Think that title is a stretch?  It’s not so much of one as long as people keep piping up about wanting to rename the NHL awards.  This isn’t a new topic of discussion.  The CBCs Elliotte Friedman wrote on it a while back and Y!’s Puck Daddy contributor Sean Leahy brought it up again this past weekend asking the question “Pass or Fail: Renaming the NHL’s awards“.  The theme was continued this morning on XM Home Ice by host Mike Ross who endorsed the idea and then went into a debate with his co-hosts.  All of this more recent talk is generally thanks to Glen Healy of HNiC and formerly a Director of Affairs at the Player’s Association who has had some unkind things to say about Jack Adams amongst others as the reason to force the name changes.   Other people, just want more current names so that new fans can identify with the more recent heroes of the game.

The names need to stay the same for two reasons.  The first one is the one that most people on my side of the argument go with:  Tradition.  These names were chosen for one of three reasons.  First the person donated the trophy (Stanley Cup, Lady Bing, Prince of Wales, Hart Trophy).  Second they had something to do with the founding or building of the league (Conn-Smythe, Calder, Art-Ross, Campbell Bowl, Norris) or finally, they were named for a player (Rocket, Vezina).  That is by no means a definitive listing but you get the point.

Keep talking about renaming Awards and this is a possible future

The second reason is one that is not talked about and it is something that is very very dangerous. That is corporate naming rights.  I joked with Jonathan Moncrief of examiner.com who covers the Los Angeles Kings about the naming of their intermission report this past weekend.  It was the Taiwan Tourism intermission report.  That name is well and good for a period of time between periods of hockey.  However it is that mentality that anything and everything is available for the right price that will lead to true ridiculousness with the NHL awards and the destruction of history.

I know the current intent is to rename the awards for something/someone more current.  For instance changing the name of the Calder Trophy to the Mario Lemieux Trophy.  That’s a noble idea even if I don’t agree with it.  However what happens once that dam is broke?  Once it has become acceptable to rename the awards how far off is it to have a company buy the naming rights of a trophy when the league hits a lean time, or when they need to bail out an ailing franchise?

The NHL has something that the NFL and even Major League baseball don’t have.  Legitimate rich tradition that thus far is unmarred by the fingers of corporate America.  The Stanley Cup is 117 years old this year.  The Vezina, Lady Bing, and some of the other awards have been around since the 1920s or earlier.  When I was a new hockey fan in the early 1980s I took it upon myself to learn the history, not to have it changed to the Bobby Orr award for my own convenience.  I see no reason to do it now nor was it even a thought in my head at age 5 or 10.  I thought “they gave these awards these names for a good reason“.

The next time someone says they support changing the names of the awards, ask them what they think the new name of the Stanley Cup should be.  They will say something like “oh we’d never go that far“.  Sure, you hope they don’t.  There is a wall in place right now.  Don’t take bricks out of it so Nike and Reebok can bulldoze what’s left.

Stick-tap to OneSmugPug for the MCI-Worldcom title.

One more to Mick Kern of XM Home Ice’s War Room for dropping the article on air today in the first segment.

Matt Cooke Back
Penguins forward Matt Cooke returns to the lineup tonight after serving a two game suspension for his high hit on Ranger’s forward Artem Anisimov last Monday.  Cooke’s return means that the highly reviled Chris Bourque’s services are no longer needed and as such he was placed on waivers yesterday (he was on a one-way deal if you can believe it)  GM Ray Shero did the right thing picking up a utility forward on the wire before the season started but now we all know why the Capitals also wanted to be rid of The Jerk Store.  Bourque missed opportunity after opportunity and did not play the game at an NHL level.  If he clears waivers Saturday (by noon EST which is 30 mins from the time of publishing) he’ll land in Wilkes-Barre with the baby Pens.  Cooke’s return also raises the question of what to do with Mike Rupp.  Rupp has been outstanding and its a debate as to which move by Shero was the best in the offseason:  Jay McKee or Mike Rupp.  Regardless Rupp needs playing time as he is being slightly wasted as a fourth line wing.   We talk so much about the winger we need, he isn’t a bad option right now but neither is Matt Cooke.

