All Entries Tagged With: "Sergei Gonchar"
Preparation, determination, perseverance: Pens rally for OT win
After Wednesday’s 2-0 loss by the Penguins at home to Tampa Bay: “We were getting out-battled.” – Brooks Orpik “We weren’t ready to play. That’s what it comes down to. We thought we were going to play a team that had laid down, out of the playoffs and we were just going to show up and it [...]
Pens sign Letang to 4 year extension; is the Gonchar era over?
Yesterday morning, the Penguins announced the signing of 22-year old defenceman Kris Letang to a four-year contract extension that will keep him in Pittsburgh through 2013-14. TSN and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the contract will carry an average annual value of $3.5-million per season. Letang, who could have become a restricted free agent (RFA) this summer, [...]
Crosby: 3 assists, Pens clinch playoff berth for 4th straight year
Bounces and breaks were instrumental in a win for the Penguins this afternoon as they defeated Philadelphia 4-1 to open a six-game homestand at Mellon Arena. These six contests will also be the final ever regular season hockey games played at Mellon Arena. The forty-nine year old building, currently the NHL’s oldest and the only home [...]
PP, PK rounding into form for steady Penguins
After the last hats were swept from the Mellon Arena ice this past Monday, the Penguins began a well-deserved, season-high four-day break. Since returning from a five-game road trip through Minnesota, Toronto and Western Canada, Pittsburgh has played solid, if unspectacular hockey, posting a 5-2-0 record. Of note, three of the wins were by one [...]
Toronto’s Spectacular Losses
The Toronto Maple Leafs seem to always find bizarre and spectacular ways to lose hockey games. In vein of everything else the organization does, they way the Leafs lose hockey games is over the top, too.
Part 1: Profiling Vancouver-bound Olympian Penguins
“Frequent-flyer miles” week concludes for the Penguins this evening when they play the fifth and final game of their season-long road trip at GM Place in Vancouver. Pittsburgh has won three out of the first four games on the trip as they take baby steps towards righting a listing ship that lost seven of nine [...]
Penguins scouting heavily Maple Leafs’ Alexei Ponikarovsky
According to Pittsburgh Insider William Depaoli, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been scouting the Toronto Maple Leafs in the past month. Head scout Derek Clancey has been seen at Air Canada Centre many times with winger Alexei Ponikarovsky being a player of interest for the Penguins. Ponikarovsky, 29, is a big winger (6’4”, 220 lb) with [...]
My Bruins Team of the Decade
Well this past decade didn’t bring a Stanley Cup to Boston, and overall it was a pretty poor decade. The Bruins only managed to win one playoff series despite appearing in the playoffs several times. The Bruins did have several good teams though. The Bruins have had a ton of excellent players though through this [...]
Putrid power play perplexing Pens’ partisans
Bill Guerin’s go-ahead goal in the second period Wednesday night was just the third power play goal in the last thirty-two chances for Pittsburgh. The Penguins have the dubious distinction of occupying 29th place – second-last – in the NHL in power play percentage at just 14.4% efficiency. Guerin’s goal, a deflection off a point [...]
FSN Pittsburgh flap: withholding the “Zapruder film”
Video replay gave the Penguins a goal last Saturday but enveloped their local cable broadcaster in controversy on Tuesday in relation to a disputed non-goal call during last Thursday’s Philadelphia-Pittsburgh game at Mellon Arena. With Philadelphia leading 5-3, Simon Gagne tapped the puck at the inside of the right post then raised his arms in [...]
Go west, young men and thoughts on Fleury’s struggles
Like explorers of old, the Pittsburgh Penguins will search for prosperity and a better life out west when they begin a one-week, five-city road trip tonight at Toronto. For the second time this season, a national Canadian television audience will focus their attention on the Penguins and Maple Leafs under the klieg lights of Air [...]
Measuring-stick game against Sabres for Pens tonight
The air temperature in Buffalo is a balmy twenty-three degrees Fahrenheit as the Sabres and Penguins prepare to battle at HSBC Arena tonight at 7.00pm Eastern. Pittsburgh is riding a four-game winning streak and have forty-nine points on the strength of a 24-10-1 record while Northeast Division leader Buffalo has a 21-10-2 record, good for [...]
Canadiens prepare for the Thrashers after a 3-2 loss to the Penguins
Pascal Dupuis scored on a slap shot 13:21 into the third period and Marc-Andre Fleury made only 19 saves as the Penguins stopped Montreal’s three-game winning streak with a 3-2 win over the Canadiens yesterday. Dupuis wound up from the top of the left circle and drove a high butterly shot that struck goalie Carey [...]
Pens cry “Uncle!” to Hawks’ Antti
What a lame, groan-inducing title. Only slightly better than “Niemi, the Antti-dote to Pens’ attack” or “Hawks up the Antti with statement-making win over champs”. The backup netminder for Chicago, Antti Niemi, was indeed the difference last night and a deserving first-star in a 2-1 overtime win over the Penguins. Niemi made thirty-two often spectacular [...]
New York, New York, New York – 3 games, 4 nights
An up-and-down November will end for the Penguins with a whirlwind trio of games all against the New York-based teams. After Wednesday night’s 3-1 home win over Montreal, the Pens flew to Long Island to prepare for a holiday Friday matinee against the Islanders. The Penguins will return home on Saturday evening to host the [...]
Penguins fans must be thankful for many things
This morning, American hockey fans will wake up to the smell of a carefully basted and stuffed turkey slow-roasting in the oven, sharing space with a sweet potato pie and reluctantly, a small sprig of vegetables for conscience’s sake. While this Canadian writer celebrated Thanksgiving six and a half weeks ago, there is no reason [...]
Habs visit Pens; More injuries!?!
The Canadiens roll into Pittsburgh having obtained 7 out of a possible 8 points in their last 4 games, but the Pens risk to deflate their record. Can the Habs overcome their injuries and steal another victory? www.thecheckingline.com
Liveblog: Penguins vs Thrashers Gameday – Update 2
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, [...]
Powerplay at Center of Pens Woes
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 [...]
Another Penguin injured; what does McKee’s absence and Gonchar’s return mean?
Another day, another injury. Another Pittsburgh Penguin has been forced to the sidelines with an injury. The latest unfortunate player is defenceman Jay McKee, who will miss the next two to four weeks due to … an infected finger, as reported by the team’s official website. McKee has been injury prone in recent seasons of [...]
