PensGirl

I've moved. . .

2007-12-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

You can now read my posts about the Penguins, as well as other sports, at Sports Bird.

Thanks for visiting, and if any of you ladies are interested in becoming a Lady Bird blogger, email ladypenguinblog@gmail.com.

Welcome to Pittsburgh, Mr. Sykora

2007-10-07T12:14:00.000-04:00

In an often shaky game for the home team, the Penguins managed to defeat the defending Stanley Cup champ Anaheim Ducks 5-4 in the home opener. Petr Sykora scored to goals in his home-Penguins debut. Armstrong, Malkin and Malone added the other three goals.

Fleury still looked very soft in goal and will need to start stepping it up. Sure, the defense made some mistakes, but your goalie needs to make those saves.

I thought Mark Eaton played an exceptional game defensively. Every time I looked, he was making one good play after the other.

Overall, it was a much better performance for the Pens than the previous night. Let's hope things continue moving in this direction.

Other notes:

Attendance was 17,132. Plan on hearing that number a lot this season.
"Cotton Eye Joe" won the text message vote with 80 percent of the vote. Their were some boos, but this song is part of the Pens hockey experience to me. If they want a different song to win, maybe they should mix it up a little. The three choices at the past three games have been the same.
Sidney Crosby smartly called soft drinks "pop" to the delight of the crowd during an in-game Jumbotron feature called the Pizza Hut Hot Seat or something like that.

Dear...

2007-10-05T21:36:00.001-04:00

Dear people who sit in the first row and feel that they need to stand up, turn around and wave every time the puck comes near you: Stop doing that. You are not cool.

Dear Best Damn Sports Show graphic: Please go away. You take up half of the ice and I cannot see the game.

Dear Penguins: Please play better tomorrow.

I'm just crabby. ;-)

Eric Staal was a terror in the first period, and the whole Hurricanes team was for the first two.

Sabourin played better than I expected in the third. Of course, the Hurricanes may not have been playing as tough.

I really need to set it up so I listen to the radio and watch on TV. Steigy and Errey suck.

Take some time to read the article on the Staal family FSN mentioned tonight. It's a month old, but oh well.

Woo hoo!

2007-10-05T18:58:00.000-04:00

I drafted #10 of 10 in my fantasy hockey league on NHL.com. My league's team name is "pitt fans unite." Presumably all Penguins fans.

And I got Sidney Crosby on my team.

How did that even happen?

Penguins vs. Steelers

2007-10-03T22:00:00.000-04:00

Vote now! No Doubt About It has posted their "who would you rather live without" poll, pitting the Steelers against the Penguins. Right now the Steelers have a slight lead. It should be interesting to see how much of a hockey town Pittsburgh really is.

Return of Thibault

2007-09-29T22:26:00.000-04:00

Last night's preseason game between the Penguins and Buffalo Sabres was much more entertaining than last week's Red Wings game (makes me think even more that it's a Red Wings thing). Some highlights:

Thibault! He's backing up Buffalo's Ryan Miller now and got the start. I think we'd be better off this year if he was still our backup--he did a pretty solid job last season. Sabourin didn't look very impressive.
Lots of scoring--12 (okay, 11) goals. Guess that's what you get when you have two back-up goalies playing.
"Cotton Eye Joe" lost the text message vote to Donnie Iris. I'm going to miss the "Cotton Eye Joe" timeout if this gimmick continues during the regular season.
Malkin scored to tie the game with negative 0.1 seconds left. So close.

Apparently the Pens will lose in the Stanley Cup finals this year.

2007-09-26T21:37:00.000-04:00

NHL.com has an article from the Canadian Press announcing that in a video game simulation of the entire upcoming season, the Pittsburgh Penguins are defeated by the San Jose Sharks in six games in the Stanley Cup finals.

The simulation also has Crosby winning the Hart Trophy and Therrien winning coach of the year honors (how exactly does the game figure that out?).

Read on...

2007-09-25T18:59:00.000-04:00

Some reads from around the Web...

The Tribune Review examines the Penguins' struggling power play. As a footnote, limited single-game tickets remain for just 17 home games.

