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.

2009-2010 Pittsburgh Penguins Predictions

It seems like the Penguins were raising the Stanley Cup only yesterday, yet the NHL regular season starts tonight. Yes, really. I’m being serious. Anyway, I asked some of my favorite writers/bloggers/people who follow the Penguins their thoughts about the 2009-2010 Penguins season. Before we begin, allow me to introduce the panel.

* Sean Leahy of Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy
* Bob Smizik of the Post-Gazette's Bob Smizik Blog
* Vince from Pesonen and the Pens
* Damian of Pens Universe
* Hooks Orpik of PensBurgh
* Pat of Igloo Dreams
* Seth Rorabaugh - Empty Netters
* Jeff - He's the biggest Penguins fan I know
* Sean of Sean's Ramblings (that's me)

1. Evgeni Malkin's stats (goals, assists, points, other?)

Leahy - 41 goals, 74 assists, 125 points, another Art Ross Trophy and three total Russian models bagged.
Smizik - 31-70--105
Vince - Well I initially had Janne set to put up 72G 60A (132pts), and Janne is about 10% better than Malkin (1 Malkin = .9 Janne's) so that would mean that Malkin would put up around 119 points, so we'll say 50 Goals and 69 Assists.

Damian - 103 - 46 goals 58 assists.
Hooks - 36 goals, 80 assists = 116 points (Crosby throws up 42 goals, 78 assists and wins the scoring title though)
Pat - 40 Goals, 78 Assists, 1 boarding penalty after he gets sick of Ovechkin and 3 blown tires (not as much as he used to blow out when he was a rookie).
Seth - Not to be generic but 40-60-100
Jeff - 53g, 80a, 133p (Crosby: 44g, 92a, 136p; Ovechkin: 70g, 57a, 127p)
Sean - 43 goals, 79 assists = 122 points and a second Art Ross Trophy.

2. Number of Eric Godard penalty minutes.



Leahy - I can see Godard's appearances drop a bit and after last season's 171 PIM's, I think he'll crush enough skulls to warrant 145 PIM's.
Smizik - 215
Vince - 20... He'll be moved by the 12th game when they realize that Mike Rupp has the same physicality and more of an offensive upsides.
Damian - 193 PM's.
Hooks - 120 PIMs....Not many, I see Rupp and even Biz Nasty stealing a lot of Godard's limited minutes and nights in the lineup
Pat - None - he took Orpik's Crazy Eyes training this summer and no one will go near him this season.
Seth - 156
Jeff - 171 (haha... he's had this many the past 2 seasons)
Sean - 135

3. Who will lead the team in blocked shots?

Leahy - If he can stay healthy, Jay McKee will rule this category.
Smizik - Jay McKee
Vince - Marc-Andre Fleury
Damian - Jay McKee, no questions no how. He serves no other purpose, well...
Hooks - Jay McKee leads the team in blocked shots by far, even when he misses 15 games from an injury he got by blocking a shot.
Pat - Fleury better stop the most shots from the other team! But seriously, you'd be dumb not to say McKee, so I'll say he gets hurt and Mark Eaton leads the team.
Seth - Mark Eaton. He'll take over as the shutdown defender.
Jeff - Mark Eaton
Sean - Mark Eaton (but not this Mark Eaton)



4. Bill Guerin: The greatest player to wear #13 in Pittsburgh history?

Leahy - Charlie Simmer was pretty darn good in his career, but only spent one year in the 'Burgh. Billy G was a key component of the team last year and I think a full year of him alongside Sid will be fruitful.

Smizik - I think Dan Marino has a teensy edge on Guerin. I'd put Guerin tied for second with Nate McLouth, just ahead of Chico Lind.

Vince - Danny Marino not only put up stud like numbers when he played for Pitt, but he did all that while snorting enough coke to have him fall to 27th in the draft and being passed up by his hometown team who was currently being led by the likes of Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone. Seriously, look at all the jokes drafted before him. He musta been king of the rails... Sorry Billy G, gotta give the props to the hometown boy.

Damian - To be as up front as possible, I don't recall another #13, let alone the best. But my memory is in fact be limited. I blame the children, and lack of information on the internet.

Hooks - Dad scored
Pat - I thought only numbers 66 and up mattered for forwards in Pittsburgh...
Seth - There's not a lot of competition for the number (only three other players have worn it in team history) so I guess you could say it is Guerin. But special consideration should be given to Charlie Simmer simply because he was married to 1981 Playmate of the Year, Terri Welles.

Jeff - Tough one because we had Charlie Simmer, but I will go with Bill Guerin.
Sean - Definitely Dan Marino and not just because I would rather see him wear Isotoner gloves than see Bill Guerin naked in ESPN the Magazine.

5. Will this be the year that Sidney Crosby's playoff beard looks like an actual beard?



Leahy - I think he's better off using beard clippings from Max Talbot.
Smizik - No, 2015
Vince - Tim Hortons doesn't put enough hormones in their food... So unless he switches over to McDonalds or Wendy's for the majority of his food, I'm gonna have to say no.
Damian - Absolutely not. Crosby is like me with the baby-face syndrome. He will have nothing substantive till about the age of 25.
Hooks - Still the envy of 14 year old Mexican boys everywhere.
Pat - Heck no. He may never be able to grow a beard. I have a buddy who is in his 30s and doesn't have to shave for nearly a month. We pay attention to Sid's beard more for the comedy value. The screaming masses really want to know if Evgeni can grow one.
Seth - No. 2035.
Jeff - Haha... no.
Sean - Um, no.

6. Season prediction (please include the number of team points and place in the standings) and any other thoughts.

Leahy - 1st in the Atlantic, 2nd in the Prince of Wales Conference, and a record of 47-25-10-104 pts
Smizik - 43-29-10---96, 4th in conference
Vince - We'll get 97 points and end up in 4th place, meanwhile the Washington Capitals will win the east and think they are the best team ever cause they dominate in regular season hockey then in the first round they will be eliminated by NJ, NYR or Philly. We will go back to the cup and beat Chicago in Pittsburgh in 6 games.

Meanwhile across the seas Janne Pesonen will put up 49 goals and 62 assists in their 56 game season, not only helping the AK BARS recapture the Gagarin cup, but also helping Finland upset both Canada and USSR in the Olympics for the Gold. This will lead to him being signed to a 1-way contract to the NHL for the 2010 season where he will win hart, lady byng, selke, masterson, pearson, ross, richard, and lester patrick trophies, but his team will be eliminated from the playoffs by the Penguins on their way to #3.

Damian - I said it here, I'll say it again. The Pens are the favorite for the division. Though they didn't take the division last year (yet won the Cup), and had a strong advantage the year before (yet didn't win the Cup), I think they will once again show themselves approved this year and take the Atlantic again. Staal, Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury are 21, 22, 23, 24 respectively, that's a core do absolutely die for. And with 2 Stanley Cup appearances at such young ages, they can only get better individually and collectively.

Hooks - 102 points, 1st in the Atlantic (2nd in the East)....playoffs are a crapshoot, anything could happen but they should be in good shape for another run if the health holds up

Pat - This is the season they have a strong, steady and consistent regular season followed by an excellent post-season. I'll say first in the conference (112 pts) and straight through to the Cup.

Seth - I hate predictions so I don't endorse this in any way. 47-25-10. 104 points. Second place in the Eastern Conference.

Jeff - 52-23-7, 111pts, 1st in Eastern Conference.

Sean - 99 points; 4th in the conference. Plus, Coach Dan Bylsma will eat many burritos.



Feel free to add your own predictions in the comments section below. Go Pens!