That Sexy Slide

MAX!!!!!!!

2011-07-01T14:42:00.002-04:00

ack! Jagr didn't surprise me. Max did.

Alright Shero, now go get me Carcillo.

Craig Adams

2011-06-13T08:33:00.005-04:00

woo!

Thanks for keeping the sexy in Pittsburgh.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2011-04-13T12:22:00.010-04:00

Man, I haven't posted here in a while. A lot has happened since January 25th, boy. What a season. I just had to come here to post how I am feeling right now. Which is AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Mike Rupp is awesome, but we already knew that.

"Honestly, there was a bit of a chip on our shoulders back when our big guys got hurt," Rupp said. "The hockey media across North America questioned us. When you read or hear that we're 'hanging on' until those guys come back, you take that personally. I mean, we're obviously a better team with Sidney and Evgeni in the lineup. But we're also a good team without those guys."

He thumped his thumb on his chest.

"I deserve to be here. I deserve to be in the NHL. So does every guy on this team. We've done our work. This was our opportunity to show that we're still the Pittsburgh Penguins. I didn't want to wait for help. I wanted to get it done."

I'm particularly fond of that quote because I have spent months saying, "The Penguins are a team. Of course, they are Sidney Crosby's team but they are not one guy." I mean, it feels terrible being tired of hearing about Sidney Crosby. Sacrilege. Tell me when he will play. Until then, let's focus on who is playing. Let's root for the guys that got us here. Don't get me wrong, I will be ECSTATIC when he comes back just like the next person. But just... ugh.

And I'm sure I haven't mentioned it here yet but Zbynek Michalek is ~ let me see how I can put this into words without dishonoring my love and devotion to Rob Scuderi ~ Zbynek Michalek makes me feel really warm inside. I feel safe when he is on the ice. And when he scores? uh. Let's just say I get tingly.

Kris Letang is the BEST thing. I just wanted to put that reminder here for anybody who might be reading this who at one point or another has maybe forgotten that little fact. Not me. I haven't forgotten.

And now for some pic spam because my bloggy has been neglected.

Is Alexei Kovalev the sexiest man alive? He's certainly in the running.

I'm sure the caption of this picture was something like "Look guys, it's Sidney. Sidney skating on the ice!!!!" But the caption in my head said, "AWWWW MATT COOKE! Look guys, Sidney is smiling at Matt Cooke!" Because I love and miss Matt effing Cooke so very, very much. And I don't at all think he is evil and/or the devil himself (or herself, depending who you talk to).

I just... I can't even. Is Mark Letestu the most adorable thing or what? Z and Marky hugging and smiling and being all things beautiful. It's too much. *exploding ovaries*

Oh remember how I said that one time about Alexei Kovalev being sexy? Yeah, I somehow have just forgotten all about it. Because this man here makes all of my insides explode. With all due respect to my husband and every other sexier than all get out man in the universe; Craig Adams is easily the sexiest. Hands down. No contest. Even with a fauxhawk. there are no other things that do the things to me that he can do. Maybe we all have somebody that does that kind of thing to us, for us. I don't know. Just. GAH.

Playoffs start tonight. Get yourself all tidied up and ready to party.

Let's Go Pens!!!!

"It's as if he knows I am here"

2011-01-27T08:47:00.006-05:00

Before every Penguins game, my husband and I play this little game. We will each say who we think is going to score. Sometimes we make wagers. His usually is some sexual task I must perform. Mine usually involves him doing some household chore. I say "Craig" a lot. He says "Max" a lot. My intense love for Craig Adams is well known, so my dear husband usually just rolls his eyes and hopes that his guy scores so he can cash in on some kink. Mr. Adams isn't known for his goal-scoring.

My dad bought us Penguins v Islanders tickets for Christmas. So we get to the arena a little early. We're sitting there in our seats. Me in my Adams shirtzee. I turned to him and said, "Craig is going to score tonight". He rolls his eyes and says, "pfffft. No he isn't." I, with a straight face, said, "He is. He scores every time I come to a game." We both laughed. (Note: I have been to one other game. It was game one in the first round of playoffs last year against the Senators. Craig scored but we lost.) My husband says, "If Max scores, you know what you have to do." I say, "No, there's no time. I have to clean the cat litter." He said, "If Craig scores, I'll clean the litter boxes." Then it occurs to me that my friend and I got there early at that game at the Mellon and we watched all the guys drive in and walk into the arena. I almost dropped my camera over the wall when Craig stepped out of his car (that's when I realized how intense my love for him was) because my hands started shaking. I yelled, "Love you, Craig!" like some idiot. So I told my husband that he might not score because I didn't get to tell him I love him.

So I'm giving Craig juju while he's sitting on the bench. Wiggling my fingers at him and sending him telepathic messages of how deeply I love him.

There is no scoring in this game and I know it's driving my husband nuts. It's thrilling for me because I love defense. By the third period, everybody is on the edge of their seats because we all know that it's only going to take one goal. And I am loving this game more and more as the minutes tick away. Fleury is playing out of his mind, which I sensed was going to happen anyway. He's been amazing lately and he had such swagger during warm-ups. I turn to my husband and say, "the next shift they're out. That's when Craig is going to score." And to me, Craig scoring is just him showing up on the scoresheet but to my husband it means his stick has to put the puck in. Tomato Tomahto. So the 4th line has a shift or two come and go. And then it happens. I scream and celebrate like the drunk guy in the penguin costume down by the glass and then I bust out laughing. Because how funny is that? So I turn to my husband and say, "It's as if he knows I am here." He rolled his eyes at me. I mean, I know I'm not the only Craig Adams fan in Pittsburgh but I'm pretty sure I was the only one there who was actually betting on him to score and I'm 99% positive that I was the only one in attendance (aside from him) sporting his name and number on my back.

When we got home, I hung outside with the dogs for a few minutes. When I came back in, husband was cleaning out the litter box. But he got the sex. He knew he was getting some anyway because, I mean, come on, Craig Adams scored.

Thank you, Craig, for once again being my hero.

Happy Birthday, Mike Rupp!

2011-01-13T08:57:00.004-05:00

And to me, of course. (I still think he looks older than me.)

Thank you, Jordan, for the early birthday present. Three-point night. woo!

Mr. December

2010-12-01T09:10:00.004-05:00

My love knows no bounds.

But seriously. How awesome is he?

"We've talked about how good he can be," said Bylsma, referring to conversations his coaching staff has hosted with Letang. "His development this season isn't a shock to us. Every time he goes over the boards, as far as we're concerned, he's now a shut-down defenseman. The great thing is, Kris still has a long way to go. As good as Kris is, he's going to get better."

another reason to play fantasy football

2010-11-18T09:46:00.006-05:00

I've always liked football. I've followed the Steelers practically all my life. But playing fantasy football opens my eyes to so many different teams. It gives you a clearer understanding of the game. I've developed a love for football beyond my team. I can name you players from almost every team that I've developed a soft spot for just by them scoring me points over the past three seasons. I won't. But I could.

Two years ago, I picked up a running back named Peyton Hillis who was given the nod in Denver's injury-laden running core. He turned out to be a fantasy owner's dream (until he too suffered an injury). So I looked him up and watched some plays. That's when I found out what he looked like. Now he plays for the Cleveland Browns and has effectively given their fans something to cheer about. And, once again, has proven to be a fantasy owner's dream. (My husband somehow managed to talk me out of drafting him but I snatched him off the waivers week 2.) It also seems pretty likely that the Browns have a lot of new female fans.

So this year, I picked up a guy named Danny Amendola, WR for the St. Louis Rams, because I thought he might have a pretty high upside. Sam Bradford is a good QB after all and it looked like Danny Boy was going to be his go to guy. I dropped him last week to grab a defense that I thought might help me out (they didn't but it turns out I didn't need them to anyway). I'm sitting here today thinking I might want to go ahead and pick him back up. So I googled him. If I was undecided...
... he lifted his shirt to help me with that decision-making process. Thank you, Danny.

(As I'm typing this, the little preview box is showing only the lower half of that picture. It's hypnotic. His belt...)

Anyway.

So I think next year I'm going to draft all hot guys. That will give the guys in my league something to make fun of me about... until my hotties prove that their looks aren't the only thing setting my roster on fire. This year I have Peyton Manning. Next year? Sanchez? Bradford? Although Peyton Manning has a voice that I find sexy. I think we can accept that. I'll have to rename my team though. Manmeat? I'll have to give that some thought. I'll be taking suggestions for my new team name as well as players to add to the potential roster. Oh, but don't say Tom Brady. That man leaves me cold as a popsicle.

happy happy happy happy

2010-10-13T10:35:00.003-04:00

I went to the Penguins website and now I too has a happy.

Please don't come back before you're all better, Jordanlove. But. Please come back SOON.

I finally finished watching post-game interviews from the Canadiens game. Why didn't anybody tell me I MUST watch the Max Talbot interview????? Of course, Max's big head was in the way most of the time, but there were glimpses of Craig undressing. Are there any Letestu interviews out there (he was being interviewed on the other side of Craig)? Must check.

Toronto tonight.

Power to the Penguins.

not worried

2010-10-11T13:38:00.002-04:00

It's only been two games. Sure, it's a shame that the first two games at the BRAND NEW arena have been losses. Yeah, it sucks. If you ask me though, our team has looked real pretty. Mike Comrie is a bargain. He is going to score really soon. You can feel it when he's on the ice. It's happening. I like the chemistry that Letang and Martin are developing. Of course it's not perfect yet but it's nice to watch them feel each other out. They're getting it. And when they do get it? they'll be the #1 pairing. The combined minus of Orpik and Michalek is scary, but they're a "shut down" pair. They're out there against top lines. Minuses will happen. I like the PP. The PK looks good. Malkin looks phenomenal. Eric Tangradi is delicious. Tyler Kennedy has been a little ball of fire. Sure, Fleury let in a couple stinkers that he wishes he could get back. Obviously we miss JStaal (and Rob Scuderi). It's only been two games. I refuse to jump off a bridge over it.

Weird that the game starts at 4 today. I wish somebody would have refreshed my memory on that before I left the house this morning. I'm excited to see how Paul Martin does against his old team.

Let's Go Pens!

time to change the calendar

2010-09-01T09:45:00.002-04:00

I came into my office this morning and flipped my Pens and Paws calendar to the Craig Adams page. It kind of made my day.

My protector, my companion, my soul

2010-07-05T20:25:00.004-04:00

You have been my best friend for so long. I have no idea how to get through a day without seeing your face or feeling your fur. I don't expect that is something I will ever be able to figure out. I will miss you every day for the rest of my life, until we meet again. You are a part of me and I will love you forever. Rest in peace, dear Sasha.

December 1994 - July 4, 2010

In case you were wondering

2010-06-25T14:43:00.001-04:00

what good things come out of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

I don't even know what else to say.

Summer is officially on

2010-06-22T08:35:00.002-04:00

Bring it.

Matt Cooke has agreed to a three-year contract. I am ecstatic. I took off July 1st and 2nd because I remember what last year was like with the whole Rob Scuderi thing. I didn't want to put myself through that again. I'm not even kidding. I'm being serious. Now I get to kick back and enjoy a 5-day weekend. woo!

This might call for some sparkles.

Stanley Cup Finals

2010-05-26T13:23:00.010-04:00

Playoff hockey does strange things to me. I am, and I’ve said this repeatedly, an emotional person. I’m a passionate fan. I love hockey. I think the players are among the very best human beings on the planet. I love how much they love what they do. Their passion for their sport is infectious. Their desire to win is awe-inspiring. Watching their emotions bubble over after a win or a loss brings forth such an emotional reaction from me that it’s impossible to deny how invested I am as a fan of the sport. I care more about the men on my team than I care about most of the people I see on a daily basis. But everybody knows how deeply I care about the Penguins. Unfortunately, they are enjoying a long summer while the Stanley Cup Finals are about to get underway.

Chicago vs. Philadelphia.

Mike Richards is a great Captain. Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter, Chris Pronger, Danny Briere, Claude Giroux, JVR… all players I can respect. In fact, most of the Flyers roster commands respect. (The gross exception is Scott Hartnell. It would be a travesty to have his name on the Stanley Cup. Somebody just told me that I would like him if he was on our team. Uhhh… No. No, I would not.)

Like I said, playoff hockey does strange things to me. An argument can be made to cheer for them, I suppose. But I can’t root for the Flyers because I’m a Penguins fan. I can’t root them on in the Finals because I love my team. My team would not be happy for that team to win. That team’s fan base is disgusting to my team. They are grotesque when it comes to the Captain of my team.

I’ve questioned how the Flyers could possibly have fans but after watching them during these playoffs, I totally get why they have fans. It’s just a shame that their fans are the way they are. I’ve cheered them on up to this point. As soon as they beat the Devils, I kept rooting and rooting. In the process I may have even developed a crush on Simon Gagne because that’s my way. In the process my respect for Mike Richards has grown so much that it actually exists. Chris Pronger is a huge asset to their team. Any team would be lucky to have him. Michael Leighton makes me feel a strange sort of softness towards him. They deserve to be where they are. But I cannot root for them to hoist The Cup.

So it works out pretty well for me as a fan that their opponents happen to be one of my favorite teams. I don’t need a whole lot of reason to root against the Flyers at this point. But that’s what I got… a whole lot of reason. I adore the Blackhawks. I love the way they play. The Blackhawks remind me a lot of the Penguins so my adoration is understandable. I love their Captain. Duncan Keith, who will hopefully be your Norris Trophy winner, is as good as they get and better than most. (Not to mention, he lost seven teeth in game four vs. San Jose and didn’t miss a beat. What a man.) I would cheer them on against anybody but my team. I am thrilled for their fans because I remember that feeling. The pride and belief in your team, it takes over your life. It’s overwhelming.

I feel almost sorry for fans who only watch their team. Once their team is out, so are they. I’ve run into so many people that say they don’t care who wins now because they stopped watching when the Penguins lost. I’ve talked to people who are rooting for the Flyers. Hey, to each his own, of course. But I can’t. I can’t because I am a fan of the Penguins. The reason that comes up all too often is the "anybody but Hossa" argument. Listen. That’s not a good argument. It doesn’t even make rational sense. The guy was a rental player that turned down an offer to stay here. He went to the team that beat us in the Finals. We played him/them the following year. We won. He lost two years in a row. We’ve moved on from him. He’s moved on from us. He signed a deal with the Hawks and he’s had a good year with them. He’s a great player. He’s a good guy. He deserves to have his name on The Stanley Cup. People joke that if the Blackhawks lose to the Flyers, he’ll sign with the Flyers later this summer. The people who say that only remember him as the guy who made an unpopular comment and an unfortunate for him decision two years ago. They clearly haven’t watched him this season. He deserves this. He’s earned this. I can’t cheer for the Flyers because I am a fan of the Blackhawks and I would cry tears of joy to see Jonathan Toews hoist that Cup over his incredibly talented, very deserving head.

GO HAWKS GO!!!

C is for RE-SIGN MATT COOKE

2010-05-25T12:52:00.004-04:00

“Win as if you were used to it. Lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

So okay. It’s been a while since I blogged. I’ve been busy and words aren’t forming the way I want them to. Maybe you think it’s because my team lost in the second round of the playoffs. Maybe you think I’m too upset to blog. Maybe that’s a little bit true, but I figured it’s about time I try to figure out what I want to say.

I love our team. Last year I struggled with losing Rob Scuderi. I’m still not over it. Knowing me, I probably never will get over it. I had this post about Kevin Stevens still having a piece of my insides all the while everybody is calling Scuds “The Piece”. Rob Scuderi has a piece of my insides too. I’m not sure how much I can take as a fan, as an emotional person. Free agency is nightmarish.

List of this year’s free agents:
Matt Cooke
Bill Guerin
Ruslan Fedotenko
Alexei Ponikarovsky
Sergei Gonchar
Mark Eaton
Jay McKee
Jordan Leopold

I may die if they let Matt Cooke go. There aren’t a whole lot of things I wouldn’t offer to do to keep him here. He’s important.

I wouldn’t totally hate having Billy G on this team next year at a GREATLY reduced cap hit and a GREATLY reduced TOI. If those two things don’t happen, I don’t want him.

I still feel like Ruslan Fedotenko got a raw deal this season. He was a -17, I know. Bad things sometimes happened when he was on the ice. Can this be a right wing problem though? Or a defense (like, defensemen defense not team defense) problem? If we find somebody to mesh with Malkin and Feds... like Nick Johnson did. So hey, let’s re-sign Feds on the cheap and bring up Nicky. I wouldn’t fear the inability to breathe if we had to let Fedo walk though.

I also feel like Poni wasn’t given a fair shake here. I would imagine it would take some time to change the way you play to fit a new system. If he gets re-signed, I won’t be upset. If he goes elsewhere, I hope he does well. I wish good things for him. Not that I don’t for others, I just feel a little bad for him and how it worked out (or didn’t work out) here.

I don’t expect to see Sergei Gonchar here next year. I think it might hurt a bit for a while but I think we’ll be better for it in the long run. I have complete trust in Kris Letang’s abilities and there is no reason for anybody to think Alex Goligoski isn’t going to be one of the great ones. I’d rather have my Tanger and GoGo than an over-priced Gonchar. I love what he brought to this team when he was bringing it. He stopped bringing it before we stopped paying him, so I don’t see any reason to re-sign him… unless he takes a drastic decrease in salary. And I don’t see that happening.

I adore Mark Eaton. I trust him. I would like to see him in a Penguins uniform for several more years.

I think I’ve made my feelings for Jay McKee known. I think he is an asset to this team. I’d like to know why he got demoted to 7th D in the first place. If he’s not back here next season, I’ll be forced to believe it was for personal reasons unless I hear otherwise. Do I think he’s the greatest ever defenseman? No, of course not. Does he fill the hole that Rob Scuderi left? No, of course not. Do I think he had a mistake-free season? No, of course not. Would I like to see him back? Yes, I would.

I have mixed feelings about Jordan Leopold. I think he’s pretty solid in both ends. I’d just like to see him grittier. I’m pretty meh about him. I think letting him walk is the way to go. I firmly believe that Ben Lovejoy is ready to play with the big boys fulltime. And Deryk Engelland was signed. I like it. I wouldn’t mind seeing him up here next season too. He’s tough (and yummy). Our defense needs some toughness. Jordan Leopold doesn’t bring us toughness.

Free agency is probably the real reason I haven’t been blogging. My mind gets haunted with all the possibilities, with all that might be lost. Our team needs a shake-up. One way to do that is to tear it down and rebuild it. But we don't need that. So all this “trade Malkin” talk is gibberish. I’m tired of reading about it. I can see where it has some validity but it’s insane. Why on Earth would we trade away one of the greatest players in the game? To fill in wingers? Come on. Think any team is willing to give up what it would take to give them Evgeni Malkin? And what, exactly, would it take? What some people are suggesting is crazy talk. I would love to have a number of the mentioned players on our team, but not at Geno’s expense. I've thought long and hard about what I would want in exchange for Geno. I've come to the conclusion that I feel it is in our best interest to keep him. Duh. The only way that should even be considered is if he asks for it. Besides, this idiotic trade talk just makes me paranoid about everybody. NOBODY'S SAFE!!! TRADE MALKIN! TRADE FLEURY! TRADE STAAL! TRADE CROSBY! TRADE THEM ALL BECAUSE WE NEED WINGERS! Fuck. It's enough. Let me enjoy my summer... or at least let me enjoy some of June.

I believe in the management of this team. I think we took some chances this year and I think we let a piece of our team go last year that proved to be too big to overcome. I’m talking about Rob Scuderi here, in case you didn’t guess that. But also Hal Gill. I think if I were given the choice between bringing up wingers or defensemen from WBS, I'd say bring wings and go get one really solid defensive defenseman. But nobody asks me. I'd probably just say, "go get Scudsy back. Shouldn't have let him go in the first place, dumbass," anyway. Maybe I'm crazy to think that our team's holes can be filled from within. Maybe I'm wrong. Hell, maybe I don't even think that. I can talk myself in circles, man.

