MVP! MVP!

The Hart Memorial trophy nominees were announced today, and in a move that surprises absolutely no one, Evgeni Malkin was named a finalist.

He’s up against New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos for the honour.

The award is given “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”

The man they call Geno spent the summer of 2011 training like a mad man and rehabbing his knee, after requiring surgery on a torn ACL and MCL muscle that ended his 2010-2011 season.

The training paid off. Even though he wasn’t 100% at the start of the season, he still ended up scoring 50 goals (his first 50 goal season of his career) and 109 points, taking the Art Ross scoring title along the way.

Geno also had the ability to make the players around him better. James Neal, Malkin’s linemate for the majority of the season, ended up scoring 40 goals this season, a first for him. Malkin assisted on 28 of those goals.

Geno managed to all this without Sidney Crosby in the lineup for the majority of the season.

He made it onto the All Star team this year, being drafted second over all by team Chara, and also put together a charity endeavor to raise money for the families of the Lokomotiv team, who tragically died in a plane crash last September.

Congrats Geno! We’re all rooting for you!

The NHL Awards will air on June 20, 2012

Despite what happened in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, let’s remember that during the regular season, the Pens were one of the hottest teams in the league. The goals they scored were certainly ones to remember.

Let’s take a short walk down memory lane and remember 5 of the best Penguins goals scored this season

» Continue reading “Top 5 Goals of the Season”

The Cup run has ended.

Until next season...

The Pens fell 5-1 to the Flyers this afternoon in Philadelphia. The Flyers move on, the Pens will not.

For the first time in the series, Bryzgalov was the better goalie, turning away all but one of the Penguins goals, scored by Evgeni Malkin.

This hurts, especially since everyone thought the Pens would go all the way. Guess you shouldn’t listen to the experts.

So what’s next for the boys? I’m sure a few of them will go play for their countries at World Championships. And the others? Well, let’s just wait and see.

Thanks for an amazing season, boys. We’ll see you guys in October.

He finally got his groove back.

After a horrible start the first 3 games, Marc Andre Fleury has finally found some steady ground. After helping the team win a pivotal game 4, he was the standout player in game 5, which the Pens won 3-2.

After letting in two goals in the first two periods, Fleury made a huge save on Jaromir Jagr and was a pivotal part of the penalty kill, making two massive saves against Danny Briere, which helped the Pens win it.

Steve Sullivan scored the first goal for the Penguins. Jordan Staal scored the second, and Tyler Kennedy scored the third, which ended up being the game winner.

The real star of this series has turned out to be Jordan Staal. He currently leads the series in goals, and has been, for lack of a better word, beasting so far.

Again, this is only one win. The Penguins need to win two more to advance. If they play like this in the next game, then we’re one step closer.

Puck drop is at 12:00PM on Sunday. Let’s go Pens!

Staal So Hard

The Pens aren’t going down without a fight.

With the Flyers leading the series 3-0, this game was do or die for the Penguins. And they did. Oh Lord, did they did.

The Flyers opened up the scoring, but the Pens quickly answered back with a goal by Evgeni Malkin. Many were questioning when Malkin, who had yet to score a goal this series, was going to start. He chose tonight. It was his first of two.

With a final score of 10-3 for the Penguins, there were a lot of goal scorers. But Jordan Staal stole the show with his first play off hat trick.

Crosby, who made headlines for his on ice antics during game 3, scored a goal in a 3 point night for him.

Marc-Andre Fleury, who had been absolutely abysmal the past three games, saved 22 of the 25 shots he faced. It looked like his old self was back.

While it finally feels amazing to talk about a Penguins win, this isn’t the last one. We need to win 3 more to make it to the next round. If the Penguins continue playing like this, then there’s a chance we can do it.

Remember, nothing worth winning ever came easy.

This was one of the tamer moments

Sunday’s circus of a game has resulted in a few suspensions for some Penguins players.

Craig Adams will sit out of game 4, after being handed a mandatory 1 game suspension for his late game hit on Sean Couturier on Sunday. Head coach Dan Bylsma was also fined $10,000 because of that hit.

Arron Asham has suspended 4 games for his crosscheck on Brayden Schenn. Seeing as the Pens are down 3-0, I really doubt this makes a big difference.

James Neal has be suspended 1 game for charging Claude Giroux. He got a game misconduct for that as well. Neal originally had 2 hearings, but will only be suspended for the Giroux charge.

What does this mean for the Pens? We’ll probably have Dustin Jeffery and Eric Tangradi in the lineup, along with Richard Park. Staal will probably be moved up to Malkin’s wing, taking the place of Neal. Or Crosby might be moved to first line center, with Malkin becoming his winger and Staal becoming a second line center.

I’m no Dan Bylsma, so I don’t know what will happen. Let’s just hope something good comes from all this.

Why do you hurt me so bad?

