Jagr, Talbot Silence Penguins 4-2

Through the years Pittsburgh fans have become accustomed to watching Jaromir Jagr score big goals. So it was nothing new, really, to see No. 68 find an open patch of ice and whip his patented backhander past an opposing goalie. Trouble is, the one-time Penguins’ great accomplished the feat Thursday night at the CONSOL Energy Center while wearing an orange-and-black jersey.

In his much ballyhooed return to the ‘Burgh after snubbing a contact offer from his former team, the legendary Czech notched a key second-period goal to pace Philadelphia to an impressive 4-2 victory over the Penguins.

“We made a lot of sloppy plays,” said Pens winger Tyler Kennedy, who notched a goal and an assist in a losing cause. “If you want to be a great team, you’ve got to be better than that.”

The atmosphere at the CONSOL fairly crackled with electricity as the sellout crowd eagerly awaited the opening faceoff. Predictably, Jagr was greeted by a deafening chorus of boos when he emerged from the visitor’s runway.

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I Will be Standing Up Cheering Jaromir Jagr Tonight

What if we tried to make Pittsburgh not look stupid & petty tonight for the HBO 24/7 camera’s and national TV?  Lemieux once got a standing ovation in Philadelphia when he showed up.

Today all I see and hear is reporters all over the radio, news print and social media telling me about how I should boo Jaromir Jagr tonight.  I will not.  Here is the truth…  Jaromir Jagr was dying alive in Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh was trading every player around Jagr who made more than league minimum and was keeping Jagr around to sell tickets.

I’ve always been one that gets confused about how Heroes and Villains work in the Pittsburgh sports world.  Jaromir Jagr didn’t say a word when the team was ...

Penguins-Flyers Rivalry Part 6: Sid versus Richy (2005-present)

For the third time during the course of the Pens-Flyers rivalry, the momentum shifted with the arrival of a superstar. Sidney Crosby would lead the Penguins to a third Stanley Cup—and become a lightning rod for Philadelphia fans’ hatred and jealousy.

As if scripted, “Sid the Kid” received a rude welcome from the Flyers. On November 16, 2005, he absorbed a vicious high stick from Derian Hatcher, leaving the rookie with a bloody mouth and chipped front teeth. Displaying his considerable character, Crosby scored a big goal to spark a comeback win.

With new general manager Ray Shero (the son of Cup-winning Philly coach Fred Shero) at the helm the black and gold swept eight games with the rebuilding Flyers in 2006-07, drawing the ire of former Philadelphia GM Bobby Clarke.

“We didn’t do what Pittsburgh did; lose seven years in a row so they could get good,” Clarke sniped. “They did it twice, in fact. Now they’re good and the teams that try to win all the time get penalized.”

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Penguins-Flyers Rivalry Part 5: Eric Lindros and the Legion of Doom (1994-2005)

Following a sorry sixth-place finish in 1991-92, the Flyers acquired the rights to phenom Eric Lindros from Quebec during the summer. Slowly but surely “the Next One” began to restore the Flyers to their former glory while centering the imposing “Legion of Doom” line for John LeClair and Mikael Renberg.

The Penguins were no patsies, either. Loaded with big-name stars like Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Ron Francis, the Steel City sextet remained on the short list of Stanley Cup contenders throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

The cross-state rivals presented an intriguing contrast of styles. While the Pens embraced a more skilled approach, the Flyers returned to their body-banging roots. Philadelphia’s hard-boiled fans took special delight in whistling at the mullet-topped Jagr in a faux wolf call.

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Gameday Poop: Pittsburgh vs Montreal Game 3 – Fixing Evgeni Malkin

What’s wrong with Evgeni Malkin?  All I keep reading & hearing is how come Malkin hasn’t shown up yet. If I told you that Malkin has 1 more point this year through 8 games in the playoffs than he did last year when he was the Conn Smythe MVP of the playoffs it wouldn’t matter would it?

Evgeni Malkin and Alexei Ponikarovsky are like oil and water. Through 8 games of the playoffs Malkin has registered 4 goals and 5 assists and not one of the points that Malkin has registered the entire playoffs has been while Ponikarovsky is on the ice, not a single one, even though Ponikarovsky has been playing most of his time mainly on Malkin’s line. The Penguins don’t need to bench Ponikarovsky, it’s time to get him off of the top two lines, he doesn’t mix well with the Penguins top forwards.

The Penguins can make a big statement tonight by taking it to the Canadiens the way they did last game AND putting the puck in the net by playing a little scrappier. The Pens played hard and soft last game. They hustled their collective arses off yet didn’t go into the high traffic areas in front of the net.

Sidney Crosby has been frustrated to the point of breaking his stick on the goal post then tossing it away. The Penguins need to keep Kunitz or Cooke or both on Crosby’s line to keep players like Hal Gill from mugging him all game. Crosby needs to take a page from the Montreal School of Diving and start going down. I would have sworn that there was a sniper high up in the stands picking off Montreal players the way they were flopping down last game. It is sort of an embarrassment to the ...

Gameday Poop: Penguins vs Thrashers – Crosby for MVP

The NHL closes up the regular season tomorrow and the playoff race in the Eastern conference is no where near settled. The Penguins can finish anywhere from second to fourth and there are three teams not named the Penguins fighting for their playoff lives.

Pens winger Alexei Ponikarovsky has been suspended by the NHL for two games for boarding Josh Bailey of the NY Islanders on Thursday night, Kunitz will miss the game also tonight with a suspected shoulder injury. Talbot and Rupp will be seeing time on Malkin’s line and Eric Godard will also be skating for the Penguins this evening. Once again, I would post lines, but Bylsma will mix them up after 5 minutes anyway.

NBC seems to have made a big mistake scheduling the Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins game tomorrow afternoon. The New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, two of the NHL’s biggest markets will be battling it out in a winner take all scenario that has the winner getting a playoff spot and the loser heading out to the golf course.

The Penguins organization was pressing the NHL to have the All-Star Game played at their new home the Consol Energy Center next year but lost out to the Carolina Hurricanes. I think it would be a bit much and the NHL would be showing favoritism if the ALL-Star Game in Winter Classic were held in Pittsburgh in the same year.

If the Pens end up finishing in fourth place, they will be facing the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs.  The Senators just announced ex-Penguin Alexei Kovalev who is 4th on the Senators in overall scoring will be sidelined the rest of the season and playoffs with a torn ACL.

Sidney Crosby is locked in a goal scoring race with Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos. Ovechkin has 50, Crosby 49 and Stamkos 48. Crosby has 2 games left, Ovechkin and Stamkos each only have 1 game left.

Sidney Crosby is also battling for the Art Ross Trophy with Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin. Ovechkin has 109, Sedin 108 and Crosby 104. Crosby has a game in hand over both Sedin and Ovechkin.

Sidney Crosby is also in the race for MVP. How many players in the NHL locked in the race for the prestigious goal scoring trophy, who got credit for a goal and with no video evidence otherwise, would contact the stats people and say he didn’t get the goal. Only 1, the leagues MVP Sidney Crosby the 100% unselfish team player who wanted to win the game against the Capitals the other night more than he cared if Ovechkin passed him up in goal scoring with an empty net goal.

Last year the Capitals fans all claimed Ovechkin deserved the MVP because he did not have a supporting cast around him. This year he all of the sudden has one of the best supporting casts around. A supporting cast so good, they have a higher winning percentage and goals scored per game when he is not playing.

Boy do I feel like a dufus. Last night I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman named Bob Grove at ...

Will Jaromir Jagr be at the Penguins final regular season game?

On April 8, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be having more than 50 former players, coaches & GM’s take to the ice for the final regular season game at the Mellon Arena one week from now. While the list so far is impressive in itself, I have a few questions about some old favorites and whether they will be there or not. I know Ron Francis and Mark Recchi will not be there because their teams have games that night, some others you can just guess will be there. Ulf Samuelsson’s kid is in the organization, he will probably be there, Eddie Johnston still works for the Penguins in some form or another, I imagine he will be there. Kevin Stevens is a scout for the Penguins, I’m sure he will be there.

How about some of my favorite players Mike Bullard, Doug Shedden, Darius Kaspairitis, Val Fonteyne & Ron Stackhouse?  I don’t even know if they are all still alive, but I’d love to see them down there one more time!

The question everybody wants to know is: Will Jaromir Jagr be there? I checked and Jaromir Jagr’s KHL team the Avangard Omsk has been ousted from the playoffs by not winning one game in a best of five series. As I see it, that pretty much makes Jaromir Jagr unemployed right now with nothing to do.  Last I heard he was trying to get back into the NHL or at least trying to play the NHL against the KHL to get a better contract for what would be probably the final one or two seasons of his career and a great way to re-introduce himself to the NHL would be by showing up at this event.

When it’s all said and done, a picture of Pittsburgh’s 4 Art Ross Trophy winners all standing together at center ice at the Igloo would be the coupe de grace on the entire history of the Civic Arena, that and another Stanley Cup of course.

Only 23 former players coaches and GM’s have been announced so far, so there should be many surprises. ...