One thing I know for sure, Matt Cooke is important to this team. He’s important for chemistry. He’s important for leadership. He’s funny and he’s honest and he cares about this team. I have to believe that he cares enough to stay here and that we care enough to want to keep him here and that he will be wearing that #24 for our team next season. I have to believe this until July 1st because it’s really too early for me to start vomiting at random times in random places because somebody says the word “cookie”. ::deep breath::

Let’s talk about Anton Volchenkov.

First of all, if he were to sign... well, first of all, yum. But second of all, if he were to sign with the Penguins, he would need a different number because that #24 belongs to Matt fucking Cooke. ::exhale:: I love the way Anton Volchenkov plays. He’s hard. He’s probably going to get more money than we can give him though. Wheels are already turning about the Caps wanting to give him $5mil. He’s probably not worth that to us but he probably is to them. He could be the piece they are missing. (The Piece *sob*) I’d love to see him here but I don’t expect it. At all.

Maybe I’ll get into some other guys I’d like to see signed with the Pens, but honestly, anybody I’d like to see here is pretty far out of reach (Patrick Sharp). I will trust Ray Shero again. He let me down last year but I have no choice but to believe he knows how to correct his mistakes. For now, until the dust clears, please do not say “cookie” in my presence.

Next post, the Stanley Cup Finals.

Go Hawks Go!!!

Round One

2010-04-26T09:14:00.006-04:00

Some of the Round One games are completed.

Penguins beat Senators 4-2. ::happy::

Canucks beat Kings 4-2. ::sad::

Flyers beat Devils 4-1. ::amused::

Sharks beat Avalanche 4-2. ::neutral::
-----------------------------------------
Caps are currently leading Habs 3-2.

Bruins are currently leading Sabres 3-2.

Blackhawks are currently leading Preds 3-2.

Red Wings and Coyotes are tied at 3 a piece. Go Yotes!

I was sad the Kings lost last night. As the series went on, I fell more and more in love with the team. I found out they have more going for them than Rob Scuderi and a sweet 3rd jersey.
Getting into the playoffs was a step in the right direction for the team. They have the talent to get there every year for quite a while. Drew Doughty has become a favorite of mine. The dude is 20 years old and a Norris Trophy finalist along with Duncan Keith (and that joke from Washington). I think it's Keith's this year but I wouldn't be totally surprised if Doughty takes it.

Also working their way up my love list is the Phoenix Coyotes. They are fun to watch, Wolski is one to keep an eye on, and I have a soft spot for Pyatt. I'm crossing my fingers for them in Game 7.

But let's talk about the Penguins. This was a fun series. I have tremendous respect for the Senators. Well, all but one of them...

They battled their hearts out. I am possibly in love with Anton Volchenkov... Beast.

Twelve Penguins scored at least one goal. Crosby had 5. Malkin had 4. Cooke had 3! Letang, Guerin and Kunitz had 2. Adams, Staal, Dupuis, Talbot, Ponikarovsky and Goligoski had 1. The triple overtime in game 5 was thrilling and stomach-turning. I am so proud that they came back from a three goal deficit in game 6 to tie it up (thanks to Cookie's two goals) and get the game and series winner in overtime. JStaal did some fine work in the offensive zone to get the pass to Dupuis who hail Mary'ed it over Leclaire's shoulder. Awesome work from all of our boys.

Now we wait to see who we're facing in Round Two.

Let's Go Pens!!!!

Can you believe this?

2010-04-22T10:42:00.005-04:00

What is wrong with these people? Why would anybody do such things?
Insanity? Too many bad drugs? Not enough good drugs? Not enough anger management classes? Or just no class? I think it must be drugs.

Love this picture. I hated the sequence of events that led to it but just look at Rupp, Adams, and Kunitz and Malkin! ready to take his head off. Talbot looks disgusted and shocked that he is so gross.

FINALLY! Some pictures of LeLover's tattoo (and arms) have surfaced.

so very lovely.

rooting for the Kings is easy to do

2010-04-22T10:29:00.006-04:00

Thank goodness my hero went to a team I can really get behind. I am loving them.

This picture is amazing. I'd like a huge wall poster:

Their 3rd ~~jerseys~~ sweaters are fucking sweet:

The more I see them, the more I like them. So, like, buying a Scuderi jersey is looking like something that's become a priority instead of a struggle.

waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. I miss him. Especially on those 5 on 3's.

They lost last night. Series is tied 2-2.

LET'S GO KINGS!!!!

the only thing

2010-04-15T09:28:00.002-04:00

you should take away from last night's game is this:

I freaking lost my mind when he scored. I KNEW that was going to happen. I might have to Blingee that picture. ::floaty hearts::

I'm going to try to post some pictures later (this weekend).

Led Zeppelin, Baby!

2010-04-13T19:00:00.000-04:00

And Brent Johnson signed for two years. Yay!

Gah!

2010-04-13T18:57:00.003-04:00

somebody just asked me if I wanted tickets for the game tomorrow. I said, "YES!" I have no idea where the seats are located or how I am supposed to pay for them but I am super excited... to the point where hyperventilation is a serious concern.

More details later....

I'm excited

2010-04-10T15:33:00.002-04:00

So I'm doing my normal Saturday stuff. You know, laundry, dishes, all that domesticated stuff with maybe some extracurricular activities thrown in for good measure. I'm in the middle of doing another load of laundry and I get excited for tonight's game. I just feel really good about these next two regular season games, and that makes me excited for the playoffs. I get this feeling that the boys are turning it on. That "switch" that we hear so much about. Most people don't think there really is a "switch". Perhaps they're right in that it's not something you just simply turn on and off. It's this thing inside you that you have to believe is there somewhere waiting for you to find. You get excited and that makes you want to reach it, grab it and hold onto it. That's what I feel like these guys must be doing. That's how they view these next two games. If they can grab these last four points and end the regular season doing everything they could possibly do to end the season on a positive and they actually do it? That, my friends, is that "switch". The confidence. The attitude. The swagger. They all come back. Our boys have all the ability in the world. We know they do. We've seen it.

What if they don't play like the champions they are? What if something is "off"? What if they go into the playoffs with two, or even one loss? It would break my heart. It would kill my enthusiasm. It would crush me. It's happened before and it will likely happen again. But I have to believe that it won't happen this time. I have to be excited. I have to believe in them. Because the feeling you get when they succeed is such a good feeling. It's a high like nothing else. If I go into this feeling like they can't do it, what's the point? What's the point in being a fan if you never feel that raise? I have no idea what it feels like to watch them win when I didn't expect them too. Maybe that's a great feeling too. I have no idea. But how does it feel when they lose when you expected them to lose? I mean, I have no idea, but it must feel like shit. To be beaten when you went into it already defeated? Yuck. That is not something I ever want to feel. You have to believe in your team.

Now try to imagine how they feel.

Let's Go Pens!

Let's do this.

I'm kind of speechless

2010-04-09T10:14:00.008-04:00

I had all these words yesterday but I didn't blog them. Then last night happens and all I'm left with are these amazing pictures in my head. Honestly, I just don't know what to say right now. The last regular season home game at the Mellon Arena. Forever. I wish I could have been there but...

OMG. I got sidetracked! I just remembered a picture from the "shirts off our backs" portion of the postgame festivities. DID KRIS GET A TATTOO? Why does he insist on getting sexier all the freaking time? Enough already. Damn, boy. When Geno was giving his jersey to that lucky fan, Kris was in the background signing his jersey for that dirty whore (just kidding!) who was lucky enough to get picked for that. I looked, did a double-take, and rewound it and said, "DID KRIS GET A TATTOO?!?!" My husband was all, "Calm down, honey" as I'm slo-mo'ing. hee. *LeSigh* And Good Lord the look on his face when Coffey came out was incredible... not in a sexy way but in a childlike way. He is just beautiful.

Anyway. I wish I could have been there but I felt privileged just to watch it on television, just to be a part of this amazing city. We are truly blessed.

Sid scores his 49th and 50th goal of the season. But the 50th is taken away and given to Billy G. Puck must have hit a thread on his jersey on its way past him. Still Sid makes his 500th career point on a four point night. The goal that would have been his 50th, by the way, was given to Billy G at Sid's urging. He didn't want credit for something he felt wasn't his. Amazing. *bows to our great Captain*

Geno. He does things that nobody else can do. To have both of these guys on our team is crazy. We have been spoiled. We are blessed.

A few pics... will add more later.

Mark Eaton was playing like the champion that he is.

After Geno's goal.

T-shirts the guys wore under their jerseys.

Oh! I almost forgot. Poni has a hearing today, I guess. :(

(Edit for more pictures)

average ordinary everyday superhero

2010-04-02T08:48:00.004-04:00

I fell asleep watching the Kings v. Canucks game. Then? I had a dream about Rob Scuderi. It is weird how much I love that man. I still don't think it's weird how much I miss him though. *sigh*

I dream about hockey a lot. Sometimes my dreams are bizarre, like most of the Jonas Hiller ones. Sometimes they are normal, like the one where we were hanging out with Matt Cooke on our patio. This one falls under the normal category. It wasn't about anything in particular (that I can remember) just that Scuds was there (wherever "there" was). Do you think it has something to do with leaving the NHL channel on while I slumber?

"Try to make it look easy, gonna make it look good
Like anybody would

I'm just your average ordinary everyday superhero
Trying to save the world, but never really sure
I'm just your average ordinary everyday superhero
Nothing more than that, that's all I really am

I'm just like everybody else
After all the hype it's hard to tell
I keep my game face on so well

I'm just your average ordinary everyday superhero
I'm trying to save the world
I'm just your average ordinary everyday superhero"

Anyway. I need this year's superhero to come forth pronto. Maybe it will be Leo? Poni? Lelover? Cookie? Geno? JStaal? It's up in the air, boys. I have favorites but I promise not to be biased when it comes to choosing my new hero. This is too important to give anybody an unfair advantage. And by all of this, I mean a new Penguin flavored hero. Scuds is still and will always be a superhero in my eyes.

Good things I forgot to mention yesterday:

-Ruuuuuupppppppppp. Mike Rupp is good things.

OMG! I forget what the other ones were that I forgot.

the good things

2010-04-01T08:37:00.003-04:00

After a stupid loss to the stupid Tampa Bay Lightning, I feel it is important to look at the good things. I just need a minute to think of something.

ha! Just kidding.

-Letang's contract has given him confidence. That confidence maybe made him look a little sloppy last night but the whole team, minus a few, was sloppy. He has all the potential in the world and I, for one, am happy to wait. Watching him progress has become one of my favorite things to do.

-MAF. He made some pretty amazing saves last night.

-The Power Play. I know it looked ugly last night, probably uglier than ever. It was so all over the place though, that I have to at least pretend that it's because we were trying different things.

-Duper. He is great night in and night out. Always a highlight.

-Jordan Staal is amazing. There was a slight blunder or two last night but... what can you do? He always makes up for it a half a second later with something unreal.

-Bill Guerin did a few really good things last night. He has been doing some nice stuff to counter the old and tired stuff.

-Brooks Orpik. He has become one of my favorites this season. They're all my favorites but he's worked his way into my core. He's become essential for my sanity.

-Ruslan Fedotenko came back onto the ice after that nasty facer into the boards and made some spectacular plays. (edited to add scary picture)

-Craig Adams is a fucking monster and it's only a matter of time. Only a matter of time. He's so incredible that I bet that time will come when none of us are expecting it.

-Malkin and Gonchar should be back on Saturday.

-Matt Cooke is the best thing. I am proud to have him on our team.

Okay. So let's not lose anymore. 8:30 practice this morning. They were supposed to have an off day but they have to work at not sucking.

Let's Go Pens! Do this.

"I think the most exciting part is coming."

2010-03-31T09:09:00.003-04:00

This article gave me chills.

This:
“From an organization standpoint he’s been a really good fit for us,” Penguins general manager Ray Shero said. “We’re fortunate and lucky to have him tied up for the next four years.

“I think he’s one of the better young defensemen in the league. He’s a guy they’re going to continue to build around and he’s going to get better as a defenseman. He’s starting to show his leadership abilities on and off the ice.”

And this:
“It feels great, to sign with a team like this,” Letang said. “I’m going to focus on one thing, and that’s playing hockey. I think the most exciting part is coming. I can’t wait for the playoffs.”

The newly-signed defender was asked if he took any sort of “discount” to remain in Pittsburgh.

“I want to be part of this team. I think it’s something special,” Letang said. “If you put the money aside, you always want to be in a town where you want to play, where every night you want to play. I think I’d rather stay here and have fun. We’re like a family now. We’re all young and growing together.”

It's incredible how excited I am about the future of this team. This kid is going to be amazing. More amazing than he already is. When he said, "I think the most exciting part is coming," it put me on the edge of my seat. A sentence as simple as that has made me anxious to see what he meant by it. Maybe he meant playoffs. Maybe he meant next season. Maybe he meant for him personally. Hell, maybe he meant nothing. Whatever the meaning, it was an effective statement.

::chills::

It's nice to not have this hanging over our heads until July. I am beyond happy that he signed this deal now. People want to say it doesn't necessarily mean anything. We can still trade him. Whitney. blah blah tradebait. I'm allowing myself to ignore all of that talk because I believe this signing does mean something. I believe it's okay to be hopeful and excited because I believe it means a great deal to the future of our team.

Let's Go Pens!!!

That's right, bitches

2010-03-30T09:45:00.002-04:00

Four years!

You have no idea the wonders this is going to do with my ability to sleep at night.

I'll take the 1 point

2010-03-25T12:02:00.002-04:00

Hey, we took the "best team in the league" (right now) to a shootout without Malkin and Gonchar. If Malkin was there, maybe we get 2 points. We can all say how stupid it was to put Billy G in on the SO as the 3rd, but if he makes it we're talking about how brilliant Bylsma was to put him in. Personally? I'd like to have seen Staal, Fedotenko, Dupuis, Kennedy, Poni before Billy G and Kunitz. When Billy was getting ready to shoot, I said, "What's he going to do? Bore Theodore to sleep?" Not to mention, we shouldn't have needed a 3rd score there. But ::shrug:: I'll take the point.

Brooks Orpik is awesome.
Ruslan Fedotenko is this close.
Craig Adams is one point away from 100. Here's hoping his 100th is a goal. I pee a little bit every time he has the puck.
Jordan Staal is a BEAST. Everybody knows this. Got the 3rd star last night.
Sidney Crosby looked way better than he did against the Devils. His SO was SICK.
Kris Letang is magical. His SO was beautiful.
Tyler Kennedy is a ball of fire.
Max Talbot looks better than he has in a long time.
Jordan Leopold is fine.

The Penguins will not lose another game this regular season. Make note of it.

ummm... huh?

2010-03-23T09:58:00.003-04:00

What was with the boos everytime Sid touched the puck and the "Crosby Sucks" chants at the Joe? I don't remember that being a thing in Detroit. Do they have a bunch of bandwagoners now who think that's what they're supposed to do because they learn everything they know from Caps fans? I though Detroit was a more respectful kind of place. ohwellwhatever. I just felt kind of bad because they don't normally do that there.

I'm not going to get all beat up over a loss to Detroit. They're a goooood team. Next time they come here though maybe we should boo Zetterberg because he's a great player and chant "Datsyuk Sucks" because he's freaking amazing. That's how everybody else does it, right? ::eyeroll::

That being said, Sid was pretty bad last night.

I really enjoyed watching Letang and JStaal play against Datsyuk. They were showing the goods. None of them had any points but they were the best part of the game. They were so pretty. (No photographic evidence exists.)

Feds = Beast. *heart* him.

Billy G was kind of awesome most of the game (and that goalie interference penalty he took for getting pushed on top of Howard when he was outside of the crease was LAME). He was our second best defenseman last night. Nice... ish. Nice that he was awesome defensively, not nice that the rest of the defense didn't play as good as he did on defense.

But WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH GONCHAR? He was hard to watch. And that interference penalty he took for Draper interfering on him was LAME. And I'm not going to get started on Goligoski. He has a really nice play every once in a while. There was one point in the game where GoGo and Leo were skating back to the D-zone and they were perfectly positioned and perfectly in sync.

I wonder how Jay McKee is doing. Remember him? He had a pretty great game against Tampa Bay. Was that the last game we won????? (I mean versus a team that actually played in the game, so the Broons don't count)

Why does it feel like we never play at home?

Capitals on Wednesday. Yay. (<-- sarcasm)

well. That was... perfect?

2010-03-19T10:28:00.010-04:00

Last night, as my husband and I were settling in to watch the game. You know the one I mean. The Big Bad Bruins vs. Penguins or more like vs. THE DEVIL MATT COOKE. You know. Maybe you don't remember but Cookie ended Marc Savard's season the last time the teams met. Because Campbell didn't suspend Matt Cooke, the Bruins fans wanted him to be killed on the ice. Or even better for them, they wanted Captain or Malkin to be put to death on the Bruins' home ice. Aren't they fun? LOL ::rolls eyes:: During the media scrums before the game, various Bruins explained why they couldn't execute Matt Cooke or any of his teammates. They explained it like their fans needed it explained to them. Like they were five. That would be illegal, folks. Plus, not to mention the two points are important to them right now.

So. As we were settling in to watch the game, I started to feel a little rumbly in my tummy. Fear. I felt like somebody asked me to climb something. Something high. Something scary. Like a 6-foot ladder. I was starting to panic. My brain kept reminding me of Bertuzzi/Moore and I wanted to puke. Eric Godard is dressed for the game. I feel surprisingly not much better. Like, what, so if somebody gets killed on the ice, he'll come out and punch them? Deep breaths. Then the close-up of Cookie on the bench. I'm thinking maybe my panic is due to PMS? Deep breaths. Hold pillow close to face in case it becomes necessary to hide. Then it's Matt Cooke's first shift. (We know this because the fans alert us to it with boos.) Shawn Thornton challenges. Mattie drops the gloves. And then I calm down. Is that CRAZY or what?

Cookie goes down and Thornton continues to hit him even after the refs got involved. I'm okay with that too because I think Matt tried to get back up so he could take his beating like the man that he is. Thornton gets an extra 10-minutes. The fans don't care. They cheer and Shawn gets the 3rd star because he fought the devil and won.

The bench is proud.

TK scored his first in 19 games.

Steigy and Bob repeatedly make me want to change the channel. I love Bob Errey but now he annoys me a lot of times. Steigy challenges my patience constantly. My husband gets annoyed with me getting annoyed with Steigy but really. I mean come on. That man is challenging to deal with.

Kris Lelover scored on a PP. Oh wait. No he didn't because Ponikarovsky decided to steal it from him and it was right after the PP ended. Okaywhatever. Anyway, the PP looks about 400% better with Kris and Kunitz replacing Gogo and Billy G. Just FYI. And maybe it looks better without Malkin? SorryGenoILoveYou. After the goal, Gonchar comes over to Letang. Letang says something to him and then Gonch pats him on the shoulder. I feel a little bit of warm fuzziness about this and say, "awwww. Daddy." Then I rewind it to watch it again. My husband rolls his eyes. And I again wonder if maybe it's PMS. I wish there was a photo of this. I love Kris and Daddy pictures. Guys, one of these beautiful men will likely maybe possibly not be on our team next season. It is SAD to think about if you think about it. *sigh*

I am really starting to believe Billy G is a spy working for another team. He stands around a lot. He is a turnover machine. And sometimes he looks like some crazy old man who snuck into the dressing room and stole a Penguins uniform and somehow is given WAY TOO MUCH ice time.

There is something wrong going on with that whole situation. I don't understand it. He has a nice shot. But if all he can do is shoot and sometimes make it in or around the net? I mean, like if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around. You know?

