Crosby's still on Ice, Jeffrey with possible ligament damage and the Test tube is fully repaired.

Some injury updates for everyone regarding Sidney Crosby, Dustin Jeffrey, and Mark Letestu. Letestu who's been out with some shoulder soreness is going to be back in the line up with the first line between Kovalev and Neal. In even strength situations this line combination has scored three points in the short time they've been together, as well as two points on the powerplay while sharing center duties with Jordan Staal. The last time Letestu came back from injury after missing an entire month he had a goal and an assist on February 26th against the Maple Leafs during the 6-5 slugfest.

Letestu is hoping to come out and have a repeat of that performance putting points on the board for the Pens; "I just talked to coach and he's throwing me out there," Letestu said during an interview after the morning skate. "It's like Groundhog Day for me. I've been through this once before. Hopefully, I'll have the same kind of game that I had coming back from the other injury tonight." Letestu was recently awarded with the Penguins Rookie of the Year honors, despite missing 18 games. So far for the year he has 12G and 12A in 58 games played.

In this edition of what seems like Injured Centers Weekly, we also have Dustin Jeffrey who underwent an MRI recently. Bylsma had this to say about the knee ailment: "Jeffrey had an MRI yesterday and there is some damage to his knee. It needs further evaluation to determine how much it is at this point and time. There's no timetable right now, but it did show some damage. They need to do further investigation to as much as it is." I would wager to guess that Jeffrey probably has some ligament damage and won't be returning unless it's in the deep rounds of the playoffs.  Jeffrey will be sorely missed for moments like these:

Beating two of the best goaltenders in the game with virtually the same shot? That will be missed indeed. Jeffrey added a lot of value to this team during it's injury ridden season. Jeffrey produced 7goals and 5assists in the 25games he played, ending at a +5 and averaging 13:19 TOI in games, his longest night was a 17:14 minute run against Montreal where he was held scoreless. His best performance was against Boston where he scored  2 goals off 4 shots in 14:51 total ice time., including the game winner above on Tim Thomas. Jeffrey's play this year most likely has earned him a permanent spot on the roster depending on how contracts and training camp go next offseason.

Now for the big Bing, Sidney Crosby. He's been practicing more and more, with more intense skating session each time and it is rumored he will be out on the ice in full practices with the team within the next week or so. It's possible he could get time in before the start of the Playoffs but might be unlikely in order to preserve him for the first round. While it would be ideal to have him out with Neal and Kovalev as soon as possible to gel with these two very big and very different forwards, we will only have practice to look forward to for now. Take a look at the most recent video from Crosby's practice this morning 3/29:


Up and down both ends of the ice balancing the puck on the stick between the two goals and trying to set up for a shot off the faceoff circle. Having just hit the ice, literally (only once!), recently I can tell you that doing that isn't easy, and it's good to see his hand eye coordination isn't affected all too terribly much. His shots look much more accurate than ever, but it could be a byproduct of not having seen him play in so long. Penguins nation and the rest of the hockey world are waiting with bated breath and mixed emotions on the return of Sidney Crosby. Will the young phenom return at the dominating pace he was at before the injury? Scoring 66points (32goals 34assists) in 44 games, or will his timing and shots be off? From the looks of the video, I'd say a 75% healthy Crosby is going to dominate anyone who gets in his way.

A concussion may have knocked him down a peg and sent him back to reality after the punishment he was dishing out, but don't expect him to be afraid of players, playing away from the dangerous situations anymore than he already does or missing too many shots wide or over the net. He definitely still has the accuracy, the will and determination to win, so the other 15 teams going to the playoffs will need to start preparing for a Penguins team that once again has it's shining star on the ice.

To be sure we're not discussing only our centers, Brent Johnson was healthy and back out on the ice today for the Penguins, and as a result of that the Pens have sent Thiessen back to the AHL and the baby Pens. WBS beat the Hershey Bears yesterday to continue their dominance of the AHL, even without the best goaltender in the league. Johnson will not be in net tonight against the Flyers, as newly coined MVP Marc Andre-Fleury will be in net tonight facing off against them in his 5th straight game. Unlike the others however, this one cannot go into overtime and must end in regulation.

