And Down the Stretch they come

There are 2 weeks left in the NHL regular season, and currently the Penguins sit 2nd in the Eastern Conference.  The Washington Capitals have pretty much locked up the the #1 seed so 2nd is the best the Penguins can hope for, and they need to do everything in their power to make sure they get it.  New Jersey, currently sitting in 4th, is only 2 points behind the Penguins but have a game in hand which they will play Tuesday night against Boston.  A win in that game would put the Devils in atie with the Penguins for points, but NJ has the tie breaker based on 6 – 0 record against Pittsburgh this year.  Buffalo sits three points behind with two game in hand.  The Pens hold the tie breaker with Buffalo because of their 3 – 1 record.  Buffalo will play the first of their in hand games tonight also against Boston so for the next couple of days, we here in Pittsburgh should be big Bruins fans.

The first roundof the playoffs is not going to matter all that much as the Penguins have winning records against every other team that could possibly make the playoffs except for Ottawa against whom they’re 2 – 2.  It’s starting in the second round where things could get a bit dicey for the Penguins.  A fourth place finish could possibly get them a match-up with the Capitals in the second round assuming both teams win their opening series, and there’s every reason to believe they both will.  The Penguins are currently 0 – 2 – 1 against the Caps with one game remaining at Mellon Arena.  Should the Penguins then get by Washington, they’d be looking at a Conference Finals against possibly New Jersey against whom the Pens are winless this season.

By finishing second or third, the Pens would still have their requisite first round series against a team from the bottom half of the bracket, but their second round opponent would either be Buffalo, assuming they win their series, or someone even lower in the standings should Buffalo get upset.  The Pens finished the season 3 – 1 against Buffalo pretty much owning Ryan Miller in the process.  That would leave New Jersey and Washington to have to face each other in the second round and leaving only the victor for the Penguins in the Conference Finals.  Now, second would definitely be preferential to third in this instance as it would give the Pens the home ice advantage over Buffalo in Round 2 and against anyone else save Washington in the Conference Finals.

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There is a Giant Canadian Microscope Pointed at Sidney Crosby

Every single thing that Sidney Crosby has done since scoring what the Canadians have dubbed the “Golden Goal” has been diagnosed, analyzed, investigated, re-diagnosed and interpreted by writers, bloggers, commentators, farmers, the girls that want to marry Crosby and every single person who is old enough to have an opinion North of the Border.

Hey Sidney Crosby’s luggage was lost. Hey Crosby turned down David Letterman. Hey the fans in Pittsburgh booed Crosby when he returned. Most likely some of this stuff has merit as a big story, for example most likely his gloves and stick would be headed to or would already be in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

This is not the first time that Crosby turned down David Letterman and it probably won’t be the last.  This is not hurting the NHL, the NHL is doing a good enough job of that without any help, Crosby not being on Lettermen is getting the NHL more press than they would have got had he gone on.

The fans in Pittsburgh did not boo Sidney Crosby, we did not cheer real loud, but our soft cheering or non cheering combined with the booing of a couple of hundred or so Buffalo Sabres fans who made the 3 hour drive to the game in hopes of cheering on Silver Medal winning Ryan Miller made it sound like we were booing. I assure you that Pittsburgh hockey fans did not boo Sidney Crosby.

My favorite articles and posts to read are the ones that say Crosby has no personality or that he is boring. Yes, it is true that he doesn’t ...

Gameday Poop: Penguins vs Sabres – March 2 – He’s Back!

Sidney Crosby returns home to the igloo tonight irrefutably the best player in hockey right now. In nine months this 22 year old has won both the Stanley Cup and the Gold medal in style. Captain Crosby led the Penguins in goals last playoff season and he got the game winner in overtime of the Gold Medal Game at the Olympics. Even though he is from Canada and he beat most of the Pittsburgh fans USA team, he will receive a long standing ovation from everyone in attendance tonight, along with the other players who played in the Olympics.

Captain Crosby on how hard winning the Gold was: “We had to win it felt pretty much like 4 game 7′s in a row to win” – “It’s been a bit of a roller coaster but I look forward to getting back in a routine.” By routine I bet he means get some sleep. He went on to say he’s pretty much running on adrenaline right now.

By quirk of scheduling, Ryan Miller, the goaltender Crosby got the game winning goal against will be in attendance along with his Buffalo Sabres team this evening. I say in attendance because he is scheduled to get some rest and ex-Penguin goaltender Patrick Lalime is scheduled to start for the Sabres. Unless the Penguins take apart Lalime or he gets injured, expect Miller to sit on the bench all evening.

Oh, by the way, Silver Medal winning Brooks Orpik and Gold medal winning Marc Andre-Fleury (who didn’t see a minute of ice time in the Olympics) will also be in the Igloo.

I expect to see Fleury pick his game up. He probably loved the experience and was happy to be selected but was not happy ...