Injury Update

Captain Sidney Crosby will Miss tonight's game with a Groin Injury

Let me just get out the magic 8-Ball.  OK there are two rumors surrounding Chris Kunitz.  He’ll be back mid-December or he’ll be back mid-January.  The sum total of information states that he is making slow progress and up until two seconds ago I would have said no problem, take you’re time, we are ok.  However it was just reported (and I mean as I typed this (twice)) that Sidney Crosby left today’s practice prior to the Blackhawks game early.  Sure Kunitz is not a center and as the news comes that Sid will miss tonight’s game with a groin injury now, maybe, time is not so much a luxury.  Alex Goligoski is making good progress and should not be rushed.  Martin Skoula has played solid for the Pens.  Of note however is the Kris Letang was not present at all for today’s skate.

“My groin is bothering me a bit,” Crosby said. “I won’t be playing tonight. It’s something that’s been bothering me for three or four days and I’m going to sit this one out.”

Stanley Cup Finals Preview (with Sid out now maybe not so much)
There are some people, mostly Blackhawks fans who are touting tonight’s game as a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals.  First I really cannot stand the presumptive-ness, by any team.  The Stanley Cup is a 117 year old icon to what is great about tradition in sport and should be revered.  I will NEVER assume that my team will even qualify for the playoffs to contest the cup until their magic number is 0.  All of this talk is just that, talk.

Second, well lets remember what happened last time the Blackhawks met the Penguins in the SCF:

Click here to view the embedded video.

For constant Pens’ updates follow @SLBD, @SLBD_InGame, & @SLBD_PensNews on Twitter.

For League Updates look at @SLBD_League where you can an SLBD news feed for each of the 30 NHL teams

It’s been some time since there has been really good news on the injury front for the Pittsburgh Penguins and while I wish no ill to Derek Engelland or Ben Lovejoy, I am also very happy to hear the news this morning that they are headed back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-assigned defensemen Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, it was announced by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.

Gogo and Letang are both expected in the lineup tonight

Lovejoy had 3A and was a +5 in 5 games with the big club. Engelland dropped the gloves a few times, has 17 total PIMs and 2As in 9 games up.  Thanks to both of you for the work.  You helped us keep the ship afloat.  Why are they going back down?  It would appear that defensemen Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski are both ready to rejoin the Penguins at home tonight against the Rangers.  Letang has been sidelined since November 12th with a lower body injury and Gogo hit the shelf November 16th.  HCDB confirmed they are both in tonight after the morning practice.

“They have been progressing and advanced in practices,” Bylsma said. “They look ready to go. We had three games in four nights and they possibly could have gone yesterday but with that many games and coming back from an injury it was best for both guys to make sure they didn’t get too much work. They should be good to go tonight.”

On top of this news is the indication from the Pens that defenseman Jay McKee hopes to be back from his bout with icky finger to play next Thursday December 3rd against Colorado.  At that point we would have to open the Martin Skoula discussion.  Skoula has played very well scoring 3 goals after stepping in during the domino series of Penguins injuries and I don’t think he is someone you just sit down right now.  He has 3G 4A  is a +1 and has only 2 PIMs right now.  It is something that is going to come up next week.  If Sarge is still not 100% expect HCDB to use this chance to give him time to finish healing his wrist or to spell him a little.

Here’s that catch.  Now with pretty much everyone back, though there has been zero word on Chris Kunitz or Tyler Kennedy, there are no more excuses for Assistant Coach Mike Yeo and the paltry Pens Powerplay.  The Pens are 23rd in the league with the man advantage scoring on only 15 of 109 Powerplay chances.  They have also let up 3SHG amongst many chances.  In the last 3 games Pittsburgh has given up at least 10 quality short handed chances against.  With all of the broken parts now coming back the Powerplay needs to demonstrate it can actually do anything or Yeo needs to be yanked from its controls.

Also of note for all of you conspiracy theorists out there is that Sidney Crosby is on pace to break 100PIMs for the first time in his career as he already has 17 Minors and one fighting major called on him this season.

With all of that here is the quick snapshot of the cycle of injuries to hit the Pens this year.

