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.

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.

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.

Matt Suspended 4 games for Cooking.

So there it is. The hit that cost us another winger for 4 games. A hit that Cooke shouldn't of made, but shouldn't of been suspended 4 games for either. What is this the NFL where we pick on the Pittsburgh team for being too aggressive? It was a charging call, that Tyutin knew was coming, Bylsma even saw it in his eyes that he knew it was coming. Gets up uninjured and plays every subsequent shift.

Yet we're stuck without Cooke for 4 games. Add that onto a long list of Injury names and pretty soon one of us is going to be out there playing forward for the Penguins. Kunitz going down last night with his lower body injury, Asham being out, Testu, Crosby, Malkin on long term and now Cookie out for 4 games, leaves this team in terrible shape and puts even more of a daunting task on them to play .500 hockey down the stretch.

Cooke knows what he's doing, he knew what he did there, and he knew he caused even more trouble by starting a fight after the hit. He should of slowed up and not even taken the penalty. They spot each other before Cooke is even at the faceoff circles and they still collide and Cooke still leaves his feet to make the hit. A lot of time to dial down the speed, a lot of time to decide not to take the penalty, but the choices are made, and now he sits.

Ton's of people everywhere are screaming for Cooke's banishment from the frozen lands of the NHL. Others, mostly Penguins supporters, say that the suspension is too much for the penalty. No matter what side of the fence you sit on the fact remains, stupid penalty during a game full of stupid mistakes and short comings, leads to a suspension and even more detriment to the Penguins.

The clouds will clear and the sun will shine again soon on the Penguins, but can they survive until then?

Blue Jackets vs Penguins Recap Game 55. Ugh.

Well.

Where to start. Cooke hit that guy up there, then gets 5 minutes in the box for Cooking. Basically checking from behind, boarding, left his feet, it was bad play central. Story of the night for the Penguins. Series after series turnovers, not developing the plays or missed opportunities. The ones that did come weren't capitalized on, leaving many to question where the offense has gone. Part of that could of been the absence of Chris Kunitz who is now day to day with a lower body injury and did not start in this game. There is no word yet as to the extent of the injury to Kunitz.

It's hard to lose a game, but it's especially hard to lose a game against a team you've recently beaten 7-2, and resides in Columbus, Ohio, however if you don't capitalize on the opportunities you will not win the games. The plays were there but they just weren't making them and it doesn't look good for where the Penguins are headed.

Though all they have to do is play .500 hockey or better at this point to get into the playoffs, so what does a playoff team do to get ready for the playoffs? Well first and foremost the team needs to get healthy and the clouds surrounding Sidney Crosby need to dissipate. The team needs the spotlight lifted off of them and their roster for a little while too but until after the trade deadline and Crosby gets back it's unlikely that will change.

Columbus came out like they said they would, out for blood. Bit into the Penguins jugular and were it not for Tyler Kennedy's life-support goal in the 3rd period, the Penguins would of been left reeling after being shutout in back to back games.

Lovejoy fought early on in the game, if you could really call it a win for him, and took it down with a jersey pull. He took a lot of punches just standing there before he actually got to the pull down.

Eric Goddard fought in the third period and you can really get a look at his fist getting ready to impact face.

Still though, the energy wasn't there tonight. The crowd wasn't energetic from the start like in Columbus, and you could tell there is still a lot of gloom hanging over the heads of people in the Burgh', not to mention all across the globe if you're a fan of any shade of the black and gold.Fans need to keep their heads up though as the team is not out of the Cup chase and the season is not over.

Next game is against the Kings at home on Thursday. Bounce back and avoid that 3rd straight L.

Blue Jackets vs Penguins Gameday 55

Last time these two teams met it was during the great invasion of Columbus on December 4th.



Not being in attendance at that particular game I can't give you the exact numbers, but I'd say there were probably all 200 Columbus fans in attendance and the rest were Penguins fans. The game ended as a 7-2 rout by the Pens including 2 goals by Crosby and 2 goals by Martin, back when he did that sort of thing.

Now the Penguins will actually face the Blue Jackets at home and they are expecting the CBJ's to be out for blood. Pretty natural reaction after a 7-2 trouncing in your arena with all of the opposite teams fan's in attendance. This time things are a little bit different however, the Blue Jackets aren't facing a team in the middle of a high powered streak. They aren't doing battle against a team with Crosby and Geno, or even Letestu, last time the Pens were only wondering when Jordan would quit Staaling and get back out into action. The Jackets are going to be facing a team with 3 WBS Pens called up to play, 3 high caliber scoring forwards out of the action, and hopefully a team highly ticked off by the 3-0 goose egg laid in D.C

There were thoughts that a few line changes would be coming this game for the Penguins after Bylsma had mentioned in the past couple press conferences about possibly not seeing Dupuis and Kunitz on the same lines among other changes he had planned. Those changes didn't reflect in the practice line up as we were still treated to the usual set up:

Kunitz-Jeffrey-Dupuis
Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Rupp-Talbot-Conner
Wallace-Adams-Tangradi/Godard

Between the pipes for the Penguins? You should see Marc Andre Fleury.

