I apologize in advance:  I know most Penguins fans are sick and tired of hearing about the putrid powerplay.  I’m not even referring to the current Malkin/Gonchar-less PP units, the Penguins were mediocre on the PP even with them.

Sorry, I can’t help it.  I must get on the soapbox and vent so, forgive me.

We fans have been giving our half-assed theories for a couple years now on ways to improve the Penguins’ powerplay.  After all, it’s pretty much inarguable that the Penguins possess two of top handful of hockey players in the world.

So with all that firepower at your disposal, why the hell isn’t this unit constantly near the top of the NHL in powerplay percentage ??

One schmuck’s opinion ??  ‘Cause even after a head coaching change, there’s been one constant regarding the Penguins’ powerplay since December 2005, and that is Michael Yeo has been in charge of it.

Continue reading "Confluence Soapbox:  Pens’ powerplay won’t get better until Yeo isn’t running it"

Now that the game is over, and the Kings soundly defeated the Penguins 5-2, I’d say those comparisons are pretty damn accurate.

The one statement I took from this game:  The Kings are legit.

Continue reading "Stationary Penguins fall to Kings, 5-2"

For one game at least, this won’t be the typical California trip for the Penguins that we’ve become accustomed to.

The Penguins got timely goals from Alex Goligoski and Pascal Dupuis (with a Saku Koivu sandwiched in between) in a 78 second span midway through the third period to vault the Pens to a 4-3 win over the Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

The Pens have now tied the NHL record for road wins to start the season with seven, and can break the record Thursday night in Los Angeles against the Kings.

Continue reading "Secondary scoring boosts Penguins over Ducks, 4-3"

The Penguins embark on a week long road trip with stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose, then visiting Boston before returning home on Nov. 12th.

The California trip got me to thinking:  You know, the Penguins haven’t exactly played very well on the Left Coast.

But I didn’t realize just how poor they’ve played.

Anyone care to hazard a guess when was the last time that the Penguins have won a game in the state of California ??

Answer after the jump.

Continue reading "Recent Penguins’ trips to California haven’t been too sunny"

Like tonight, where the Pens are awarded with 35 shots on goal, compared to only 15 for the visiting Minnesota Wild, but lose 2-1.

Kyle Brodziak and Eric Belanger scored for the Wild, while Pascal Dupuis had the only tally for the Penguins.

Continue reading "Penguins’ peppering not enough, lose to Wild 2-1"

Through the first 13 games of the regular season the Pittsburgh Penguins are racking up victories at a historic level. Perhaps even more impressive is how they have continued to increase fan support, as evidenced by the Pittsburgh takeover of Nationwide Arena during the Penguins’ 4-3 shootout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday night.

“Penguin Nation” invaded the Blue Jackets’ home rink with a vengeance, providing an atmosphere that was almost “college-like”, especially during the game’s exciting conclusion the last three minutes of regulation through the Penguins’ 1-0 advantage in the shootout.

“I think this might have been the most electric crowd of the season,” head coach Dan Bylsma said after. “Right from warmups our fans were screaming and yelling.  “We had a lot of Pittsburgh fans here so it was entertaining and it was a great energy in the building … it was good to see.”

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Enjoy.  By the way, I think we’ll all get a good chuckle out of a little dig at everyone’s favorite anonymous hockey fraud.

It’s those damn hockey gods.  Yeah, that’s it.

First it was the Game Seven hero, the team’s #1 grinder.  Then came their powerplay quarterback .  Now it’s the team’s leading scorer for the last two years, not to mention the reigning Art Ross and Conn Smythe trophy winner.

News that Evgeni Malkin will be out of the lineup for 2-3 weeks nursing a strained shoulder has spread like wildfire throughout the Penguins’ blogosphere.

Now, unfortunately, we get to see how the Penguins fare for the first time without the other half of their dynamic duo.

Continue reading "Injuries sure to test Penguins’ mettle"

Crosby scored his third career hat trick on the third anniversary of his first one in Philadelphia, while the Penguins had a dominating performance tonight in a 6-1 win over the Canadiens at the Igloo.

Chris Kunitz got off the schnide in a big way, with a goal and assisting on all three Crosby goals.

The Penguins are now 10-2 on the season.

Continue reading "Crosby’s hat trick fuels Penguins over Habs, 6-1"

There are goal-scoring droughts, funks, slumps and skids.

And then there is what Chris Kunitz is enduring.

The Penguins left wing has yet to register a goal in 11 games this season and has only scored once in his past 40 outings. Kunitz might be down on himself, but the Penguins are certainly supporting him.

“There is no excuse for it,” Kunitz said. “I feel like I’m playing well, and being streaky is something I’ve been through over the years. But, like I said, there’s no excuse for it.”