On a more pleasing note. MIKE RUPP! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! What a man. There must be something really special about people who were born on January 13th. ::grin::
He fought Chara for Crosby. He lost (duh) but he lived through it.
And then he goes all crazy in the d-zone. Blocks a shot. Shoots the puck up ice. Chases down the puck. Shoots it right past Rask. Awesomeness.

Fleury goes insane (photographic evidence below) because he is minutes away from his first SHUTOUT of the season.

"LOL NO YOU MAY NOT HAVE MY SHUTOUT MR THORNTON LOL oh shit LOL"
And he narrowly escapes having his throat slit by Thornton's skate. And then also Gonchar has to leap over him too. yikesy.

Penguins win. 3-0 Fleury gets his shutout. Rupp gets laid in the dreams of all the ladies. Matt Cooke does exactly what is expected of him. Captain does not get killed. Good times.

Also here is a photo from the TBL game that I saved but never posted.
Is it okay that I find this insanely sexy? Can I plead PMS on that too?

And please. Everybody relax about the Devils. Yes, we can beat them. We just haven't yet. OMG! The Leafs beat them last night. It was a shootout win with no Brodeur but still. OMG! and also during the Devils game, Gogo got boarded and Kris went batshit crazy about it. He took a roughing penalty but it was soooo worth it.

Next up, EStaal and the 'Canes who beat the Capitals in OT last night.

I keep thinking I am not done with this post but I am going to be done with it anyway.

Craig effing Adams

2010-03-15T13:23:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Jason Seidling, there was an article linked to on the Penguins home page all about why Craig Adams is amazing and everybody should shut up already.

"He might have just eight assists in 68 games this season, but the gritty forward does so many little things that help add up to victories."

Indeed.

Thank you, Jason!

Skates, Plates, Ducks and Canucks

2010-03-10T10:36:00.012-05:00

Last night was the Penguins' Skates and Plates charity dinner. Here are some obligatory photos of cute boys in tuxes.

That man is looking at Kris the way the woman should be.

I wanted to do a post about Alex Ponikarovsky but I got sidetracked again. The last time I wanted to do it, I got distracted by the OMG MATT COOKE IS THE EVIL!!! all over the internet. I think it's adorable that he just got here and is already doing charity things. I'll get more into him at a later date.

Dude. nice looking salad.

Dapper Duper.

I don't know what is happening to the Ducks. I hesitate to say Jonas left something in Vancouver during the Olympics because 1) I always hesitate to place all the blame on goalies and 2) I adore him.
They have lost to Colorado, Phoenix, Montreal and Columbus since the break. Sometimes your goalie can steal one for you and other times, you have to get one back for your goalie.

I watched parts of the Montreal v. Vancouver game last night. I like watching Vancouver. I think I might try to start watching them more.

"She's Out of My League" opens Friday. Here's a little about the movie.

Stars beat Capitals in SO

2010-03-09T13:32:00.001-05:00

Turco! hee!

I *heart* the goal cam. Somebody should do a montage of goal cam's greatest moments.

I'll start this off by stating the obvious

2010-03-08T08:55:00.004-05:00

I love Matt Cooke. I think he's an important part of our team. He is one of our best penalty killers. He gets in the heads of our opponents. The tape to tape passes between him and Jordan are sick. He does many "little" things that have a lot of us begging for a new contract this summer. He also does a lot of things that make me cringe. His ability to "toe the line" between dirty plays and clean plays are sometimes worrisome because of the blurry NHL rulebook.

His hit on Savard yesterday was a clean hit by definition.

He did not receive a penalty for this hit. He didn't change speed. He didn't change direction. He didn't lift his arm. He just finished his check. I still feel like he had time to pull back because Savard A) had his head lowered and B) didn't know he was coming. The hit was necessary. The hit to the head was not. Which, I guess, is easy for me to say never having played professional hockey. It is important to note that Marc Savard is made of glass.

The hit is being compared to the Richards hit on Booth.

I'll start this part of my post by saying I'm obvioulsy not a Flyers fan. My views on this could be tilted or biased. Mike Richards received a major and a game misconduct for his hit on Booth. Looking at this hit, I see Richards charging Booth. His speed changes. His direction changes. He appears to lift himself up a bit. I see an intent to injure (for which he received the game misconduct). Mike Richards was not suspended.

Do I think Richards should have been suspended? Yes, without question.
Do I think Cooke should be suspended? No. Why? Because Richards wasn't and that hit looked way worse.
Do I think Cooke will be suspended? Probably. His name is Matt Cooke and he is a "repeat offender". Which is funny because if you're a "star" player, you don't get suspended for wrong-doings so you will never have the "repeat offender" tag sewn onto your sweater. Other than Alex Ovechkin, who was suspended earlier in the season. (Which, I believe, was more for his benefit than anybody else's. Nobody wants this guy's career cut short. Or at least nobody should.) So he now wears that "repeat offender" tag, right?

If the league is going to crack down on head shots, the punishment has to be consistent. In a just system, both Richards and Cooke would have been suspended for blows to the head. Intentional or not. They can't continue to suspend certain players. They can't pick and choose who gets a few games off and who doesn't. The suspension should be no different if your name is Cooke or Richards. Or Avery or Crosby. Or Carcillo or Malkin. Not that Crosby or Malkin are known for blurry plays, I'm just sayin'. It's not fair and it has to be addressed. There has to be sustainability no matter what your name is.

I'm not going to blame Savard or Booth for taking blows to the head. But. Isn't there a reason keeping your head up is a lesson taught very early in your hockey career? "Keep your head on a swivel", guys.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Marc Savard.

On a less serious note, if Cookie does get suspended, we solve our too many forwards problem when Billy G gets healthy (or stops being old).

It would help me greatly

2010-03-05T11:44:00.007-05:00

if Jordan Staal committed some douchery at some point. My love for him is approaching unhealthy levels.

He was credited with the OT GWG last night and he did this.

"Staal approached members of the Penguin’ communications staff after the game to say he did not touch the puck and should not have been awarded the goal."

What a man. I can't handle him sometimes.

(obligatory Staal v. Staal photo)

I am anxious to see Alex Ponikarovsky this weekend. I know little about him. I know he's a plus player and that he has 19 goals (so far) this season on a bad team (Leafs). I also know that he is a left-winger from Kiev because that is also what Fedotenko is. I hope one of them can play right because they both should be with Geno. I'm not really torn up over losing Caputi and I certainly don't mind that we gave them Skoula (to turnover to the Devils). I wish them both well but I'm hoping for better from Poni.

I don't know if they were doing it on purpose or not, which knowing them probably, but Steigy and Bob kept making horse-related comments in regards to Malkin. I have a feeling they are going to get a lot of use out of Alex Ponikarovsky's nickname. I'm not talking about the "Ukraine Train" one either.

Leopold is fine. I resent that he has that #4 on his back though so I can't really get into specifics about him right now. At one point last night, he backed right into the camera to rub it in my face. I didn't appreciate that at all. Not at all, Mr. Leopold.

I feel bad for McKee being dropped to the 7th Dman position. I was happy to see him get a little playing time last night (5 minutes 40 seconds, yikes)... but, truth be told, I haven't really missed him all that much. Probably because Kris and Brooks and Sergei and Mark and that new guy have been blocking shots all over the place. Sorry, Jay! *kisses* It was pretty cool to see him flip that guy over his back last night though. (I think it was him anyway, I meant to check but forgot.)

I was glad to see Billy Guerin getting scratched last minute because of "back spasms". I think it was because Jay McKee was sad and Billy G is old.

During a face off in the 1st period, Matt Cooke took a 2-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for... wait for it... GETTING.PUNCHED.IN.THE.FACE. Unreal.

Speaking of Ruslan Fedotenko (you know, from before), he has three points and is a +2 in the two games since Olympic break. Now he is only a -14 which is still really ouch. I stand firm that most of those are not even a little bit his fault. I hate when they do a line switch and the new guys can't get out there fast enough to stop the goaltender's raping. That happens to him a lot. Trust me. I've been paying close attention to that. It ~~feels like~~ is part of my job as a fan. I've done it with Kris since forever and I started doing it with Craig and now with Feds. I have to. It helps my defense when people go all stupid about plus/minus. Craig Adams is and always will be a hero on this team whether he scores or not and no matter what his plus/minus happens to be (-8 in case you are wondering, but you shouldn't be wondering because it matters not in his case because he does soooooo many other things. good things).

One of my favorite parts of watching last night's game was an exchange between Errey and Steigy. Bob goes, "Prospal has quite a tan. I wonder where he was during the Olympic break." And Steigy goes, "he was in Vancouver playing for the Czech Republic." lols

Dubinsky is an awful human.

Avery cracked me up when he mocked Max Talbot. *must look for youtube* He's still an ass, but it was funny. I love that Max laughed about it.

We own the Rangers. If we wouldn't have gotten the two points from that game, it would have been a huge disappointment considering our boys were dominant for about 97 percent of the game.

Fleury let four goals in on like 12 shots. WTF? Johnson let in no goals on like 3. Which, yeah he only faced three shots but if we're going to go all average-y, Fleury would have let one of those 3 in. He threw his stick like a lawn dart while Johnny was all calm and cool skating to the net to stop the madness. There was a scary minute when he didn't have a stick but Leopold (with is body) and Talbot (with his quick stick) helped stop the, what at the time seemed inevitable, molestation of yet another of our goaltenders. MAF was sour looking sitting on the bench because the boys were able to do for Johnny what they seemed unable to do for him. It's hard to place blame because it's a team but 4 goals on 12 shots. Four?

A non-Penguin related hockey news note: I adore Jonas Hiller. He was (mostly) spectacular in the Olympics. I had another dream about him last night. And I didn't even see him or hear mention of him yesterday. Weird. I don't have those kinds of feelings for him. My adoration of him is non-romantic in nature (I think so anyway) but in my dreams, I always have those swoony he's my boyfriend feelings about him (but it's hard to tell sometimes after these OMG! HE IS MY BOYFRIEND kind of dreams). Well, except for that one time when it was about him saying he's a bad singer and then singing and then my husband and I were both like "WHAT?!?! YOU ARE NOT A BAD SINGER! YOU ARE A GREAT SINGER! THAT WAS AMAZING!" See? Weird. Last night's dream was about some minor doesn't even matter play in the basement kind of goalie tournament that he was kicking ass at. Or maybe he was giving lessons I don't remember. It was in some kind of church or school type place in some big cafeteria type room and he kept sending me to his locker and/or his car to get different goalie masks for him. One of them was a plastic frog mask. Like the kind that have the elastic band to hold it on your face. You know like you buy for your kid for Halloween. People were coming at him pretty hard and I was worried that the frog wouldn't protect him but he assured me that he would be fine. Anyway, I felt gooey about him and he had a lot of groupies and I thought they were funny. See again? Weird. I don't know why I sometimes share some of these bizarre things with people.

So anyway. Onto the Stars, boys. Reach for them and bring them down.

And now we're getting ready for the Olympics

2010-02-15T08:12:00.002-05:00

I haven't blogged in a while. Heaven knows it's not because I've had nothing to say. I've just been busy. I guess. So our boys lost to the Preds yesterday in a shoot-out. I didn't even think it was possible for us to lose in a SO.

Kris Letang has been a monster. Brooks Orpik has been a... well, he's been not throwing people onto our goalie, so he's been great. And! And! He scored a goal yesterday. The teaming of them together helps to keep my heart beating. Jordan is, as always, a beast. I'm not sure how I feel about Jordan and Geno on the same line. I love Cooke-Staal-Kennedy so it's hard to be unbiased. Feds is a -16 now. How does that happen to him? Everybody likes to talk about how terrible he's been but I don't see it. I think he's pretty great. He wasn't one of my favorites last season but I've been loving him this season. As an aside, he is breathtakingly gorgeous in person. wow. But I bumped into him, or rather he bumped into me, after I was already loving him. Sidney Crosby is a machine, man. MAF has been questionable at times. Billy G is a liability most times. His presence on the PP makes me cry. I'm guessing they feel some sort of obligation to him. That's the only thing that makes sense. And I guess if Sid wants him there... Well, let us hope that this two week break does him good. He should sleep for two weeks and Jay McKee should soak in an ice bath. Speaking of Jay McKee, he went to visit Children's Hospital one day after practice. He's a beautiful man. Hockey players are like no others. *sigh*

We made it through to the trade freeze with only one trade. Nate Guenin for... somebody who is an offensive defenseman. This makes me nervous. I worry about losing any of our offensive d-men but mostly I worry about losing Letang (of course). I have a few other worries but none of those would have as much of a negative impact on my happiness and well-being.

gah. work. More later.

USA! USA! USA!

Okay, it's official

2010-02-06T15:10:00.001-05:00

I am in love with Pascal Dupuis.

Dude is on fire.

WTF?

2010-01-25T12:26:00.004-05:00

How much padding is he wearing? He looks ridiculous.

Who else looks ridiculous?
Arron Asham. For reals, dude. Maybe you can buy a clue and share it with your fans. You are going to cry to the media about Matt Cooke biting you? Or shall we call it Hartnelling instead of biting? Yes, we shall.

"There was a scrum, I grabbed him. There were two guys on Harts and my glove got tangled in his mouth and he bit me, so I lost it.

It’s not bad, but he’s a gutless guy. I have no respect for him at all. I lined up against him and asked him to fight and he didn’t want to. If you go and bite someone … I just have no use for him.

He does his job well. He’s an agitator. He’s garbage to me and I have no respect for him at all.

You should have a little more honor than that. Usually if you bite somebody you stick up for yourself and you fight the guy. Not this guy, he’s chicken and I have no respect for him. He plays the game hard and I respect him for that, but he yaps, he’s a dirty player. At least a guy like (Sean) Avery fights. This guy is just chicken (bleep) and I hate him.

It would have been better if he dropped the gloves with me, but he’s got no stones."

I practically peed myself. Hilarious. "I have no respect for him at all" x 3. Then, "He plays the game hard and I respect him for that." And, come on, no stones? Get real. I think biting in sports is gross but we ALL know Cookie wouldn't have gone there if Letang wasn't bitten by that gross Hartnell. Not to mention, I am all for our guys sticking up for Lelover whenever possible/necessary.

You know who didn't look ridiculous?
The Penguins.
We'll name a few:
Kris Letang. All fighting and stuff. HOTT. (As an aside, he scored a goal in our loss to the Caps.)
Ruslan Fedotenko. He's been golden lately. (Three assists in the Caps loss and one in Philthy.)
Sergei Gonchar. He won that game.
Matt Cooke. He does his job well. And? He also scores goals. PP goals, even.
Jordan Staal. Because he never does.

I have a confession. And if I can't confess here, where can I? *takes deep breath* There is a possibility that I do not loathe Daniel Carcillo. Yeah, I said it.

Rangers tonight.

Let's go Pens!

Dude. Our 3rd line

2010-01-15T08:51:00.010-05:00

is my favorite thing ever.

Jordan Staal is a fucking hero.

3rd Period
03:18 -Tyler Kennedy (9) Wrist Shot - Assists: J. Staal (18)
06:48 - PPG - Matt Cooke (9) Backhand - Assists: J. Staal (19) & K. Letang (13)
10:30 - Pascal Dupuis (11) Tip-In - Assists: J. Staal (20) & M. Cooke (12)

Primary assists on all three goals in the third period. All three goals we scored in the game. Come on. Shut up. Hello? PP Goal? From who? Our first PP line? No sir. Matt Fucking Cooke on the power play from Staal and Letang. TYVM.

Speaking of Matt Cooke.
Is he adorable or what. (I'm using a period there because it doesn't require your response.)

You know how some boys wear jerseys and refuse to wash them for, like, the whole season because their team will lose the minute they do? Well, I have this Matt Cooke jersey T that is quite comfy and worn and soft. It is practically my favorite thing to wear. I was going through my t-shirts, looking for something to throw on with my fleece reindeer pants the other night and thought to myself... we haven't won a game since the last time I had Cookie on me. So I put it on to watch the game on Wednesday. I wore it again last night. Coincidence? Do you think I can wash it before I wear it again (which will, of course, be tomorrow)? I don't know the rules of this superstition. I can also never remember if the salt goes over your right or left shoulder after you have spilled it.

No minuses on our team last night. Staal and Cooke, our top PKers, both a plus two.

Also, we got a win on my birthday.
Which was also Mr. Michael Rupp's birthday. Captain Sidney got his 30th goal to celebrate Rupp's 30th birthday. What a wonderful leader he is.

I feel the need to post this picture of Jay McKee. Just to let him know I didn't forget about him (even though the people who captioned the above net crash photo did).

Also. Does anybody think it's a coincidence that Kristopher Letang is playing like a Champion since his hair started growing back? No. I didn't think so. No coincidences there. I will post this picture because this Oiler's hair looks like a cruel joke sandwiched between two follicly blessed beauties. How embarrassing for him. He will hate this photo for all time.

This picture is amazing. Magical. Great job, Mr. Photographer.

Saturday night in Vancouver. Power to the Penguins.

In case you didn't see this

2010-01-13T12:12:00.003-05:00

in my post yesterday...

Dear Penguins,
Please win tonight. Score lots of goals. Play like Champions.

Dear Cameramen,
Lots of close-ups of the truly gorgeous ones. You know who I mean.

Dear Lelover,
When you're on the bench, feel free to let loose the sexhair. {and pay close attention here, Cameramen}

It is my birthday. These things are important to me. If I only get one of these things I ask for, make it be the first one.

Power to the Penguins.

Jonas! Is! Back!

2010-01-12T08:52:00.004-05:00

oh how I love him. Jonas was named the NHL's second star for the week ending 1/10/10.

After watching the Penguins lose again, I tuned into Hockey Central to listen to a phone call with Jonas. It was nice to have something to look forward to after the heartbreak of that game. It was like falling off your bike when you were a little girl and getting a cut on your knee but knowing that when you get home your mom will kiss your boo boo. So I sat there crying during the post game stuff. Then Jonas kissed my boo boo. It didn't heal the wound, but it made me feel better.

Dear Penguins,

Wednesday is my birthday. I don't want a whole lot of things. And the one and only thing I ask of you is to please win in Calgary. It doesn't seem like too much to ask for.

Thank you.

Love always,
Glowie

I haven't been posting too much. I don't know why. So let's summarize the past little while.
- Kris Lelover scored a goal.
- Jordan Staal is a +11. Matt Cooke is a +9.
- Geno needs his ice time cut (or a couple games off).
- The PP sucks.
- Sidney Crosby is the best player in the world. Period.
- Bob Errey said "fuck".
- Curry was pulled out of practice yesterday and was flown to St. Paul. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was hoping that meant Fleury needed a game or two off. But Brent Johnson hurt his groin. Fleury wasn't too terrible last night though... if we're comparing it to the last however many games before.
- Brooksie is "day to day" for something and I do not care because that means he's not on the ice pushing people on top of our goalie and chasing hits instead of playing the puck.
- I still miss Rob Scuderi. So much. He's not playing for the USA in the Olympics. Don't ask me why. Oh, but Orpik is. I know, right. The mind, she is boggled.

This is nice. Third in points and tied for first in goals. I'll screencap it... not because I don't think he'll stay at the top, but because I want to end on a positive.

Congratulations Marty! OMG JORDAN!!!!!!!!

2009-12-22T09:32:00.003-05:00

This is another loss I am unable to feel upset about. I mean, shit, who likes to get shutout? But yet...

if somebody's going to shut you out, who better than the best.goalie.ever to play the game? And when better than when said goalie is breaking a record. His 104th career shutout. wow. Hey, thank you for letting us be a part of that, Marty. *snort* No. Seriously. How cool that it happened in a building that he will never play in again. Mellon Arena is a part of that. Very cool.

OMG Jordan! This is why you should wear a shield.
So much blood. I was sick for the rest of the 2nd period. They didn't mention him during intermission. They didn't mention him until he came back on the ice in the 3rd period. Way to let the sickening feeling linger, guys. Thanks for that. There was so much blood, I had no idea how bad it was going to be. (I hid my face in a pillow until he was off the ice and hugged the pillow until he came back on.) I was horrified.

