Steelers news day 4

Yesterday at training camp, Limas Sweed was taken off the practice field on a golf cart, but it was later found out that it was only cramps. Thank goodness for that, we don't think the Steelers need any more injuries or players on the PUP list. But with that Marvel Smith sat out the afternoon practice with a groin injury, but we haven't heard anything else on that yet. James Farrior sat out both the morning and afternoon practices with a hip ailment, but he says he will return today. Mewelde Moore was out of practice today with an undisclosed ailment. Hopefully by the end of camp the Steelers will be healthy and ready to go.

We didn't know much about the new punter the Steelers brought in, Paul Ernster but the picture the Post-Gazette painted for us today wasn't a good one. Remember that punt in the opening Cleveland game last year that was dropped by Ernster deep in his own territory and then traveled only 15 yards? When all was said and done, the Steelers got the ball at the Browns' 22 and scored a touchdown. He lasted one game with the Browns and then was released. He also punted for the Broncos but was released after shanking two punts in a 23-3 loss to San Diego. Sounds great, right? Maybe he'll be better than that, and we can only hope. Special teams really doesn't need any more problems to try to solve.

Steelers notebook over at the PG.

Steelers' free safety Ryan Clark is back this year after his ailment in the Denver game last year resulted in surgery to remove his spleen. He ended up losing 34 pounds and weighing just 172. He thought his NFL playing career could be over. But now Clark is back healthy and ready to go. He has to take six shots a year, monitor his health daily and be careful where he travels, but he is feeling better than ever weighing his normal 206 pounds. To read Clarks comments and more, read the story over at the PG here.

Yesterday we mentioned Jeremy Bloom and today Gene Collier writes of him in his commentary entitled 'Hits keep coming for Steelers' karma.' You can read it here.

We haven't had the time lately go through everything and we apologize. Here is the list of Steelers news over at the Trib.

Peter Diana/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Troy Polamalu shows off another one of his talents in training camp yesterday.

Instead of a random YouTube today, we figured we'd feed your hockey hunger with a few pictures of Russians working out. Yes, that does include the amazing Evgeni Malkin. As well as, you guessed it, Alexander Ovechkin. Please feel free to tell us if you think this is at all sexy in the comments. ;-)

Nice form Geno!

Check out those tan lines!

Uh, yeah.

You can view the text from Puck Daddy and Sean Leahy, as well as a few more pictures here. Enjoy!

Sepulveda tears ACL in right knee

Today we received more bad news on the injury front, Steelers' punter Daniel Sepulveda has torn his ACL in his right knee, his non-kicking leg. He will be out for the entire season. This is the same knee he injured in college and which he had surgery for. Sepulveda says that the knee hasn't been the same since that surgery and could have contributed to this new tear. He also came back from this injury in college after only four months, while others generally take longer and it can take up to a full year for it to fully recover. The Steelers have picked up Paul Ernster off of waivers from the Detroit Lions, he is 26. You can read the full coverage and Sepulveda's remarks here.

Most people probably won't feel like this is a big deal but punting isn't exactly something to take lightly as it determines field position for the other team which can mean a lot, especially if your team isn't so great at covering them. We liked Sepulveda so we think it sucks this happened, but hopefully the knee is repaired better this time and he takes more time to heal.

                                                                 KDKA

That picture isn't the best and we found a better version somewhere earlier when catching up on the news, but now we can't seem to find it (of course). But look at that body. Wow. He makes quite a few of his teammates look bad. And he's a punter. Maybe he should offer advice to Casey Hampton, AKA Big Snack.

Santonio Holmes doesn't look to be a return man this year, although Coach Tomlin is "taking a peek." Ex-skier Jeremy Bloom is also in contention for this role. Personally, we'd like to see this guy based on his back story. We haven't really heard anything about him other than we heard he was fast at some point, so it's kind of interesting. Rashard Mendenhall is up for returning kickoffs, which he hasn't done since high school but says he feels comfortable there if that's what Coach Tomlin wants. We'll have to see how this plays out. 