The Post-Gazette has a feature on Mark Eaton.

ESPN's Penguins season preview says the Pens have "all the tools to win the big prize."

Mike Chen's Hockey Blog has a post dissecting the effect that Crosby's $8.7 million contract may have on other players' salaries.

The West Point Experience

2007-09-24T13:57:00.000-04:00

This in from West Point: Sidney Crosby left practice early with a sore groin. The team is in West Point for year two of the team-building experience. Pens TV has some interviews with the players discussing the trip.

Preseason recap: Pens vs. Red Wings

2007-09-23T12:37:00.000-04:00

First of two preseason home games for the Penguins. The game was less exciting than I had hoped, but then I remembered that last year's match-up between these two teams was probably my least favorite game of the season.

Some highlights:

The Penguins spent practically the whole first period on the power play, but managed to score just once. Eaton scored the goal. The guy's such a defensive asset to the team; it was great to see him score.
Fleury made an incredible save in the second period. Unfortunately, the rebound bounced right to a Red Wing who had an easy shot at the net.
Most of the second and third periods were a bore, until the last couple minutes. Detroit's Hudler took a penalty, and the Pens pulled Fleury, giving them a 6-on-4 advantage with the empty net and a score of 3-1. Malkin scored to pull the team within one, and the next 45 seconds were intense, until Zetterberg got his second goal on an empty netter. The last goal was meaningless, as the Pens had onviously stopped playing at that point.
New from the Jumbrotron gimmicks: the Penguins have decided to add a "jukebox" fan vote to the media time outs. Votes are made by text message, not crowd noise. Bigger news: the vote will apparently replace the "Cotton Eye Joe" ritual. Last night, the song was one of the three choices, and it won anyway. I'm wondering what the Pens Patrol will do on nights that it doesn't? Their entire sense of purpose will be lost.

Great weather for hockey

2007-09-22T14:26:00.000-04:00

It is 84 degrees outside and I am going to a hockey game.

I hope it's more exciting than last night's.

You mean I don't have to wear pink?

2007-09-21T15:59:00.000-04:00

Let's all applaud the NHL for selling a women's cut hockey jersey in the team's...wait for it...actual colors. I don't know what made the NHL fathom the idea that female sports fans might want to wear something that's not pink (or pastel yellow). And I actually like pink. But not on a hockey jersey. I think we can all agree that the pink glitter version is for girls who are fans of their boyfriends, and the real version is for girls that are fans of their teams.

The women's jersey still isn't quite the high-quality replica that the men's jersey is, as the price indicates...graphics are screen printed on the sweater. I'll probably be sticking to my now old-fashioned Crosby and Staal jerseys for the time being, but I'll definitely consider a women's cut next time.

And the excitement builds...

2007-09-21T11:59:00.000-04:00

Anyone else getting excited to attend the first home hockey game of the year tomorrow? Yeah, I know it's an exhibition game, but you've got to admit that preseason hockey games are better than preseason football games.

In the news today...

NHL.com has a feature story on Ryan Whitney.

The Post-Gazette has some video of last night's season ticket holder town hall meeting. Kudos to the Penguins for continuing to go above and beyond in their efforts to connect with the fans. The team did a great job of this last year (my favorite had to be delivering pizza to the student rush line) and looks like they'll do it again.

The Penguins are staying in Pittsburgh!

2007-09-20T15:19:00.000-04:00

Wait, that's old news, right? I guess not. The Penguins officially signed the lease for the new arena, which means they'll be in Pittsburgh for the next 33 years.

In other news, Crosby might kill penalties, Sykora broke his nose and you can watch Saturday's preseason game on the Penguins Web site.

Planning to go to Buffalo?

2007-09-19T15:38:00.000-04:00

Well, unless you managed to snag one of the 41,000 tickets in the first 30 minutes, you may be out of luck. You just may have to watch the outdoor game between the Pens and Sabres at home on TV like the rest of the country...well, the rest of Pittsburgh and Buffalo anyway. Sounds like ticket scalpers must have taken advantage of the no maximum ticket purchases, because while I thought the game could sell out, 30 minutes is insane.