If this was any other goalie in the NHL, I would wonder if maybe this little commemorative puck was the one that broke Jordan's gorgeous face. But Marty is too classy for that.

What an awesome accomplishment. Congratulations Martin Brodeur on 104.

Pittsburgh can't have everything, I guess

2009-12-11T09:05:00.002-05:00

The Steelers and the Penguins on the same night? uhhh... I choose hockey please thank you. The Steelers are busy this season trying to make me hate football. I'm not sure why they would do that. I had almost no interest in watching that game. But. My husband said I had to. Also, I have trusty Big Ben on my fantasy football team. I wasn't going to play him because his receivers aren't interested in catching any balls he throws to them these days. But it's the playoffs in FF land and I said (to my husband who wisely advised me to play Carson Palmer, who I love more than anybody we have on our team... well, except Heath Miller), "I would rather lose because I played him than because I didn't. If that makes any sense." My husband said it made sense. He didn't agree with my decision but he knew where I was coming from. In the end, he got me 9 points. Far from FF championship-winning QB points, but also not as few as it looked like he would get me while watching (fast-forwarding) through the game. Come on. Kansas City? Oakland? And now Cleveland? The NFL is too fixed to enjoy. It has to be, right? I'm serious. I feel like I'm watching professional wrestling. The storylines, the underdogs playing like champions, the champions playing like... like, well, playing like the Cleveland Browns. Take it for what it is, Cleveland. You certainly didn't beat my Steelers. My Steelers catch balls and make tackles.

But hey. Look. The Penguins beat the Habs 3-2. And one of those goals was scored by Matt effingCooke. What more could I ask for? (I mean, besides Kris Letang scoring... and Craig Adams and Ruslan Fedotenko getting long overdue goals.) The Steelers were never going to win the Super Bowl this year. But the Penguins could win the Cup again. They are the real Steel City Champions for sure this year. If there are people who doubt that, they should watch hockey instead of or in addition to football. At least this season, I mean. They'll be much happier. Trust me.

LET'S GO PENS!

Blackhawks

2009-12-07T10:24:00.006-05:00

If I didn't like the Blackhawks so much, I might be a little more upset about them beating us. Captain did not play because he "has a groin". I think that means he was *ahem* partying *winkwinknudgenudge* with bitches too hard but I'm not sure. Hossa was booed. Hossa scored. Duncan Keith tried to make me break up with him. He laid Cookie out with a nasty shot to his head. Two-minute penalty. Wait. What?Two minutes?Are you kidding me? FSN couldn't block out Matty's profanities. He could be heard in the background for pretty much the rest of the night. Bob Errey told us the refs suggested Cooke handle Keith the right way. Nothing will happen to Duncan because he hit Matt Cooke, who is not a superstar. Keep in mind, please, that they just gave us back our Cookie after a two game suspension for accidentally *ahem* bumping a guy in his head.

About a minute and a half left in the game. Still 1-0. Mike Yeo got out the dry erase board and drew up a play. Jordan Staal pays attention in class and follows directions well. 1-1. And then I had imaginary sex with Staalsy for approximately the one millionth time.

Overtime. Fleury is busy with Toews. Versteeg gets sneaky. I guess TK was tired because he wouldn't let Fleury stop the puck this time. This act of trickery by President Kennedy made our defensemen throw up.

Letestu had a great game. Deserved a point of his very own. He won that HUGE faceoff that resulted in Jordan's goal.

Blackhawks win, but not without us getting a point out of it. Great game. Two points would have been better but Captain didn't want them, I guess.

Oh. And no, I have not broken up with Duncan but we are fighting right now.

Pens and Paws

2009-12-04T10:41:00.002-05:00

I ordered mine. Did you order yours?

I am refraining from posting a wildly inappropriate comment about the way Lelover handles that cat.

Good stuff

2009-12-04T08:48:00.006-05:00

Pens vs. Avs. 4-1. Three more points for Captain. That'll make 11 in three games. Malkin posts three assists. Jordan got an goal and an assist.

Lots of blocked shots (more than I'm sure they got credit for). Speaking of not getting credit for things. Kris Letang blocked a shot in front of the net like the hero he is, went to the bench, Gonchar came out. Steigy says Gonchar blocked the shot and went to the bench. .05 seconds later he says, "Gonchar is back on the ice." It had me really irritated, perhaps irrationally so. But listen. I know most people don't pay that much attention and I don't like Kris not getting the credit he deserves.

But there was a lot of funny commentating too. At one point, after an Avs goal... ha ha ha... I'm sorry. I meant to say, after the Avs goal, Bob Errey was saying that McKee did all he could do to stop the puck from going in and how Fleury was out of position but still you'd have thought somebody could have stopped the puck from going in and Steigy goes, "like the goaltender, Bob?"

Lots of giving and sharing.

MAF broke his stick. Eaton gave him his and took Jordan's.

Jay McKee was being incredible and then decided to sit on the ice and hold the puck between his thighs. The refs wanted it back in play. So what did McKee do? He did this.
That? is very trusting. Please Sid, don't let them break Jay's goodies with their sticks. Oh my. That photo is going to haunt him forever.

Fleury handed the puck to the Avs, left his net wide open and went for a skate around the ice. Kris Letang and Jay McKee hustled over to make sure nobody broke in while MAF was out stretching his legs. I almost fainted because it was so.fucking.sexy. Simultaneous defensive brilliance. Now that's teamwork. I can't be positive but it looked to me like the puck came dangerously close to Lelover's face while he was sliding across the ice. No photographic evidence of this particular act of heroism exists. I am salivating just thinking about it, so maybe it is a good thing that I don't have a picture to look at all day. I'll keep checking though. I may need that picture for future reference. oh that sexy slide. rowr.

Anyway...

In an act of surrender, the Avs left their net open for Jordan.
But that wasn't enough for the Avs. They wanted to reward our boys some more. In a truly magnificent play that is one for the highlight reels for the rest of all times, Malkin, Crosby and JStaal walked the puck up to the net. A gentelmanly Av escorted them the entire way as they passed the puck back and forth between each other. Sid kept trying to give it to Jordan but Jordan would have none of it. Finally, Captain just tossed it into the net.

Jay McKee is third in the league in blocked shots. It is necessary to note that he has played in six less games than the guy in first (Brett Clark, Avs) and five less than the guy in second (Seidenberg, Panthers).

Suspended Ovie

2009-12-02T10:33:00.004-05:00

Well, Alex Ovechkin got suspended for two games.

CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY STUPID MIKE RICHARDS DID NOT GET SUSPENDED? I really hate the Flyers. Like. Really. Their ridiculous leader tries to decapitate somebody and that grotesque Hartnell (it hurts me to type his name) tried to bite Lelover's finger off. Why are they allowed to exist? That is a serious question. Why? I want to know.
This is going to piss me off until the end of time... and I don't even particularly care about David Booth. Here is a reminder:

I cannot wait until December 15th. Of course, I thought there was going to be some extracurriculars on Monday night. Awesome that we talked with the goals instead of Eric Godard's fists, but I really hope we do both against the Flyers. I'm allowed to hope for that, right?

Hello Mr. Rupp

2009-12-01T14:32:00.005-05:00

Nice to have you on our team.

A hat trick? Are you freaking kidding me?

Incredible.

And he hugs baby boy like he's meant to be hugged.
Amazing.

Penguins vs Rangers. Back-to-back games. 13 goals. Two hat tricks. Captain and Rupper respectively. 4 points.

Also? Keith Ballard is horrible.

Of course it was an accident. But wow. I feel terrible for both of them. This being the teammate of the guy who lost his stick and then picked up the puck and threw it to the other end of the ice. There are some anger-management issues that need worked out there, guys.

Suspended Cookies

2009-11-30T10:51:00.002-05:00

Well. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about Matt Cooke's suspension. I mean, I'm pissed that he's not playing for two games but I get that it was a dirty hit. However, if he wasn't Mr. Matthew Cooke, I'm certain that he wouldn't have been suspended. He has a "history" you know. And by "history", I mean he has a history of being named Matt Cooke. bah.

Lelover was back in action on Saturday night. He returned to the lineup with his boyfriend, Gogo and Mr. Tyler Kennedy. Letang and Gogo got two assists a piece and Mr. Kennedy got a (Kris Letang's) goal. Nice. 8-3. That's what we like to see. Welcome back, gentlemen.

Rangers again tonight. Should be interesting.

Perhaps my newest lover, Jay McKee, in the lineup? Ummm... I have to link Saturday's episode of Inside Penguins Hockey. It was amazing. Jay McKee and Mike Rupp were hysterical and beautiful.

what happened was

2009-11-20T10:17:00.005-05:00

they found our number and started calling it repeatedly. The only thing we can do the next time somebody gets our number is have it changed. I mean, wow.

A few positives:

1. Jordan's first goal was ridiculous. He plays pretty well with Dupuis, eh?

2. We got another PP goal.

3. Sergei Gonchar and Max Talbot are back. Max brings a lot to Fleury. That cannot be underestimated. Gonchar is our Daddy. That cannot be underestimated either.

4. Eric Godard broke a man's face!

One really bad defensive play can turn a game around.If you are not going to find a way to remove a body from your goalie's vision? You should TRY to STOP the puck yourself. Good lord, man. He can't see it. Skoula is certainly not the only person on our team to play in front of our goalie so horrendously on occasion. But. Good lord.

The minuses are piling up all over our roster. I don't even want to talk about stats right now.

We'll get it all back. One game at a time.

Kris Letang's Playlist (from Penguins HD radio):

Wherever I May Roam -- Metallica
Sad But True -- Metallica
Around the World -- Red Hot Chili Peppers
For Whom the Bell Tolls -- Metallica
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) -- Metallica
Freak On a Leash -- Korn
Falling Away from Me -- Korn

That's incredibly sexy to me. Yikes. Like I needed to find him any sexier than I already do.

Bundle-up with Penguins

2009-11-18T10:37:00.010-05:00

The Penguins and Dick's got together for their annual Project Bundle-up event. They received an award for their efforts. Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang (!) accepted the award on behalf of the organization.

I was looking through the gallery pictures to see who all got involved. I was flipping through, making comments in my head... "aw look how adorable DaddyGonch is" "Craig Adams!" "how lucky is that kid with Eric Godard?" And then I saw it. Be still my heart.

I had no idea how much I truly miss him until I saw that picture. My first reaction, naturally, was just how incredibly gorgeous he is. I mean seriously. It's unreal. But the realization of how much he is missed on the ice came quickly after. I keep telling my husband how I would love to hear about his progression or see pictures of him on the ice at practice. He said, "maybe he can't practice." I said, "well I know he wasn't at first but I thought by now... maybe..." Sometimes he says mean things just to cause me heartache but I think he felt it too that time. Do get well soon, love.

WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?!

Jay McKee out 2-4 weeks.

Head coach Dan Bylsma announced after practice Wednesday that defenseman Jay McKee will be sidelined the next two-to-four weeks with a finger infection.

"Jay McKee has an infection in his finger and he needed to get that cleaned up and it’s going to be two-to-four weeks," Bylsma said.

Also from the Pens Report:

While Gonchar looks forward to getting back into games, Letang was happy just to be back on the ice.

"It feels good to be back," Letang said. "But I’m in the red jersey. I’ll just keep working hard to get back to where I was. It’s day-to-day. But I’ve been getting better every day."

Letang went on to praise the efforts of Deryk Engelland, Ben Lovejoy and Nate Guenin, recent recalls from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton who have stepped up to deliver winning performances on defense with all the regulars missing.

"I think we have five D-men out right now. Obviously the (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) guys did a great job so far. It’s always nice to see that they can fill in and do the job. It’s tough to see (injuries), but you can’t do anything about it. But right now we’re doing good things and getting better."

I'm happy to see Kris is back on the ice. But my goodness. No Jay now? And Mark Eaton left practice early? I have no idea how I'm going to live the next few weeks. If you need me, I'll be sitting in the corner, hugging my knees, rocking back and forth.

good times

2009-11-17T08:39:00.005-05:00

1. Matt Cooke. First goal of the night. Unassisted (on the scoresheet).

2. Billy G. Buried it. Nice.

3. JStaal. Shorty.

4. Martin Skoula. Thank you! That was sweet.
5. Matt Cooke... empty netter... because that Jordan is a fine young man.

Matt Cooke, ladies and gentlemen. First and last goals of the night.

I will continue to badmouth Billy G. because that apparently makes him stop sucking. When Matt scored that first goal, my husband said, "you didn't even say it today." So in addition to continuing to badmouth Billy, I have to stop saying Matt Cooke is going to score every game. I will stop now. Well, I mean at least until I get that feeling again. heh.

I'm not understanding why the organization wants me to fall in love with Deryk Engelland if they are just going to take him away from us. Four games. Fifteen hits. Three blocked shots. And a spectacular assist on Jordan's short-handed goal. He is a man. I may or may not have a crush on him.

Oh and Nate Guenin? One game. Five hits. Two blocked shots. He was a pain in the ass to play against in Philthy, so we grabbed him for ourselves. Good call.

Mr. McKee is back on top in blocked shots at 69. (Really good to know we have reliable d-men in the AHL to bring up when the inevitable happens there.) Please protect yourself, Jay. Your safety is important to us. He is so aware out there. Always looking to see where everybody is to get a feel for where the puck is going to end up instead of just where it is. I really, really like him.

Gonchar is out of the red jersey now. I may or may not be excited about this. I'm not sure yet.

Goligoski, as expected, is out for two to three weeks now. Though he is out with a "lower body" injury instead of "dude, he's fucking exhausted".

That empty netter at the end of the game was Jordan's for the taking. Instead, he gave it to Matt. I want those two to play together forever.

I love this team.

No Hiller. They put Giguere in net. He hasn't had a win this season, folks. I would have been super bummed to be at that game and learn that Jonas wasn't in goal.

The Ducks made a lot of stupid mistakes. They took a lot of really stupid penalties. At one point, they tried to throw Bourque through the boards. It was a little scary. He seemed fine, if not maybe a little less drunk-looking afterwards. I want little Bourquey to get a goal soon. He deserves one. All in all, it ended up being good news that my sweet Jonas didn't have to take this loss.

In Rob Scuderi news. He left Saturday's game in the first period and is wearing a protective boot on his foot and lower leg. X-Rays came back negative. He is day to day.

Hey, remember Kris Letang? I miss him. What's the timeframe there? When can I expect to see him again? Will they take Engelland away when he does come back? Nobody ever talks about him.

Let's talk about Jay McKee

2009-11-15T09:12:00.006-05:00

and all the ladies he impregnated on Saturday night.

What the hell was that all about, Mr. McKee? It is incredibly sexy to me when defensive-minded defensemen go all offensive. So hot. I just love the defense in hockey. Goals are just a bonus. A delicious, orgasmic bonus.

Mark Eaton too.

Are you freaking kidding me!?!?! I wept tears of joy. Thank you, Mr. Eaton.

Matt Cooke getting an assist that shows up on the scoresheet
and not just in my bedroom. iykwim

Ben Lovejoy throwing himself in front of our net and slapping pucks to their net. Are you serious right now?

Deryk Engelland getting in fights and being yummy all over the ice? I'll take it.

Christopher Bourque reminding everybody (again) why he's on our team? Yes, please. Some people need a lot of reminding in this area. I'll keep him, thank you.

That Letestu fellow? Nicely done.

And tying the game with less than a half a second left in the game when you were so sure we lost the fifth one in a row? So intense. But that's hockey. It raises you up so high when it's not breaking your heart. Hockey romances you and makes you fall in love with it. All the excitement and speed and danger and intensity. All the sexiness of it. Then it makes you come crashing down and it tries to make you break up with it. It tries to push you away because it will never break up with you. But you don't. You can't. You deal with it because you love it. You see, you know there is going to be a time, maybe when you least expect it, when it is going to bring you flowers and tell you it loves you as much as you love it and that it is sorry for hurting you. You deal with it. You have to because life is... life is less fulfilling without that glorious and wonderous raise. You have spent too much time smiling because it is part of life. Nothing worth having comes without struggle. Life somehow means less without hockey.

Thank you, Geno. Seriously, thank you. And thank you too, Mr. Guerin.

Oh and overtime? Easy. Jordan stole Timmy's lunch money and gave it to Duper. And I have a feeling that was exactly how Skoula planned it when he slapped it up there.

That Jordan is such a thoughtful young man.

(And Eric Godard. Always Eric Godard. How do you not love him? Hey! Remember Max! I miss Max.)

In scary news, things aren't looking too good for Goligoski right now. That man is tired, guys! *sigh* Poor baby needs a break. I was hoping we could hold him together until Letang or Gonchar came back but I don't know if that's going to happen now.

Tomorrow Anaheim. I was asked what game of any game this season I would like to go to. By two people. I said this one. I love Jonas Hiller. I love the Penguins. It'd be like a two for one. For a minute, I was worried that I'd end up with two sets of tickets for Monday's game. Instead, I ended up with none. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd go to ANY of the games. I just got excited about the idea of going to this one is all. Chicago on December 5th. I'd go to that one. That one could be dangerous because Duncan Keith is always trying to convince me to live my life following him around. (Duncan Sheik is on the radio right now... bwahahaha... that might be only funny to me.)

sympathy pains

2009-11-12T11:41:00.005-05:00

my body aches. Every muscle feels like it has been building a house, hit by a truck, or body-checked too hard. None of that happened. Or at least not recently. It must be sympathy pains. My right ankle has been bothering me for months. I blame Jay McKee and his heroic shot-blocking. (Thank the angels he's still in our lineup though.) Sometimes when I go to take a step, one of my legs will decide to take a rest and I get off balance a little bit. This has happened since I was young. Happens to my sister too. We call it doing a grandma (because our grandma did it all the time, duh). "oops. I did a grandma there." Now I just call it sympathy for Orpik. I have carpal tunnel. My right wrist hurts like the dickens whenever it feels like it. Now? sympathy for DaddyGonch. Whenever I have a mysterious pain in an unidentifiable part of my body? Sympathy for Mr. Kennedy. My body even checked itself into the wall last night (doing a grandma on my way to let the dogs in). Hurt my shoulder a bit. It's okay now but still a bit sore if pressed or touched or thought about. So yeah. You get the idea.

I was telling a friend of mine how it's been... strange for me these last few games. I went into this season wanting to dislike or distrust Alex Goligoski because of my bitterness about Scuderi. I remember how I felt when GoGo signed that contract. I had a sinking feeling. My mouth had that bitter taste of doom and lots of goals against for a while (however long it took to send Scudsy to the other side of the country and for me to get over it... which hasn't really happened yet obviously. And you know what? SO WHAT if it never does? My heart may dwell on it forever. Leave me alone about it, man). I wanted to hate him and I wanted him to be terrible. I was worried about McKee but not really. I liked the idea of him and when we signed him I saw a rainbow. It was a faint rainbow, but it was colorful and pretty if I squinted and looked real hard through the darkness and bitter clouds of Scuderilessness. (If you notice, I even referred to McKee's play as heroic. A giant step for mankind... or at least penguinkind.) Anyway. So they're teamed together on the blueline. I'm cautious for, oh, 15 or 16 games while they're on the ice. And then Saturday's game came. No DaddyGonch, no Letang, no Malkin, no Kennedy, no Talbot. Lots of stomach turning and eye-watering. I found myself screaming 'WHERE IS MCKEE! PUT MCKEE OUT THERE!' 'WHERE IS GOGO! CAN HE COME BACK ON THE ICE PLEASE SO THESE IGNORANT PEOPLE WILL STOP SCORING GOALS?' So you see? There that is.

Look! The Penguins Game Day Report is up!!!!
Black is my favorite color.