Ex-Steelers' player Cedrick Wilson has a new job. As a coach. A high school coach. Not exactly up there with NFL player. In status or money. Good luck with that.

Limas Sweed and Nate Washington wowed the training camp crowd in Latrobe today with great catches and touchdowns. It sure seems like the Steelers have a great bunch of guys this year that can really "wow." We're getting really excited to see the new guys play and others like Holmes develop. We think the Browns should watch out.

                                             Peter Diana/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

       Uh oh, is that SLASH?! Phew, it's just Santonio Holmes. Nice form Santonio!

Blog 'N' Gold

There's a pretty good article over at the Trib about the guy above and how he's poised for a leap year. He should be pretty exciting to watch.

And here is the list of Steelers news over at the Trib if you're interested.

Your random YouTube of the day is Daniel Sepulveda's famous tackle from college. All we have to say is DAMN, what a hit! We'd like to see that more often. Get well Sepulveda.

And for the heck of it, a video of Evgeni Malkin that Seth posted over at Empty Netters. He said watching this made him understand why the Russians are so mad. Enjoy.

Training camp!

Training camp has officially started as the Steelers had their first practice today, but not without its setbacks. Willie Reid got into a couple scuffles on the field, including throwing a football at Anthony Smith and needing to be separated by teammates. A couple players also have new injuries. Anthony Smith and Bryant McFadden have groin injuries and are day-to-day, while rookie receiver Kevin Marion has a sprained knee that needs further evaluation.

More of your quick hits are available here in the Steelers training camp notebook over at the PG.

Also at the PG, Misery remains Polamalu's company.

Ron Cook writes another decent article about Big Ben and how he will drive the Steelers' success. (Two days in a row? No way. Just no way.)

Don't forget that Ed Bouchette has started his Q&A over at the PG.

You can also head over to the Trib for some articles, commentary, and video from training camp.

Hopefully we'll have some more stuff dug up soon and do better coverage, but for now it's after 4 am and it's time for us to get some sleep. Enjoy training camp while it lasts, it'll be over before you know it. Get those fantasy teams ready too. Also let us know if you're interested in any fantasy coverage by dropping us a line in the comments or by e-mail.

Instead of your random YouTube of the day, we're going to give you a random quote of the day and today it comes courtesy of Hines Ward on Casey Hampton, "At the end of the day, we know what Casey will bring to the table." Would that be a sandwich?

                                           Peter Diana / Post-Gazette

Breaking news: Casey Hampton is overweight!

So Casey Hampton showed up at training camp on Sunday "overweight". Does that really surprise anyone? It sure doesn't us, they call him "Big Snack" after-all. But what we want to know is where is the line? As in, when do they consider a man that large to be "overweight?" Let's get real, the man is overweight period. Is that large belly really necessary? We doubt it. The guy is a great football player though so we'll cut him some slack, but not for showing up out of shape. Hampton couldn't finish the run test, which this year was more like jogging. The players had to "run" eight 100-yard segments and BS completed only five of those, which he labored through. Coach Mike Tomlin was so disappointed, he placed BS on the PUP list, or the physically unable to perform list, until he's in football shape. Coach Tomlin will decide when that is. BS spoke out about this, as did Coach Tomlin and you can read about that over at the PG here.

Ron Cook has written a semi-decent article (yeah, we know) on Big Snack that you can read here.

BS wasn't the only player to be put on the PUP list on Sunday, although the others were in shape and have minor injuries. Troy Polamalu has a minor hamstring injury, and Chris Kemoeatu has a weak tricep. Both players ran in the run test. Also reported in the PG's Steelers notebook is Nate Washington's new mohawk and Hines Ward doing some filming of his own for an NFL Network program.

Here you can watch a short video over at the PG of a few of the players arriving at camp and also check out their rides. Hines Ward sure likes his Louis Vuitton.

                                           (Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review)

                                                Nice hair Nate!

From over at the Trib:  Tomlin sets a standard, Mendenhall doesn't have clear-cut role, Steelers' line could be better, and View from the Press Box.

