Bloomberg Business Week ranked the Penguins third out of 122 professional sport franchises based on efficiency in spending. They took records from all NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA teams over the past five years.

Rankings were based on analyzing spending habits and the teams win-loss records. Bonuses were added for over .500 winning percentage along with overall wins in the playoffs and also championships.

The MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays came in first followed by the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.

Another weekend, another Penguin gets hitched. After weddings this summer by forward Jordan Staal and defenseman Brooks Orpik, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury married long-time girlfriend Veronique in Montreal Saturday. The two have been dating since they were 15 years old!

Many Penguins were in attendance for the big day. Sidney Crosby, James Neal, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke, Ben Lovejoy, Kris Letang, Deryk Engelland, and Brooks Orpik were all seen outside the Notre Dame basilica. Former Penguins Colby Armstrong, Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko, Brent Johnson, Max Talbot and Hal Gill were also in attendance.

The guys and their dates got to show off their fashion while walking to the bus that transported them to the reception, but that does not always mean that money can buy style. Max Talbot stole the show (not in a good way) with his black suit, red bow tie, and red shoes. James Neal was seen wearing his usual purple shirt with plaid jacket. Someone get these guys a stylist!

25stanley.com has many pictures of the beautiful couple and guests. Gotta say, (in most cases) the boys know how to clean up!

So our congratulations to the newlyweds! Here’s to many more happy years!

Today the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects put on a show for over 7,000 fans that packed the Consol Energy Center to watch their team’s future. The prospects were split up in two teams. Team White was coached by assistant to the General Manger, Tom Fitzgerald while Team Black was coached by former Penguin Bill Guerin. The game consisted of two 25 minute halves that included an overtime and shootout.

The first goal of the game was scored on a penalty shot by Reid McNeill (Team Black) after Alex Velischek was called for interference.

Recent draft pick Matia Marcantuoni evened up the game at 1-1, but minutes later Team Black took the lead after a goal by forward Zach Sill. Defenseman Simon Despres, who played 18 games with Pittsburgh this season, scored a late goal with two minutes left to tie it for Team White.

Newly acquired defenseman Brian Dumoulin (Jordan Staal trade) scored during the three-on-three overtime period. Dumoulin, 6-foot-4 219 pounder from Boston College, stood out at camp all week. His impressive play on the blueline shows just another upside from the Staal trade.

Speaking of recent acquisitions, Harrison Ruopp who was part of the Zbynek Michalek trade with Phoenix impressed with his size and strength. The Penguins had their eye on Ruopp even during last year’s draft before he was picked by the Coyotes. Although the Pens have a stacked blueline throughout their system, Ruopp brings more of a physical game that is sometimes hard to find in other players.

Other Camp Notes:

Try to keep your eyes open for Matia Marcantuoni, that is if he doesn’t skate by. The 2012 draft pick was easily one of the fastest guys on the ice. His stellar skating ability and good hands seem to point towards a bright future.

There’s not enough I can say positive about Brian Dumoulin. In addition to having an extremely fan-friendly personality, the defenseman who played at Boston College, is used to playing on a system based off the Pens blueline and it shows through his play.

One of the players that stood out the most during the scrimmage was free agent goaltender Ryan Faragher. Faragher played last season for St. Cloud State where he ended the season with a .915 save percentage. The 22-year-old played the entire game for the Black Team and made a handful of stellar saves and received several ovations from fans.

Forward Beau Bennett, who recently signed his first professional contract with the Pens, continues to recover from his wrist injury suffered while playing for the University of Denver this season. Although he says he is not yet 100% he still showed brilliance stick-handling and being mentioned by Head Coach Dan Bylsma as a candidate for Sidney Crosby’s line probably didn’t hurt the ego either.

Three years ago, the Pens were getting ready to play game seven in Detroit against the Red Wings.  After falling to them the year before in the Finals, the Pens had a lot to prove to the hockey world.

The Pens faced off against division and cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers in round one where they found Forward Max Talbot (current Flyer) to be an unsung hero after fighting Dan Carcillo in game six when they came back from a 3-0 deficit.

The Eastern Conference Semi-finals proved be just as intense when another star-studded showdown of Crosby versus Ovechkin.  The Caps quickly took a 2-0 series lead against Pittsburgh who came back in game three to beat Washington in overtime.  The Pens went onto win three straight games before losing game six in overtime while they were short veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar who was injured on a knee-on-knee collision with Ovechkin.  After an huge early save by Marc-Andre Fleury on Ovechkin, the Pens gained momentum by scoring six goals to eliminate the Capitals 6-2.

