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.

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.

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.

Wallace called up, headed to Chicago with the Pens.

Tim Wallace was recalled yet again by Shero to the Penguins for this weekend's scrum against the Blackhawks. The recent recall is due in part to Nick Johnson's injury to his lower body that he suffered during practice a few days ago. At this point it is very clear that the Penguins must eliminate all practice for the end of the year due to injury. Not really, but this is the fourth time so far this year a player was injured significantly during practice.

Soon the Penguins will be getting Chris Kunitz, and Dustin Jeffrey back but there is still no word on Mark Letestu, Arron Asham, or Eric Tangradi, two of which are suffering Concussion like symptoms. Slowly but surely the Penguins team will piece itself back together. Which of these prospects will become involved in a trade closer to the deadline if any is less clear of a picture but the fuzz is starting to dissipate and we'll know soon enough what Shero wants to do.

Tim "I want to call him William" Wallace reassigned to WBS.

 
Well the Baby Pens get one of their scorers back for a while after a 6 minute lack of performance from Wallace in the game against the Avalanche. Between the slow going for Wallace in the NHL and the return of Matt Cooke this coming Sunday, Tim finds himself back on the way to Scranton. Wallace's efforts are still highly valued and necessary even in an under performing game.

Tim Wallace reassigned to the Penguins from AHL Wilkes-Barre.

Well didn't think it would take too long before a call up was made. Was just a matter of who it was going to be, the info just came off the presses and it looks like Tim "I want to call him William" Wallace is on his way to N.Y for the battle against the Rangers at 3:00pm tomorrow.

Wallace didn't get much production in the 2 previous games he appeared in however he did get into a fight, and as we all know, the Penguins do that more than anybody in the league. This game though Tim, why don't we try for an assist or a goal on the board instead of 5 minutes in the box.

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.

Pens call up four new WBS Penguins to NHL line up this morning.

Around 9am four new Wilkes-Barre Scranton Pens got the call up to action for the NHL. Nick Johnson, Brett Sterling, Ryan Craig, and Joe Vitale.

Nick is the leading scorer for the WBS Pens.He has tallied 20G 19A and 10 PP goals.

Ryan Craig has 13G and 20A in 49 games.

Brett Sterling is tied with Johnson at 39points 18G 21A.

Vitale has produced as well putting up 8 goals but also 19 assists.

 After Wallace and Tangradi went back to WBS yesterday it was questioned if Kunitz or Asham were coming back but as of practice this morning neither took the ice. These four gentleman will be plugged into the appropriate roles against the King's tonight. Since the entire team isn't too up to speed on the King's game, extra meetings are scheduled to go over tendencies and strategy. 

Welcome back to the big time Baby Pens.

Two Baby Pens sent back to Wilkes-Barre.

Eric Tangradi and Tim Wallace are recalled back to WBS Penguins today, but the pair could very well be called up again tomorrow back to the Penguins. It is unknown yet whether Aaron Asham and Chris Kunitz are ready to play yet so the move could only be a temporary one to work out cap concerns. I wouldn't go out on a limb just yet and say that Kunitz and Asham are ready for action based on this move, as there are other prospects like Nick Johnson who could get called up to play for the Pens.

Tangradi still only has 2 points in the 13 games he's played for the Penguins, not producing any points himself in the games he's played filling in, he did however create opportunities for the other linemates. Wallace has not produced in either game with the exception of a fight in his first game back. Still though, keep an eye out tomorrow to see if these two have to drive back to Pittsburgh from Scranton or if they're staying put.