Evgeni Malkin, shoulder strain (Oct. 29), expected to play November 14th -has resumed play
Maxime Talbot, torn labrum (July 7), 4 to 6 months – has returned
Sergei Gonchar, broken left wrist (Oct. 20), has returned
Brooks Orpik, lower-body (Nov. 10), 2 weeks, has returned
Kris Letang, shoulder contusion (Nov. 7), 2 weeks – will play tonight
Alex Goligoski, lower body (Nov 16th), 2-3 weeks – will play tonight
Tyler Kennedy, undisclosed (Nov. 5), day-to-day, expected soon
Chris Kunitz, lower-body (Nov 11th), 2 weeks, no word.

SLBD

In Saturday night’s tilt between the Atlanta Thrashers and the Pittsburgh Penguins a rule that is little known and inconsistently enforced across the NHL was cited to add more penalty minutes on Thrashers Captain Ilya Kovalchuk following a fight he started with Penguins Forward Matt Cooke.

75.2 Minor Penalty – A minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct shall be assessed under this rule for the following infractions:
(iv) When a player, including a goalkeeper, is penalized for being the instigator of an altercation and who is wearing a face shield.

Fights put players off balance. If these two go to the ice, the helmet protects their head.

Now I understand the rule.  It really is against the “code of honor” to fight with a visor on.  Flames Captain Jarome Iginla fights often and wears a visor.  He is also very sure to take the helmet off prior to landing an opening blow.  That is the major safety problem with the rule.  When a player fights without a helmet or a visor-less player has their helmet knocked off during the course of the fight they are at substantially higher risk to fall backwards and smack their heads against the ice without the benefit of a helmet to absorb part of the force of the blow.  This is how concussions occur.

I understand the intent of the rule.  It is meant to discourage players with a visor from starting fights.  My problem is that in the end, the players who put themselves at the most risk on a nightly basis are the agitators and the fighters and they will not wear a visor as long as this rule is on the books.  No number of other players sustaining severe eye and face injuries will convince them otherwise because they know they will have to remove their helmet for a fight and then they will face a higher risk of  concussion if they fall backwards.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It comes down to the same question then, should fighting be a part of the game?  I am of the school that it should.  I’ve seen games turn on the result of a fight as a player and a fan.  However this is still one of two major safety items that must be front and center for the league along with hits to the head and the rule seems counter-intuitive to where the league wants players to go with respect to visors.

Will visors be mandatory one day, probably.  Will this rule be ridiculous then?  Yes, even more so than it is today.  As long as fighting is an allowed part of the game, this rule shouldn’t be there.  Encouraging stars like Iginla to take off their helmet prior to a fight is the wrong message to send.  It is old school honor code versus common sense safety and in that fight the winner should be clear cut.

SLBD

In this Edition:  A Tyler Kennedy Sighting and the Atlanta Thrashers TV and Radio teams owe Matt Cooke an apology.

Kennedy practiced for the 1st time in a long time today

Tyler Kennedy Sighting (and he practiced)
In the Penguins Game Day Report against Atlanta a 2:17p update was posted which is odd for Pens Report.  They usually cash it in until the warmup following the post practice meetings with the media.  Not so yesterday.  TK was actually in Atlanta.  The summary of the conversation he had with the media went something like this:  He’s feeling better, has no clue when he will be back.  Kennedy called it a “weird injury“.  He said he felt there was a problem in the Ducks game when he appeared and thought it would go away.  It didn’t.

No duh?  Really.  So thanks to that update we still know that TK is hurt but not how.  We still have no updated timetable.  In other words, nothing new to report.  HCDB still not letting anyone say anything about whats going on with Kennedy.  Thanks for making the flight down.  Mr. President did practice with the team Saturday so my earlier report that Kris Letang was the only injured Penguin on the ice for the Saturday morning skate was incorrect.

Matt Cooke is Just Doing his Job
If you watched the end of the Pens’ 3rd period collapse to the Ottawa Senators, and truly only the real fans were still

Agitator? Yes. Cheap Shot Artist? No

tuned it at that point (I was one of them), you saw the Senator’s Shean Donovan take the bad end of a hit from Matt Cooke, it looked knee to knee.  At the time of the hit I remember thinking Cooke just stood up and hit the guy, it was going to be unfortunate if he was hurt, but it wasn’t an hit with intent to injure.  Apparently members of the Atlanta media diagreed with my assessment.