After two fought early series, the Pens met the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.  The Hurricanes had just upset the New Jersey Devils (6th seed) and Boston Bruins (1st seed), but seemed out of gas in this series.  After a huge performance by forward Evgeni Malkin (5 goals, 3 assists)  which included his first post-season hat trick, the Pens went onto sweep the Hurricanes and find themselves in the Finals the second straight year.

The series rematch seemed to be an exact replica from last season as the Red Wings took a 2-0 series lead, but this time the Pens bounced back evening the series at home.  As if a Stanley Cup Final wouldn’t be intense, add in the Marian Hossa factor.   The forward that the Pens traded for at last season’s trade deadline decided to sign with the Red Wings for one year deal instead of accepting Pittsburgh’s long-term offer because he felt Detroit had a better chance to win it all.  Awkward. Well, even though the Pens had momentum, game five was a true disaster.  The Pens gave up three power play goals and Detroit went on to win 5-0.  Deja Vu all over again.  The Pens are down 3-2 in the series as they go back home to play game six.  Just like the year before.  But this time the Pens made sure a cup would not be raised on in front of their fans.  Both Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy scored to help the Pens push a game seven.  Every game seven has a hero, and this one was Max Talbot.  He scored both of the Pens goals in the second period.  After Fleury’s heart-stopping save on Nickas Lidstrom with only seconds remaining, the Pens won their third Stanley Cup in team history.

Thankfully, history did not repeat itself.

Although the Kings just won yesterday, Vegas moves on.  They already have the odds for next season’s winner.  Who’s on top?  That would be your Pittsburgh Penguins with 7/1 odds followed by LA with 11/1.

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.

No, this is not a typo. No, this is not a joke. And no, you are not reading it wrong. Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been nominated by local media for the NHL’s Masterton award which goes to the player who has overcome adversity while showing sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

Cooke, has had a transformation season after being suspended twice last season, and missing the playoff series against Tampa Bay where the Pens lost in seven games.

Although Cooke has had the persona of a bad boy or instigator for much of his career, he has been a vital part of the Penguins penalty kill the past few years.

Many people don’t know the personal issues Cooke was battling towards the end of last season. A day after the Penguins participated in the Winter Classic, his wife fell deathly ill. Doctors believed it was a reoccurrence of a serious kidney infection. Cooke, meanwhile, was 600 miles away from his wife’s hospital room in Pittsburgh.

After he couldn’t get in touch with his wife, he got a concerning call from her doctor. The doctor told Cooke, “I think you should come back right now.” Cooke continues by saying, “I got there, and they’ve got a chaplain giving her the blessing and our kids are in that room.”

Being on the road while his wife’s condition worsened, had to be hard for Cooke. Trying to separate his professional life from his personal life, also had to be a struggle. Weeks later, Cooke found himself suspended for the remainder of the season and the first round of the playoffs after a hit on Rangers’ Ryan McDonough.

Although Cooke told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that, “I don’t use (Michelle’s health) as an excuse for anything that happened last season,” he said. “I’m responsible for my actions out there.” “He does agree that, “It all happens for a reason.” His wife even said that since their daily routine of hockey and time with their kids had to change dramatically he was “not himself” through this time.

” I don’t want to hurt anybody,” he said. Well, fast-forward to the present. The Penguins were on a 11 game winning streak in which Matt Cooke had a hand in. With Sidney Crosby’s return, Cooke was lucky enough to win a spot on his line along with Tyler Kennedy. In the past three games with his new line, Cooke had four points. He is also having a career year, with a career high 16 goals and only 30 penalty minutes.

After watching the Penguins lose in game seven of the first round of the playoffs he promised himself and his teammates that he would never watch that happen again. While Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were sitting in the press box out with injuries, while he was missing time due to his suspension, he felt partially responsible for the early playoff exit. ” [Malkin and Crosby] couldn’t go. But I was healthy and sitting up there. It was a gut-wrenching feeling. I feel responsible to them. I said from the outset that I wouldn’t put them in that situation again.”

Today he watches hours of game clips feauturing hits in the league, learning how to deliver a clean check and stay away from controversy.

Being a changed player, doesn’t mean his personality has changed. His teammates will still call him the jokester who pulls pranks like cutting laces, filling skates with bubble gum, or pouring snow from the ice surface down players shirts. His intensity and love for the game hasn’t changed either. “We all play the game to win.” And Cooke has been a vital part to the Penguins success this season. The Pens have the third best penalty kill in the league and Cooke is a huge part of that.

“The playoffs are the time to win,” Cooke said. And this year the Penguins will have Cooke in their lineup this year where teams should be scared of his skills, not just his hits.

So next time you think of Matt Cooke think of the family man, team player, prankster and human being who brings perseverance and dedication to the game of hockey.

