How crazy if they go to overtime or the shootout.

Wonder how much the Bills charged to rent the joint out for this game.

I don't understand NHL marketing. "This will probably be our most-watched game of the year, our one chance to really make an impression, and we have our marquee young player involved. Let's make sure he wears a uniform that's completely different from what he normally wears. We want to make sure that any potential new fan who watches today and happens on to another Penguins game some day has no idea it's the same team."

I never thought about it like that. I think they just forced Pittsburgh to wear those jerseys because Buffalo wanted to shed the Buffaslug uniforms for one game. Plus, it's an excuse to sell jerseys to hockey fans who are already watching it.

But you make sense from the casual fan perspective. But those casual fans can't watch anyone, unless they have Versus. I always forget to turn there, because it's in the 400s.

That jacket with the classic Sabres logos that the coach is wearing is slick.

Wisconsin and Ohio State played a game at Lambeau a year or two ago.

Because fans better relate to jersey colors and not cities and nicknames?

Yeah, I saw that and thought it was pretty sweet. I just hadn't heard about the Fenway thing until I was googling some stuff.

Why even mention NHL and marketing in the same post?

In their defense, the blue throwbacks actually have "Pittsburgh Penguins" on them. The actual ones don't say anything. So if Joanna CasualFan watches and wants to watch Sid The Kid play a lot because she thinks he's hot...they couldn't have made it any easier for her.

I'm going if they do this again next year. I suppose the Penguins would have to be playing.

The storyline is that they'd do it every other year, if this is a success and this seems about as close to that as it could've been.

I've never actually seen a shootout on TV. I hate the concept for the NHL, but for a game like this, I kinda think it would be neat to see it.

Shootout.

Sid the Kid wins it. 2-1 in the shootout. Imagine that.

Wooot!!!

I don't think the NHL would have dreamed up a better ending than Sidney Crosby scoring the winner in a shootout.

Crosby has a flair for scoring when the game is on his stick in a shootout, just like he did in his first NHL game against a Canadian team when he played Montreal his rookie year.

And the thing is, he totally knew he had it too. He's really fun to watch.

Note to Ryan Miller: Next time you're standing around during the interminable delay before a shootout, and a TV analyst asks you what your strategy is going to be, just say "I'll tell you after the game."

Now the real action begins. Seal and figure skating wrapped in one giant package!

He wears women's glasses.

I hate the shootout too...but damn if it doesn't help the Pens out! Letang might be more automatic than Crusher, and he was 8/13 last year. Letang is now 4/4 this season.

Not bad when you can hold back Malkin in case you need a 4th shooter. ;)

I don't think the NHL thought they'd get the hardcore college football fans to switch over to this game. But "sports" fans in general, surfing channels, might have stopped for a minute and gotten hooked.

And no man makes women's glasses sexier.

I think Mike Milbury was one of the worst GMs in the history of the NHL, but I really liked his commentary between periods.

Also, great reason for them to show the clip of him beating a fan with his own shoe. That alone is a good reason to have him do that games.

The Avs color guy is Peter McNab, but they never, ever, ever show that clip. :mad:

Dear Scott Clemenson...

Nice work. Eight months too late, asswipe.

Signed,
Me

Another Blackhawk bites the dust...Jon Toews expected to miss 2-4 weeks with a knee sprain. This is probably the dagger to the gut for the Hawks '07-'08 season..

EDIT: Getting an MRI in LA, one could tell from the look on his face that the injury was fairly serious. The team promptly went down the tube once he left the game...19 and already the best player on the squad...

For those keeping score at home, Patrick O'Sullivan got kicked out of the Kings game last night for a McSorley/Simonesque tomahawk to the head in the last 3 minutes of a 9-2 game. Strangely though, not even a mention of this in the media report, no outraged blogs or articles by writers that wouldn't know a puck from their ass, and as of yet not a peep from Colon Campbell.

Just another day in the double standards league.

Well, it was the Kings and Blackhawks. I would just assume that nobody watched the game, so nobody knows about it.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/7628212?MSNHPHMA


Powder blue jerseys = ratings.

That's impressive, considering it went head-to-head with a pretty good Capital One Bowl. It helps that more people watch TV on New Year's Day than any other day of the year...

For those in the States with the NHL Network, tomorrow at 130pm EST they are showing the World Juniors Semifinal game between the US and Canada. James vanRiemsdyk (Flyers first round pick) leads all scorers in the tournament with 4G and 6A.

I remember when the Center Ice Package used to carry some of these games...

Actually, it's owned by the county, not the Bills.

pfft.