                                         (Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review)

                Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward greet each other at camp.

Your random YouTube is the Polamalu song! Woo! You know the one you can't get out of your head? Yeah. Plus it goes with the Muppet theme we started yesterday. We know it mentions Cowher and stuff but geez, it's the best we could do and it's 2:30 am.

Steelers training camp starts today

Today is a day many of us have been waiting for for a long time, the Steelers to report to training camp. For a lot of us, hockey filled that void for a long time thanks to the Pens and their amazing Stanley Cup playoff run. But after that heart-breaking loss one game away from playing for the Cup, we had a void of good sports to watch. No offense to those who like baseball or the Pirates, but let's be real for a moment, the Pirates are basically a joke the majority of the time. Between the ownership and lack of winning, well we just have nothing to say. Or maybe we do but we'll hold off on that because, well because we love the 'Burgh. And PNC Park really is beautiful.

But anyway, the Post-Gazette has plenty for you to read on the opening of training camp today, including some more of Ron Cook's wonderful writing (uh, no). If the ownership situation could get resolved, everything would be basically set now that they've signed all of their draft picks. We sure hope it stays with the Rooneys. Now get over to the PG and read all you can on the Steelers. We'll try to be much better in the days to come, things have been rough lately. Enjoy the Steelers.

As for your random YouTube, it's Beaker! We love that guy, takes us way back. What does this have to do with football or hockey? NOTHING! We just love Beaker and it's our blog. Got a problem with that? Don't care. (We still love you though.)

It's official!

Yes, that's right folks, it's official! What's official you ask? That we suck for not posting for several days? Yeah, that too, and we should be around more often now that Steelers training camp is starting, but that's not all we meant. The Steelers have officially signed their top two draft choices, Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed. You can read all about it over at the Post-Gazette.

Be sure to check out the other great blog over at the Post-Gazette, Blog 'N' Gold. Lately they've had pictures of Big Ben's crib, tattoos, funny stuff on the biggest cheater in football, and a Mike Tomlin press conference cliche word count. Good stuff.

The Steelers will report to camp on Sunday and it won't be long before the first preseason game (August 8th). Is it just us or has it seemed like forever since football season? We're ready to go.

Your random YouTube, Rashard Mendenhall highlights! Enjoy.

Let's put a smile on that face!

Let's just get this out of the way now, yes we too are into "The Dark Knight mania" that seems to be sweeping across, well...everywhere. This is a hockey/football blog, what does The Dark Knight have to do with that? Nothing really, unless you count a quote that Batman said in the movie, "I'm not wearing hockey pads," to count for something. No? We tried. Basically it's summer and there's not a whole lot going on other than Bob Smizik writing articles like this and we really don't think you appreciate that too much (we won't even comment tonight). But back to the movie, you should see it if you're into drama, action, good acting, or Batman in general. And probably a million other things. We used to like Batman back in the day, the cartoon and the comic books and even reruns of that Batman and Robin show with all the "sound bubbles" with POW! and BAM! coming out of them. But as of late we weren't exactly "Bat nerds," but when we went to see I Am Legend (we love Will Smith) and saw the trailer for The Dark Knight we thought it had some good action but not much else (although it doesn't help when you walk into the theater late, oops!). A couple days later when we heard that Heath Ledger was the Joker, we about passed out. Now we didn't watch the trailer that close the first time (see above), but we still would have thought we'd know Heath Ledger. Wrong, obviously. We immediately had to go watch the trailer again to see for ourselves. And then ended up watching over and over and that's basically how we decided we had to see this movie. We don't go to the theater much at all, last movie we saw was I Am Legend and before that The Pursuit of Happyness (hey, we said we loved Will Smith) so it's obvious we don't go to the theater for just anything that comes out, we have to really want to see it (see: The Matrix Trilogy). Something about this movie made us really excited to go and it didn't disappoint by any means. (Plus, we didn't even go see Hancock so what does that say?) Heath Ledger was amazing as the Joker and we wish he was still with us to see how many people loved his interpretation of the character. For us it was fairly simple, we could watch the Joker and not see Heath Ledger at all. The only thing even remotely resembling him was the hair. It was amazing watching someone take a character and be so into it, that you don't see the actor playing him at all. The voices and mannerisms were creepy yet funny in some twisted way. Ledger took the Joker to a great place and you'll laugh at all his sadistic and creepy humor. The rest of the cast is great as well and the movie has plenty of action and beautiful shots. We won't tell you about the movie as we'd rather not ruin it for those who haven't seen it, but if you're even sort of thinking about going to see this movie, do it. It won't disappoint. You'll have fun laughing along with the Joker's sick humor and then wondering why. And if all of us are just that close to being just like him.