In a world that loves hearing about the underdog, here you go. Meet the New Matt Cooke. The Pittsburgh Penguins Masterton Nominee, coming to an arena near you.

On a special night in New York City, the Penguins expanded their win streak to 10 games while welcoming captain Sidney Crosby back into the lineup. The Pens 5-2 win moves them to four points behind Eastern Conference leading Rangers.

Not only did the Pens get Crosby back but they also welcomed all-star defensemen Kris Letang back into the lineup after missing five games to concussion-like symptoms. Both players had an immediate impact on the game’s result. Crosby’s line with Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy scored on their first shift, while Crosby ended the game with an assist and a plus-3. Letang also ended the game with an assist, and a career high plus-5.

Forward Evgeni Malkin added his 39th goal of the year while Matt Cooke scored twice to help lead the Pens to the important two point victory.

Goalie Marc Andre Fleury summarized the recent stretch perfectly. “We’re playing pretty solid hockey these days. It’s a long season. We need to keep going.”

With important games against division rivals, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers this weekend, the Pens look to carry their winning streak along.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby made another step in his return from concussion-like symptoms after being cleared for contact today.

Practicing with the team this morning marked the first time he had participated in all team drills since symptoms came back after the December 5th game against the Bruins.

Crosby says he has been symptom-free for the past couple of days. Although he did not give an exact day for return, he gave Pens fans and even hockey fans everywhere optimism by saying he could play as soon as Sunday. Although that seems unlikely, it is good to see the positive vibes from the Pens captain.

Crosby made his return in November after being hurt in back to back hits in January. After only playing eight games, he again was sidelined.

After rumors about whether Crosby actually had a concussion or if he broke the C1 and C2 vertebrae in the neck, the Penguins and doctors have continued to stay mum.

Crosby though will agree with most people on one thing. “Contact is the big step. You have to get through that. Once I do that for a few days I can jump into games. The best way to do that is to be in games. The sooner the better,” he told reporters in Pittsburgh today.

Well for hockey fans, the sooner is better, but hopefully this return is for good.  The Penguins have be 20-4-1 since their 5 game losing streak in January, so there’s no push for Crosby to come back immediately.  But it certainly won’t hurt.

Midway in the first period Wednesday, Penguins defensemen Kris Letang was hurt on a controversial play involving Stars forward Eric Nystrom. While traveling to the corner of his defensive zone, Letang was hit in the head by Nystrom at 9:55 of the first period.

After lying on the ice for a couple of minutes, Letang was eventually walked off with help from trainer Chris Stewart and teammates. He did not return for the rest of the game.

Anyone who was watching the game on NBC Sports Network would have seen the argument between analysts Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick who each had their own opinion. The Penguins on the other hand, stayed mum.

“It was potentially borderline,” right winger Craig Adams told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Most teammates decided to stay quiet until they saw the hit from better angles.

Head coach Dan Bylsma told reporters after the game that he is listed at day-to-day but Letang has already missed extensive time this year with a concussion.

Although Roenick said that the hit was clean and was not a headshot, Letang was seen after the game with a clear gash on his chin. Last time I checked the chin was part of our head, but you make the decision. Was the hit clean? Is it suspendable? Time will tell. Let’s just hope that Letang returns to the lineup soon.

After having an off day yesterday, the Pens were back to work this morning. It was announced that forward Cal O’Reilly who was picked up off of waivers from the Phoenix Coyotes less than two weeks ago was sent down to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Since the Pens have had him for less than 10 days, he did not have to hit waivers. But if they Pens decided to bring him up again, he will have to go through re-entry waivers. He had one assist in six games with the big club, but was scratched the last three games.

Goaltender Brent Johnson was back at practice after being sick the past couple days and Coach Bylsma believes he should be ready to go for the weekend.

Defensemen Brooks Orpik who sat out last game against the Rangers, was back at practice today. His undisclosed injury leaves him day to day and his status for the weekend is unknown.

Forward Tyler Kennedy who was expected out four to six weeks with a lower body injury, skated with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar before practice today.

Defensemen Matt Niskanen missed practice due to an illness.

Forward Sidney Crosby skated with the rest of the team at practice, but did not participate in the team scrimmage. He did not meet with the media after practice, but Bylsma said he has had no change in status.

Another odd development is it seems Forward Eric Tangradi who was just brought up this week has taken Dustin Jeffrey’s place on the fourth line. Jeffrey practiced along with Crosby as an extra. Is General Manager Ray Shero trying to showcase Tangradi for a possible trade, or are they upset with Jeffrey’s recent play? I guess we will see soon enough as the trade deadline is this Monday!

The Pens face-off against Tampa Bay, Saturday at 1.