I had the misfortune to receive the FOX Sports-South feed for the Pens/Thrashers game Saturday and the on air television team of Matt McConnell and Darren Eliot started off the game talking about Cooke and the hit he laid on Donovan.  You see it was announced Saturday that Donovan would miss 6-8 weeks (likely not back until after the Olympics) with MCL damage in his right knee.  The television tandem took a few shots at Cooke during the first 5 minutes of the 1st period but did not go so far as to label it intentional.  They did however make sure the audience knew it was all Cooke’s fault.

I had to catch the third period on XM radio as I had family business to do with my father-in-law in town but I did hear the fight between Cooke and Thrashers’ Captain Ilya Kovalchuk after he evidently took exception to a hit laid by Cookie.  Now I didn’t see the hit, but that wasn’t what Thrasher’s radio man Dan Kamal was talking about.  He immediately went to the Donovan hit and called Cooke a “borderline cheapshot artist” twice in 90 seconds.  Kamal called Cooke’s style of play questionable and made sure everyone listening knew he didn’t like Matt.

Now Dan & Matt (McConnell not Cooke), thats all well and good, but there is one tiny little, eency weency little itty bitty thing you must have missed prior to the game today.

“Obviously, I let my guard down. I’ve played against him many times and he finishes his checks. It was a hit and he finished it with his knee — but it’s not the dirtiest check I’ve ever seen.” – Shean Donovan

You see, Donovan himself admitted that is was not Cooke’s fault, but his own.  Silly little thing called research.  In my opinion you both owe Matt Cooke an apology.  But what do I know about integrity in journalism, I’m just a Blogger.

If Dan, Matt, or Darren want to issue a retraction I’d be happy to publish it here for them.  If you are a fan and don’t like the slander of Matt Cooke, give them a call:  AM 650 the FAN.  Studio: 404-231-1680  Office: 404-688-0068

Shots from the Point (aptly named due to my time as a blue line patroller) will be a periodic feature of SLBD that just hits on some things going on with the Pens.  By periodic I mean whenever there is a lull in other things to rant on that merit a column all of their own.

Update 2 – Post-Practice Wrapup
Dan Bylsma also confirmed that Brooks Orpik would return to action tonight, however he would not set D-pairings in stone saying that he and Assistant Coach Mike Yeo would get together this afternoon and get them set.   The Penguins did not practice in their forwards or defensive pairings at practice, likely a shadow games move to make sure Atlanta doesn’t know what they will face defensively when FreeCandy gets back on the ice tonight.

Also Marc-Andre Fleury was rockin’ new pads, glove, and blocker at today’s practice.  He is breaking them in which means they may be a little stiff for tonight’s game.  It’s probably meaningless but also worth mentioning.  Oh and they are white.  Flower worked with an Ottawa eye doctor when he lost the yellow pads in the spring of 08′ and they determined white pads made it harder for shooters to see openings against.

Update 1 – Orpik’s Return Official
The Penguins have officially announced that Brooks Orpik will return tonight against the Atlanta Thrashers putting 3 of the 6 starting defensmen back on the ice.

Penguins regulars Tyler Kennedy, Chris Kunitz, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski, and Jay McKee will all remain out with injury. Letang was the only one to practice in a red no-contact jersey.

____________________________________________________________

The Penguins set out for game two of this three game road trip tonight against the Atlanta Thrashers.  Game time is 7:00pm EST on FSN.  Pittsburgh swept Atlanta last year in its four meetings with Evgeni Malkin averaging better than 3 points per game.  However these are not last year’s Thrashers.  They lead the league in defensive scoring, which means that the Pens’ forwards cannot play a collapsing style of defense in their own zone, they must cover the point.  Atlanta also has a top 5 PP so dumb mistakes must not happen tonight.