The Dark Knight

Random YouTube? Please, like you didn't already know. Enjoy.

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

Pens schedule released and Therrien signs three-year deal

We started this post last night (the 18th) and in the middle of it, our power went off. And stayed off for the next five or so hours. We didn't get to sleep till 7:30 am and we're tired once again. We know we basically suck lately, hopefully we'll make up for it soon. And on to our two combined posts...

Sorry we've been so crappy at updates lately but we've been busy and extremely tired. And nothing all that exciting really happened anyway, so we hope you'll forgive us. We had to post today on the Pens schedule being released. You can view it at the PG or the Pens' site. We're excited for the games against the Red Wings so, as Seth over at EN pointed out, Brooks Orpik can give Marian Hossa some free candy. And we're sure there will be plenty of boos in Mellon Arena for him too. Seth has done a good job pointing out all the important games, so we'll leave it to him and you can see that here. One of the things in Seth's post is the games that could be on NBC since they're scheduled for Sundays, and we notice two of those are Capitals games. Hmm, wonder why? Maybe because NBC will have an orgasm over Sid and Ovie playing against each other. Malkin should also be included in that mix. Gotta love that.

Michel Therrien signed a three-year extension with the Pens today. We'll let you read the PG's take and we'll link you to Seth because we like him the best. He also covers that the Thrashers signed Angelo Esposito.

Our random YouTube is that link right up there about Malkin and Ovie. BFFs of course. Enjoy.

Here's to hoping we finally get some real sleep and finally update this like we should be. Again, we apologize. Please forgive us.

We suck.

Basically we're here to say that we're sorry for being non-existent the last couple days. And today. We suck because we're going to pull the lazy-ass card and tell you to basically catch up on anything over at the Post-Gazette because they're the best at it. No, there wasn't much other than the continuing suspense going on with Steelers ownership and the PG has done a good job of covering all of that. So again, we're sorry and we should be back soon. For now, we're really tired. Take care.

Rooney saga continues

Tonight we're just going to leave you with a couple new links on what's going on with the Steelers and the Rooneys. We just hope something can get worked out soon so one of the best franchises in sports along with the best owners can move on.

First up, a couple links from the Post-Gazette. The Steelers are looking for some more investors, including some 'names you will recognize.' Gambling and professional football have had ties for a long time. In their NFL notebook, the Steelers have signed Bruce Davis from UCLA to a three-year contract worth $1.655 million. Four rookies are still unsigned. They are first round pick Rashard Mendenhall, second round pick Limas Sweed, and two sixth round picks Mike Humpal, and Ryan Mundy.

And one article on the Trib also about the Rooneys and the Steelers situation here.

Over at ESPN, John Clayton has a Q & A about the Steelers situation, for what it's worth, here.

Random YouTube of the day, Ben Roethlisberger signing autographs and having fun with fans at training camp last year. Only 17 days people! Enjoy.

Steelers ownership drama

Yesterday we posted a link or two about the drama surrounding the Steelers' and their ownership. More light is being shed on the situation, and while not all is bad, not all is good either. Dan Rooney wants to buyout the rest of his brothers' shares, but does not have the money to do so at this time. There is a whole lot else to this saga that we'll refrain from trying to explain and let you read the links we have available. All we have to say is that we really hope the Steelers can remain with the Rooney family considering how well they have run the franchise. Dan Rooney has been the go-to guy in the NFL when it comes to solving problems. He's been well respected for years. We hope something can be worked out so that the Rooney family does not have to give up the majority of the franchise.

The Post-Gazette has a few articles on this topic starting with the fact that an investor is in talks to control the Steelers. The investor, Stanley Druckenmiller, is ranked 91st by Forbes Magazine's 400 richest Americans in 2007, reportedly worth around $3.5 billion. He's in talks to buy up to four of the brothers' shares. He's a longtime Steelers fan who says he wants the Rooneys' to continue to run the Steelers. It's reportedly been a lifelong dream of Druckenmiller's to own the Steelers. You can read up on that here. Stanley also is such a huge fan that he makes a trip to all Steelers games and holds tailgate parties in the parking lot before the game. He even likes to paint his face black and gold and prefers to sit in the stands with the crowd than sit in a private box say his friends. This guy sounds like a nice guy and someone who would never want to move the Steelers from Pittsburgh, but we still hate to see the Rooneys' not have the majority of the Steelers in their control. Stanley says he wants the Rooneys' to run the Steelers but when you don't own the majority of the team, you never know what could happen down the road. You can read all about Stanley Druckenmiller here. Bob Smizik has some commentary on the situation entitled 'Dan Rooney faces a tough, inevitable decision' that you can read here.

In other NFL news, Michael Vick owes the Falcons millions and has filed for bankruptcy protection, and the NFL has hired Pennsylvania's state police chief for a new position that will cover stadium security.

Maybe you've heard that Santonio Holmes made some comments about OTAs, or organized team activities, which are not mandatory. We probably didn't post this because we were infatuated with the Penguins. Which is okay, right? The Penguins in the playoffs and free agency is a little more important than Santonio Holmes making some comments. Right? We thought so. But now Santonio, or Tone as he's known by teammates, is clearing things up about what he said and has been working hard this offseason. You can read his comments here.

                                              Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review

Is it just us or does he look weird in that picture? He looks like an old man. Kinda creepy. We still love you though Santonio. Keep working hard.

In Penguins news, they have signed two AHL stars in forward Adam Henrich and defenseman T.J. Kemp to one-year contracts, most likely for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Your random YouTube of the day is from the My Wish series on ESPN's SportsCenter. Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers were featured with a boy named Akeem whose wish was to play video games with Ben Roethlisberger, but got to do a whole lot more. Try to keep those eyes dry, we dare you. Enjoy.

More on yesterday's news

The Post-Gazette offers a few more details on the signing of Finnish forward Janne Pesonen, including that he signed a one-year deal worth $875,000. It's a two-way contract so Pesonen would get the $875,000 if he makes the Penguins roster and if he doesn't, he would make considerably less in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. You can read it here.

NHL Notebook on the PG.

And on to the Steelers, the Post-Gazette has more information today on the Steelers and their ownership issues. At least the PG seems optimistic, while some of those other articles sound like the Steelers are headed for you know where. Blog 'N' Gold also has a tidbit or two to say on the subject. The Trib also has it's two cents, which, not surprisingly, seems a bit more urgent. You can read it here. We sure hope the ownership wouldn't change considering the Rooneys are great people and considered by many to be the best owners in the NFL. The Steelers also reached agreement with Bruce Davis, a defensive end at UCLA who will be converted to an outside linebacker. He's 6-foot-3, 252 pounds, and agreed to a three-year deal that includes a $506,000 signing bonus. You can read it here.

Today's random YouTube is of Sidney Crosby doing an interview. It's not that exciting, but that hat? Wow. It's AWESOME! He should bust that out next season. The ladies would be all over that. Oh wait, they already are. Enjoy.

Janne Pesonen is officially a Penguin

The Pens announced today that Finnish foward Janne Pesonen has signed a one-year contract with the team. Last year Pesonen is 26 years old and led the Finnish Elite League last season with 34 goals, 44 assists, and 78 points in 56 games. His team, Oulu Karpat, won it's fifth league championship where Pesonen had 7 goals and 9 assists during the post-season. You can read Ray Shero's comments and Pesonen's other accomplishments in the article at the Post-Gazette here.

We're really excited to see what Pesonen will bring to the Pens. Obviously we know nothing about him, but it seems like he's got a lot of speed and scoring ability. With all those accomplishments, he sounds like a good choice. After losing Hossa, Malone, and others we were wondering where the Pens were going to end up, but Ray Shero hasn't let us down by making choices that seem to be pretty sound. We're excited about next season.

Also mentioned in that article is that the Pens have signed an entry-level contract with defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who played 72 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last season. He had 2 goals, 18 assists, and 63 penalty minutes last season, also adding 2 goals and 8 assists in 23 playoff games.

Steelers training camp is only 20 days away. It seems like forever since we've watched football. With the Pens being so exciting we didn't feel the pain too much, but the Steelers have some new guys this year that look to be good. We're excited to see Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed. It's nice to see some new faces that can contribute right away. We've heard Sweed is a lot like Plaxico Burress, but faster. That makes us excited.

In Steelers news, the team signed two of it's draft picks today. Texas left tackle Tony Hill and Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon. Hill, 6-foot-5, 309-pounds reached agreement on a three-year contract that includes a $304,500 signing bonus. Dixon signed a three-year deal that included a bonus of $130,000. Dixon should be ready in time for training camp after a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. You can read up on that here.

Also in Steelers news, the Rooneys look to restructure the ownership of the team. We're just going to ask you read the articles here and here for more info on that. We may comment when we understand it more but the mere thought that the Steelers could leave the Rooney ownership is just beyond bad. Hopefully all of them can come up with an agreement. Dan Rooney says that he will do whatever it takes to keep his father's legacy of keeping the team in the Rooney family and keeping them in Pittsburgh for at least another 75 years. Dan Rooney is great, stand-up man and we're sure he'll do whatever he can.

You can view the Steelers training camp schedule here. If you're able to make it down to camp some day, you should go. It's a lot of fun hanging out with lots of other Steelers fans and getting to see a lot of the players up close and maybe even get an autograph or two.

Random YouTube(s) of the day: a welcome to Pittsburgh Matt Cooke and Janne Pesonen video, and a highlight video of Limas Sweed. Enjoy.

Penguins sign Cooke-y monster?

The Penguins have signed another player to their roster that is to take the place Jarkko Ruutu left behind for Ottawa. Matt Cooke signed a two year deal with the Pens worth $1.2 million a year. He's a big hitter with the ability to agitate opposing teams. You can read about the signing at the PG here and the Trib here.

Bob Smizik thinks the Pens still look solid.

Sean Leahy wants to start a Matt Cooke fan club called the Cooke-y Monsters. He says Pens fans should enjoy Cooke as we did Ruutu. We're sad to see Ruutu go, but excited to see how Cooke works out. Plus we totally love the original Cookie Monster. And cookies. Sounds like a win-win to us.

And on to a little Steelers news, the Trib has an article about a few of the Steelers traveling down to Florida for a little extra training before training camp. You can read it here.

The random YouTube of the day is new Pens' players Eric Godard and Matt Cooke going at it. Enjoy.

Up next? A Finnish winger

According to the Post-Gazette the Pens are close to signing a deal with a Finnish free-agent winger named Janne Pesonen, who was the 2007-08 scoring champion in Finland's top league. He also has several other honors under his belt. We don't have a whole lot to say on this because we know nothing about this guy. His honors and stats look good but we can't say we've ever watched him play, but we trust that Ray Shero knows what he's doing. You can also go over to Empty Netters at the PG and Seth has some videos of Pesonen highlights you can watch. The article from the PG is here. Along with PG's NHL notebook.

Also included in the notebook is the fact that Jagr is going to Russia. The deal is believed to be around $7 million U.S. tax-free, per season. Probably a good decision on his part since he's getting older and this is a good chunk of change. And obviously he won't be with the Pens next year. Also probably for the best.

On the Trib there is an article by Rob Rossi called Pens get bargains on top players that you can read here. Also an article by Joe Starkey called Pens will still rule the east that you can read here.