Forwards Evgeni Malkin and Maxime Talbot have been cleared for contact and participated in the practice without their red jerseys. We will get an update from coach on their progress as well, but at least it's one small positive step for a team that has been ravaged by injuries.

shhh. Listen. That's the angels singing.

OH MY GOD! Malkin and Talbot are going to come back (someday?) and be saviors. I have an incredible urge to stand up and sing "You Are My Sunshine". Was that the song that somebody told me was about stalking? I forget. I don't care. Malkin in a black practice jersey makes me happy when skies are gray. HEY WHAT IF LETANG CAME BACK AT THE SAME TIME? Can you imagine? The very thought is making my eyes want to leak big happy tears.

It makes me think of this.

You know. Because the angel comes to save her.

So now no Orpik for two weeks. I wouldn't call that our biggest loss. Maybe 4th or 5th of the 6. 4th I guess. No 5th. Possibly even 6th. He's been playing like... nothing anyway. So whatevs. Maybe there is a curse on the temporary 'A's. They gave Billy G one and he stopped playing. I mean, like seriously, we would be better off being short-handed than having him on the ice at this point. Literally. The only thing he does when he is on the ice is give the puck to the other team.

Matt Cooke is going to score tonight. And I don't just mean in the sexual way. I mean he is going to get at least one point. I have been saying this for a while now. So it has to happen tonight. I have that sweet taste of Cookie in my mouth. I didn't mean that in the sexual way either but now I'm... wow. *pauses for daydream* What? Oh yes. Matt Cooke is going to score tonight. Remember Grease 2? You know the song. Sing it with me. Oh and please do feel free to replace any bowling references with the appropriate hockey ones. I'm too lazy to do it right now but I will when I sing it to make my husband go crazy.

Come on everybody, gather round.
I'm gonna show you how to knock 'em down.
When I'm on the ball, I'm the number one.
And I'm gonna show you how it's done.
Let's bowl, let's bowl, let's rock-'n-roll.
Hey, come on, let's get this show on the road.
Let's bowl, let's bowl, let's rock-'n-roll.
We're sittin' on a bomb that's about to explode.
We're gonna score tonight, we're gonna score tonight.
If you're lookin' for a fight, then the time is right.
We're gonna wipe the floor with you tonight.
We're gonna score tonight, we're gonna score tonight.
We're gonna rock, we're gonna roll,We're gonna bop, we're gonna bowl.
We're gonna score, score, score, score, score tonight!
Johnny: Screams... Hey Paulette, take a look over here, I'm your kingpin, honey, and I'm gettin' in gear!
Paulette: Hey Johnny, Johnny, go bowl that strike, and I just might be your baby tonight!
Let's bowl, let's bowl, let's rock-'n-roll.
Hey, come on, let's get this show on the road.
Let's bowl, let's bowl, let's rock-'n-roll.'
Cause the stakes are high, and the winner takes all!
We're gonna score tonight, we're gonna score tonight.
Don't get sore when you lose tonight,
We're gonna show you how to do it right.
We're gonna score tonight, we're gonna score tonight.
We're gonna rock, we're gonna roll,
We're gonna bop, we're gonna bowl........

Today is my dad's birthday. I don't think he would lose his shit if we lost another game (that'd be four in a row, folks). But. I would lose mine. And my daddy wants me to be happy.

*good vibes to the boys*

Let's get this done.

I can't even pretend I'm upset

2009-11-06T07:44:00.011-05:00

that we lost last night. It's only one game. And now, this morning, the first song I hear when I turn on Sirius channel 20 (Octane)... three guesses. It was my Rob Scuderi song. I had to giggle a little bit. I rooted for my boys for the entire 60 minutes. I even rooted for them when Scudsy was on the ice. That's something I didn't think I'd do. But I did. I was proud of myself. Still, when it was over, I was happy for the Kings. It was one game. We'll get it back.

Observations:

-We're 12-4 now. We've lost to the Coyotes, Devils, Wild and Kings. That's still pretty darn good.

-Jay McKee sooooo wants to be my favorite. I said that many times last night. He was awesome. Going up high. Blocking shots... he has 50 now. Just super yummy.

-Not to compare, but in comparison to McKee's 50 blocked shots, Scuderi has 31.

-Tyler Kennedy didn't play last night. It was a last minute thing. We fastforwarded through some of the pregame stuff so if they said why, we missed it.

-Chris Conner got drunk with Christopher Bourque before the game. They're kind of awesome though.

-Jordan! scored a goal that nobody thought should have happened.

-myTanger had a few moments of ACK! last night. Maybe he got drunk with Conner and Bourque. If so, it doesn't work for him quite the same way. He is still leading the team in TOI now though (I think it's seven minutes more than GoGo). That's going to start taking a toll. Or it already did.

-Rob Scuderi is a minus one now. (He was a minus two going in.)

-They babied Captain like a big baby on the bench when he got a bloody nose and it was weird. I was waiting for them to put a bib on him because they couldn't get the blood out of his sweater. Just bizarre. Also it will do nothing for all those people who think he IS a big baby.

-Also towards the end of the game (I'm pretty sure when it was still only 3-2), it looked like Scudsy was trying to communicate with Captain but Captain just had bitch on his face and appeared to ignore him. Now don't get me wrong. I love our Captain, but I have seen some things that have made me go ew a few times. (I'm not blaming the babying on the bench on him unless I learn otherwise.) He needs to chill and be a leader instead of a bitch when it looks like we're going down.

-Goligoski is a PLUS FOURTEEN now. Crazy. Leading the league.

-Matt Cooke is in 11th place in hits now (he was in 5th). Brooks Orpik is in 6th (he was well below that before).

-My husband told me that he heard on the radio, when Scuderi was asked which of the Penguins he'd like to (I forget what the exact wording was here, so we'll say...) hit, he said Jordan Staal because they always goof around. And he did. He wiped him out in the corner.

-Jay McKee soooooo wants to be my favorite. On that Jordan goal, McKee flew up the middle in between Conner and Staal. He was on his way to the front of the net when Jordan slapped it from up high. He jumped over the puck and it went in the net. The whole sequence was very sexy on everybody's part. Well, everybody except Quick (who was fantastic the rest of the game).

-And the Ducks won last night! 4-0! Jonas got a shut out! The save percentage is .921 now. And yet no photographs worthy of posting were taken of him last night. So I will post this one of him from the 10th Annual Dux in Tux.

Next up, San Jose.

Let's go Pens!

LA Kings

2009-11-05T15:10:00.003-05:00

So here we are. It's the night I've dreaded since the schedule came out.

Looks like Jordan got his way. The third line skated as the second line this morning. That's my way too. Jordan got my way.

Kunitz-Crosby-Guerin

Cooke-Staal-Kennedy

Dupuis-Adams-Fedotenko

Bourque-Rupp-Godard

Yes, I did indeed wear black and purple today. I'm not rooting against the Penguins. Of course. I'm reminding myself to never get too attached to having these people on my team. Or at least that's what I'm trying to do. It's just that I will never stop rooting for Rob Scuderi.

Some quotes from Rob Scuderi I saw in this article:
"There's no bitterness, no nothing. I think the only thing you can call it is mutual respect."

"It was a tribute to the chemistry we had as a group in Pittsburgh. Hopefully they haven't lost that and that's something that we're trying to build here."

"We're a team that's hoping to become what they are."

And one from Anze Kopitar:
"I'm sure that's going to be pretty special for Rob," Kopitar said. "It's one of those games where emotions and good memories come in, so we'll definitely try to help him beat them."

Ducks are scary

2009-11-04T10:54:00.013-05:00

Did you ever get chased by a duck? They can be surprisingly viscious. Or was that a goose? Anyway, whatever. We won. Kris scored, proving magic still exists (that could be because Lehair has had some time to heal). Jonas Hiller's save percent is still honorable (.911).

Jonas played like beauty for a nice long while. Pretty enough to show my husband why I love him so much, I think. (Okay, I just talked to him, uh my husband not Jonas, on the phone and I asked him if he loved Jonas now and he said, "not enough to follow him. I don't care that much.") I don't like to see him get scored on. But he has the most adorable reactions when he does. I want to squeeze him. If I am ever going to have a pet duck, it would be him.

Other observations:
-The Ducks' practice jerseys are ugly. They look like the inside of my gray jacket.

-Pascal Dupuis is out to prove a point.

-Alex Goligoski is a plus thirteen now. He also has thirteen points. oh and also, his number used to be 13 but Billy G. stole it. If it was still his number, I would consider buying a Goligoski jersey. I'm pretty surprised by that.

-I didn't notice the mark on Jordan's face. I just noticed how flustered he seemed. I wish he wasn't because he is magnificent. The goals will come, dear Jordan. You just keep doing what you're doing.

-Matt Cooke is so.damn.sexy. *rowr*

-Jay McKee is starting to give me that feeling I had with Scuderi. You know, like it's okay to breathe when he's on the ice and the opposition is near Fleury. I told my husband yesterday that I love him... and Jay McKee. hee. It's okay, he knows it's exaggerated. Or rather, he thinks it's exaggerated. He's nicer looking than Scuds. That makes the tucking me in at night images a little different.

-Mark Madden apparently talked with Rob Scuderi yesterday. I missed it. *sad face*

-They played that 3 Doors Down song in Anaheim "if I go crazy then will you still call me superman..." I just quoted that song when I read that article about Scudsy getting his ring. If they play it in LA tomorrow night, I may start crying.

-Captain displayed some heroics yesterday. Stacking the pads.

-The Ducks looked pretty good.

-When Rupp scored that goal, Hiller was so annoyed. I'm not sure if the puck hit him in the side, if some of his gear got jacked up, or if he was just so irritated that his pants bothered him and needed adjusting. All I know is that it was adorable. I was okay with that goal because it tied the game at one.
No photographs of that particular adorableness exists from last night. This is the only picture of Him I could find.
(I totally didn't meant to capitalize "him" but I found it amusing when reading it back so I'm leaving it.)

-I was happy Letang scored. I was good with that goal too because it put us ahead. Also it was after he got hit in the gorgeous face by a stick and almost(?) had a tooth knocked out. But my guess is that Kris scored because he wants to make sure I love him more than Jonas.
(heh. Skoula couldn't be bothered to care about Kris Letang's pretty face)

-A note from my October 21st entry: Anyway, I thought maybe Tanger being so awesome would make everybody stop sucking on Alex Goligoski long enough to take notice. But then. Guess what happened. Goosey slapped one right in Conklin's net. Sweet. Is it weird that I have such a distaste for GoGo? I try to like him. Truly I do. I just can't get that feeling out of my gut that he's trying to steal the TangerThunder.
So is it funny that Goosey (Hey! maybe it is geese that scare me!) scored after myTanger? I mean, of course, is it funny for you? Because it is not funny for me. What a glory whore that guy is, eh. hahaha*sigh*

-I wish the Ducks wouldn't have kept coming back to tie it because that just meant we had to keep scoring and messing up my favorite (non-Penguins) goalie's GAA.

-For some reason, Bob and Steigy felt it was necessary to mention that the four goals were scored by two French Canadians and two Americans.

-And by the end of the game, all I cared about was us winning. So that was nice.

Late nights with Ducks

2009-11-03T12:07:00.006-05:00

*sigh*

Tonight? The Ducks. Thursday night? The Kings. I'm curious to see how I handle our boys (who I love so much) scoring on Jonas (I totally adore him, I can't help it) and/or scoring while my superhero (I still say he is the real superman) is on the ice. I feel like it's going to cause some nervous ticks. So yeah. And not only that, but also the game tonight starts at 10:00 and Thursday's starts at 10:30. blah.

I'm dutifully wearing Pens gear today. Now it is their duty to make me forget that I am maybe more than a little bit in love with Hiller.

I just watched this again, to help that along:

Seriously, if you aren't already in love with Eric Godard, I worry for you. But. If you watch this video and by 4:09 you are not sobbing uncontrollably and yelling "I love you, Eric Godard!" at the computer screen, well then I feel sorry for you.

Bad news:
No Geno.
No DaddyGonch.
Letang's hair hasn't grown back yet.
Jordan still has a mark on his face from the bad man's stick.

Good news:
Mr. President Kennedy may play tonight.
Our drunk little boy, Bourque, has had a couple moments where I thought I saw that he could maybe have some potential.
That Martin Skoula is a hockey player.
Mike Rupp is a stud.
Jay McKee wants me to love him. (Come on, 44 blocked shots? I mean, he's practically begging me to make sweet, sweet love to him at this point.)
Alex Goligoski is a +12 (a PLUS TWELVE, folks).
Kris Letang, even without hair, is so, so pretty.
Bob Errey has a teleprompter.

But I'm wearing purple on Thursday. Yes, I am that stubborn.

hat tricks and Kunitz

2009-10-29T10:54:00.002-04:00

yay! Sorry for embarassing your new team, Mr. Gill. 6-1? That's nuts. Jordan's face getting hit with a stick? That's prison sentence worthy.

Anyway, Rob Scuderi got fined for that hit on Chinchilla the other day.

What are the Kings anyway? 8-4-1? Sounds good... even if Superman is a -2.

I just died a little inside

2009-10-28T12:27:00.005-04:00

Why would Lelover do this to me?

He cut the SEX off.

oh my heart hurts.

It's like cutting the horn off a unicorn! Why would anybody ever do such a thing?

All the magical healing powers... gone.

I will get over this. I know I will. Someday.

*cries*

Can somebody help me find the real Jonas Hiller?

2009-10-27T12:54:00.002-04:00

I need him back before November 16th.

3rd line humor

2009-10-23T09:21:00.002-04:00

From yesterday's Penguin's report:

1:14 PM:
Jordan Staal fielded some questions from reporters in a scrum, but there was a special guest taking part. Matt Cooke, weilding a microphone, chimed in with a question to Staal.

Cooke: Jordan can you tell us why you refuse to score with your linemates?
Staal: I don’t like them. I really don’t.

OMG! I hate my life!

2009-10-21T13:23:00.002-04:00

They're saying that Daddy Gonchar is going to be out four to six weeks with a broken wrist. I guess I jinxed him with the love I have been heaping on him lately.

At one point during the game last night, I got really irritated with one of the idiotic Versus announcers. I kept it all bottled up until it bubbled over and finally let 'er rip. "THESE IDIOTS ARE SO STUPID! That one said McKee's a former Bluejay. They're the BLUES not Bluejays." My husband laughed at me and said the other stupid guy's name is Jay. So he said, "He's a former Blue, Jay." I was all, "oh. Well I still hate listening to games on Versus."

Kris Letang was a little ball of fire last night. Two assists. One of them was a sweet slapper that Mr. Matthew Cooke re-directed into the area of the net. Thank you for the help, Cookie. That was sure to be a pinger if he hadn't touched it with his magic stick. They were the first and third stars of the night. Star number two was Geno. FINALLY I can't argue about the chosen stars. Anyway, I thought maybe Tanger being so awesome would make everybody stop sucking on Alex Goligoski long enough to take notice. But then. Guess what happened. Goosey slapped one right in Conklin's net. Sweet. Is it weird that I have such a distaste for GoGo? I try to like him. Truly I do. I just can't get that feeling out of my gut that he's trying to steal the TangerThunder. Or that sick memory of how I had that sinking feeling about them not re-signing Scuderi once Goligoski signed his contract. Not that the two can be compared at all, like, ever.

Speaking of Jay McKee. I may or may not be a tad bit in love with him. When we are winning the game by three or four goals, one might think that he wouldn't be out there trying to block EVERY SINGLE shot. But. He does. I'm pretty sure the score could be 20-0 and he would still try his hardest to get in the way of every puck flung in Fleury's direction.

I realize the season is still pretty fresh but Marc Andre Fleury is a perfectly stunning 8-0-0. He wasn't in net for our 0-3 loss against the Coyotes. Sometimes I like to pretend that didn't even happen.

8-1-0

oooh that sweet sweet swagger.

I'll keep you by my side with

2009-10-12T08:50:00.005-04:00

my superhuman might.

I was reading this article about Rob Scuderi getting his Stanley Cup Ring and I was okay about it... until I let my mind go off and do that thing it does. It only took about 2.3 seconds too. I've been finding it difficult to watch the multiple games that I wanted to watch. Penguins, Ducks, Kings, Blackhawks. It's harder than it sounded to me. Thank goodness for the NHL channel and NHL on the Fly. Watching the Kings highlights makes me feel really happy and sad all at the same time. It's so gratifying to see my Superhero doing good things but it's so upsetting that he's doing it for somebody else now.

The Ducks lost to the Rangers yesterday (3-0) and I said to myself, "I guess Hiller sat this one out." Sure enough, he did.

Scotty Hartnell is free to bite as many people as he wants to. The league did nothing to him because there wasn't enough evidence. Teeth marks and blood don't mean you've been bitten, I guess.

Penguins are 4-1 and that's all that really matters.

And Eric Godard is still awesome.

What a man.

The tone is set

2009-10-09T08:52:00.005-04:00

Thanks to, oh yeah you guessed it, that douchebag Hartnell.

Letang bitten by Hartnell? from Dagger on Vimeo.

Is it wrong that while my poor baby was having his finger tended to... because he was bitten by a supposed man... mostly all I could think about was how fucking unbelievably gorgeous he is? wow. My husband always turns it back to that too. I can't comment on how awesome Letang is without him saying something about the way he looks. I CANNOT HELP THE WAY HE LOOKS! He is dropdead but he also has great hands and is smooth as buttah.

Our first of six games against Philthydelphia this year.

oh, you thought Craig Adams couldn't get any sexier? ha! Fooled you.
Notice the time of this fight.

Captain helped Geno get a goal without getting credit... except, of course, for the "Crosby sucks" chants.
Jordan Staal had a sweet goal. His first of the season... already... in game four. I hope that sets a tone for him. He used his entire body for it. It was delicious.
Billy G had a sexy goal. The Flyers basically let him fly solo with the puck exactly long enough to make Emery cry too hard for him to stop the puck from going fivehole.
Cookie and Craig set up mylittlepony, Tyler Kennedy, for a well earned goal.
DaddyGonch played like sex.
The Philthy goalie, Emery, off a pass from Coburn, kicked the puck in the goal for us. Alex Goligoski got the credit for it.

It might be a little bit ungood how in love I am with the Ducks.

We play them twice in November. They're here on November 16th and I must have tickets. Or maybe I shouldn't go to that game because it will be tough for me to not CHEER INSANELY every time Jonas Hiller makes a sweet save.

Man, I love hockey.

I will get more into the posting when other things calm down.

swords, islands and 20 cents

2009-08-10T09:28:00.008-04:00

Dude. No town I have ever lived in has ever had a sign with my name on it.

I have never been driven in a mf'ing helicopter to my party of 50,000+ people wanting to celebrate with me.

And? Nobody has ever let me use a sword to cut my birthday cake.

You better believe my family is going to see Sidney's birthday party pictures.

What is up with Patrick Kane? Obviously, his cousin is a bad influence. This is just terrible.

"The report stated that at about 5 a.m. EDT, the cousins took a cab from Chippewa Street, an area in Buffalo known for its nightlife, to Eastwood Place, with the fare totaling $13.80. The men handed over $15, but when Radecki gave back a dollar and said he didn't have the 20 cents change, James Kane tore the money from his hand and both men began punching the driver in the face and head, according to the report."

yikes. I think I'll hold off on purchasing Kane merch. (Duncan Keith is my 'Hawk anyway.)

And here goes Daddy Gonch turning me into pudding again. I was reading his entry in the Cup journal. First of all, the dude lives on Fisher Island, which is pretty cool. Second of all, he played with a partially torn ligament in his knee. Third of all, he signed pictures for a $20 donation... proceeds going to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. What a man.

hmmmm. Which definition...

1. to bring or restore to a state of peace or tranquillity; quiet; calm: to pacify an angry man.
2. to appease: to pacify one's appetite.
3. to reduce to a state of submission, esp. by military force; subdue.