Coincidentally this is basically the only photo of Fleury in net against CBJ last game, aside form the celebration.

Pens look to bounce back from their loss in D.C and start the week strong. Welcome aboard everyone from the Steelers fanbase who remembered it was hockey season. There is a lot of room on the bandwagon but keep the trade rumors to yourselves.

Lets go Pens!

Talk about a bad day in Pittsburgh.

I don't even really want to write much about yesterday but I figure I may as well offer some kind of opinion. Too many mistakes, way too many. Typical Steeler football in the Superbowl's of recent memory, only this time they were facing a much more dominant team. Turnovers always rule the day and in the end like always, defense won a championship. Only it wasn't the Steeler defense that we know and expect to win these games. Being down by 3, you feel like you're going to get back into the swing of things and bring the trophy home to Pittsburgh.

Unfortunately penalties and lack of discipline result in a game ending drive allowing the Packers to kneel down in victory formation and celebrate. Was it because we all had this sense of self entitlement? The fans of Pittsburgh, including myself, come to expect championships now, and perhaps this was the wake up call. Roethlisberger just wasn't making all the right decisions, he made several good ones, but the ones he didn't make were costly every time. Including one where he missed his check down which would of gone for a first down and extended a drive that otherwise fizzled out.

Injuries all over the field on both sides, but in the end Green Bay's defense would not relent. Without Woodson his backup continued to blitz just as if Woodson were on the field. Clay Matthews forced a fumble on Mendenhall and really I was expecting him to cause one somewhere, sadly I have to give him credit he's some kind of freakish athlete.

I guess I feel less bias because I'm still just shocked at the fact that the Steelers didn't win. Unfortunately I was one of the people who basically expected the Steelers to win, had no concern over Green Bay and was just left stunned by the fact that they couldn't pull it off. Been a long time since I've seen this team lose in the Superbowl, but it hopefully will be another 15 years before it happens again, and with frequent returns.

With the lock-out looming over the league and contracts that need tinkering, veterans who may retire, and a myriad of other concerns coming into the off season will the Steelers still be in shape for Superbowl runs? Will Dick Lebeau come back to try and win another Lombardi after falling short this time? Will Hines Ward stay with the team or will he retire? There are a lot of questions that will need to be addressed in 6 months, including our draft pick. Here is hoping we use it on some kind of CB to help supplement a secondary that could use a little bit more depth.

Then there was the disaster of a game by the Penguins vs the Capitals in D.C. 3-0 Goose egg laid by the Penguins started off the day on a very, very low note. Trying not to be a superstitious person I didn't want to allow it to cast a pall on the rest of the afternoon, but it was a tough pill to swallow. I could handle the Pens losing, it was the regular season, but to see the Steelers lose too, it's a lot to take in a day.

I don't even know where to begin with the game yesterday afternoon. It reminded me too much of a game of NHL 2011 against my roommate, who is from the NoVA, DC area so it is of course, Pens vs Caps. Sadly it was reminiscent of a game where I wasn't doing so well as the Penguins, and period after period it just kept looking similar. Even down to Tyler Kennedy breaking up a play by Neuvirth along the boards trying to play the puck and dishing it off to Staal facing an empty net. If Staal wasn't D'd up he's got an empty net. The slot just wasn't there for the Penguins and they kept forcing the play there anyway.

Then the turnovers. Turnover city, population Penguins. They are going to have to work on the possession of the puck over these next few games. Bylsma is testing new lines so there are going to be some new combinations of guys together on the ice. Crosby is supposedly due back to Pittsburgh this week, however he is still rehabbing from the concussion. The Pen's are 3 points behind the Flyers (75) and 5 behind Vancouver (77) which honestly is not too bad considering they were without Staal for 35 games or so, Sid for going on 13 games, Malkin now for 8 or so games, Letestu gone for 6 weeks, and yet are still putting together wins. I suppose it's just a blessing they all understand the Bylsma system so well.

So long Football Season, welcome to full time Hockey Season. We get more Sunday Hockey on NBC and of course, it's getting close to the trade deadline. Pens need help at Center, there is cap room after the Malkin move to Longterm IR, will Shero make a move?