Thornburn sent down/rumor

Hey pens fans,
Chris Thorbrun has been sent to the WBS Pens of the AHL.

As for rumors, Anson Carter becoming a Penguin is still a good possibility.

Curtis Joseph becoming a Penguin is seeming unlikely.

One of the Pens, who is drawing the most trade attention, is Jarkko Ruutu, but as of now I have heard no offer that the Penguins are considering. With the way he fits into this team, I do not think a trade is likely, unless Shero gets one hell of a deal in return.

Pens Fall to Islanders

Hey pens fans,
In this President's Day matchup, the Islanders came out on top. The final score was 6-5. The game was tied with under 30 seconds left when the Isles scored to win the game. Crosby was fighting hard and the Pens put a good rsh against Dipietro, but the Isles came back and put one past Fleury to win it.
The Pens Goals are as follows...
1st period
Ryan Malone (10), from Mark Recchi and Sidney Crosby at 0:45
Mark Recchi (21), from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at 19:11
2nd period
Ryan Malone 2 (11), from Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi at 0:49
Mark Recchi (21), from Jordan Staal and Sergei Gonchar at 18:01
3rd period
Ryan Malone 3 (12), from Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi at 0:48

Ryan Malone had a hat-trick. Crosby had 4 assists. Recchi had 2 goals and 3 assists.

Pens Capitalize and Defeat Washington

Hey pens fans,
Okay, I know that my title is a bad pun, but hey it works. This afternoon, the Pens defeated the Washington Capitals at the Mellon Arena. The final score was 3-2. The Pens opened up the scoring with Recchi's power play goal assisted by Gonchar and Crosby, to make it 1-0. Then, Washington tied it up to make it 1-1 to end the first period. In the second, Malkin made it 2-1 assisted by Gonchar and Ouellet. In the third, Talbot scored to make it 3-1 and he was assisted by Armstong and Christensen. With under a minute to go Washington scored again to make it 3-2. Thibault was in goal stopping 29 of 31 shots and was he ever lucky on some of those. Our defense worked themselves hard to keep the pucks away from him today. They will be tired after this one. No rest for the wweary, however, the Pens head out tonight to face the Islanders tomorrow at 1 pm.

Rumor Time

Hey pens fans,
Well, I am still hearing the Curtis Joseph rumor, but from fewer people. I don't think it is very likely. As for Bertuzzi, I am saying that based on what I know, it is not happening, unless something drastic happens. Add to your rumor lists Anson Carter. Many of you will recall the Pens quest for him in the past. I could be a good possibility, but I canot find out what the Pens offer in return or what Columbus wants for him. That's it for the rumors, unless something breaks before then, I will update after the Washington Game.

Pens top Devils

Hey pens fans,
Tonight, the Pens were in New Jersey facing the Devils. The Pens won the game, by a score of 5-4. The Pens were up 3-0 and almost lost the lead, but managed to make it out on top. Here is how it all happened. In the first period, Ruutu got the first goal, from Melichar and Recchi, to make it 1-0. Scuderi, scored from Melichar and Crosby, to bring the score to 2-0. Jordan Staal netted the Pens third goal from Ouellet and Malkin to make it 3-0 and ends the first period. In the second period, New Jersey's Rafalski scored to make it 3-1. Then on the power play, Crosby scored from Gonchar to make it 4-1. Then Elias scored the Devils' second goal to make it 4-2. Ruutu got his second of the game from Moore and Petrovicky to make it 5-2. In the third period, New Jersey added 2 more goals and made it 5-4 Pens, which was the final score. Fleury was in goal and stopped 27 of 31 shots. The Pens had 24 shots on the night.

Pens defeat Blackhawks in the "Battle of the Ruutus'"

Hey pens fans,
Tonight, the Pens defeated Chicago 5-4 at the Mellon Arena. The Pens' Jarkko Ruutu faced off against his brother Tuomo Ruutu of the Blackhawks. In the battle of the brothers, Jarkko wins the braggins rights this year. In the first period, Petrovicky scored the first goal to tie it upup 1-1. Moore and Ruutu had the assists. In the second, Talbot scored short-handed to make it 2-1. Ouellet scored, assisted by Christensen to make the score 3-2. In the third period, Chicago came back to score 2 goals and tie it at 4-3 all. Then the Pens' Evgeni Malkin scored assisted by Crosby and Scuderi to tie it at 4. The ovetime ended scoreless and forced, yet another shootout. In the shootout, Christensen and Malkin bot scored, to win it. The final score was 5-4. Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal stopping 24 of 28 shots and allowing no goals in the shootout.

Rumors

Hey pens fans,
Well, with the trade deadline looming, there is a lot of speculation going around. From what I am hearing, the Pens still have an interest in Tom Poti. No word on if a deal is in the works, but there is interest. Also, the Pens are being said to be looking at Curtis Jospeh. This rumor has surfaced every deadline and off season for the past few years. I do not know why people think the Pens want Cujo. I am not sure how much stock to put in this one based on its history, but I am hearing from some good sources. He would make a good back-up to Fleury, but who will want Thibault? There has also been talk of us shopping Rutuu, but as of now it seems to be likely he will stay here, but if the right deal comes along that could change. After a few days off, the Pens are back in action tomorrow, at home, against Chicago.