... fits best when this man is wearing this shirt?

"I pacify you. You pacify me."

I know. Right. *le sigh*

There is a whole big photobucket account with pictures from Kris LeLover's day with the Cup.

Don't ask me how I found it.

Steelers v. Cardinals this Thursday. Yay football! That means it's getting close to hockey. *gets out pom poms*

The Cup in Long Island with The Piece

2009-07-21T13:47:00.002-04:00

Summary of his day (it was Friday the 17th) here. Is it weird that it annoys me that he has to share a journal entry with Ray Shero? I'm not bitter towards Shero anymore. Or at least I didn't think I was until I saw his name with Rob's on the journal. That certainly left a bitter taste in my mouth. But that picture up there makes all the bad taste go away.

Jordan has the Cup today. I wonder what kind of crazy things he's doing with it. I bet most of the happenings will not be commented on.

Is it hockey yet?

2009-07-16T12:41:00.004-04:00

Not quite yet but it's getting close! The new schedule is up. First regular season game is October 2nd @ NY Rangers.

November 3rd @ Ducks

November 5th @ Kings (Scudsy!)

And then the Ducks are here on November 16th?

That is just mean.

Now that it's officially official

2009-07-10T15:02:00.002-04:00

The Penguins have signed Jay McKee to a one-year.

“Jay is a strong defensive defenseman who will bring additional experience to our lineup,” Shero said. “He has great size and is an outstanding shot-blocker, and his veteran presence will help in the continued development of our young defensemen.”

I've been watching him. I'm happy to hear Shero worked his magic on him. Nice.

TK and Kris

2009-07-08T13:57:00.004-04:00

Tyler and Kris attended the screening of the DVD on Monday night. They met with fans afterwards and were just being their awesome selves. Yesterday morning, before the craziness of the DVD signings, they went to KDKA studios and did weather forecasts.

Kris Letang is afraid of penguins.

TK had his day with the Cup last week.

Those boys are adorable.

Kris says he is ready for a bigger role on the team.

We are supposed to trust Ray Shero. How could we not, right? I am just anxious to see what his answer for losing our shut-down defense is. I'm not sure if things aren't going his way or if he's not making any attempts. I guess it's not my business to know and I'm okay with that. Just curious about who is going to tuck me in at night during hockey is all. *bites nails* We still have Mark Eaton, thank goodness.

In the midst of my Scuderi-induced depression, I neglected to mention an important signing that Shero did make happen. Ruslan Fedotenko has signed a one-year. yay Feds!

The Blackhawks held onto Versteeg. I was wondering about that when they had their flurry of activity the other night.

hey! Remember Fleury? I miss him.

When is hockey?

Stanley Cup DVD

2009-07-07T11:27:00.010-04:00

It comes out today. Kris Letang and Tyler Kennedy are signing autographs. Kris is signing at some Giant Eagle in some town I never heard of from 12 to 2. I wasn't about to call off work to go so I suggested we go see Tyler at Dick's from 6 to 8. This idea has never been a popular one with my husband. I just talked to him on the phone and said, "I don't really know if I'll feel like driving there after work and standing around in line for two hours (like we did to get a signed football from Troy Polamalu). You know what I mean?" He's all, "oh yeah. I know what you mean." But I feel like I should go. But I also know it is not something I feel like doing. hmmm. (edit: it is 1:15 and I am leaning strongly towards not going)
(edit: 2:03 - definitely not going. I just called my husband. He said he is upset because he had his clothes all picked out... he was kidding of course.)

The LA Kings are being pretty awesome about acquiring Superman. I would expect nothing less but I'm pretty famous for always expecting too much. Their home page nearly brought a tear to my eye.

No more being underappreciated and underpaid (from underpaid to overpaid... it's only fair... it all evens out). I'm not sure how much we'll actually hear his name but it's good they know what he is and how much he can bring them.

Max Talbot shoulder surgery? Four or five months seems like forever but we'd rather he heals completely before bringing his sexy ass back onto the ice. "Max has played with this problem for quite a while and we all agreed it was best for him to have the surgery at this time," Penguins general manager Ray Shero said in a news release. "Although he will miss training camp and the start of the season, the doctors expect him to make a complete recovery."

From Superhero to King

2009-07-06T12:13:00.005-04:00

This is old news now.

but it still huuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrtttttttttttttts meeeeeeeeeeeeeee right in the heart. That's the thing about hockey that doesn't exist (for me) with other sports. (Except Plaxico of course. He is an exception to just about every rule ever in existence.) It can raise you up so high and then just slam you back down. My heart dropped out of my chest when I heard he signed himself to the other side of the country. I almost lost the ability to drive which was worrisome since I was about to pull onto the parkway. We will live. I realize this. The Penguins will still be the Penguins and I will still love them all. Now I just have to love a Los Angeles King... which is annoying to me. *shakes fist at Ray Shero*

No, no. I get it. Of course I get it. You don't have to explain it to me. Business. Salary cap. Gonch. Letang. Extensions. Jordan=win. yadda yadda Would I be willing to sacrifice either of my baby boys? Absolutely hell to the no. I told my husband (after he yelled at me to "get used to it" as if that's even possilbe) if there is ever a time before I die that this organization toys with the idea of trading Jordan Staal, I will go on a killing spree. I don't even like to think about it. The good thing is that I know the idea of trading Kris Lelover will never even enter their heads. Right? RIGHT?!?!?!

Here is a short Q&A with Rob where he says things such as, "I was hoping to stay with Pittsburgh". That little bit makes me sob uncontrollably. Sorry Superman! We apparently value Alex Goligoski way more than you right now! That is just sickening. This kid better be, like, the second coming... or Spiderman.

Now. Can we please have somebody that knows how to help out our goalie since we got rid of the two people we had that knew how to do that?

I like hearing people say, "so much for the hometown discount..." Hello? 1.4 million dollars per year is quite a discount. Especially for somebody who has been criminally underpaid, underappreciated and underrated for so long. I'm glad he cashed in. I will miss him like nobody's business but I'm happy for him and his family.

It will be strange to see him in purple.

Still a superhero. Now he'll be saving lives on the left coast. Congratulations to all the Kings fans. Have fun feeling safe! I know I did.

*pout*

hmmm

2009-07-06T00:12:00.001-04:00

Anybody know how to import posts from one blog to another? I can't seem to figure out if I can do that or not. It'd be pretty convenient!

Okay... I'm just doing it the hard way.

If anybody would like my new (real) blog address email me. It's a temporary quick fix right now but I'm going to be changing the name of it altogether...

hi

2009-07-05T21:13:00.000-04:00

just holding this place. I'll explain and get it fixed soon!

Let's just say I'm adding another blog. This one will likely be a bunch of local sports things that most of you don't care about.

I'm going to take some time and see how I can put things back together.

P.S. Rob Scuderi left me. We knew it was going to happen. The real bummer of the situation is that I am not a fan of the LA Kings emblem thingy.

I'm sure it will grow on me. It's gonna have to.

Naked Scudsy drinking from the Stanley Cup? I'm not sure how it could get sexier than that. Congratulations on finally getting a paycheck that you deserve, Rob! I, for one, will miss you tremendously... I'm sure MAF will too.

Free Agency is nightmarish

2009-07-02T12:10:00.000-04:00

It's just terrible.

THERE IS STILL NO MOVEMENT WITH SCUDERI. How is that even allowed? How are they allowed to do this to people? (Namely me of course.) I have said I don't care how much money he wants. I will pay him out of my own pocket. I have about $5 right now but I can get more. I'm sure there is some rich person somewhere who feels my pain.

*sigh*

We lost Hal Gill because we wouldn't give him two years.

I will miss hearing Bob Errey (whom I love dearly... in case you have forgotten) talking about how long his stick is.

I will miss seeing photos like this from inside the Penguins locker room.

I will miss him being tall.

I will miss (the breathtakingly gorgeous) Jordan (I mean damn! he's gorgeous) tweaking his nipples.

Most of all though, I will miss him being a monster for our team. Best of luck to you, Hal. Thank you for playing so hard for us every minute of every game. Thank you for being a HUGE part of us winning the Cup. I'm sorry I haven't shed a tear for you (yet). I'm saving them up. Let's just hope they end up being happy tears.

I need a hug!

I have gone on record (as much as a blog can be a record... as in a record of an event. the event of people playing music in a room. now everything is cross-marketing. its about sunglasses and shoes. or guns and drugs. you choose.. oops, sorry, my head was flying away on an ani difranco song). What? oh.

I have gone on record saying how much I appreciate Rob Scuderi. I have called him a superhero many times. I have called him many things. All good things. I will remain a fan no matter what this ridiculous free agency crap brings. I am afraid I will feel unsafe without him. (I'm feeling pretty unsafe right now. Please hold me, Scudsy!) I need THE PIECE to make me feel safe.

Breaking news: Bob Errey likes Mike Rupp. That's certainly all I need to know. Welcome to Pittsburgh, Mike. I'm sorry you are a Cleveland Browns fan (poor guy). I'll save you a piece of my birthday cake!

In Shero we trust and blah blah blah. Whatever. If I saw him right now, I'd punch him right in his balls. And then I would probably get him some frozen peas and thank him for being so awesome and getting us the Cup.

How is there still no news?

Per Rossi's Twitter: Camp Scuderi: Not necessarily expecting to reach agreement with anybody today.

Seriously. Seriously?

He's not coming back, is he?

This just in.
SCUDERI UPDATE: Add the Kings to a list of teams in the hunt for D Rob Scuderi. Minnesota and the Penguins also remain in the hunt, but I’m told the Kings are above $3 million annually on a long-term deal.
That Scuderi hasn’t accepted yet proves either: A) he is legitimately torn given the Penguins offer ($2 million annually at four or five years), of B) he, like other NHL players, can’t make enough to head west.
To play off what one of his teammates told me, “What is Scuderi waiting for?” Penguins cannot get to $3 million annual for him, or anybody.

So then OFFER HIM 20 YEARS! And HELLO! he is easily worth 2.5 AT LEAST. Surely we can do 2.5.

This is terrible. And it looks like it's going to eat my weekend. I hope Rob's wife has a nice BBQ planned because if I am busy being wrapped around her husband's legs, I'm going to need to be fed at some point.

I'm jumpy!

2009-07-01T09:52:00.000-04:00

I'm listening to ESPN radio (it's a sickness) and I only really hear things when they talk about hockey or football (it's a sickness). Free Agency opens up at noon so I'm waiting for last minute signings or whatnot. They're talking some nonsense about basketball or baseball (which is not as nonsensy as basketball but my goodness what are the Pirates doing?) and there's a buzzer sound that goes off every few seconds. Every time it buzzes, I jump.

Maybe I should go to Rob Scuderi's house and attach myself to him. Like just wrap all my limbs around his legs and weep onto his knees. He couldn't sign a deal with somebody else while I am crying all over him. Could he?

I thought I was all good. I thought I had come to terms with the idea of him leaving. Obviously that is not the case. The closer it gets to noon, the more jumpy I get.

::vomit::

I clearly am not supposed to watch sports.

Edit - 5:10 p.m.
Hal Gill got picked up by Montreal. Does that mean I should feel like a Scudsy resign is more likely? I do feel that. Cautiously optimistic. Bye bye Hal. I'd pout but we can't keep all of them. Though his size will surely be missed.

Penguins signed Mike Rupp? That was unexpected... and weird. And not that it matters but he shares my birthday. (YES he is years and years younger but the day is the same.) Also he is from Cleveland. So, like, if we want to have birthday cake together, it's pretty convenient! And as told by Rob Rossi on Twitter, Rupp's son used to wear a Malkin jersey to Devils games. that is awesome.

5:51 Edit
Minnesota signed Zanon... this sounds like more good news for me and Scudsy. I just smacked my husband. I'm getting my hopes up too much now, huh?

6:23 edit
no more live feeding. Checked the Twitter. It says at 6:09 that we're expecting movement from Scuderi like "now". That was 14 minutes ago!

11:47 edit
Rob Rossi on Twitter said that Rob Scuderi is calling it a night. "calling it a night"? How is that possibly an okay thing to do? How am I supposed to sleep? I have a meeting in the morning.

Craig effingAdams

2009-06-30T07:43:00.000-04:00

Yay! He signed a two-year.

"Craig is a steady, reliable, physical player who was an important part of our mix this season,” Shero said. “He plays with a lot of grit, but he also contributed some key goals in the playoffs and was very effective as a penalty-killer. We’re glad to be able to sign him for two more years.”

"There are no guarantees in life but part of my coming back is because we have such a good team," Adams said. "We have a lot of pieces in place and should be competitive for a long time."

I have to find Craig's quote regarding this goal.

He said Scuderi told him to push the puck through and towards the net on the faceoff. So he did and it went in. It was so freaking funny. The look on everybody's faces. hee.

And did I mention he took a paycut to stay here? Excuse me, I'm having a floaty heart moment. *must go make Craig Blingee*

Bill Guerin also signed a one-year deal.

"It was important to stay," Guerin said. "From the day that I got to Pittsburgh after the trade deadline, I felt good there. I felt it was a good spot for me. My family was comfortable there. We're thrilled about it. We had a great experience in the city and we were really hoping this would work out the way it did."

This website is going to keep me alive for a few days.

I want this shirt!

gah! this article

2009-06-29T09:50:00.000-04:00

Tough choice for Scuderi

"I know the type of player I am," Scuderi said late last week. "I'm not sure the market will be there like this for me again."

Maybe it's just the quotes that make the article as good as it is.

"I've never been the type to just chase the money," he said. "I've seen too many guys go for the highest contract and end up in a bad situation and be completely upset for three or four years. I don't want that happening to me. It's no fun going somewhere and losing, especially after you've been spoiled playing here. That would be just miserable."

In some ways it makes me feel a lot better about things.

"By far, the best situation for me is staying in Pitt," he said. "I know how I fit in here. I know my role. And I want to be a part of another winner. Just because we won this year doesn't mean I'm going to shut it down. I want to win again. I know they can do that here for a long time. With the young core they have -- especially the centermen -- and the system they have and the way they run the organization, it's hard to imagine them not having long-term success."

He is unreal. This article has given me hope.

"When I first got here and found out he had a one-way contract, I was like, 'Are you kidding me?' " Shero said. "But he just kept improving. Now, I wish I had signed him for three years instead of two."

We'll see what happens on Wednesday...

"We'll see what happens," Scuderi said. "I told Ray in our exit meeting that I'd give Pitt the last shot. I'll take him the offer I'm most comfortable with and say, 'How close can we get?' "

I'd hate to see him leave but I get it. I swear I get it. I will remain a fan no matter what. I'll still cry if he leaves me though.

I do like our draft picks so there's that. And Letang seems to keep getting tongue-bathed so there's that too.

oh. I almost forgot this. Nothing like seeing one of your star players in gossip blogs.

Rob Scuderi Fan Club!

2009-06-22T14:48:00.000-04:00

http://www.robscuderi.com/

ha. I love these guys. Wish I'd have known about them before.

Raise

2009-06-22T10:51:00.000-04:00

This is for you, Jan

2009-06-19T13:40:00.000-04:00

Best picture ever at 0:09.

P.S. I got my Rob Scuderi t-shirt today. It's one of those horrid blue ones but I'll take it. The guy that got it for me told me he gets a 30% discount. That meant the shirt would cost me somewhere in the $18 range. Happy price. So he brings it to me today (we won't discuss when exactly it was that he told me he could get it), telling me how hard it was to find. Then gives me my change and tells me it was only like $10 because it was discounted. That tells me that the merchandising department has very little confidence that he will come back. If you need me between now and July 1st, you'll find me sitting in corner somewhere rocking back and forth and humming to myself.

porn 'stache and nipples

2009-06-18T12:21:00.000-04:00

That'd be Hal Gill and Jordan Staal. Thank you cameraperson.

Playoff Rewind

2009-06-17T12:05:00.000-04:00

I was reading this article and it made me want to watch it all over again. Every game. Every win. Every loss. Every goal. Every hit. It's been an amazing trip. A crazy, wild ride of emotions. Pride. So much pride. I am proud of our team. I am proud of our city.

Round 1:
Philadelphia Flyers.

Jordan Staal was given the task of shadowing Jeff Carter. Carter scored 46 goals in the regular season (the second most in the NHL). He had one goal in the six game series.

Max Talbot’s fight with Carcillo was only the beginning of Max’s storied playoffs. He shushed the Flyers fans and woke up our offense.

Round 2:
Washington Capitals.

This is all about Letang for me. He was injured in Game 2 and questionable for Game 3. Not only did Kris play in Game 3, he scored the GWG in overtime. That brought the series to a more manageable 2-1 and set our team on fire.

And then in Game 7, he fired that puck right over Varlamov’s head and rattled him right out of the game.

Oh and Captain had that well deserved and hard earned hat trick.

Round 3:
Carolina Hurricanes.

Sweet Sweep Love. Did anything but awesome happen in this series? I mean, other than those hateful men taking out their frustrations on Lelover's and Jordan's gorgeous faces.

Satan sticking up for baby boy and beating the crap out of "that guy"!

Staal vs. Staal.

oh yeah there was that Evgeni Malkin hat trick. His third goal was unreal.

Round 4:
The Stanley Cup Finals
Detroit Red Wings.

MAF was amazing… if we forget about Game 5... which wasn’t his fault anyway. Games 6 and 7 were enough to shut a lot of people up though. Or, at least they should have been. He was brilliant. I’ve always liked Fleury and was an apologist before I even started watching the games again. Because no goalie can stop every puck and every goalie lets one in on occasion that he wishes he could take back. There are few losses that can be blamed entirely on MAF no matter how easy it is to blame him. If he’s having a bad game? The rest of the team needs to step up and help take some of the pressure off of him, period. And please, do not stand an inch in front of him and expect him to stop the pucks. He can’t see them if you are blocking his view. Seriously. Clear the fucking crease.

Rob Scuderi. I’m way too nervous about his UFA status at the moment to talk about him. People can keep making fun of me for tearing up at the mere mention of his name. I was just going to write here about how he saved Game 6 for us. How it’s entirely possible that if not for him, we could have lost that game. Lost the series. Lost the Cup. I would do so many different kinds of things, legal and illegal, to ensure his status with our team. I would sell my soul. I would do things that got me imprisoned. I swear to you, Ray Shero, if you screw this up and we lose him and we play against his new team, I will root for him to shut us out. Yes, I am that stubborn. ugh. Maybe I am exaggerating about that. I'm not lying though. I mean, right now I feel exactly like that. Like I would follow him to the Red Wings if I had to. But I am not lying or exaggerating when I tell you that I almost threw up just now. I remember somebody on ESPN radio saying that Scuderi loosely translated is "the shield".

This team has enough going for it to survive the loss of almost anybody. And by that I mean, almost anybody else. Ohmiscuds, I have to excuse myself to go cry in the ladies’ room.

Jordan Staal. Rob Rossi said that somebody said to him (and I remember hearing this before Rob Rossi said it so whoever told him told all of us) “Jordan Staal wins you championships”. In this seven game series, the Stanley Cup Finals, "for all the marbles", Jordan held Henrik Zetterberg to three points (one goal and two assists). His shorthanded goal in Game 4 lit a spark and won us the game. Then there was that goal in Game 6.

I hope that people understand why we have so much money locked into our third line center. He’s priceless. Our third line really clicked and you should never, under any circumstances, wish for it to change next season... or ever, quite frankly.