The Avs will be without Joe Sakic for most of the year and just lost Ryan Smyth for 8 weeks with a broken ankle. They also are missing Tyler Arnason (broken wrist) and Kurt Sauer (concussion). At other points in the season, they've been without the services of Milan Hejduk, Brad Richardson, Ian Laperriere and Jordan Leopold. They have just 3 forwards who have played every game.

They were doing ok with a AHL-heavy roster for a while, but have been slipping lately with 4 straight losses, mostly due to a pitiful PP. They probably would need to pull off a trade to patch bolster their special teams, but Francois Giguere doesn't seem like he's anxious to make any moves.

Just got back from the Pens-Leafs game...good amount of those Candanian hosers travelled to Pittsburgh, eh?

Pens win 6-2, Malkin's first career HT. And fantastic fight between Darcy Tucker and Jarkko Ruutu...good minute plus of both firing punches. And Pens score 3 in 48 seconds , 3 minutes into the 3rd period. Kennedy with a sweet backhand, Malkin on a nice setup from Crosby, and Sykora, before they could even announce Malkin's goal. Good stuff.

From Deadspin:

Hurricanes put backup goalie John Graehme on waivers (now sent back to AHL Albany) and bring up Michael Leighton, who had done well at Albany. Leighton's first start came tonight in Atlanta. Got off to a very rough start, giving up two first-period goals, but then settled in a little and gave up just a second-period goal while the rest of the Canes (plus a sizeable chunk of the River Rats recently called up with all the injuries) rallied in front of him to win, 4-3. It was a much-needed win as the SE lead had shrunk to three points, but is now five as Carolina got three points out of the back-to-back games with Atlanta with the Thrashers only getting two.

Still, this team as it stands has fallen a good ways from their hot start and is only in contention in the East because the SE has been generally mediocre this year. They've been too up-and-down and haven't ripped off any good winning streaks in a long while, so I'm not really expecting much, maybe a division title and one round in the playoffs before being bumped by whoever wins the Atlantic Division in the second round.

As a Jets fan years like that are what we fondly remember as 'the glory years'. God I loved that crappy team.

word in the devils locker room is hatcher BIT travis zajacs finger, through the glove, hard enough to require stitches

hatcher denies it, and says zajacs finger just ran along hathcers teeth and got cut

video replay shows zajac pull his hand away, and his glove stays...in hatchers mouth.

fucking flyers.

Just reading about this. Do we know if Hatcher's had all his shots?

If someone is face washing me and sticking his fingers in my mouth and pushing...I'm gonna bite him too.

Either way I hope Hatcher gets suspended. He serves the Flyers better on the bench.

Not NHL, but since it's hockey...

What a Gold Medal game between Canada and Sweden! OT now, can you ask for more? Hopefully someone scores in the 20 minutes, it'd suck to see it end in shootouts.

Whoo.

Great TV moment during the Pens-Panthers game.

Bob Errey, Pens color guy, sitting between the benches. Coming back from the 2nd intermission, they are showing the Canada winner in OT. Errey talking about the WJC's, Malkin at the end of the bench, leans in to look at the monitor (side note, Malkin recently just did his first interview, on his own, in English). After showing the clip, Malkin turns to Errey and says "Lucky."

Also of note from today's game...Pens have won 6 in a row, and 7 or 8. All 7 of those wins are Ty Freaking Conklin's! He is 7-0-0, including 2 shutouts (today and Buffalo on 12/29) in their last 4.

Who would have thought Ty Conklin could be so dominant... TY CONKLIN! This is non-sense. Hell, I would have taken Dan Cloutier, Roman Cechmanek, Marc Denis and Jani Hurme on my team before Ty freaking Conklin.

I am pretty sure we looked into all those guys before signing Conklin. He was in the AHL, until Fleury got hurt. And then the plan was only to Conklin play a handful...actually, less than that...of games, just to keep Sabourin from playing having to play back to backs. Sabourin actually was more consistent than Fleury at the beginning of the year. He was great on the west coast trip after Fleury was hurt in Calgary...and then fell apart. Enter Conklin. Interesting problem for Pittsburgh once Fleury returns (after the all-star break most likely). Carry 3 G's? Conklin is on a two-way deal, but he's proving, thus far, he should be here. Try and send Sabu down, and hope he clears waivers?

PS- You forgot Tommy Salo

Good call. He KO'ed Lupul tonight on a leaping hit at center ice.

Heh. I guess that didn't come out right or something. :) After a poor year last season, it was great to see Carolina get out to such a good start, giving me some pretty high hopes. However, they've been more bad than good since then and I guess that decline was the source of my expectations being diminished to "just a division title and a second round exit". