Geno!

This post was originally meant for Thursday night but blogger was down. A little late but some of the information is still pertinent. We'll try to have some photos of the Pens game soon.

Last post we talked about the Versus commercial featuring Geno that we'd seen that night similar to the one with Sidney Crosby we posted. Seth over at Empty Netters found the Geno Versus commercial and we had to post it for your enjoyment.

And for those who didn't see or don't remember the one featuring Crosby, here it is:

Brent Johnson will be starting in goal tonight for the Pens against the Florida Panthers. This will be just his second start, his first coming against the Coyotes in the Pens only loss this season. Saturday night the Pens will play the Devils.

We will not have recaps of tonight's game or Saturday's game. We will be attending Saturday's game and hopefully have a lot of pictures to share.

Go Pens!

Filthy in Philly

You didn't really think that the Pens could get out of Philly without something shady going down did you? We didn't think so. The Flyers proved once again how dirty they are with a few displays, none bigger than Scott Hartnell's biting of Kris Letang's finger. In our opinion there aren't too many things that are worse, or more disgusting, to do to someone on the ice (or field) than biting someone. Especially when you break the skin. Kris Letang should be due for a tetanus shot.

Biting someone is extremely juvenile, but not surprising coming from Hartnell. He denies biting Letang, but a Philly blog claims he chucked as he said it. Sounds like he's telling the truth. Or not. We don't know how the league handles situations like this when replays are inconclusive but if he bit Letang, we'd have to think that Letang's finger would have marks consistent with a human bite. (That was horrible to type.) If the league decides that Hartnell did in fact bite Letang, we're assuming a suspension and fine would be in order. Last year, Jarkko Ruutu was suspended two games without pay for biting an opponent and this should render the same.

We'll have to wait and see how all of this plays out but it's definitely something the league needs to look into because biting is beyond disgusting and should not be tolerated in any form. This should also add fuel to the rivalry. As if it needed any more.

The video of the scrum:

Letang's comments after the game:

Thoughts on the game:

- Physical as usual but then, what else would you expect?

- Still too many penalties. Why are Sid and Geno going to the box so much? Geno was in there three times last night. That has to change.

- Fleury looked great. Yes, Fleury let in four goals but none of them were soft. Not to mention two were power play goals and one was on a 5-on-3.

- How weird was that goal by Goligoski? It was nice of Braydon Coburn to put it into his own net off of Ray Emery. Gogo can just consider it payback for his non-goal the night before.

- Will Philly fans ever stop the Crosby sucks chant? Dumb question, we know. It's bad enough when he's on the ice but is it really necessary all game long? What did Crosby ever do to you? Play well and average 2 points a game against your team? Yeah, that's what we thought.

- We're going to assume that you saw the mother and son behind the Pens bench with Pens stuff on and then a "no" sign over it. Who in the world buys a Stanley Cup Champs t-shirt for a rival team and does that? And your kid a jersey?! That alone speaks volumes. Nice of them to contribute to the sales of more Pens stuff.

Go Pens!

Steelers win, Pens lose

Once again we are behind on just about everything. We're horrible for not posting a single thing about the Steelers win on Sunday over the Chargers. If you've read us for a while you know we lean towards the hockey side of things around here anyway, ironic considering we've been football fans since birth pretty much and hockey was a late addition to our sports obsession, but that shouldn't be an excuse for lack of acknowledgment. We've thought about trying to find another person that would like to cover the Steelers part of this blog since we don't do it any justice. We've also thought about only covering hockey and moving the blog. We're still considering both but the latter seems like the more probable of the two for a couple of reasons. One, we don't know how easy it would be to find someone who just wants to give their opinions on someone else's blog for the heck of it. And two, looking at the data we get like search results and links, most people are here for the Pens. We're brainstorming right now about that and what we want to do with this blog in general and the kind of direction we want to head in. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated and you can leave them in the comments or e-mail us. Thanks!

Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers Week 4

Pens lost to the Coyotes 3-0 last night. They just couldn't get anything going on offense, but that's kind of hard to do when you're in the box all night. Hopefully tonight against the Flyers will produce a win. We're going to go with a big night from Sidney Crosby.

See you soon.

"It's hardware but it's not hard to wear"

We've got a lot to catch up on but we've got to start with the rings. The Pens received their Stanley Cup Championship rings yesterday and reverting to some annoying early 2000s slang, talk about some bling bling! At around 4.5 karats and 167 diamonds with a custom cut black onyx for the Penguins' logo, that is some serious bling. We think it looks really great. We have to say we think it's better than the Steelers' Super Bowl rings this year, although we expected the Pens' rings to be smaller and not compete with the huge rings the Steelers got. Shows what we know. What do you think?

Enough of us talking, here's the pictures:

(All photos Peter Diana/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Nice.

The rings were given out at a private ceremony Tuesday night. They were given out by number so Captain Sidney Crosby had to wait quite a while for his but didn't sneak a peak of others' before he had his own in his hands. Billy Guerin was eager to share his thoughts with the media which is where our title comes from. Guerin joked about his ring saying, "it's hardware but it's not hard to wear." We're sure it's not.

Something else arrived in Pittsburgh yesterday that has some value. The Stanley Cup was back from the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto with Penguins' names inscribed. The Penguins' site provided the above picture of the newly engraved names.

- If you're in the Pittsburgh area you have a chance to see the Stanley Cup as well as the Lombardi Trophy at the City-County Building Portico from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday October 1st (today).

- You can watch the Pens raise their new Stanley Cup Champs banner as well as the game Friday night outside on the big screen. It is up and running now, showing highlights and the Penguins Stanley Cup Champs DVD. The Penguins also decided to add post-game fireworks to the festivities as long as the weather permits.

- The Penguins gained a player and lost a player Wednesday on waivers. The Pens claimed forward Chris Bourque off of waivers from the Washington Capitals. He is 23 years-old, 5'8" and 180 pounds and was drafted in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2004 NHL entry draft. He played four seasons with the Hershey Bears of the AHL and appeared in 12 NHL games. The Pens also lost Paul Bissonnette on waivers when the Phoenix Coyotes claimed him. He will be missed by a lot of people and it's a shame to see him go.

- The other players that were not kept on the roster all cleared waivers and will report to Wilkes-Barre. They are defensemen Nate Guenin and Deryk Engelland, as well as forwards Ryan Bayda and Chris Conner.

- Seth has some good stuff on new Penguin Martin Skoula.

- Sidney Crosby has practiced and feels optimistic about playing in the home opener Friday night.

- The Pens will play Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and it will be shown on NHL Network as well as FSN Pittsburgh. NHL Network should be blacked out to those in the Pittsburgh viewing area. The Pens will also play Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against the Islanders. All 30 NHL teams will be in action Saturday. The season begins today with four games on the schedule.

Pens win first preseason game

The Pens won their first preseason game last night 5-4 against the Blue Jackets in overtime. Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz each had two goals with Chris Conner having the other. Besides all the goals, the game included a couple of fights. What a way to start off the season. For all the info on the game head over to Empty Netters where Seth live blogged the game. Remember that three games will be aired by NHL Network this preseason. September 21st at 7:30, September 22nd at 7:00, and September 27th at 5:00.

We did make our trip to training camp and will get some pictures up soon hopefully. Didn't get as many good ones as we would have liked but we've got a few worth a look. We hope some of you got a chance to go, it was a good time. Chris Conner had a goal last night and we're not surprised. He was one of the guys who stuck out to us in training camp because one, he's not very big, think the Stefan Logan of the Pens. And two, he was scoring left and right on the drills (Fleury was the goalie if that makes a difference to anyone). He seems to be making a good name for himself. Eric Tangradi seems to be looking good as well.

Lastly, a nice little article on Geno for your reading pleasure.

Game 7

So this is it. One game for the Stanley Cup. It all comes down to this. Pretty much everyone is writing the Pens off, after all, look at history. You know it all already, we don't need to repeat it. All of it is just too much for the Pens to handle. It's impossible. Why even play the game? We think not. For those of us who have watched the Pens the entire season, we know what this team is capable of: anything. The Pens have played their best with their backs against the wall and against all odds. Tonight is just that. Like anyone wants to watch the Wings beat the Pens again. This time it's the Pens turn to turn the tables on them. Win the Cup on their ice. Let them see what that feels like.

It's time for them to embrace the underdog role and run with it. The Wings have all the pressure of being considered the better team, being on home ice, blah blah blah. The Pens just get to come in and possibly make history. And revenge on the Wings. The Steelers have always thrived with the underdog role and so can the Pens. It's time to have that chip on their shoulder Hines Ward style.

If the Pens play their game, they can definitely bring the Cup back to Pittsburgh. Start aggressive and don't let up. Take it to the Wings and Osgood. Get the first goal and things are going great. Maybe Sidney Crosby will get his record seventh first goal of the playoffs. We expect Sidney Crosby to be a man possessed tonight. He's played well, but he hasn't been the force he was the rest of the playoffs. That fire will be in his eyes, he'll pass it on to the rest of the team. He's going to do whatever he possibly can to get the Pens the Cup. He's not going to let the Pens go down without a damn good fight.

Hold on to your hats because this promises to be quite the game. Nothing held back. This is the last time the team will ask and the last time we'll ask you...

Ya hungry?

Go Pens!

One more game

(Getty)

Pens win 2-1 to force a game 7 back in Detroit for the Stanley Cup. One more game. Friday can't come soon enough.

Wow, what a game. We're sure we weren't the only ones with our hearts pounding, sitting on the edge of our seats. This game was obviously huge for both teams, but especially the Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury needed to play a spectacular game and he did. His defense also helped him out by blocking a lot of shots and Rob Scuderi even decided to play goalie with just seconds on the clock with Detroit knocking on the door. And no, he didn't use his hand to cover the puck.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were held scoreless, which means the Pens needed secondary scoring. And they got it. The third line last night was great, even scoring both of the Pens' goals. Jordan Staal scored first early on in the second period, while Tyler Kennedy scored the game-winner a little over five minutes into the third period. Kennedy also had an assist on the Staal goal for a great night.

One more game. A winner takes all game 7 for the Stanley Cup. Wow. Who would have thought after all the Pens went through? It's time to raise the Cup on their ice this time. If they play anything like they did last night, dominate most of the time, they have a great chance of doing just that.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 2, Red Wings 1

Penguins coverage at the Post-Gazette

- Fleury was the first star of the game and deservedly so. What a game after such a disappointment in game 5. We didn't think that was all his fault at all, but getting five goals scored against you isn't exactly a good time. That save with less than two minutes left in the period on Cleary on a breakaway was huge. Who knows what would have happened had this game been tied.

- The Pens came out with the win and that's all that matters but what frustration when it comes to all the chances! After the first period we were in disbelief that none of those chances went in. They were dominating all the way around but had nothing to show for it at the end of one. Obviously it didn't get them down because sooner rather than later they got that first goal. They're going to need to play just like that in Detroit if they want to win the Stanley Cup on Friday night.

- The third line was spectacular. They were doing everything last night. Tyler Kennedy and Jordan Staal more than deserved what they got. Staal was great both offensively and defensively and TK was working hard. A third line like that is exactly what the Pens need, especially when you're top two aren't able to cash-in.

- Rob Scuderi is absolutely insane. What a beast. He was blocking shots, playing goalie, and just playing an all around awesome defensive game. He was a plus 2 with four blocked shots and a couple of saves in the crease. He cleared at least two pucks from the crease earlier in the game off of rebounds and then his three or four saves in the last seconds of the game were just insane. He was obviously giving 110% out there and that makes us feel good going into game 7.

- We have to say it. The announcers, especially Pierre McGuire, are horrible. It was a Detroit love fest all night, especially Chris Osgood. OMG, he's so amazing! Yeah, okay. But the worst of the night in our opinion was the talk of Rob Scuderi covering the puck with his hand in the final seconds. OMG because we haven't seen that before in this series! WTF?! Give Zetterberg a pass and criticize Scuds up and down for it. And the best part was that he didn't even touch it with his hand! Even after they showed it from above and it was obvious he never touched it, they were still like "oh, I don't know!" Are you blind? Ridiculous. NBC definitely sucks.

- The crowd seemed nice and loud last night all game. Exactly what the Pens needed. The Fleury chant before the game was extra awesome in our opinion. We're sure Fleury felt a little taller hearing that. Nice to see the entire city of Pittsburgh isn't on the Fleury bashing bandwagon.

- We also have to give credit to Brooks Orpik for a nice game with six blocked shots and obviously a ton of hits. Petr Sykora also deserves mention for getting in there and blocking a shot early. He might not have played much or had a huge impact on the game, but it's nice to see he's willing to do whatever he can for the team.

Friday really can't get here soon enough.

Go Pens!

Game 6

We are so late with this post but they lost last time we missed a game day post so we're going to err on the side of caution and give in to our superstitions. After all, we have our lucky shirt on.

This is it. Lose and it's over. We have to win tonight to force a winner take all game 7. The Pens can do it. They have to protect their home ice and not let the Wings raise the Cup on their ice for the second year in a row.

Let's go boys. This is it.

Go Pens!

Game 4

First off, sorry for the lack of posts. Our health isn't exactly spectacular lately. But how about that SI cover? We love SI but that just sucks. This series isn't over. Maybe the SI cover jinx will help out the Pens. We're just glad we didn't get that cover today, although the article is still in there. Eh.

Tonight is a critical game 4 and a chance for the Pens to tie this series up going back to Detroit and making this series a best of three. They can also make this not about last year anymore. All anyone wants to talk about is how the Pens are in the same situation as last year despite the glaring differences. They win game 4 tonight and this is a whole new series. They need to come out tonight like this is game 7 and take this. Being down 3-1 is a whole different world than being tied 2-2. It's crazy to think the difference between the two. Tie this up and you have the momentum going into Detroit, lose and you're down 3-1 and basically all but counted out.

We know that it's always said that there can't possibly be any more motivation in the Stanley Cup Final that winning the cup. Okay. But it's time to play with that Hines Ward mentality. Find something and have that chip on your shoulder. No one believes in you, you're the underdog, whatever. He's always found something to be mad about, something that drives him, and it's worked pretty well we think. After all, he owns many Steelers records now. One other thing they can take from Hines Ward, hit them before they hit you. The Wings looked awfully tired in the third period of game 3 and the Pens need to wear them down. They have every opportunity to win game 4, now it's time to do it.

Ya hungry?

Go Pens!

Game 3

Nothing to say. It's go time. Win tonight and it's the start of a comeback. The Pens can do it.

Go Pens!

Pens down 2-0

(AP)

So the Pens are down two games to none in the Stanley Cup Final. Everyone is blaming Marc-Andre Fleury. Forget the rest of the team, it's all MAF's fault. We might as well give up now because Chris Osgood just can't be beat. We've got two of the best players in the NHL and they just can't score against Chris Osgood, the best goalie to ever play the game. So let's give up, blame Fleury, and hand the cup to Osgood and the Wings. You with us?

Seriously, let's calm the heck down here and at least play the next two games in this series. Are we really the only ones who are flashing back to Washington? The goalie was good and on the Pens' best chances, they just couldn't get that favorable bounce. The Caps took the first two games at home and everyone was worried. What happened after that? The Pens won three in a row and were right back in the series. The Wings are a different monster than the Caps were, but if there is any team that can come back from a 2-0 deficit, it's the Pens. Right? It's not time to stand around like idiots and freak out. It's time to get behind the Pens and believe.

First off, let's admit that the Pens have looked like the better team pretty often in these first two losses. The Pens have definitely had the better scoring chances and just can't get them to go. And before everyone starts saying how awesome Chris Osgood is, we have other things to say. How many posts have the Pens hit? What about Crosby's nice chance last night where Osgood was obviously beat but it hit his skate. Osgood himself thought he was beat. And how about Crosby's other chance where Henrik Zetterberg thought it would be a good idea to once again get his ass in the crease and do something illegal. You couldn't see the puck on that play, but anyone with a brain can plainly see what he did. He knew where that puck was and he used his hand to cover it. Twice in two games. Probably should have been two penalty shots. Bullshit. It's time to call a penalty now and then.

Now let's get to number two, the refs. This is the last thing we ever wanted to discuss because it always gets labeled as whining. And in a lot of cases, it is whining. But we have to take a stand on this series. The lack of penalties being called in this series is nothing short of atrocious. Hossa's slash on Pascal Dupuis just before the Wings scored? Hello! How about Jordan Staal's bloody face on two occasions? Or the infamous Zetterberg puck cover ups. Not to mention the other grabbing, holding, elbowing etc. in this series. This isn't even hockey anymore. It's a joke. The Pens might just have to start lowering themselves to the Wings standards in order to get a win. That and a few favorable bounces. And few less favorable bounces for the Wings.

Other things about game 2:

- Dupuis was put in the lineup last night instead of seven defensemen. We kind of liked the idea at first because Dupuis is a good penalty killer and has a lot of speed. We don't know if we can really say he played well or not. We're kind of eh on this subject.

- We could talk about the penalties some more but, nah.

- We mentioned it above but the Pens have had plenty of chances. Enough chances to beat the Wings. Those go in and we're in a totally different situation. Hopefully being at home will give the Pens the chances they need. And deserve.

- Marc-Andre Fleury was not his best, that was obvious, but the only goal we really had a problem with was the last one by Mr. Applicator (applicator of what? Sorry, we couldn't resist) which he should have had. The D could have been better as well.

- Speaking of goalies, we said above how we feel about Osgood. Some talent obviously, but also very lucky. He's definitely not unbeatable. But last night's dive after Talbot poked him with his stick was awesome. Who the heck does that?! It's the end of the game first of all, what did he think he was going to get out of that? And then the idiot proceeds to toss the puck in his own net. Obviously the whistle had blown and that was not a goal, but aren't goalies superstitious about pucks going into their net? Karma is a bitch. Maybe between Talbot's hit and Osgood throwing a puck into his own net, the Pens will have some good luck at home.

- Sidney Crosby obviously isn't playing quite up to his ability but you can thank Zetterberg and his shitty tactics for that one. Even so, he's played really well and had some great chances last night. We give him a lot of credit for his attitude in talking to the media after games. It's got to get really old talking to the media after every game, practice, skate, whatever day after day. And then when you lose even after you've played well and you're a little frustrated...well, we'd probably be pretty bitchy. He believes in himself and his team. As he should.

- Wah, wah, wah. So Geno isn't suspended for game 3. Like he really should have been? Or like you thought he would or should after the Ovechkin lack of suspension? No. He was frustrated and was trying to do something for his team. Good way to set a tone for game 3. The Pens aren't going to lay down and give up without a fight. Osgood's flop after the Talbot poke would have been enough for us to punch a Wing or two. Let alone Zetterberg and his antics. *Gag*

- How did we not complain about this after game 1? Probably because it was late and we're out of our mind at that time. We might just have to do this later after every game. Anyway, NBC sucks. Not that it's anything new, but for heaven's sakes, WTF?! Do these guys smoke a little something before games or what? We like Darren Pang and Doc but Pierre and Mike? OMG. And that whole you're the coach and what are you telling your players BS and fight between the two was ridiculous. We want someone who actually knows what they're talking about and can make comments we never could. You know, something other than "the puck is on the ice." Geez.

Game recap

Aftermath

Penguins Remain Confident, Unshaken

Penguins coverage at the Post-Gazette
Yinz Luv 'Da Guins game 2:

It's time to believe. You in or you out?

Go Pens!

Stanley Cup Final - Game 1

(AP)

That picture is quite possibly the scariest picture of Sidney Crosby we've ever seen. If he plays like that look on his face, the Red Wings are in trouble. He's been playing like a man possessed the entire playoffs and there's no reason to believe he won't be more so this series. He is going to do everything he possibly can to get the Pens where they want to go. We all know where that is.

You should all know by now we're not much for previews. One, we'd probably suck at it. Two, maybe this is a bad way to look at it, but at the end of this series someone is going to win and someone is going to go home unhappy. We know, what a lazy way to get out of a preview, but seriously, us coming up with some sub-par preview would pale in comparison to all the wonderful articles you could read that will get you even more pumped up for the game tonight (see below).

Speaking of pumped, we don't think we've ever been this pumped. Not before last year's final, not before the Steelers' two recent Super Bowls, uh...not before a Pirates season? We tried. But in all honesty, something feels right this year. We don't know what it is, it just is what it is. Did you get that? We're not even sure we did. But even right now at 3 a.m. we're tired as heck but absolutely pumped for the game tonight. And a bit anxious. But what is a big game/series without a little anxiety? No fun, that's what. If the Pens win the cup, we'll probably bawl like babies. Who's with us?

Your ever-so-awesome series preview not written by us.

Pens home page  The Pens have some awesome articles you should really check out.

Pens at Post-Gazette  The other place you need to go for pre and post-game coverage

Ya hungry?

Go Pens!

Pens win Game 4, sweep Carolina to head to SCF

(Getty)

Woohoo! The Pens are going back to the Stanley Cup Final again this year after beating the Canes for the fourth time by a score of 4-1. How awesome does this feel? We don't know how we're going to wait until the finals start. If the Wings don't beat the Hawks tonight to take the series, we're looking at waiting until June 5th more than likely. That's way too long.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Hurricanes 1

- Once again the Canes had all the momentum at the beginning of the game and even got a goal from their star player who hadn't scored all series not even two minutes in and they still manage to lose. Obviously we're not complaining but they had to just be out of gas. We fully expected this series to be a lot harder than it was.

