a Chris Osgood sighting? And what ever happened to Moose, he'd be a great fit...Here's a recap of the game from ESPN for you to check out...

As far as last night went, we went to the William Penn Tavern in Shadyside...since Snack's back was in shambles he wasn't there long enough to review the bar, but he did notice low priced drinks and that the waitresses were pretty good lookin...All in all, not a bad joint, definitely worthy of your time...

For links, I'm only going to put up a couple this morning as Diego (hopefully) is doing a bunch of links and his usual Pens recap for this afternoon...

Hope you like re-runs...The Writers Guild of America is discussing walking out, which would mean production would halt on all shows using WGA writers...so basically everything but reality tv...God help us all...

Please, WGA, don't let this be all we see on TV...

Finally, it looks like Dog got ratted out by his own son, Tucker...It was Tucker's girlfriend Dog was going off about, but I think old Tucker's just pissed cause he's never on the show. His cage fighting, bounty hunting, Dog loving brother Leland is gonna beat the snot outta him...

Would you want this big-eared bastard coming after you?

Until lata...

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