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It was announced today that Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby will carry the Olympic Torch in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay on November 18 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“I am honored and thrilled to have the opportunity to carry the Olympic Flame in my home province of Nova Scotia,” said Crosby. “The torch relay will pass through so many communities and hands on the way to Vancouver and I’m privileged to be part of that special group as the Olympic Flame makes its way to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games.”

Crosby, originally from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, will be one of 12,000 torchbearers taking the Olympic Flame 45,000 kilometers across Canada.  In association with Bell, a supporting sponsor of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, Crosby was selected because of his outstanding achievements in hockey and his unbridled passion for his home city, province and country.

The most important stat, naturally, is the team’s overall record of 9-2, good enough for 18 points, leading the Eastern Conference and tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the best record in the NHL.

Let’s take a look at some of the other stats for the Pens;

Continue reading "Penguins by the Numbers: 1st Edition"

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From the Beaver County Times’ Mark Madden;

At 9-2, the Penguins look like champions.  Except when it’s easiest to exert dominance: with the man advantage.

The Penguins’ power play underachieved last year, ranking 20th in the NHL with a conversion percentage of 17.2. So far, so bad this campaign: The Penguins’ PP ranks 17th at 18.4 percent.  Such sustained mediocrity is amazing given the plethora of offensive talent at the Penguins’ disposal. It probably won’t get any better with power-play quarterback Sergei Gonchar out.

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If you didn’t know any better, the man behind the bench was a nameless, faceless youth hockey coach on a Saturday afternoon rather than one of the greatest players in NHL history. That’s how Mario Lemieux operates these days in his continuous battle to remain under the radar.  Lemieux is a hockey superhero and owner of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s 6-foot-4, has GQ looks and could be the most respected sports figure in a city that includes Sidney Crosby and Ben Roethlisberger, yet he carries himself like he’s the utility infielder for the Pirates.

Super Mario is quietly coaching his son’s Bantam Minor (1996 birth year) team in the Empire West Amateur Hockey League. In the interest of full disclosure, his Junior Penguins team plays in the same league as my son’s West Seneca team. Lemieux isn’t just the sponsor or a figurehead. He’s the head coach.  And he’s having a ball.

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With all due respect to the Florida Panthers, it’s not quite the same trying to come back from a two-goal third period deficit against Tomas Vokoun and the Panthers as it is trying against future Hall of Famer Marty Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils.

It was vintage Brodeur and a vintage Devil-ish performance, as the Devils played a great game on both ends of the ice, while perhaps taking advantage of a weary Penguins team in a 4-1 win at a quiet Igloo tonight.

Continue reading "Brodeur, Devils cool Penguins off, 4-1"

Like tonight, where the Penguins mailed it in for the first two periods, before waking up with two third period goals to tie the game, and eventually winning 3-2 in a shootout over the Florida Panthers.

Sidney Crosby did the damage for the Penguins with two regulation goals, including the first short-handed goal in his NHL career, along with the only shootout goal.

The Penguins have now started the season with a 9-1 record, whose 18 points ties the record for most points after 10 games for a defending Stanley Cup champion with the ‘84-85 Oilers and the ‘92-’93 Penguins.

Continue reading "Crosby bails out Penguins in 3-2 OT win over Panthers"

When Sidney Crosby spoke up, the world changed for the embattled NHL Players’ Association.

It was the 22-year-old Crosby, arguably the highest-profile player in the sport today, who raised his voice last Sunday on a union conference call and firmly told interim executive director Ian Penny to hang up the phone because union members wanted to have a players-only discussion. Penny, who had first been rebuffed in his efforts to have baseball union leader Donald Fehr speak to the NHLPA team representatives, finally had to relent and get off the line.

It was a bad moment for Penny, whose future with the association after leading a coup that dethroned former executive director Paul Kelly in late summer now seems to be hanging by a thread. More important, it was one of several signals that the players appear intent on regaining control of their own union nearly two months after Kelly’s dismissal plunged the organization into disarray.

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The Penguins have enjoyed a remarkably unmarred season thus far in the 2009-10 campaign. The team has the best record in the National Hockey League at 8-1 and tied for its second-best start in franchise history.

But in the harsh and unforgiving world of professional sports, no one expected the team’s fortuity to remain in a state of perpetuity.  That became evident Wednesday afternoon with the announcement that veteran defenseman and locker room leader Sergei Gonchar will miss four to six weeks after breaking his left wrist in Pittsburgh’s 5-1 victory over St. Louis Tuesday night.

Pittsburgh will no doubt miss a player with Gonchar’s talent and skill level, but if history has taught us anything about this generation of Penguins, it’s that nothing – not even an injury – will deter the team.  After all dealing with injuries, and particularly injuries to key players, is nothing new for Pittsburgh.

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