On the recovery front both Chris Lee and Nate Guenin were reassigned to Wilkes-Barre Scranton Friday evening signaling that HCDB expects a minimum of three original 6 defenseman to play,  Sergei Gonchar appears to be no worse for wear from his first game back off of a wrist injury and all indications are that Brooks Orpik intends to play as well tonight.  So queue up the Pearl Jam.  Despite being yanked in two of this last three road starts, Marc-Andre Fleury is the projected starter.

Yesterday’s Official preview listed the following D-pairings:
Gonchar-Lovejoy
Skoula-TBD Freecandy (edited by SLBD)
Eaton-Engelland

Given that Guenin is gone, all of the the other Pens Dmen are on the shelf and not cleared for contact.  It has to be Orpik back or Nate  is turning his car around.  FC did leave practice early Friday, but it was for a puck to the chin that required stitches to close.  If Sarge, FreeCandy, and Robot all start, it is likely that Lovejoy will pair off with Gonch and Derek Engelland will take a scratch on his way back down even though Orpik is Sarge’s usual D-partner.  Look for that to be confirmed at some point after the morning skate.  Also of note is that a CTRL-F (search) for the words Tyler, Kennedy, or TK comes up with no result on the same game preview or the release following Friday’s practice that Mr. President was obviously not on the ice for.  So much for the 7-10 days riff that HCDB sold us on November 10th.

Of note, and don’t effin freak out or anything, but Sidney Crosby didn’t practice Friday.  Infamous “Maintenance Day” according to HCDB.  Usually that’s followed up in 36-48 hours with a 2-4 week lower body injury, but I think this might be the exception to that rule, but only because he’s a forward and also doesn’t suffer the curse of wearing the “A”.   Additionally, Chris Bourque (aka Jerk-Store) evidently is having problems making friends with the existing Pens and has resorted to trying to find buddies amongst the WBS call-ups, including tossing Nerf football with Lovejoy.  Likely he figures he’s going to see them again real soon.

Tonight is also Colby Armstrong reunion night, so if the ladies are all quivery, you know why.  Much more after the morning skate and presser (probably in one big update as my father-in-law is in town).

SLBD – likely not calling the game on Twitter tonight due to said father-in-law visit.

In a very brief exchange with Penguins PR representative Erik Easley this morning I took the opportunity to ask about Tyler Kennedy and his expected return.  The response was pretty much what I expected, and no offense to Erik, he’s just towing the company line of non-disclosure on injury. I wouldn’t  be doing my job (that I’m not paid to do) if I didn’t ask when someone presents an opportunity.

“TK needs more time“.  That’s the extent to which Erik wanted to elaborate.  Head Coach Dan Bylsma said prior to Kennedy going back down after the Ducks game on November 3rd that Kennedy’s problem was groin related, and it wasn’t major.  TK has 10 man games missed now, so when does it become major?  He was on pace for a good season prior to going down with this mystery illness/condition and we sorely miss his speed and spark on the ice. Kennedy’s inability to play at any level other than full bore speed is the only excuse reason given for him not returning to the lineup at this point.

It’s time for the Penguins to say a little more than “Tyler Kennedy is Day to Day with an undisclosed condition“   or “We are going to re-evaluate him tomorrow and then we’ll know more“  Prior to the his single showing against the Ducks  the last game he was present from was October 24th at home against the Devils.  He hasn’t even practiced since November 5th.  At this point the medical staff should have a pretty good idea as to what is wrong.  Undisclosed injury just isn’t going to cut  it anymore with fans who actually care about the person.

Conjecture has entered into the equation to a larger extent in recent weeks.  The Penguins Report listed TK as 2-3 weeks about 8 days ago and then quickly removed that from the report and changed him back to Day to Day.  If that now erased report was accurate then Kennedy should be back on or about November 25th to put it in the middle.  7-10 Days is also a commonly heard prognosis in the blogger circles.  A discussion had last night on Twitter after the Pens beat down by the Senators resulted in no less than 4 different “I heard” scenarios as to TK’s status.   The Post Gazette was willing to report  HCDB had said that Kennedy would return to practice within 10 days (said November 10th), so where was he yesterday?

Throw us a bone on Kennedy please.  With every other player you have given the fans at least and upper/lower body or some more distinct condition and a timeline prognosis.  With Kennedy it has been nothing but shadow games.   That needs to end.  Its simply a matter of the fans, and the fact that they are becoming increasingly distrustful of the validity of what the organization is saying about it’s players, and that’s not a bond you want to treat lightly.