- Fleury may have given up that goal early, but he was solid the rest of the game. That stick save in the first period was awesome. People like to complain about Fleury a lot, but he's shown he's clutch. And he wins games. How can you complain about that?

Fleury save about 1:20 in.

- Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin are looking really good right now. Last night we had a pass from Crosby to Guerin on a 2-on-1 for a nice goal. The game before, basically the same thing but reversed. We have to admit we weren't all that impressed when we heard Guerin was coming here but he sure has been valuable in a lot of ways. Does anyone think he plays like he's 38? We don't. Sidney Crosby can do that to you.

- How can you argue with keeping Boucher in the lineup instead of Dupuis? He's played well and that pass to Feds last night for the Pens' first goal was nice.

- We have to give a lot of credit to Cam Ward. He was by far their best player in the entire series and, a lot of the time, the only one who showed up. He made a lot of great saves and tried to keep his team in games and he was just not backed up. He just couldn't do it all himself and when you're left out to dry like he was over and over, goals are going to get scored. He took a lot of the blame but we don't think he deserves to. Hardly any of the blame should be placed on him.

- Crosby is close to the playoff record for points and he dishes off the empty netter to Craig Adams instead of going for it himself. What a player. Now Adams has three goals in the playoffs, two of them empty netters. Although that empty netter directly off the faceoff was awesome. That's skill.

- Sidney Crosby touched the Prince of Wales trophy?! He's shocking us all this year. First the hat and now this? Is he sick? We definitely think the whole not touching the trophy thing was a little over the top. Besides, Mario Lemieux touched it both times before winning the Stanley Cup. How can you argue with that? The trophy even got a nice ride home.

Picture is from the Penguins Facebook page and thanks to Seth from EN for finding it.

The Prince of Wales trophy presentation:

Max Talbot's phenomenal interview with Dan Potash after the game:

Interviews with Sidney Crosby, Bill Guerin, and Marc-Andre Fleury:

Pens coverage at the Post-Gazette

Who's next? Bring it.

Go Pens!

PENS WIN! It's time to dance!

(AP)

What a sweep. Eastern Conference Champs once again! It's time to dance!

YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! That song always gets us.

NHL is on top of things. Lots of Eastern Conference Champs gear. Count us in for one of those shirts. Eventually.

More later.

Game 4

The Pens have the chance to sweep the Canes and end this series tonight. How nice would that be? Quite the turn from the Washington series. If the Pens continue to play their game and the Canes continue to have LOMS (loss of mind syndrome), this should be over tonight. It still amazes us how the Canes have allowed Crosby and Malkin to do as they wish while they stand around mesmerized at their talent. But by all means, don't stop now. It's time to end this thing.

Game preview

Game 3 Yinz Luv 'Da Guins:

Go Pens!

Pens win Game 3, up 3-0

(AP)

Did anyone think it would be quite like this and that the Pens would be up 3-0 on Carolina? We definitely did not. The Hurricanes came out pretty strong and got the first goal fairly early in the game. Things weren't looking so good early for the Pens. If we only knew what was to come. Geno would score twice, Crosby once, and there would even be a crazy empty netter directly from a faceoff. Cam Ward was by far the best player on the ice for the Canes and was the only reason this game wasn't much, much worse. Carolina seemed to be caught standing around an awful lot. We know Sid and Geno are pretty spectacular but there's no excuse for standing around. As far as we're concerned they can continue to do it and the Pens will take win four and be on their way. The amount of mistakes the Canes made was quite ridiculous, but like we said, they can do it all they want as far as we're concerned.

Game recap

Aftermath: Penguins 6, Hurricanes 2

We apologize but we'll have to finish this post sometime later as we don't have time now.

Go Pens!

Game 3

The Pens head down to Carolina tonight for game 3. The crowd should be good, Bill Cowher might be there after all (ack), and it will get the Canes going. We all know the Canes aren't going to lay down and take a beating, they've been resilient in the playoffs. It should be tough but if the Pens can play their game, we don't see why it should be any different than game 2. Although, if there's any chance we can get the crowd to do a few Crosby sucks chants or throw some popcorn on Geno, we'd be in good shape.

Game preview

Yinz Luv 'Da Guins - Game 2:

Jim's Bill Cowher is great.