The Insider on Pittsburgh Sports reported at 10:51 am July 4th that the Penguins have in fact signed Janne Pesonen. Obviously we always take what's on that site with a grain of salt because the stuff posted isn't always fact. We couldn't find anywhere on the web where that had been reported other than there, but we decided to pass it on to you.

And for the random YouTube of the day, it's Janne Pesonen scoring some goals. There's some stuff in Finnish, at least we assume it's Finnish, and the song is in Finnish too, we assume. That music is wicked awesome, enjoy.

A Fleury of news

Today had some big news for Penguins fans. First off, Marc-Andre Fleury has signed a contract with the Penguins that will keep him in Pittsburgh for the next seven years at a cost of $35 million. He will make $3.5 million the first two years, $5.5 the next three, and $5.75 in the final two or in other words an average of $5 million a season. This is great news, as the Pens and Ray Shero are making sure the team's core stays together. We have a feeling in a couple years this contract is going to look like a steal. Jordan Staal should be next, but we'll have to see when and if that happens.

The Pens also signed two wingers today in Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko for $3.5 and $2.5 million respectively. We're anxious to see how these guys will work out for the Pens. We found it encouraging though that Satan actually approached Ray Shero in wanting to play for the Pens after watching the team in the Stanley Cup playoffs. We all know mentality has a lot to do with performance. You can read about these pickups at the PG and Trib here and here.

One other thing Seth from EN and The Pensblog has pointed out is Satan's profile pages at Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, and ESPN.

Yahoo -- http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/666
ESPN -- http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?statsId=666
SI.com -- http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/players/666/
Fox Sports -- http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/player?statsId=666

They all end in 666. Did someone at every one of those websites think that was hilarious or what? On one hand it's semi-amusing, on the other it's just rather disturbing and not really all that funny at all. Your call.

Random YouTube of the day, Marc-Andre Fleury's amazing toe save in game 5 of the Stanley Cup final.

Free agency day 2

So today we find out that everyone is still going to get free candy. Yay! If you don't know about free candy, please head over to The Pensblog. So Brooks Orpik is retained, but the Pens lose Jarkko Ruutu to Ottawa. Why Ottawa? Eh. The fact that the deal breaker here was probably over one year and not money is kind of hard to swallow, as Ruutu reportedly wanted three years and not two, but the Pens would not go three. We'll miss him.

Oh yeah, there's someone else the Pens lost today too huh? No, we're not bitter. Not at all. Double eh. Marian Hossa went to the Detroit Red Wings for a ONE YEAR deal at $7.45 million. One year Marian? Are you serious? This baffled us. We thought he really did want to come back. Plus who wouldn't want to play with the best play-maker in the NHL in Sidney Crosby? Hopefully the Wings don't make the Cup Final this year or else the Pens beat them there. Then it won't be worth that one year deal, will it Marian?

And on to the best news of the day, the Pens have signed Evgeni Malkin to a five-year extension worth $43.5 million. Sound familiar? It should, as it's the same as Sidney Crosby's. Malkin will make $9 million for the first four seasons and then $7.5 million in the final year. It's good to have Geno signed for the long run and be over all those stupid rumors. Also good news is that Marc-Andre Fleury's deal is just about done and should be resolved within a couple of days. Over at the insider on Pittsburgh sports we linked to yesterday, he says the deal is done at 6 years $33 million. We shall see.

Links to all of this news and more:

A recap of the day at PG.

Commentary on Hossa from Gene Collier.

NHL notebook from PG.

Work is going to start soon on the new arena.

Seth has been doing great work over at the newly revamped Empty Netters. Check him out for all the updates.

Now on to the Trib, first it's an article about Brooks Orpik stepping in line to take a discount. His quotes are classy and we like his attitude. 

Therrien isn't getting a contract extension just yet.

Over at Rob Rossi's blog Chipped Ice, he makes some interesting statements. Sidney Crosby called Marian Hossa several times trying to get him to sign with the Pens. Several players also thought Hossa was coming back with one saying: "Everybody on our team knows what screwed this up -- it wasn't Marian and it wasn't (general manager Ray Shero)." Dun dun dun! Gee, wonder what that means...? More on Hossa at the Trib here.