We have some scary free agents right now: Rob Scuderi (UFA), Bill Guerin (UFA), Ruslan Fedotenko (UFA), Petr Sykora (UFA), Miroslav Satan (UFA), Hal Gill (UFA), Craig Adams (UFA), Mike Zigomanis (UFA), Philippe Boucher (UFA), Mathieu Garon (UFA), Alex Goligoski (RFA)

I think it’s safe to assume that Sykora, Satan and Garon will not be back. I will miss everything about Petr. I will miss Garon’s reliability. ( “He’s like a spider in there!” ~ Bob Errey) I will miss the Satan jerseys and his ability to shock everybody by getting physical and/or being awesome. The ones I expect to return are Guerin, Adams (who could only come at a better price if that price was free. I mean, for real, he comes cheap and is a master of the penalty kill, can win faceoffs pretty much all the time, can score goals, can block shots, and I could go on and on. This guy does it all. Thank you Chicago!), and GoGo (he just signed a 3-year and ohmygod I'm scared). I won’t be surprised either way with Feds. I know we’d like to keep him for sure but if he gets a better offer, he’d probably take it and we’d probably have to let him. I would love to see Hal Gill and Philippe Boucher return but I can see where that might be too much to ask for. But we know who I would make the number one priority and I do hope that he is quietly Shero's.

When I hear those words... those words that mean I can sleep at night, you will hear me rejoice. Until then, I continue to vomit at random times in random places on random people (mostly I try to catch it in my mouth).

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if our top three lines look exactly the same going into next season. The fourth line would have to be different. I do not wish to speculate on the defensive pairings because I hate that it has to change at all. Our shutdown d-line is in danger and it makes me nervous and extremely sad.

This entry isn't quite complete. It doesn't have everything I've been wanting to say. Not even close. I just wanted to comment on that article and to post some of this stuff while it's still fresh. There's plenty more to come.

NHL Awards are tomorrow on Versus. Draft is next week. Free agency *vomit* starts on July 1st.

Pic Spam

2009-06-16T11:43:00.000-04:00

Hello, old friend

2009-06-14T22:48:00.000-04:00

This video is amazing.

It's A Great Day For Hockey

2009-06-12T08:07:00.000-04:00

On this day in 1990, the Penguins named Badger Bob Johnson as their new head coach. He led his team to the Stanley Cup Championship in his first season. No matter what your beliefs, if you are a Penguins fan, today you know Badger Bob is smiling down on our team tonight. What a comforting feeling. "It's a great day for hockey" indeed.

Somebody on a local radio station said before she fell asleep last night, she thought Geno's going to score first and it's going to be quick. I had a similar ~~thought~~ epiphany but in mine it was Captain. Even though we all know I like to be right, I'd be okay with either one. But this is the 87th game of the playoffs.

We love you, Petr!

I love Bob Errey. He is incredible. It looks kind of random here because I have nothing. No quotes. No video. No audio. Listening to the radio right now, he is just putting it all in perspective and simultaneously calming and firing up the city. It's amazing.
He played for both teams, btw. You'd never know it by listening to him though.
This is from several days ago but I just found it. "Bylsma is cut from that same kind of cloth," Errey said (regarding Scuderi). "One was a forward and one was a defenseman, but they might have the same mind-set. Bylsma appreciates him." Just another reason for me to adore him.

"That has no bearing on us whatsoever. It's not this group of guys, it's not this team. Those are just statistics." ~ Matt Cooke (I want to kiss him right on his face.)

"When we've got the puck, they can't score."~Paul Coffey

It was time to post all the Blingees that hadn't been posted yet. :)

"The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch. On this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when we add up all those inches, that's gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying! I'll tell you this, in any fight it's the guy whose willing to die whose gonna win that inch. And I know, if I'm gonna have any life anymore it's because I'm still willing to fight and die for that inch, because that's what living is, the six inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You've got to look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes. Now I think you're going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You're gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team, because he knows when it comes down to it your gonna do the same for him. That's a team, gentlemen, and either, we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals." ~ Tony D'Amato, Any Given Sunday

"Great moments... are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here, tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight. One game. If we played 'em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight, we stay with them. And we shut them down because we can! Tonight, WE are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players. Every one of you. And you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done. It's over. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw 'em. This is your time. Now go out there and take it."

I am so happy that I have opened myself up to this sport again. Sidney sucked me in a little bit at a time. I have admired him from the beginning and have always appreciated him. But it's this entire team that has kept me around. This is the most amazing hockey team I have ever watched play. They weren't even going to make the playoffs a few short months ago. Look where they are now. It's incredible. It was a lot of hard work and it took a ton of desire to get here. This team traveled those roads together. It's inspiring.

"Win today and we walk together forever." ~Fred Shero

No matter what the outcome of tonight is, this is the last hockey game of the season. This is the last time you will see a lot of these guys playing together. This is the last time some of these guys will look each other in the eyes on that ice and know that the person next to them is willing to go that extra inch with them. This is for all of it. Who is the better team? Who has the bigger heart? Who has more desire? More will? Who wants it more?

One game.

Any of us who can call ourselves fans, of whichever team that may be, have faith that our team is going to do this. And boy do I feel it today.

Bring Home The Cup!

a few things

2009-06-11T12:18:00.001-04:00

1. I feel like I'm going to pass out. I don't think it has anything to do with hockey but I can't be sure. It's becoming a problem though.
2. Way too many people are talking about Rob Scuderi. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure. It would be nice to hear somebody tell me that there is no way we are letting him go. But nobody has told me that except me.
3. We have won three of the last four games.
4. A lot of people are saying Detroit is being arrogant about this. I don't think that's the case. There's a difference between confidence and arrogance and they have to be confident. You can't go into a game feeling inferior. bah. Whatever. I don't care how they feel.
5. I am 100% against any lineup changes that decrease JStaal's ice time.
6. My back keeps spasming. Maybe that's why I feel like I'm going to pass out.
7. I need to take two days off this month so I don't lose them. I'd like to take tomorrow off but I don't think that's going to be possible.
8. Mark was sitting behind Wade last night on SYTYCD. I miss Mark.
9. I feel like I could cry at the drop of a hat. (What does that even mean?) I think I need some time by myself to just sit and let it all out. I don't know where it's coming from or why. I mean, I've always been an easy crier. I guess it's just been too long since I've had a good one.
10. A club my husband and my dad belong to is planning a trip to Detroit for a Steelers game. The cost would include the bus ride, the hotel and the ticket. We just don't know what that price is going to be yet. I'm not sure if DH wants to go or not. I'd like to but I can't/won't commit to any trips due to things that I do not like to think about. Why Detroit? I have no clue. I'd rather go to Chicago but nobody asked me. Not that we'd be able to commit to that either.

hahaha. I just saw this on NHL.com. "Scuderi wears the cape for Penguins today" Dude.

yikes

2009-06-10T23:52:00.000-04:00

a few things before bed
1. Petr Sykora blocked six shots last night. Not one or two. Six. That sexy slide save? yeah. He broke his foot. No Petr in game seven. But boy he gave us everything we asked for in those six and a half minutes. wow. We love you, Petr!
2. Kris Letang does everything that is asked of him and still people complain that he can't do everything at the same time. There is a switch that turns these guys from offense to defense. Maybe he hasn't mastered exactly how to meld the two together. The fact that he is 22(!) and is as good as he is should, rightfully, shut people up. But sadly it does not. Kris Letang is not going to be tops on your list for blocked shots. It shouldn't be expected of him. But it is and he has answered that in this series. He has gotten a goal in this series. Not many people can say that. He has blocked shots. That increases the risk on his beauty, people. Also, it's not necessarily what he does... or at least it wasn't necessarily what he did. He has played defense. He has created offense. He has had brilliant passes and brilliant hits and brilliant shots. Nobody takes into account how young he is. And that same exact thing can be said about Jordan Staal, who can't even legally drink yet.
3. I am really scared about losing Rob Scuderi. I need a hug badly. *cries* I need some serious reassuring. *vomits*

The Piece

2009-06-10T07:47:00.000-04:00

"I made a pretty brutal quote a couple of days ago," Scuderi explained. "I was supposed to say, 'a' piece to the puzzle, but instead I said, 'the' piece to the puzzle. So, it's not Sid, it's not Geno. Apparently it's me."

Scuderi Saves The Day.
After congratulating Fleury, the Pens' real goalie, the Penguins made sure they saved a few of the customary stick taps for the man they call "Scuds."

"Obviously we went to Flower first," Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke said of Fleury. "He made a huge save on (Dan) Cleary (on a late breakaway that could have tied the game). But then the rest of the room had a lot of accolades for Scuds for playing his second position, which is goaltender."

It wasn't the first time he did all he could do to save lives last night though (and certainly not the first time he's ever saved lives). There was a point in the game where, much like last year, MAF plopped his butt down on top of the puck. This year the outcome was different. This time, he stopped it but just in case his butt wasn't big enough, Superhero Scuderi plugged up the hole with his stick. I can pretty much guarantee that everybody watching the game was holding their breath. And then MAF proved that he had this under control. And then Scuderi proved that he had it under control just.in.case MAF didn't (and he really proved that at the end of the game. amazing). There was a close-up of Marc laughing. It was unreal.

Dear Ray Shero, ROB SCUDERI MUST BE SIGNED TO A LONGTERM DEAL. Pronto. I don't care how much money he wants. I will find money and pay him myself. He wants to stay here and we want him to stay here. There is no way I could handle it if they let him go. He makes me feel safe.

When I got home from work yesterday, DH and I were discussing last night's game. We concluded that he was not as confident as I was. Okay, so that's understandable. Fair enough. Then the discussion went to UFA's. One of whom happens to be Rob Scuderi. I, personally, liked it better when everybody was quiet about his superheroism. I do not want people to offer him a trillion dollars. That'd be tempting for anybody. I want to hear the words, "Rob Scuderi, The Piece, wants to stay here and we want him to stay here so we have signed him to a multi-year deal." Until I hear that, I will vomit at random times throughout the day every day. And that really is not going to be pleasant for anybody. So anyway, DH says, "Do you really think that if somebody offered us something worthwhile, that we wouldn't let him go?" I said, "Yes, I really think that." The conversation went on for a while. He was giving me different scenarios where he could see them giving him up. I told him he was being silly and to quit making my stomach hurt. Then he sadistically started in on Letang. "You are crazy if you think your boyfriend is safe too." I argued that point too. We are keeping Letang. That's already been said. It's fact. He finally let up when I started to cry (slight exaggeration... they hadn't fallen out of my eyes yet) and told him if he didn't shut his mouth I was going to punch him right on it.

I've realized why I stopped watching hockey on a regular basis all those years ago. Watching the games is exciting and exhilirating and all of those things. When your team wins, you are beside yourself with joy and nothing can break you down. But when your team loses, it sinks you. I am an easy crier. Then they have these players that play for you just long enough to make you fall in love with them and then they decide they are playing for money instead of your team and your heart breaks a little bit. (Hossa can't be used as an example here, in case you were wondering. He more than proved he isn't playing for money. We offered him mansions and boats and prostitutes and Tyler Kennedy probably bought him his very own pony but he still left. That was his choice. I don't have it in me to dislike him for it. Maybe if I was watching faithfully last year I would, but I sincerely doubt it.) And your coaches and managers and owners tell you why this person was replaceable when in your mind you know that no matter what, that person will always have a piece of your heart and you can't replace that and a part of your insides dies a little bit. So I think I figured out that I probably stopped watching hockey regularly when we let Kevin Stevens go. And by the time he came back to play for us, my heart was hardened to hockey. Now he's a scout and the media talks to him a lot and I have my husband who has softened me a tad and it's okay for me to watch hockey again. See? All these years later and I still take it back to Kevin Stevens because he has a piece of my insides.

But what was I talking about? oh yeah. "THE PIECE" IS MY PEACE. WE MUST KEEP ROB SCUDERI SO I CAN FEEL SAFE AND SECURE ENOUGH TO SLEEP AT NIGHT.

*exhale*

I told my husband that if we are ever face to face with Rob Scuderi it is likely that I will throw myself into his arms. He said, "No you wouldn't. You only like the good-looking players." Which, hello? I've already said superhero=hot, but also? not true. I can't help what Kris Letang looks like. But he was teasing.

I'm glad Petr Sykora was on the ice last night. I've missed him.

I've missed his shot and his net presence... and his happy, sweet, smiling face. He didn't score last night but he did help create chances and blocked a shot or two (one of those sexy slide saves too). Satan has a calming presence and a killer shot when he can get one. I can see how choosing between the two could be a problem for the coaches. If I had to choose, and I had to base it on play and not how cool their names look on jerseys, I'd probably pick Petr every time. That tells me he wasn't 100% before last night. Or still isn't.

Three Stars of the Game:
1) Marc-Andre Fleury
2) Jordan Staal
3) Tyler Kennedy. Kennedy. Missssssterrrrrr Kennedy.

People who would show up there if those three weren't so unreal:
1) "THE PIECE" - who has saved Pittsburgh's day so many times it's impossible to count and should appear on this list after every game... wait, why wasn't he one of the three stars last night?
2) Matt Cooke - who was easily the best player on the ice last night. I about peed myself when that dude on NBC said it too. I punched the couch and said all scary and shouty, "Yeah! Fuckin' right he was!"
3) Mad Max Talbot - who logged in a tremendous amount of ice time (that's a whole other paragraph) and has been forgiven for momentarily making us look like the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5
4) Brooks Orpik - who was stellar
5) Craig Adams - who doesn't get his name said nearly enough

If you look at the average time on ice for games 1-5 and the TOI for game 6, it seemed like they played who MAF feels most comfortable with. Max played almost 5 minutes more than usual. Five minutes. That’s amazing. All the penalty kill players got more ice time. Our penalty killers are Scuds, Gill, Staal, Cooke (who was seen pre-game talking to Marc-Andre, which means more than it sounds like it means), Adams, Talbot, and some Dupuis thrown in, with Gonchar/Orpik and Eaton relieving Scuds and Hal when applicable. That says A LOT. Our “role players” are THE key in this series. Sid played on a penalty kill at one point (to win the faceoff for Jordan who has been struggling with them) and still logged way less ice time than usual. Max, Jordan and Geno (who was quietly amazing) all logged more time than Captain. Misssssterrrr Kennedy only plays 13 minutes per game and he has scored twice in this series. That’s incredible. If the Wings aren't going to let Crosby and Malkin break out (and they're not going to because they can't), we need to put the people in there who can keep them from scoring. All this stupid talk about Crosby and Malkin need more icetime to make a difference is stupid. What we ended up doing was smart. Maybe even brilliant. I'm not saying that Crosby can't make a difference, because he has proven that he can, I just really liked the strategy we used last night. Maybe even loved it.

And because I am a Letang lover, he had a truly remarkable shift where he forced somebody (I forget who it was) the whole way around the boards. He made the dude make a big U turn along the boards right back to their side. It was pretty. And there was a point when they were in the offensive zone, Lelover included, and Cooke came from one direction and Letang was coming up from the blue line to get the puck off some Red Wing (why can't I remember which Red Wing did what last night? hahahaha... I told DH they all look alike except for Zetterberg who is pretty and Helm and Ericson who are young.) and Cooke lays the dude out and Letang just quietly and calmly takes the puck. I was like, "HOW DID HE STAY SO CALM?" He probably peed a little bit but damn it was impressive.

We won last night because we had to. That was what I told everybody all day yesterday. "Are the Penguins going to win?" "Yes." "What if they don't?" "ummm. They have to." "So that's it? They're going to win because they have to?" "Yes."

Things like this are why you fall in love with players.

You know them. They are gracious. They are kind. They are funny. They are real. This is their life. They play 82 games per year IF they DON'T make the playoffs. These guys live and breathe this sport all year round. They give interviews before and after every game. They interact with fans whenever it's possible. They are dedicated. They are determined to be better no matter how good they already are. People like Nick Lidstrom (I will be free to love him when this is over) and Bill Guerin are still playing hockey because they love it. How can you not love that? How can you not appreciate that? How can you not support that? Seriously. It's amazing. And if that's not enough for you, how about this?

That right there is proof that I was meant to start watching hockey again. Goodlord. I mean, shit, some of these guys are beyond gorgeous and they risk that beauty to play this sport because that is what they do. Man, I love that.

It's A Great Day For Hockey!

And just because his hair soothes me (and because he was not in the above picture. I would probably wallpaper my house with it if he was.):

One more game and then I have to get back to vomiting about trades.

In other sports news: The Steelers Super Bowl Ring Is Gross

"Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world."

2009-06-09T08:25:00.000-04:00

"Great moments... are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here, tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight. One game. If we played 'em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight, we stay with them. And we shut them down because we can! Tonight, WE are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players. Every one of you. And you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done. It's over. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw 'em. This is your time. Now go out there and take it."

wow.

Get fired up!!!!

hmmm... Lot's of talking about Petr...

Blingee Rally!

Let's Do This!

I keep thinking I have things to say. That I have all these words about how we need to win. How we have to win. But it's all just words. We have to win this, period. There are no other words to say. There are no other things that can be done. We embarrassed ourselves in Game 5. If it was only a matter of losing, it would be different. My radio would have different things coming out of it today. We didn't just lose the game though. We lost our focus. We lost our composure. We lost our minds. We lost our game. That wasn't our team. That's not how our team plays. Today I have been hearing all about the attacks at Fleury from the people who live in this town. He is our goalie. He expects to take some heat for losses. Sometimes they even have a leg to stand on when they're bashing him. But to blame him for these losses? laughable. The three losses we had in this series, we scored a grand total of two goals. Two. Do these people want MAF to score goals now too? I just can't listen to it. Now there's talk about Petr Sykora playing. I'm fine with that. Truly, I am. I just can't figure out why I listen to this stuff all day long on game nights. These people talk a lot because they have to. The radio would be a weird thing if people weren't talking. I like to hear what the players say on gameday (okay, I like to hear what they say every day). I like to hear their voices. There's a collectedness, a calmness, a coolness in their voices that has been there since the game was over on Saturday night. I am confident that tonight we will be back on track. Our guys had two days to regain their focus, their composure and our game. They had two days to reflect. They know how this game is played. They know we need to win this. I keep thinking how it wouldn't be the end of the world if... but fuck that. We want the Cup.

Let's Go Pens!

Okay. So that was really ugly.

2009-06-07T05:23:00.000-04:00

It's 5:30ish on Sunday. The game was over, like, 19 hours ago and I'm ready to stop reliving it in my head. The stupid penalties. The missed chances. The bad timing. It was all pretty gross to watch as a Penguins fan. It was hard to take. If I looked at it objectively, which I'm not quite ready to do yet, I'm sure it was like watching hockey school. There was red everywhere. But like I said, I'm not ready to be objective. We fucked up and we paid for it mightily. We need to get back and regroup. Because what else can you do? There isn't anything else... except maybe take an anger management class or two. It has to be put behind us. Daddy Gonchar said, when we were two games in and two games down, "it isn't over." And it isn't over now either. I know our D and our goalie will take the blame for this game. Our D did all they could to keep that puck out of our zone. There was no follow through. A few of our forwards played really well. A few. It left our D playing behind the wings for a lot of the game. And it left our goalie under a lot of pressure. I haven't watched any postgame or off-day things today. I haven't looked at the newspaper. I haven't watched the news. I haven't even looked at the photos on the Penguins site. (As much as I want to see if there's a picture of JStaal with his fist in some guy's face, it happened pretty much simultaneously with some guy's fist in Letang's face... and I don't want to see that.) I'm a fan. I have done all the reliving I need to do in my head. More than I needed to do really. It isn't my job to analyze the things that went wrong. It isn't my job to figure out what needs to be done to get things back on track. It isn't my job to regroup. Because I don't have to. I never stopped believing in this team. It is my job to have faith that they know what they need to do and to believe that they will do it.

Because you know what? Detroit took this one over and we let them. They got in our heads and they made a lot of us forget what we should be doing. BigFatGoalie got his shut out. The robot that is the Red Wings put on a show. Yay for them. Yay for Detroit. But we're back in Pittsburgh now. You're coming to our house now. As much as you probably like to think you might, you're not going to win in our house. No way that's happening again. And as much as I hoped that we'd win it here, it'll still be pretty sweet to win it in Detroit on Friday.