SLBD

The Penguins dropped a 6-2 3rd period collapse to the Ottawa Senators Thursday night.  A game that saw the Penguins garner 5 powerplays.  The boxscore would show the Pens were 1-5, a respectable 20% for the game.  However the lone Powerplay goal came when the Senators  had already packed it in for the night up 6-1.  Ottawa was not about to block the lanes with the body or risk injury in any form up 5 goals with under 5 minutes to play.

It was the night people had hoped for.  The night when Powerplay quarterback Sergei Gonchar returned to the lineup (he did lead all skaters in TOI with 25:30).  His absence was supposed to be the problem.  I seem to recall the PP not being all that fantastic before he went on the shelf with his wrist injury, but that isn’t the point right now.  Regardless the Powerplay, and our inability to capitalize on it when it mattered are a big reason we ended up going to the third down a goal and ultimately falling flat on our faces.

Chemistry is a very small part of the problem on the PP in my opinion.  There have been too many shake-ups and moves due to the black plague of injuries the Penguins have been forced to endure this month.  Communication just isn’t happening, which is also why the defensive play of late has been bad.  There are however, two other things that are crippling the Pens play with the man advantage.  The first is the sheer amount of idiotic passes occurring.  All of the Pens forwards on the PP would appear to rather make 3 extra passes than put the puck on the net.  When the blueliners have the puck none of the forwards are not setting up effective screens or even thinking about agitating in front of goalies and so the pointmen are simply passing it over and up to a forward, who is also then looking to pass, not shoot.

The second thing is this.  I don’t have access to film and I can tell you that the Penguins powerplay likes to play from the right side about 85% of the time.  That makes it really easy on defenseman.  When the right defenseman on the PK knows that his primary responsibility is going to be clearing the slot, and the left defenseman will have to play low on the the goal line side, it makes breaking up the play a ton easier.  The Pens are predictable.  A pass to the off (left)wing almost always results in a pass behind the net to set the play up on the right side.  Tyler Kennedy flat out loves to shoot from the left circle, which is his off wing.  None of the other Pens forwards seem to care for scoring chances from there and would instead like to hit a covered Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby behind the net and watch the puck just sail by.  Shots that are unpredictable from either wing will force netminders to move side to side and open up better opportunities down low.

When we make bad passes we turn the puck over and end our zone possession and in turn end our PP chances. The Penguins are now second to last in the league at the time or writing at 13.7% with only the Blues trailing them by 4 tenths of a percent.

Don’t use the injuries as an excuse.  Only TK and Chris Kunitz are out in terms of forwards.  The entire 1st unit is healthy (except for maybe the left point).  Injuries are not why we aren’t potting PP markers.  Predictability and a reluctance to shoot unless there is a defender less than a foot in front of us is why our Powerplay is in the toilet, and why we are losing.

SLBD

If you have watched a Penguins game while looking at the #pens hashtag on Twitter lately, you may have noticed that finding a Pens fan who has a kind thing to say about Chris Bourque is the same as hard as finding one who things Kris Draper had a point about handshakes or some nonsense. People don’t like Chris Bourque.  There are some colorful nicknames out there for him, and you don’t really have to look that far.  Joque, Radio, Jerk Store rank among the fan favorites (of those that can really be repeated).

I tried to be optimistic at first at the insistence of a few people and called him NewOneTwo (in homage to the OldTwoNiner Phil Bourque).  However even since his golden opportunity miss against the New Jersey Devils a week ago, the bash train has crested the top of the mountain and is barreling full speed down towards the ravine at the bottom, and the bridge is out.  It didn’t get any better when he missed half of an empty net high in one of the worst clear shots I’ve seen a forward take in some time.

Picture Courtesy of The Pensblog

He’s bad.  There is no getting around it.  I think some of the animosity stems from his dad.  Given his apparent lack of talent and waiver clearing abilities, many people surmise that his dad, Ray Bourque, got him the gig.  There has been no love loss between Pittsburgh and Boston ever since Ulf Samuelsson ended Cam Neely’s career with pretty much one hit.  FSN-Pittsburgh has been giving Bourque a good amount of coverage with more than one intermission special and a lot of mentions for otherwise mediocre play.