And for your entertainment, the rumors are at the insider.

And last but not least, your random YouTube of the day. For your viewing enjoyment we have Brooks Orpik's "The Shift."

Free Agency Day 1

So today we were met with a lot of rumors and a few signings. We feel bad we didn't keep up better than just posting our first post at 3:30 am but we figured other sites would do a much better job of covering this than we would. We're super tired after trying to keep up with all the rumors all day so basically we'll leave you with links to the local media who will word things about 12 times better than we ever could. We feel like we're skipping out on this but we don't think we'd do it enough justice. Although before we leave you with links we'll leave you with a few of our thoughts (because we know you want to know, haha). This Jagr thing bothers us a lot and we sincerely hope it's not true. Hossa please make up your mind already. Ditto to Brooks Orpik and Ruutu. We like the other signings and can't wait to see how Godard fights this season. Here's to hoping for more signings tomorrow and less crazy rumors.

All the NHL moves via the Post-Gazette.

Free Agency Day 1 Penguins style via the PG.

Bob Smizik commentary over at PG, Now we'll see what Shero is made of.

From the Trib, the Pens are going to announce a Malkin extension.

Dupuis and Eaton are pleased to stay Penguins.

The money was flowing in free agency on day one.

Some links from the Trib.

For some rumors and entertainment you can go here.

Well that's all for us tonight, it's 4 am and we think it's time for sleep. Sorry we sucked at recapping today, but we definitely couldn't do it any better than the links above so you might as well read quality stuff. We'll be back tomorrow. Probably sleep deprived. Try to get some sleep everyone and here's to hoping for a good day today.

And your random YouTube, Eric Godard fighting Georges Laraque. Enjoy!

Let the chaos begin

So today at noon all the chaos of free agency begins. It should be interesting to see what happens all around the NHL, but we'll obviously be keeping up with the Penguins. It seems like all we've heard is bad news so far, and hopefully that changes today and the Penguins are able to keep SOMEONE and possibly pick up a nice deal on the free agent market. Only time will tell and we'll be here as best as possible to keep you updated.

First off, the Post-Gazette has a little news to offer on the Penguins' free agents. Keeping Hossa is not out of the question and it is believed the Pens have a five-year offer worth $7 million a year on the table for him, and as of last night he had not rejected it. The Pens may not close the door on re-signing Hossa even if he hasn't committed to them by midday, essentially Ray Shero could formulate a contract proposal for a free agent to replace Hossa but not submit it to that player until he gives Hossa one final opportunity to accept his offer. News on Orpik isn't any better. He could command $4 million or more on the open market, and that is more than the Pens are believed to be willing to pay. Shero is also believed to have laid groudwork for keeping some of the Pens' other free agents like Jarkko Ruutu, Pascal Dupuis, and Adam Hall. Dupuis' agent says they're talking about a contract but did not elaborate, and Hall's agent says he is interested in remaining a Penguin but he will be testing free agency. Georges Laraque does not appear to be close to an agreement on a contract and will be listening to any offers from other teams.

Some good news is that Malkin should have a new deal very soon that should pay him around $8.5 million per season over five years. You all probably remember that Sidney signed a deal last July worth an average of $8.7 million per season. Jordan Staal is also expected to get a new deal this summer, but Marc-Andre Fleury's deal should come before that.

You can read the entire article from the Post-Gazette with that info here.

At least the Malkin news is good news. What a deal for the Pens in having possibly the best two players in the world locked in at that money when they could easily command $10 million or more.

You can read a story from the Trib about the Pens aiming to keep their young core here. And some stuff from Rob Rossi here.

And over at Puck Daddy blog they have a Hossa rumor here.

And for your random YouTube of the day we have Rex Gildo's Fiesta Mexicana for Marian Hossa. It might be the last time we want to listen to that song. :'-(

And what the heck, the Sign Hossa video too, why not?