Pens coverage at the Post-Gazette

Get ready.

Go Pens!

Canes, Game 2

So, has it seemed like an eternity and then some since game 1? We think so. This whole schedule thing sucks for the fans. Way too long between games. But tonight is finally game 2 and it's time for the Pens to step-up their game and get a 2-0 lead to head into Carolina.

Game preview

If this doesn't pump you up for the game, we don't know what will:

If you haven't seen any of the other Benstonium videos, do yourself a favor and go to benstonium.com and watch some more. They have a lot of hilarious parody videos that you'll definitely love.

'Crosby Effect' Sets Agenda for Pens' Success

Pens coverage at the Post-Gazette

Enjoy the game. Go Pens!

Greetings from Pittsburgh

We were in Pittsburgh last week and took a few pictures along the way that we thought we'd share and they are now all resized for your viewing pleasure. The disclaimer here is that we are definitely not professional photographers by any means and we did just get a new camera that we'd only used for a few days so please be kind. There are also a few shots we took from a semi-moving vehicle and it's hard to line up a good shot when there's traffic around.

If you're anything like us and don't have the pleasure of living in Pittsburgh, you like any pictures that take you there. Whether you had to leave, have never been there but feel connected somehow, or you're like us and always feel more at home there than your real home, these pictures are for you. Enjoy.

Some young Carolina Panthers fan and his friend were calling Art Colonel Sanders. Eh.

The banners on Consol Energy Center

Consol Energy Center from Mellon Arena

Spray painted on the pavement all around Mellon Arena

We had an appointment in the city last Monday and our way back out of town we were going to stop at the store at Mellon Arena, PenStation. We turned up the road to get there and saw a bunch of people and a fancy BMW leaving the player's parking lot. It was Max Talbot. We didn't know the schedule for the morning skate, which wouldn't have mattered because we had to be at the appointment, but just as we got there Max was leaving. We finally got to get out and just missed Sidney Crosby. Ahhh! We guess Marc-Andre Fleury had been right before that as well. Ahhh! If the lady at the office just would've have hurried it up and the doctor wasn't late we would have had an even better experience. We did manage to get a few pictures of players leaving. We didn't have the best location but it was still a fun experience anyway.

The back of Jordan Staal

Jordan's ride

Pascal Dupuis and some nice Tom Clark Auto employees picking up his ride

Mike Zigomanis

Flip flops were a popular footwear item, most of the guys had them on

Petr Sykora

We actually said hi to him and he was very polite and smiled while he responded

Kris Letang

We also spoke to Kris and told him good luck. He was also nice and waved and smiled. Even though the Pens didn't win that night, he did score a goal. You'll see in the picture below that he got out to sign autographs for everyone and take pictures. All other guys stopped and signed autographs as well except Jordan Staal.

Dan Bylsma and Ray Shero waving at the fans who were cheering. They walked right down the street and over to the hotel pictured at the bottom. Lunch maybe?

And a woodchuck for good measure.

Hockey stuff later. Can't wait for the game.

Go Pens!

Pens to face Canes in Eastern Conference Final

(Getty)

What an end to the Bruins and Hurricanes game. The Canes pulled it out in overtime and they'll be headed to Pittsburgh to start the series on Monday. We weren't really on one side or the other in this game at all, we saw pros and cons to both. But now it's bring on the Canes. And of course we can't forget that the Staals are brothers. Be prepared to be reminded 11.2 million times per game.

The schedule:

2009 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Monday, May 18 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m. VERSUS, TSN, RDS

Thursday, May 21 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m. VERSUS, TSN, RDS

Saturday, May 23 at Carolina, 7:30 p.m. VERSUS, CBC, RDS

Tuesday, May 26 at Carolina, 7:30 p.m. VERSUS, CBC, RDS

* Friday, May 29 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m. VERSUS, CBC, RDS

* Sunday, May 31 at Carolina, 7:30 p.m. VERSUS, CBC, RDS

* Tuesday, June 2 at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m. VERSUS, CBC, RDS

What is up with this schedule? Why so many two day breaks? More Yanni concerts? That has the potential to make us go nuts.

On a brighter note, the Pens don't have any games on NBC while the Hawks vs. Wings series has two. Yeah! That means no Pierre McGuire and the big screen will be up and running outside Mellon Arena. Double yeah!

Get ready.

Go Pens!