Pens win in OT

Hey pens fans,
Last night, thte Pens took on the Maple Leafs in Toronto. The final score was 6-5. In the first period, Jordan Staal opened up the scoring with a goal assisted by Ouellet and Malkin, to make it 1-0. In the second, Staal scored again from Malkin and Nasreddine, to make it 2-0. Then on the power play Malkin got one, from Crosby and Gonchar, to make it 3-0. Toronto came back to score 3 goals to tie it at 3-3 to end the second period. In the third, Toronto scored to make it 4-3. Ryan Malone scored, assisted by Recchi and Gonchar to make it 4-4. Toronto scored again to make it 5-4. Then, Talbot netted one, assisted by Whitney to male it 5-5 and force the OT. In the overtime, Jordan Staal, got the hat trick to win the game, assisted by Malkin. This was Staal's frist NHL Hat trick. The final score was 6-5. Fleury was in goal stopping 23 of 28 shots. The Pens recorded 28 shots on the night, as well.

Pens defeat Flyers again!

Hey pens fans,
Tonight, the Pens were in Philly taking on the Flyers. After the shootout, the final score was 5-4 Pens. The Flyers havig been a lot tougher, as of late, but the Pens still got the win. In the first period, Jordan Staal scored, assisted by hristense and Ouellet to make it 1-0. The Flyers came back to score 2 power play goals to makeit 2-1 at the end of the first. In the second period, Ouellet scored on the power play, assisted by Whitney and Fleury, to make it 2-2 at the end of the second. In the third, Recchi scored to make it 3-2 from Whitney and Gonchar. Then Christensen scored assisted by Armstrong and Talbot to make it 4-2. Then the Flyers came back and scored 2 more goals, to force the overtime. In the shootout, Crosby scored the only goal to give the Pens the win. Fleury was in goal stopping 30 of 34 shots. Crosby seemed to be struggling at bit, for him, early on, but came through in the clutch yet again to et the win. It was a good game and a great one for the rivalry.

Myron Cope's Message to Lemieux

Hey pens fans,
Here is what Myron Cope has to say about the Penguins and the arena situation. He asks Lemieux to emulate "the Chief," the late Art Rooney. Here is what Cope had to say as it appeared in Wednesday's Post Gazette.


Myron Cope: Mario, do the right thing

Money won't make you happy; emulate The Chief and keep the Pens in Pittsburgh
Wednesday, February 07, 2007

I hope somebody reading this is close enough to Mario Lemieux to call it to his attention.
Myron Cope, the retired Steelers sportscaster, lives in Mt. Lebanon.
Mario, I've known you since your rookie season and have always found you a fine fellow, so I'm going to ask a lot of you. In these cynical times when the bottom line so often rules, it's perhaps silly to ask, but consider emulating The Chief -- the late Art Rooney Sr.
Actually, this is a follow-up to a letter I wrote that the Post-Gazette published a year ago. I wrote that The Chief, saying not a word of it publicly, rejected highly lucrative offers from five cities entreating him to move the Steelers. He loved Pittsburgh and felt the city would be greatly diminished by the loss of a big-league franchise.
I also pointed out that Art Modell suddenly moved his Cleveland Browns to Baltimore after politicians for years did nothing to renovate ancient Cleveland Stadium. I faulted Mr. Modell for not hanging in longer, but I said that the silence coming from then-Mayor Bob O'Connor, County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Gov. Ed Rendell on the matter of a new arena was shaping up as a repeat of Cleveland. I hope I'm wrong. (Mr. Rendell's Plan B, by the way, has seemed to me all along to simply muddy the waters.)
At any rate, Mario, I assume you have a great affection for Pittsburgh, or else you would not have made it your residence. Perhaps unfairly, I'm asking that you disregard bottom-line offers and keep the Pens here, simply because it's the right thing to do. Disregard our political leaders staying on the sidelines for so long. I doubt you'll ever regret doing the right thing. You'll feel good about yourself.
Some people protest the use of taxpayer money to give huge subsidies to club owners. Or they don't care about hockey. Their arguments are understandable. But, folks, the realities are that this has been the way of America for many years now and losing the Pens would be a severe blow to our region in too many respects to enumerate.
Mario, you've got the politicians over a good-sized barrel. Reason one, they sat as silent as stone pillars while you sought an arena agreement for years. Reason two, the state Gaming Control Board, by rejecting a casino bid that would have led to an arena, rendered a decision so stupefying as to cause me to wonder: Had board member Sandy Rivers behaved similarly when he officiated NFL games, might he have led the league in calls overturned by instant replay?
Anyhow, Mario, get the deal done in Pittsburgh.
America still includes many who do the right thing. Do it, Mario, and I'll even forgive the time you stood on a high tee at a par three and saw a runt on the green below standing over a 2-foot birdie putt. You cried out: "Cope! Choke!" As you know, I made birdie.
It's your turn for a Pittsburgh birdie. It's a hard one; more's the reason you'll be proud of it.
The Chief put it this way: "Money has never been my god -- never."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07038/759881-109.stm