"If I had to vote for the Hart Trophy, the Hart in my heart would be 'Flower.'"- Max Talbot after this mornings skate.

Crosby's on ice. 3-25-2011 Jeffrey down and out.

He is looking better and better every damn time he goes out there and hits the ice. This time the waterbottle plays victim to Crosby's shot, watch it explode in the video. Thiessen is the goalie on net, best goalie in the AHL but up against a practicing Sid? No chance.

In other news, yesterday during the game against Philly, in a hit similar to the one that Malkin took in the Sabres game that ended his season, Dustin Jeffrey went down in a heap and couldn't get himself off the ice and had to be helped off. Jeffrey is listed with a leg injury, and most likely won't suit up again for the Penguins this season. Due to this injury Mike Comrie has finally been called up from I.R to play again, even after I said he probably wouldn't. I wished he wouldn't because the guys we had were all gelling together but here we are, against the Devils tonight, with Thiessen most likely in goal and Comrie heading the top line? This Season gets stranger and stranger as the days go on.

If the Penguins win tonight in regulation or OT and the Canes lose in regulation, the Penguins will clinch their Playoff berth and we can all breathe a sigh of relief that it's finally settled.

Penguins Recall Brad Thiessen from WBS; Orpik practices with team, travels to Philly.

Due to personal reasons/undisclosed injury Brent Johnson is not able to be in attendance with the team, this means that another call up from Wilkes-Barre is happening. This time though they're calling in for the force field that is known as Brad Thiessen, the number one goalie in the AHL with a .924 save percentage 1.88GAA, 7 shutouts and a record of 32-7-1! All the best for BBJ and his reason for being away during this tough two game stretch. The question now, do the Devils see Thiessen or will he battle Bobrovsky in Philly?

In other news Brooks "Crazy Eyes aka Free Candy" Orpik is back at practice and expected to return to duty on Tuesday against Philly for round 2 at home in Consol. Bylsma hopes to have him back for the last 5-6 regular season games and of course for the full stint of the playoffs. This means that Lovejoy will most likely go back to being either undressed or sharing time with Engelland. This is very good news for the P.K and Defense, as one of the last pieces available to come back to the team is about to be set back into place.

Waiting patiently for Sidney Crosby.

Crosby's on Ice.

Sid is out practicing again on the ice, doing more stick handling drills and shooting. At this point, with Crosby being 8th in goals scored after missing 200 games this season, I'll take a 50% concussed Sid the Kid over 90% of the NHL.

Niskanen with the Flu, 2 Wilkes Barre Boys called up on defense.

During Sundays game against Edmonton the Penguins had to use five defensivemen because of Matt Niskanen's bout with the flu. It appears he is still battling with that illness and did not travel with the team to Ottawa to play against the Senators. Paul Martin also did not skate this morning however will be playing in the game tonight along with Kris Letang. With that being the case the Penguins had called up two d'men for the game tonight against the Senators. From Wilkes-Barre Scranton the Penguins have called up Corey Potter (left) and Steve Wagner.

Potter in his first season with the Wilkes Barre Boys is putting up 27 points in 62 games, only two goals but with 25 assists to back it up he knows how to get it to the guys who need it, and how to get pucks on net to create rebound opportunities. Potter has played a few NHL games with the Rangers and scored a goal and an assist. With Potters propensity to help others score lets hope he can help light the lamp tonight.

Wagner (right) is in his second year with the Wilkes-Barre Pens and  has 26 points of his own in 64 games this year, scoring five goals and tallying 21 assists. Wagner has played in 46 career games so far in the NHL, all of those games were played with the St. Louis Blues. In his tenure there as a Blue, he was able to tally four goals and eight assists for 12 points in the NHL.

With Paul Martin and Kris Letang ready to go on defense, Corey Potter has been slated as starting as well tonight, unknown yet if Wagner will be included in the line up sharing time with Potter, but Corey will definitely be out on the starting six on Defense.

Crosby's on ice.

Sidney Crosby beats the entire Capitals line at the Verizon Center, December 23rd, 2010.