Obviously the game will be a draw at the ticket booth, but how will it do on TV, where the NHL struggles tremendously? The NHL did both some right and wrong in scheduling this game. On the plus side, the league chose the right teams for the game. The Penguins and the Sabres are two of the hottest teams in the league, and NHL's two best U.S. television markets (2007 Stanley Cup final games received the highest ratings in these two cities, despite the fact neither city had a team in the finals). The cities are in easy driving distance of each other, and NHL hot spot Toronto is even closer for an additional hockey fan draw. The "gimmick" of hosting an outdoor regular season game--and one that Sidney Crosby is playing in--should bring plenty of media attention.

Or will it? New Year's Day is traditionally a big sports day, but not for hockey. Sports fans across the country plan on sticking by their TVs to watch some big college football bowl games. Will the outdoor game be big enough to bring in non-hockey sport fans? Will the media give the game the attention it deserves when they have the height of BCS bowl games to cover?

I hope so, but I'm not counting on it. The NHL desperately needs to increase its sports media coverage, and the league has found a good way to do it on perhaps the worst day possible. And what the league really needs is not just a day's worth of coverage for the one event, but a year's worth of coverage of equal merit of other professional sports.

Meanwhile, while the Sabres report that none of the remaining tickets are reserved for Penguins fans, the Pens organization is working on getting us a few more.

New Uniforms!

2007-09-05T21:28:00.000-04:00

The Penguins unveiled their new uniforms today, and I managed to snag a front row seat at the event. Despite some criticisms I've seen elsewhere, I actually like to new sweaters. They aren't too radical of a change from the old uniforms, and they certainly don't look as bad as some other teams'!

Some photos from the event:

And I'm back!

2007-09-04T10:56:00.000-04:00

I may have been MIA for the past couple of months (apparently, I was busy taking pictures of my shoes and purses), but I'm back in time for the start of training camp. Actually, I was just a little busy with my job and getting married. Now it's time to turn my attention to what will be a very exciting season!

Coming up tomorrow...the Penguins finally officially reveal their new uniforms. Anyone else think they will look exactly like every other team's new uniforms?

The Offseason Continues

2007-06-26T23:09:00.000-04:00

...well, except for the 32 Penguins at conditioning camp.

So what do players do during the summer? Some of them choose to pick up another sport, usually golf.

But maybe baseball is a sport more suited for the skill set of a talented hockey player.

Recchi and Roberts returning to Pens

2007-06-22T15:25:00.000-04:00

Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts signed one-year deals with the Penguins today to return for the 2007-2008 season.

When the Penguins brought Recchi back last season after trading him to the Hurricanes, I was convinced it was a bad move. The team seemed to do better after his departure and rumors that he and Crosby didn't get along couldn't help the situation. He proved me wrong though, and I'm glad that he'll be back.

I also doubted the Pens' move when they traded for Roberts at the deadline last season. But he clearly contributed to the team, especially during the playoffs. Both he and Recchi, however well they play this season, should continue to provide leadership to the younger players.

Quack Quack Quack!

2007-06-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

Today's gem is a video edited by my younger brother for all you Mighty Ducks fans. His explanation:

"Have you ever wondered who started the craze of "poppin the collar." Well we've dug down deep inside history and found the answer. The answer lies in the original Mighty Ducks. If you're too lazy to pop it in(cuz i know ever-1 owns it) enjoy..."

Coach Riley Poppin His Collar

Add to My Profile | More Videos

The NHL draft is tomorrow night. Versus will televise the first round, right after a reply of the NHL Awards for anyone who felt like waiting over a week to see it.

Counting down my favorite Pens

2007-06-19T20:48:00.000-04:00

Since we've still got a couple more months until training camp gets underway, I thought I'd pass the summer by sharing my list of top ten favorite Penguins of all time (well, of my lifetime).

These will not be the best players, just the ones that ranked among my favs at certain times. I'll countdown from No. 10, give you my reasons and dig up some stats along the way.

Here we go...

No. 10: Ian Moran

Hey, I told you these aren't necessarily the best players. Moran's highest point total in one season was 12; clearly his value to the team was not scoring goals. He could play defense and forward and he blocked shots.

