The Curse Of Taylor Swift

Take a look at this picture:

From left to right, you have Max Talbot, Jordan Staal, Taylor Swift, Alex Goligoski & Tyler Kennedy. I'm not sure when this picture took place, but it was at a time when the four guys pictured all played for the Pittsburgh Penguins while Taylor Swift wasn't feeling 22 yet. Anyway, all four of the players are no longer part of the Penguins organization, and while they have each done well financially, they have not achieved the level of professional success they did as members of the Penguins. So is there a Taylor Swift curse?

From yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interview with Tyler Kennedy:

It’s pretty crazy, but that’s hockey. Not too many guys stay with the same team their whole career. Maybe it was that Taylor Swift [jinx] thing. I don’t think I’ll be going to any concerts in San Jose with Taylor Swift, that’s for sure. But I thought we really came together as a line, and I think we had a great two, three years. We really became close as friends. Maybe that’s why we did so well on the ice. The biggest thing was, we just played well together.

(emphasis added)

Did they know she was trouble when she walked in? I wonder if there are teardrops on guitars somewhere.

Penguins-Islanders Pictures (Hockey Road Trip 2010)

On Sunday, I watched the Pittsburgh Penguins face the New York Islanders live from Nassau Coliseum. Instead of describing the game and my trip, I thought I would share my Ansel Adams skills.

Sidney Crosby takes a faceoff. An overlooked part of Crosby's game is his ability taking and winning faceoffs. Did you know that Crosby took the most faceoffs in the league this season (1791; Paul Stastny of Colorado was 2nd with 1703) winning 55.9% of them?



Not overlooked is the fact the Crosby scored 51 goals this season. Here is Sid celebrating goal #50 with Sergei Gonchar, Pascal Dupuis and Evgeni Malkin. Apparently, Alex Goligoski is taking his time to join the fun.



Eric Godard scored his first goal of the season in the final regular season game. I don't have a picture of that. Instead, I have a picture of him fighting Joel Rechlicz.



My first hockey memories consisted of watching the Pittsburgh Penguins on WPGH-Channel 53. It seems like Rick Kehoe and the Pens faced the New York Islanders every game and always lost handedly as guys like Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin and Billy Smith dominated. Of course, those guys dominated the league for four straight years!



Fortunately, I have much better memories of Trottier from the end of his career.



The Pens led 5-2 after two periods, but the Islanders stormed back to force overtime. Jordan Leopold scored the game-winner and there was great celebration throughout the land (except from some Islanders fans; others didn't mind the loss since winning would have hurt the team's drafting status). By the way, what is Bill Guerin doing?



Finally, why would someone wear a Limas Sweed jersey to a Pittsburgh PENGUINS game? Perhaps this guy knew the Steelers would trade Santonio Holmes later in the evening meaning Sweed may have an increased role in the 2010 season.



I have two other non-picture highlights from the game. First, I met Tecmo of PSAMP (Pittsburgh Sports & Mini Ponies). I've admired his work for several years and it was nice meeting a fellow Pittsburgh blogger in person. Cool guy!

Second, near the end of the first period, we learned that the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers were in the shootout to determine who would advance to the playoffs. Nearly our entire section attempted to watch a television approximately a mile away and then tried to guess whether or not the team scored based on the reaction. Islanders fans were pleased with the result of the Rangers sitting home or golfing this week.

For more about the game, visit NHL.com, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and/or ESPN.

Plus, please click here for the Boston portion of Hockey Road Trip 2010.