Well after what seemed like four seasons off the ice, Crosby is back out there working the wheels and doing some stick handling. Don't expect anything too quickly most likely the first round of the Playoffs if at all. There is the possibility he could of been working out at home, staying in shape when he can while preparing with the team as best he could and studying his opposition night in and night out...I hope at least.

Either way, the league should be afraid. James Neal with Sidney Crosby and Alexei Kovalev?! Letang and Orpik on the first line D? In the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs? Possibly against Washington or Tampa Bay? Are you serious? This is shaping up to be something scary for the other teams, not so much for Crosby.

One step at a time, and it will all piece itself back together.

Pens win in Regulation, Bylsma wins for the next 3 years.

So lots has been happening since I wrote my game day for the devils game, a game I'd rather not speak about after Brent Johnson couldn't recover in overtime. A game that had horrible foreshadowing for the events that took place in Boston afterward. Seeing Fleury on the ice in OT against Boston not being able to get up in time was scarily reminiscent to the night before but I digress, we won that game and I'll admit, I could watch Dustin Jeffrey score that goal in OT all day long, so join me.

Then finally, in what took about exactly a month, the Penguins won in regulation against the Sabres, who if anyone was paying attention, haven't beaten the Penguins in two seasons, 0-6. Felt good, the game was good, Neal got his first goal as a Penguin and first goal in I think 15 games or so, it was a long drought. Then, out of no where Zybenek Michalek, lets two rippers go through for goals, one was a letestu deflection, Pen's fans everywhere went ballistic. Chris Kunitz was a game time decision against Buffalo but he still came out and played hard, we now have almost all the pieces back, but are starting to run out of room on the board to put them.

Michalek vs the World. Michalek 2-0

This Injury list used to be about 40 pages long, but now it's down to about one. Arron Asham, Nick Johnson and Eric Tangradi are still suffering from concussion like symptoms along with Sidney Crosby, Crosby unfortunately hasn't been practicing, or even working out. Mike Comrie is still out nursing his hip injury like your grandparents, Malkin is well yeah we all know that, Brooks Orpik continues to miss time for a couple more weeks with his broken finger. Any Wilkes-Barre Scranton Pen's that were on injured reserve prior to March 1st, are not eligible for the AHL playoffs.

Somehow, the Penguins have stayed within 2 points of the Flyers, despite missing almost all of their players and their two biggest stars. That somehow? Well it would have to be the exceptional work ethic and coaching of one "Disco" Dan Bylsma. After capturing his 100th win he celebrated his 2 year anniversary with the Pens. It looks like we'll be getting a chance at one point to possibly celebrate half a decade of Disco's tutelage.He became the third fastest coach in Penguins history to record 100 wins, and already has won the Stanley Cup for the 'guins.

It's very obvious that he and Ray Shero have a very good working relationship, and they see eye to eye on where the team needs improvement, where it is exceptional and where to take it in the future. “Dan has very quickly established himself as one of the best coaches in the National Hockey League,” Shero said. “He has been a perfect fit for our organization since day one, and we look forward to having him leading our team for the next three seasons." Shero went on to compliment his coach even more saying, “I think what we’ve been able to accomplish so far his season, even with players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal out of the lineup for extended periods of time, is a testament to his coaching system, his adaptability, and his composure under pressure.”

Bylsma essentially was not very removed from the league before coming back to Coach after retiring as a player. Pascal Dupuis, then with the Minnesota Wild played against Bylsma in the 2003 Western Conference finals.  During his 2 year anniversary moments with the team Fleury had very good words to say about his coach; “I think since the first day he came in, he’s always had the same attitude... We buy into his system and play the way he wants – (which is) always play for the next shift, no matter what happens. Just keep playing and keep playing hard. I think he showed that we can win that way, and he’s a guy that, even through tough times, stays positive.”


A key trait to have when your team is suffering as many injuries as this one, yet still only 2 points out of first place in the East. Congratulations again to Disco Dan for this new contract and additional congrats to James Neal and Zybenek Michalek for breaking their scoring droughts, and of course congrats to the team for taking 2 points in regulation time again!