I think the more compelling problem is that he has gotten consistent ice time with the 2nd PP unit and on the second line in lieu of players like Mike Rupp who have been putting pucks in.  Bourque has just 2As and is a -3 in 13 games played.  He slaps at the puck with his head down and just makes bad decisions.  His lack of talent combined with the nepotism rumors have turned most Pens fans sour to him.  The legendary Pensblog has refused to post a traditional Post-Game until Bourque scores a goal, is traded, demoted (and clears waivers on his 1-way) or otherwise is not a part of the organization.  A lot of people listen when a statement like that is made, and especially so when the majority of the fan bloggers are in lock step on this.

I am one of them.  Bourque has worn out his welcome.

SLBD

Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators
Scotiabank Place, Ottawa Ontario. 6:30pm CST (FSN)
Penguins 2nd in Atlantic Division/ 4th Eastern Conference
Twitter Play by Play Follow: @SLBD_InGame
Twitter Pens News Follow: @SLBD_PensNews

Update 3 – Eaton a Game Time Decision, Lee Called Up In Case
Head Coach Dan Bylsma spoke with the media (11:43am CST) after today’s morning skate and stated that Mark Eaton will be a game-time decision.  He left yesterday’s practice early, was absent today, and Chris Lee has been called up in the event Eaton is unable to go tonight.  HCDB said Eaton will take the warm-up and a decision will be made from there.  There was no detail as to the nature of the problem with Eaton (Rob Rossi says back spasms via Twitter) or anything further on Brooks Orpik’s status.

Update 2 – Talbot and Gonchar are IN
The CBC confirmed (what we all kind of knew already) at 11:10am CST that Max Talbot will be in the lineup for the Penguins.  (TSN also confirming)

Jonathan Bombuile is reporting via twitter (11:20am CST) that Defenseman Chris Lee has been called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.  Lee has 1 G and 6 A in 15 games played with WBS this year.  Last season he was a blue-liner for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (6G 24A 36PIMs in 66GP).  This move likely indicates that the Pens are going to be shorter on defense than they expected to be when the day started as Lee was not present for the morning practice.  I’d expect one of Gonchar/Eaton/Orpik to be a scratch tonight given the Lee call-up.

The Penguins announced at 11:28am CST that both Maxime Talbot and Sergei Gonchar would be in the lineup for the Penguins tonight.  That means Lee may be a fill in for Eaton if he is a game time decision.  Look for one more major update after Bylsma speaks with the media.

Update 1 – Morning Skate Notes
Mark Eaton, who left yesterday’s practice early, did not participate in the Penguins’ morning skate at Scotiabank Place this morning.  Eaton did make the trip from Pittsburgh and Dan Bylsma is expected to speak to this in his traditional post-practice interview.

________________________________________________________

The Penguins take to the road in the first of three games away from Mellon Arena to face the Ottawa Senators.  Ottawa is 3-3 in November and 10th overall in the Eastern Conference, are 23rd in the league on the PP and have the 11th best Penalty Kill.  The Senators generally are living and dying off of the play of their #1 netminder, Pascal LeClaire who has a .889 GAA in his last five games.

The majority of the talk for the Pens today will surround who is coming back into the lineup and dealing with the loss of defenseman Jay McKee to icky finger.  We have (now multiple) confirmation(s) that Max Talbot will rejoin the team today (despite the official website listing him as probable) and he practiced on the 3rd line with Craig Adams and Matt Cooke yesterday.  Unknown is which of two defenseman Sergei Gonchar or Brooks Orpik may/will play tonight.  There have been no call-ups from the AHL to cover a missing forward or defenseman so the assumption is that one of them is in, likely Sarge.

Look for more out of me as the day progresses in this live article (those of you coming over from SLBD know this already), the morning skate will be telling as to what the defensive pairings look like.

Also I’d like to say thanks to BD and all of the guys at HockeyIndependent.com for having me aboard.  Additionally huge stick-tap to Greg Wyshnyski for directing me to this opportunity.