Regroup. Gather it all back up and keep it all together. Our boys are back home. We have to show them we have faith in them. We have to do our jobs and help them keep it together. Don't give up. Don't lose faith. Don't stop believing. This isn't over.

Let's Go Pens!!!

"I didn't expect Tanger to come that hard"

2009-06-05T08:29:00.000-04:00

wow.

That is.

That is the best postgame quote ever. Any dirty thoughts I have today will be blamed on Sidney Crosby because if he wouldn't have said that, I would have never had any dirty thoughts about Kris Letang. What? I have never before thought about or said the words "Tanger", "come", and "hard" together in a sentence. What?!?! I haven't.
"I was driving the net and I was just trying to get a rebound, but obviously he put it in," Letang said. "I was just continuing my run and I hit him pretty hard. I think he woke up and he was fine after it, so that was good."

Do you think everybody can shut up now about how we need Captain to have a "good" game? He's been playing like Jesus through the whole playoffs but that wasn't enough. Nope. He had to score a goal in the finals. Fine. There you go. Now, please, shut up.

Jordan Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't even know what to say. I am so in awe of him. Is he the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? I mean. Come on. Who else in the world is as unreal as he is? Nobody. He's HUGE on the ice. Just gigantic. He is a FORCE. His stick works miracles. Every time he steps onto the ice, it melts a little bit. Look at his face. He's a magnificent creature. If I was a painter, I would love to paint him. Short-handed goal. Fucking animal. And thank you, Max, for being so fucking clutch every second. It's Staal Good.

Marc-Andre Fleury is... what's the word I need here? Wonderful? Amazing? Incredible? Huge? Astounding? Yes. He is all of those things.

He was unflappable through the entire game. When Rob Scuderi turned that puck over (which is pretty much UNHEARD OF. I quietly threw up in my mouth a little bit), and the Wings scored, MAF was the first one to tell him not to sweat it because he sure wasn't going to. And then Scuds went back to doing his job. Which, in case you didn't know, is being a SUPERHERO. Even when we were down 2-1, I was reclining on the couch. Okay. So I wasn't really reclining. It's exciting! That's why I was on the edge of my couch falling off of it every few minutes. It certainly wasn't because I had any fear of losing. I was so chill last night. MAF does that to me when he looks that humongous inside his house.

And. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Mr. Kennedy. "Kennedy. MISTER KENNEDY." got a goal and it was gorgeous. He went up against two Wings, popped the puck back to Kunitz, skated to the front of the net and waited for Captain to make that perfect pass, and FWAM! And then Daddy Gonchar (which is what I called him all night. "Who blocked that? Was that Daddy?") gave him a sweet hug afterwards.

I LOVE YOU, DADDY GONCHAR!

Please. Now stop talking about how our third line is so useless or whatever words those people insist on using. They are... I lost words again. Dammit. They have everything. They dominate. Their job is to keep the puck. To keep the other team from scoring. Next time they get in our offensive zone, get out a stopwatch. And then? you can shut your stupid mouth.
I have had many a dream that involve Matt Cooke in pretty much that same position. (See what you have done to my mind today, Sidney? It is right in the gutter.)

Kris Letang. Is he the ohmygod cutest thing in the world? Yes. I can’t be positive because I have never been face to face with him but I am pretty sure I am in love with him. I don't know how much more of him I can take, to be honest. He is part of our future though so I will be seeing a lot of him and loving him a little bit more every day. You have been warned. And if ever a picture begged to be Blingeed, that one ^ right there is it.

Highlights? It was all a highlight.

It's interesting to me that 1) Malkin's goal was on a PP 2) Jordan's goal was on a PK 3) Sid's goal was with Geno and Feds 4) Mr. Kennedy's goal was with Captain and Kuuuuuuuuuuunitzzzzzzz. None of those are regular lines. The Malkin PP wasn't even with our regular PP lineup. They had Jordan out there on a PP. (I have to check his TOI.) They were mixing shit up last night. It seems they were trying their damnedest to get our third line some goals. And you know what? Because they wanted to shut the media up, they just went ahead and did. And that is one of the many, many reasons I love this team.

Series tied at 2-2.

LET'S GO PENS!!!!!!!!!

I just deleted a whole post

2009-06-04T15:37:00.000-04:00

You know who I can blame for me turning into pudding? Sergei Gonchar.

LET'S GO PENS!!!!!

I saw some things

2009-06-04T09:41:00.000-04:00

So between yesterday afternoon and today, I saw some different angles and read some things that make me feel like I have not appreciated Sergei Gonchar enough. It's difficult, as a fan (or at least this fan), watching your PP QB slowing things down. I realize that this is necessary. I understand that there are set plays and he has to wait for everybody else and blah blah. But really I can't help but jump up and scream "HURRY THE FUCK UP!" at my television. It really brings out an ugly side of me and Daddy Gonch takes the brunt of some pretty colorful profanity being yelled really loudly. So yesterday I read what he said about my Tanger (“It seems like he is playing good all over the ice. He has all of the skills in the world and his shot is great, so offensively it is not surprising but the way he held them defensively, you can see the progress that he made from last year.”) and saw different angles of the post-goal celebrations. The huge smile he had on his face after Kris scored and the leaping hug Kris gave him after he scored. Today I found this:
and it nearly brought a tear to my eye (and Phillipe Boucher thinks Kris is emotional). I mean. LOOK at that hug. That is an I'm so proud of you and I love you so much hug if I've ever seen one. I had myself convinced that Gonch didn't love or appreciate Kris Letang enough and it helped me direct a lot of undeserved hostility towards him. He has a job on this team and he does it better than anybody else. Rob Scuderi said as much. I already knew that of course, but I will try my best to not scream at him tonight because I don't want Rob Scuderi to be mad at me. Every time he makes me freak out, I will remember the smile on his face that was so lovingly directed at Lelover. And I will calm down. That's what he does after all. He calms it all down. He has probably saved a lot of lives that way.

I offer a Blingee to start the amend-making.

Don't buy into the media

2009-06-03T11:45:00.000-04:00

All yesterday morning on ESPN Pittsburgh radio, they were playing bits of Kris Letang's interview from the previous day (off-day). In the afternoon, talk shifted to a possible Letang benching. The refs aren't calling penalties. Letang hasn't been that great on PPs anyway. Boucher saw a lot of ice time during morning skate. Kris shot the puck once in game two and it hit the glass (pretty far off from the goal which is where he obviously wanted it to go... or maybe, just maybe, he just wanted to get something going, people). He forced an icing call and the Wings ended up scoring on the ensuing faceoff. So why not bench Letang? If we don't need him for the power plays because we're not getting them, why not play Boucher, a more defensively minded dman, instead? I get home from work and have to listen to my husband agree with all of that nonsense. Listen. They're saying all these words and all I hear is that Kris is going to score on a power play. Call it hearing what I want to hear or whatever you want to call it. I call it faith in my boy's play. There is a reason I have faith in him. There is a reason he is my favorite player and it's not because he's dropdeadgorg. Well, maybe that doesn't hurt but it's not the reason. Quite simply, he is my favorite because he is incredible. He gets people talking about him by... hmmm... I guess people start talking about him when he does something that maybe isn't so brilliant. Everybody makes mistakes, right? Of course. But. Apparently he isn't allowed to have a bad game or make one error. So then doesn't that mean that he is an integral part of our system? That makes him a necessary part of this team.

"Come congratulate me, bitches." (You must read this to yourself in a sexy French Canadian accent.)

Some people tend to not have as much faith in our team winning this as I do. Do they want our magnificent team to win this? Of course. They just don't tend to feel as sure about it as I do. Is that the word I'm needing here? "sure"? Maybe. I guess, yes, it is. My faith in our team is not blind. My faith in our team comes from being witness to some of what they can do. And I have only seen some of it. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe it is because I blew this sport off for so long. Maybe that's why I can come in here and say that they are the better team. I haven't seen them not be the best team on the ice. I would watch bits of play here and there. I would let it play in the background while I did other things. (Right now I can't for the life of me remember what those things were.) I heard them suck by way of the commentators and the media. Mind you, that would be the same media who told me that Kris Letang was going to be a healthy scratch for last night's game. So for all I know, this team has always been this magnificent and I just wasn't seeing it. Maybe I could have helped try to build up my people's faith a long time ago. I had zero doubt that we were winning last night. Zero. And I had an equal amount of doubt that Kris would play. Kris scoring on a pp held a bit of doubt because who could know that? heh. I hope the media talks about Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal, and Matt Cooke a lot tomorrow because that line is a little bit of heaven to watch and all anybody ever wants to talk about is how they don't score a lot of goals... even though scoring goals is not their job. It's because of them, Craig Adams and our CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED dmen that the other team doesn't get 300 shots on goal. Really. I hate the media and it hurts me to know that people buy into what they say. The people who don't watch hockey, and that used to (please forgive me) include me, have NO idea how amazing some of these guys are. Probably everybody thinks Jordan Staal is garbage because he doesn't score goals but they know his name and they assume he is supposed to. People only care about the stats and the score sheets. I am here to tell you all that Jordan Staal and all of these other guys are worth what we put into them. Some of them are worth more than we give them monetarily. It is up to us, the fans, the community, to believe in them.

It is our job to give them our faith. They certainly have mine.

Vindication is more satisfying when you can Blingee it.

This also feels really good: “He was great, not only offensively but also defensively,” Gonchar said. “It seems like he is playing good all over the ice. He has all of the skills in the world and his shot is great, so offensively it is not surprising but the way he held them defensively, you can see the progress that he made from last year.”

I suppose I should mention that Mad Max Clutch Talbot scored two goals last night... the first on a stunning Letang assist.

The first goal was Max, the second was Letang's PP, the third was a Gonchar PP goal, and the fourth was a Max empty netter. So much for our Power Play being shitty. AND! if I'm not mistaking (I'm not) our only goal in Game 2 was a Malkin PP goal (assisted by Letang).

Needless to say, I am listening to all music all day today. None of that bullshit sports radio that makes me want to vomit.

Let's Rally

2009-06-02T09:03:00.000-04:00

Blingee is fun!!!!!!

rematch screamatch

2009-05-28T07:59:00.000-04:00

I wanted to keep watching the Blackhawks for a while. They were burning up the place in the third period. Not enough. Patrick Kane's goal was what hockey dreams are made of. Not enough. Cristobal Huet stood on his head. Not enough. Niklas Hjalmarsson tried to seduce the ladies with a sweet slide save. Not enough. Duncan Keith had me convinced for sixty minutes a few days a week that I should probably move to Chicago to be closer to where he is. Not enough?

Wait. I got off track.

Toews, Kane, Sharp, Burish, Havlat, Ladd, Pahlsson, Seabrook, Campbell, Versteeg, Byfuglien, Eager... I can't believe I remember all those names and it's not even my team.

What I guess the whole point of this is, is that I *heart* the Blackhawks. I cannot wait to watch them in the fall.

I have to wait until the fall? *sob* Thank Scuderi for Blackhawks TV.

I suppose it's better for me as a fan going into this against a team that I can't work up any happy for. I do not like the Red Wings. They have skill. They have experience. What they lack is heart. They lack the passion. We have all of that. What we may lack in experience, we make up for with heart. We make up for it with passion. My team. Pittsburgh's team is going to the Stanley Cup Finals. Against Detroit. For the second year in a row. This year is ours.
Hossa? I don't give a shit about Hossa but there's a quiet place in my brain that takes comfort in the fact that our team probably does. There's a quiet place, a peaceful place that knows Hossa has a lot of free candy coming his way.

Hossa doesn't belong with our guys anyway. Our guys play because they love this sport.

Our guys play because they believe in this team.

Last year this was new and a little intimidating.

This year we're grabbing it and holding on.

This is our year.

Making Sweeeeeet Sweep Love

2009-05-27T09:09:00.000-04:00

Not a lot of commentary right now. Just pictures.

Our Staalmonster is hotter than your Staalmonster. (In both looks and awesomeness.)

I can't think of the words that could express what he did on the ice last night or how in awe I am of him. Jordan, I love you more than all the words put together. You.are.worth.every.penny. Period. (That is an emphatic period.)

"Fuck it. I'm touching it."

The Superheroes lead the way in this photo. I love them so much. The Vs. commentators talked about Rob Scuderi for a solid few minutes. Telling the world how underrated he is, that he's always in the right place and that he should wear a cape. Okay, maybe they didn't say that last part. Get me a Scuderi jersey t-shirt and I will be forever in your debt. Not a blue one though. Last year they didn't even touch it. That didn't work so well. This year they're all rubbing it and touching it (when Cappy's done with it of course. He has... things he needs to do to it first).

Kristopher Letang, your playing last night was quiet and beautiful. This team knows what you are. You just go ahead and keep getting better and better. Every time you do something awesome, which is a lot, I toy with the idea of having a #58 tattooed on my forehead or somewhere. If video tattoos were possible, my body would be covered with your moves. You blow my mind, my love.

Matt Cooke. Craig Adams. Tyler fuckingKennedy. Brooks Orpik. MAF. Sidney. Geno. Billy G. Mark Eaton. Mad Max Clutch Talbot. Satan. Gonch. Rus Fed. Kuuuuunitzzzz. Hal. Boucher (pronounced appropriately like touché). Words aren't forming right now. I love this team.

P.S. The Hurricanes like(d) to give us statistics that told us when Eric Staal scores, they win. Eric Staal had the first goal of the night last night for what it's worth... which turned out to be NOT TOO MUCH.

P.S.S. The Penguins are 3-0 when Craig fuckingAdams scores. Suck it.

P.S.S.S. I like to think that this stomping in Game 4 was because of
the elbow to Jordan's face in Game 3. DO NOT TOUCH JORDAN STAAL'S FACE WITH ANYTHING UNLESS YOU ARE CARESSING IT WITH YOUR FINGERTIPS OUT OF LOVE. Don't these people respect beauty? Seriously. First the stick to Kris' face. Then the fists to Kris' face. Then this? I can't deal with that kind of thing. This sweep was Karma, bitches.

Rob Scuderi is a SUPERHERO

2009-05-26T14:34:00.000-04:00

I keep saying this.

I'm dying for a Rob Scuderi jersey t-shirt. Somebody needs to get them in stock so I can LIVE. I was seriously contemplating buying the 2XL that I found but 1) the obvious reason 2) it was the wrong kind 3) my husband would just steal it.

Game 4 tonight. Game 3 was silly. They even tried to give EStaal a chance... they didn't play JStaal's line against him. Didn't work so well for the 'Canes. The score? 6-2. I'm not counting the Hurricanes out yet, but they're not making it easy. Corvo talked to one of those Versus people during intermission and he just looked so over. He had clearly given up. It would have been in their best interest to let him sit on the bench for the rest of the game. I need to see if anybody posted that video anywhere. It was hilarious.

I'm kind of blah today about things so I went to the Pens site to see what interviews they have up that I didn't see. Postgame interview with a superhero? Count me in. Oh and he's shirtless? Bonus.

This video is loaded with nekkid hockey players. Kris Lelover 0:16 - 0:19. *purr* Three seconds of bliss. Then again at 0:46 for another glimpse. Then MAF comes from behind the curtain wearing... nothing? Maybe a towel?

I KNEW Scuds was a superhero.

I swear to you all that I do love this sport and I would love it if they all looked like... somebody that isn't good-looking. I can't think of names because hockey players are always hot even if they're not good-looking. The good-looking guys just make it so much better and they really give me motivation to watch ANY and ALL coverage that is available to me. Which reminds me. My niece told me one time when I was slobbering all over how awesome Scuds is, and I will quote this because I remember it exactly, "I hate Scuderi! He's so ugly!" She's young so I had to let it slide but... Rob Scuderi is a superhero therefore hot.

Pens 2 - Canes 0

2009-05-22T07:59:00.000-04:00

Geno! UNREAL!

That third goal was unfuckingreal. Who can do that? Very few people. We have two of them. gah. Unreal. He told Max Talbot what he was going to do and then he just went and did it. That's amazing. Geno! What a fucking hero.

Canes tried to send a message through the whole game. High-sticking, taking runs, tripping (not that we were faultless but most of it was retaliatory). Letang and Satan said oh we can hear you loud and clear but no.

OH MY GOD! I still don't know if his face came out of that unmarked but all I could think about while it was happening was HIS HAIR. He has the best hair on the planet. Or maybe I just think that because I have a bit of a fascination with him. But, oh man, his hair. This little scuffle started, btw, because some awful man hit Lelover IN HIS FACE!WITH A STICK! Then another (even more awful?) man punched him IN HIS FACE!

Has he not seen Kris Letang's face? Seriously. What is wrong with people? This, of course, being after sticks were flying in faces through the whole game.

And because of the hair... this is after game 1.

... and I guess also because Craig Adams shirtless is a little bit of heaven. I particularly enjoy how the cameraman pans out and back in. He knows what's up. From shirtless Craig to hatless Lelover (whose voice has become, for me, like the sweetest sounding music... it's like puppies and bunnies singing and dancing in a field under a rainbow).

Good lord.

What was I talking about? oh yeah. Hockey. See? his hair takes me right out of the game.

Miro Satan got into a fight. That is funny. He beat the crap out of that guy. That is awesome.

Final score of game 2? 7 - 4
awesome. You don't expect 11 goals in a playoff game. It's exciting. But also your team allowed 4 goals and that can't happen... unless your team scores 7, but that isn't always going to happen.

I LOVE pictures that just say "Hal Gill is really tall and would appreciate it if you would stay the fuck away from our forwards".

This is the other fight that almost broke out. What did break out is Kris' hair. This was the first time it made an appearance last night.

Kris Letang is not 6'7" but he doesn't take too kindly to people fucking with our forwards either.

He looks sooooooooo mean. That's HOTT.

I can't think of anything in the world I would rather do than watch hockey. I feel terrible that I've missed so much of it. I became a fan in the late 80's and watched for probably 10 years. I have gone over 10 years mostly ignoring this sport. I mean, I saw highlights but I didn't watch the games on a regular basis. And I feel I must be penitent. I must atone for my sins.

This brings tears to my eyes.

Some wonderful person obviously told him to let loose the sex. I love him so much for listening to that person. I love that person for telling him. I don't mind the hat, of course. But the hair. And the face. See? Do you see his face? Why would somebody want to hit his face?

ha ha ha ha ahhhh heh. So I kept bitching about Gonchar being on the ice too much when he should be resting... I mean, they have been playing seven dmen because Gonchar isn't 100% yet and he's been playing the most out of the dmen. Is that stupid or what? Anyway DH got fed up with me bitching about Daddy Gonchar (he is strict with the young guys) and said, "Your boyfriend isn't doing so hot either. He turned that puck over. That's how they ('Canes) scored that last goal." I said... well, nothing. I just whimpered a little bit. I thought it looked like it was somebody else's fault but I just chalked that up to me being a Letang apologist. It really looked like he was passing it to Malkin who was skating towards the puck, or Fedotenko who was about to cross paths with it. Instead it landed on a 'Canes stick and SLAP! Goal. They just said on ESPN radio that he was passing it to Malkin and Malkin stopped. But he had a hat trick and we won so whatever. I can let people blame Lelover as long as we (me, Geno, Ruslan and Kris) know the truth. hmmmm... No I can't. I have to call my husband to tell him it was his boyfriend's fault, not mine.

And because this is my first post since it happened, congratulations Kris Allen! How cool was that?

Don't worry. The song isn't as bad as it was the first two times we heard it.

Just gorgeous.

oh. I came home from work yesterday and there was a bunch of makeup on the kitchen table. I went back outside and asked DH why he bought makeup. He said, and I will quote this, "I bought it for you." Bwah! After I was done laughing, I said, "I figured it wasn't for you." Some lady at Sam's Club talked him into it. "How did she manage to do that?" I asked. "She asked if I wanted to buy makeup for my wife. I told her no and she went into her whole thing." heh. He shouldn't be allowed out alone. I tried some of the eyeshadow today. It's lovely. Victoria Jackson, I think it is.