Canadiens on Saturday at home in PA. Lets go Pens!

Penguins injury news 3-1-2011

So the Penguins survived February, but it wasn't pretty. Finishing 6-6-2 in February, the Penguins went through a slew of injuries, made 2 trades with one being a long term acquisition, and saw the debacle on Long Island take place.

Somehow, the Pen's have survived this onslaught of terrible by simply adapting and overcoming. Using a constant up and down stream of Wilkes-Barre boys to keep the line up full of healthy bodies, and a little wheeling and dealing the team has been able to stay in the race, playing .500 hockey. It's been obvious they wouldn't need to do much more than this to make it into the playoffs, but it's the state of the team after getting to playoffs that many are worried about.

Nick Johnson, Arron Asham, Eric Tangradi, and Sidney Crosby are still out with concussion like symptoms. There is absolutely no news on Sidney Crosby, other than speculation. Notably, involving the Jason Arnott trade to Washington, it was speculated that the Penguins were also attempting to get Arnott but nothing ever materialized that Shero liked, so is this because they're worried that Crosby isn't going to be back at all this season, or was it simply to replace Geno for the time being while he is out with his torn MCL? Until Sid ever comes back that question may go unanswered.

Chris Kunitz participated in his first full practice today, and also participated in this month's mustache boy competition. Kunitz lost and is March's mustache boy. Zybenek Michalek is smiling with a lot less facial hair somewhere right now. It is still unknown when Kunitz will be back but it would factor to be relatively soon. Having Kunitz back with new additions Neal and Kovalev along with Letestu being back is a huge help to bolstering the offense.

Paul Martin and Tyler Kennedy will return to action tomorrow night in Toronto, this is good news as T.K went down prior to the game against Toronto on Saturday after practice. Paul Martin was injured by Sharpe of the Blackhawks on the 20th of February, after missing four games there was a noticeably large hole on defense in all of the matches Martin was missing in action. Losing Brooks Orpik also did not help the defensive corps any, after seeing all the previous injuries to the forwards, go figure after trading Goligoski the Pens lose two guys on defense.

Orpik is still on 3 weeks of additional recovery time for a broken finger, but is very expectant of coming back to play for the Pens in April to wrap up the season. Considering there are only 18 games left they need everyone healthy and back for the playoffs.

Brent Johnson is fully recovered and participated in the mustache boy shootout as a goalie. Dustin Jeffrey returned to play against the Hurricanes and Toronto during the back to back play. So the players who have returned or are returning are Dustin Jeffrey, Mark Letestu (19 days healing for a 4-6week injury), Tyler Kennedy, and Paul Martin. Chris Kunitz will join them some time next week most likely.

The biggest question though? Where in the world is Sidney Crosby?

Orpik has broken finger and will miss 4 weeks.

After blocking a shot in the first period of the game against San Jose last night, Brooks Orpik has officially been added to the ever increasing injury list. A list that hopefully is going to decrease after this weekend's games. Brooks had left the game early in the first after diving to block a shot from Marleau. It hit him in the hand and he never returned to the game.

Bylsma after this morning's practice finally let out the news that he has a break in one of his fingers and he is going to miss at least 4 weeks. Thankfully Paul Martin was back at practice this morning and was skating with Letang, it looks like Paul will be in the number one defensive pairing. Thanks to having Niskanen acquired we have a full squad of NHL D'men, so here is hoping Martin can get back into his wheels and Niskanen can get used to the system.

You will be sorely missed Crazy Eyes...

Penguins injury news 2-23-2011

This injury list keeps getting longer, and the Day to Day, is week to week. Upper Body injuries are codeword for Concussion, and bodies are hitting the floor instead of gliding over the ice majestically. Practices don't make perfect, they make players audition for mayor of Injury city, currently held by Evgeni Malkin and his season ending knee injury.

Ten players this list is up to now with it's most recent addition of Paul Martin after taking a hit by Patrick Sharpe in the game against the Blackhawks sunday. Martin did not play against the Caps, and isn't set to play against the Sharks either, he is listed Day to Day. Martin did however skate prior to practice this morning, along with Chris Kunitz, Arron Asham, and Mike "Hillary wants me traded to San Jose" Comrie. Mark Letestu has also been working out more and could possibly return as early as Friday against Carolina, but more modestly some time next week.