This will be short, because pretty much everyone knows what happened, and I can’t bear to relive it.

What can I say that can be read by people of all ages?

The Pens took the early lead, with Sidney Crosby scoring 15 seconds into the first period. But a hat trick for both Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux quickly made the game the Flyers’ game, which means the Pens are now down 2-0 in the series.

The next game, on Sunday, is in Philadelphia. Maybe a change of scenery will help the Pens out? Game 3 is a must win if they don’t want their cabooses swept.

Wednesday’s game one against the Philadelphia Flyers is probably one the Penguins would like to forget. After leading 3-0 early in the game, they lost to the Flyers 4-3, with the Flyers scoring 4 unanswered goals, and took the win for the first game.

The thing is, this shouldn’t be a game the Penguins forget. They need to keep this game fresh in their memory so that they can learn not what to do in tomorrow’s game.

1. HOCKEY IS A 60 MINUTE GAME.

The Pens are guilty of this in the regular season as well. They play an incredible 20 opening minutes, score the goals then, then falter in the next 40 minutes and end up losing the game. They need to remember that hockey is a full 60 minutes, not just a 20 minute game.

2. EVERYONE NEEDS TO SHOOT AND SCORE

The Kunitz-Malkin- Neal line, arguably the best line in the NHL this season, were shut down by the Flyers last night and failed to record a point last night. However, Tyler Kennedy scored. Moral here? Don’t rely on your top guys to score. Everyone needs to take the chance and shoot the puck. It may not go in, but it may. And wouldn’t it be nice to be the guy that scored a goal that could win the game?

3. DON’T LET THE OPPONENTS INTO YOUR HEAD

The Pens are a great team who don’t normally let the opposing team get to them. That all goes out the window with the Flyers. For whatever reason, they let this team get under their skin and, from the looks of it, let them dictate the game. That isn’t Penguins hockey. This team needs to learn that the Flyers are just another opponent that can be beaten if they put their mind to it, play 60 minutes, and shoot the puck. And yes, this does go against the whole “Remember this game for future reference!” thing I am talking about. But there is a difference between remembering and learning, and letting them get in your head.

Game two is tomorrow night at 7:30PM. Let’s Go Pens!

Okay, so if you’re a hockey fan or at least a living human being, you should know about the hatred between cross-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. The rival goes back to 1967 where the two clubs played their first games against each other. Since then, the teams have played each other 258 times. Decades of playing each other, the Battle Of Pennsylvania has been nothing short of entertaining.

Memorable games are not hard to find. In 1989, Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall literally chased Penguin Rob Brown after Brown scored the Penguins ninth goal of the game during the game 5 of the Patrick Division final.

Flyers began hating Sidney Crosby early on in his rookie season. All Flyer defenseman Derian Hatcher seemed interested in was going after Crosby shift after shift, and even broke many of his teeth. Crosby, jersey covered with blood, had the last laugh though as he scored the winning goal on a breakaway with 46 seconds left in overtime.

And most recently, in the Penguins 2009 cup year, after being down 3-0 early in the second period during the playoffs, Penguin forward Max Talbot took things into his own hands. Flyers forward Dan Carcillo agreed to fight Talbot. After finishing the fight and skating the penalty box, Talbot put up his finger to his mouth and smiled to the Philly fans saying, “Shhhh.” The fight proved to be a wakeup call for the Penguins who later came back to win the game and win the series.

Don’t expect this series to be any less intense. With Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby’s return and Evgeni Malkin’s recent league scoring title, many people throughout the league are jumping on the “we hate the Penguins bandwagon.” Whether this is just pure jealousy or hate, the Penguins have a lot to prove that they really are the best. With the Flyers great record at Consol Energy Center, the Penguins must take the home ice for advantage and make Pittsburgh a tough arena to play in.

If you are in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia in the next couple of weeks, be prepared to see this rivalry get played out on hockey’s biggest stage. Name calling, finger pointing, and cross checking aside, this matchup is going to be fun to watch (and as a Pittsburgher, witness firsthand). Because it’s the cup.

Time to start cancelling plans and blowing off your friends. The schedule for the Pittsburgh Penguins/ Philadelphia Flyers playoff series has been revealed!

If you’re in the US, all games will shown on the NBC Sports Network. In Canada? Then tune into TSN for all the games.

Game 1 will be on Wednesday, April 11 at 7:30PM. Game 2 will be on Friday, April 13, also at 7:30PM. Both those games will be in Pittsburgh, at the Consol Energy Center.

Games 3 and 4 will be in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center. Game 3 will be on Sunday, April 15 at 3PM (afternoon game. Yay!) and will be on NBC, along with TSN. Game 4 will be on Wednesday, April 18 at 7:30PM.

If necessary, game 5 will be in Philadelphia on Friday, April 20th at 7:30PM. Games 6 and 7 are to be decided, but will be on Sunday, April 22 and Tuesday, April 24th.