I liked him because he wore the same number as me: 24.

No, really. I liked him because he was entertaining. I remember sitting at the arena watching the Penguins skills competition (to determine who would compete at the All Star skills competition...remember when they did that?), and Moran took over the microphone on the ice. His teammates and the organization obviously appreciated his attitude as well, as indicated by his collection of team awards: Player's Player Award, Badger Bob Award, Community Service Award and Comeback Player nominee.

The Pens traded him to Boston in 2002, and this season the Ducks signed him. I was surprised to see him play against the Penguins on November 6--turns out, that's the only NHL game he played all year. He finished the year playing in Germany. With the injuries he's battled the last couple of years, his days in the NHL may be over.

IU football coach passed away this morning

2007-06-19T10:50:00.000-04:00

Deviating from hockey news for a moment...

IU's football coach Terry Hoeppner died this morning after battling brain cancer. As an IU alum, my thoughts are with his family and his players. I had heard on Friday that IU had replaced him as coach and wondered what was going on.

He also coached Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at Miami University.

My advice for Versus

2007-06-18T09:19:00.000-04:00

Versus needs to step up if it wants to make a name for itself as a network...and if the NHL wants to have more of a television presence (Versus is on channel 485 on my cable provider...two tiers above the cable package I have). The network hasn't done much the last two years toward becoming mainstream, but hopefully will do so in the future.

My advice for Versus:

Secure more sports programming (I'm sorry, but in my opinion, yachting, bull riding, barbecuing, cagefighting, etc. do not qualify as sports). Last week's announcement that Versus will air Big 12 and Pac-10 football games is a step in the right direction, but the network shouldn't stop there. Go after tennis, golf and college basketball. Fans of these sports will add more pressure on cable providers to put Versus on a decent channel. Also, these fans will be more likely to consider watching a hockey game than someone tuning in to watch a rodeo. So Versus will be able to advertise its own programming more effectively to its viewers.
Develop more NHL programming. When Versus grabbed the television rights to the NHL, the network planned to use that as a starting point for reinventing itself. Other than changing its name and airing two or three hockey games a week, I don't see much difference (at least from the point of view of someone who doesn't actually get Versus). The NHL should be its focus, yet Versus only offers 10 hours of hockey a week during the season. Why not offer some shows profiling players or teams? And definitely offer a nightly hockey recap show during the season.
Become a source for sports news. It may take time to secure TV rights to more sports, but that shouldn't stop the network from reporting on it. To start, Versus should air a daily sports show. Also, the network's Web site currently acts first as an advertisement for its own programming and a far second as a news source. The Web sites for both Fox Sports and ESPN serve as places for fans to turn to for the latest sports news, and Versus should follow suit.

Versus just hired a new vice president of programming last week. Let's cross our fingers that he'll make some changes that will benefit both the network and the NHL.

Balsillie = Wow.

2007-06-17T13:36:00.000-04:00

Penguins fans should be relieved that Jim Balsillie backed out on purchasing the team last year. The man has no morals at all.

He currently is awaiting approval on his bid to buy the Nashville Predators. He and his lawyer insist that Nashville fans should not worry (sound familiar?), yet he's accepting deposits for season tickets in Hamilton, Ontario.

This guy is unbelievable. Or maybe the NHL just hired him to go around to teams in need and pretend to buy them, thereby burning a fire under government officials/fans to increase teams' popularity and support.

I doubt it. I think he'll just do anything to reach his goal.

Predators fans, we feel your pain.

Still sad I missed the NHL Awards

2007-06-16T19:14:00.000-04:00

I'm still sad that I couldn't get my off season hockey fix and see the NHL Awards. I wasn't going to be able to watch them live anyway, as I was away in Detroit and working during the supposed live broadcast. My dad had TiVoed the show for me (and him, since he was also out of town) and I avoided all media yesterday so that I wouldn't know the results until I could watch the recording on Sunday. So I didn't hear until my dad tried to watch the show late Friday night of the mishap.

In case you didn't here, the problem was actually with CBC and not Versus. Blame Canada. (Just kidding, I love Canada!)

For everyone else who missed it, Empty Netters has a recap of the entire evening.