Letestu does feel confident in his knee however, "It's been 18 days today," he said, "and I don't feel (discomfort in the left knee) anymore." Mark has stated several times he feels like he could play as soon as this weekend, which is pretty good for an original 4-6 week prognosis of his condition. The rookie was producing very well for the Penguins in the face off circle winning more than 52% of his faceoff's taken and putting up 20 points (10g 10a) in the 50 games played this season. When asked about how long he felt he needed to return? "Next week, I don't doubt it. That's a modest goal."

Four players are suffering from concussion like symptoms. Arron Asham, Eric Tangradi, Nick Johnson, and Sidney Crosby. Nick Johnson was listed as an upper body injury up until Bylsma recently admitted that he is actually suffering from a Concussion. There is still no word on Crosby if he'll be back in March or not, speculatively he may not even be back this season period, let alone for the playoffs.

So now the Penguins look to their new additions in Neal and Niskanen to help right the ship and keep a team healthy and getting healthier by the day. The two had not yet seen time on the ice until last night, but did get a chance to practice this morning with the team and are going to be in the starting line ups against the Sharks. Neal will be on the first line with Staalsy and Kennedy. Niskanen will be doing 3rd line Defensive duties with Engelland and Lovejoy with some P.K sprinkled in for good measure.

Penguins Injury woes continue, 3 players now suffering Concussion like symptoms.

During Penguins practice today a couple new faces were welcomed back onto the ice in Kunitz and Letestu, however neither will be joining the team this Sunday against the defending champion Blackhawks.  Dustin Jeffrey is also not expected to play this weekend and is still recovering. It is now being reported that Arron Asham's injury to his upper body, is actually concussion like symptoms.

"Arron Asham, we listed him as upper-body, he has been experiencing concussion-like symptoms. Day-to-day is not accurate at this point in time. He has been progressing." stated head coach Bylsma, "He hasn't gone to exercise. That's where Arron's at."

This leaves Sidney Crosby, WBS Penguins AHL top prospect Eric Tangradi, and now Arron Asham with concussion like symptoms, which essentially means that they all have concussions. What this means to each of them individually in the future of their careers will differ between the three, but neither of them will be the same they were before.

In addition to that, Nick Johnson a recent WBS call up is also suffering an injury that he received to his upper body during practice today. This is the fourth player to be injured during or after practice this year and the trend is not a good one for this battered squad. Penguins management will have to call up yet another Wilkes-Barre boy from the AHL and after sending Wallace back down expect to see a new face in the headline, there are only 2 players left on two-way contracts so the options are becoming limited.

Malkin is on his first week of rehab and was walking around the practice rink this morning. There is still no change in Sidney Crosby's status but most don't expect to hear word until early March. Thankfully the Penguins are one step closer to receiving Chris Kunitz and Mark Letestu back into their line-ups and considering Chris Kunitz would bring back one of the top 5 scorers on the team it is a welcome return. Getting Letestu back means that the team will get a player who is hot in the faceoff circle winning 52% of his draws taken this year, one can only hope that would continue after a few calibration games.

Picking up the win in Colorado was big, but the Pen's now go on to face five teams in 7 days,  including three games on the road. They'll face Chicago first on Sunday however on NBC as part of USA Hockey's "Hockey Day in America" campaign trying to raise awareness of the game across the country. So if you haven't put one on already today, remember to dawn your Hockey jersey and team colors today.

Disco Dan turns two, and some injury news.

Dan Bylsma, great coach, or greatest coach? Michael Therrien at this point in the season two years ago had our Penguins just shy above .500 and a dark year in Pittsburgh was looming on the horizon. Enter Bylsma, who was coaching the WBS penguins at the time prior to being called up as the interim coach in 2009. Bylsma went on to coach the team to the playoffs, and their first championship since 1992.

Four months after becoming head coach Bylsma and the Penguins won the Stanley cup in dramatic game 7 fashion. Ray Shero and Pens nation never looked back. Why should they? In the recent CBC poll 21% of 318 players asked, said they wanted to dance with Disco Dan as a coach.

He's got the smile, he's got the wit, he's got the leadership skills, the know how, the work ethic, and many many more positive adjectives that describe him as a person, coach, and hockey player.

Bylsma played for the L.A Kings from 96-99 and for the Anaheim Ducks from 00-04 in his 9 year career as a winger in the NHL. He totaled 220 games for the kings scoring 9 goals and getting 17 assists. With the Ducks, Bylsma played 204 games scoring 10 goals and 21 assists.

As a head coach Bylsma has led only two teams, both being in the Penguins family of organizations, but assisted on two other clubs. He was assistant on the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL team, and the New York Islanders, he also suffered his first loss as head coach on Long Island.

As he stands now, Dan Bylsma has led the Penguins to 100 victories in only 163 games. He is the third yet fastest Penguin coach to achieve this mark, and 5th fastest coach overal in the NHL. When he came in as interim coach in the championship season he led the team to an 18-3-4 record and onto hoisting the cup in the early weeks of June. In the 09-10 season he would go on to be 47-28-7 leading the team to the second round of the playoffs where unfortunately they were stopped short by a monolithic performance by then Hab's goalie Jaroslav Halak.

So far this year Bylsma has the Penguins sitting at 4th place in the league, with a record of 35-19-4 but his team this year went from all smiles and cheer to frown town, USA, population Penguins. Not for lack of coaching or work ethic, but from injury after injury after injury. 2010 was very good to the Penguins and Bylsma this season. Sidney Crosby saw a 25 game point streak, and the team turned around a slow start into 12 straight wins.

2011 on the other hand, has been nothing but adversity for the Penguins. Beginning with the Winter Classic on New Years day. A game that was supposed to be played in the early afternoon, which got delayed to 5pm, then finally 8pm before the final decision was made that it was best weather supporting as a night game. Crosby and Steckel meet each other and we all know about that. A game later Hedman heads Sid into the boards, and now he hasn't played a game since the first week of January, and isn't healthy enough to work out in hard skate sessions yet.

Now it's February, and the teams Injury woes are borderline disastrous. This month alone the Penguins have lost Evgeni Malkin for the year, Chris Kunitz (now day to day) going on 3 weeks, Arron Asham (day to day) for 2 weeks, Mark Letestu for 4-6 weeks however he participated in a light skate today, Dustin Jeffrey has gone down for a week and will possibly miss more time while getting used to his new knee brace, AHL prospect and recent call up Eric Tangradi is also still suffering from Concussion like symptoms after the Gillies run, and Mike Comrie has been wasting space on the IR all year for a hip injury.


To add insult to injury, Matt Cooke is serving his 4th and final game of a suspension against the Av's on wednesday, this off of the hit to Tyutin, and Eric Godard is serving 9 more games of a 10 game suspension for leaving the bench on Friday to come act as Brent Johnson's defense attorney. So the Penguins are down 9 players and only have 2 people left on 2 way contracts that can be called up from WBS to play for the 'guins. It is essential at this point the team get healthy and disciplined.

As stated before, the Penguins were in good shape for all of these terrible things to happen record wise. It's just that they really didn't need for any of it to go down like it did, then you throw a bus accident in New York into the mix and well things are the way they are. The team is more than dinged up, and it's morale is a little low with out it's all star leadership but they are still keeping their heads held high, in the hopes they overcome this adversity.

This team only needs to play .500 hockey to win out the rest of the year. Ironically, the opposite scenario of when Bylsma took over the team 2 years ago where they were at .500 hockey and needed a big boost to get to the end. Now all they need to do is simply limp in and use their exceptional work ethic on Defense and Penalty Killing to make a deep playoff run, a run that will hopefully include Sidney Crosby, and his six injured teammates.

The greatest thing Penguins nation could hope for right now is a solid turn around in the months of March and April heading into the post season, solid seeding and a deep deep run to the Cup finals to eventually hoist the giant chalice for a fourth time and second in three years, overcoming the odds and injuries to be crowned champions.

Penguins vs Islanders... Hate fueled rant? Nah. Game Recap

My God...

346 Penalty minutes, from 14 fighting majors, and 21 game misconducts. What the hell...? I said the Isles were expecting to get physical, but this was an all out brawl Royal Rumble style.

 "The first half of the game, was a hockey game." said Dan Bylsma during the post game press conference, "The second half of the game, was not. I certainly did not anticipate the third period looking like that." When Bylsma was asked if he expected the game in April to be similar, "It's tough to forget a game like that." Hopefully, we don't get another fiasco like the show in Long Island last night when the Penguins go back April 8th, it was a disgrace.

Between Gilles at the end of the game taunting an injured and concussed Tangradi, Martin making a run at Talbot near center ice trying to sucker punch him, the slash on Letangs right knee before the end of the first period, the fact that the Islanders kept taunting Fleury in the 2nd period and coming down and giving him crap, OR the fact that they did run Johnson into the net twice, one time taking out both him and Letang, but this game pissed me off to new heights.


Gilles taunting Tangradi, fan filmed:


Right out the gate in the first period, it looked like we were going to be treated to a long, cold night on Long Island, and that could not have been more true. Speaking of gates, by the end of the game, an iron gate was put up in the runway between locker rooms. The Isles came out tough, as was expected, there was good hitting in the first, but unfortunately for the Penguins, there was a lot of offense... 4 goals by the Isles they slipped passed Johnson in the first. Talk about getting revenge for a fight. Johnson did stop a penalty shot but that's basically about the extent of Johnson's saves.

Sadly that wasn't it. When the second period begins, we're barely three minutes into it before 2 more goals are scored. After an all line scrum, Bylsma decides to put Fleury in, and honestly, I have absolutely no idea why he even bothered to shake Fleury's confidence. As expected, the Isles were not going to let up in this game and they end up dumping 2 more past Fleury himself. The Penguins did get 2 goals off of a 5 minute Power Play after the first all team scrum. Letang and Staal tallied the power play goals.

In the video above you basically get the run down of all the fights, penalties, the cheap run, everything. You also get the Tangradi hit that leads to his concussion symptoms, and the fact that Gilles is a complete and utter asshole. You also see Haley and Johnson fight, as Big Brent Johnson will fight you if you come at him, I can only presume that was the other reason why Disco Dan put BBJ back in the net, the first being to save Fleury from these animals.

After the second all line scrum and another 5 minute power play situation for the Penguins. Tyler Kennedy scores another goal, whoopdedoo it's 8-3. The fighting didn't end after the second all team scrum. Vitale got into it at the end, in what was literally the longest Pens game of the regular season so far, that didn't go into overtime. I blame the ref's and coaches not knowing what to do with who was left.

By the end of this game I think the Penguins had about 2 guys on the bench, 5 guys on the ice, with guys in the box through the whole game basically. Despite all of that, Vitale still threw down, I guess he was feeling left out.

So Thursday Bylsma receives his 100th win as a Penguin's coach. Friday night Bylsma is treated to a $10,000.00 fine and is under review for an automatic Suspension. He watched his team fall into utter disarray until Goddard spared him anymore punishment by leaping off the bench to 'save' Johnson, who doesn't need saving. Goddard gets an automatic 10 game suspension and Bylsma is asked to leave. Not too big of a deal I guess considering Godard hasn't performed well and only basically instigates at this point, we have Engelland for that. Tangradi, as I said above suffered a hit in the final minutes of the third period, and is suffering from concussion type symptoms. This means that the Penguins have lost 2 more forwards and have already made an extra call up from Wilkes-Barre for tomorrow's afternoon game against the Rangers.


The good news? Talbot and crew don't seem to be too dejected from this game, as they were all smiles riding in the Cab's to Central Park to practice on an outdoor rink today. The team dressed at MSG but after their bus encountered an accident had to get off and get the cabs. Hard birthday for Talbot last night but he's a hockey player and he'll get over it.

I leave you with Steigerwalds disgust at this game. One of Steigerwalds finer moments, especially after the first period he said P.A Parentaeu was his friggen boy. Steiggy...

Dustin Jeffrey suffers lower body injury, out tonight against Isles. Eric Tangradi called up from Scranton.

Jeffrey suffered a lower body injury to his right leg in the third period of last nights game against the Kings. Jeffrey did not travel with the team to Long Island as he his staying in Pittsburgh for evaluation. It is unknown yet the extent of the injury but he most likely will join a list of depleted team members consisting of Sidney Crosby, (16th game), (Y)Evgeni Malkin, (8th game since knee soreness prior to MCL/ACL long term IR) Mark Letestu, (7th game) Aaron Asham, (6th game) Chris Kunitz (3rd game), and Mike Comrie, who has been on Injured Reserve since December 10th, missing his 41st total game of the season.

Jeffrey was making a statement for himself as a sure fill in for a long time on this Penguins roster, hopefully his injury is not severe and he can rejoin the team when they face the Rangers on Sunday.

As a result of Jeffrey not being able to make the trip to Long Island, Eric "Big Dog" Tangradi was called up to do battle with the Islanders. The team he did best against in his three game stint with the Penguins before being called back down to Wilkes-Barre.

Penguins Injury news for 2-10-11

Just some quick updates on a few players who are still out.

Chris Kunitz is out for about the next 4-6 days with his lower body injury. It's still unknown what the actual extent of the injury is but Chris will be out of action until next week.

Evgeni Malkin underwent successful knee surgery and is expected back in 6 months for training camp.

Sidney Crosby arrived in Pittsburgh today and was immediately hounded by press in the locker room.



He says he's better but still isn't practicing full time. Doctors told him to skip town, no surprise there really. Still no timetable for when he'll be returning. Some Penguins fans frustrations are starting to reach a boiling point regarding the Crosby situation, however patience must be taken into account while he heals up.

Arron Asham is still out with his injury to the upper body and was not practicing today and is still not expected to return any time soon.

Big shoes to fill for the 4 boys from Wilkes-Barre coming into the lineup tonight.

Evgeni Malkin to undergo surgery for torn ACL and MCL. Out 6 months.

Malkin is gone for the next 6 months. He will be back in time to report for training camp in September but the Penguins are without his services for the remainder of this season. There was a delay in deciding whether to go into surgery or not while the knee lost some of it's swelling, but the rehab option isn't there so he will have to go under the knife tomorrow.

Injury woes continue for the Penguins, but hopefully will end soon as the dawn of Crosby comes back over the horizon.

Evgeni Malkin suffers torn ACL and MCL vs Sabres

Pretty sure that lady by Kunitz is crying. I don't blame her.

Well, most of us pretty much feared the worst, except for ESPN but I digress, when Malkin went down after the hit by Myers in the opening minutes of the 2nd period. The Pens have been driving without Malkin, but to get him back only to have him quickly and painfully taken away from the team? No one would of expected that, a bit of a scoring slump for a game or so but not a possibly season ending injury. This is definitely long term IR and it could be career altering in the future after rehab.

Thank god Dustin Jeffrey is still getting lucky bounces and producing. 2 goals against the Sabres already.The kid is filling in very nicely for us and will obviously be long term now that the Penguins have lost Malkin and Letestu at center.

Letestu is gone for 4-6 weeks. Malkin back in lineup against Buffalo.

I still find this funny for whatever reason. 

Letestu will undergo surgery to his knee and will be missing 4-6 weeks of time, this is another blow in a long line of recent team injuries. The crack in the Test Tube means that the Penguins are now without the services of 3 of their centers, but really Mike Comrie shouldn't count because he ... we won't even go there yet. Sidney Crosby will miss his 12th regular season game on Friday, Letestu will be missing his 3rd game, Aaron Asham his 2nd, however thankfully there is a bit of good news.

Evgeni Malkin has signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers!

Just kidding, but he will be back on the ice against Buffalo and back in the lineup.A much, much, much needed addition to an injury depleted Center corps. Geno practiced hard the past few days and should come out strong against the Sabres at home on Friday night.

Remember everyone going to the game on Friday, bring those terrible towels and keep them swinging. Speaking of terrible towels, check this ridiculousness out. http://twerribletowel.com/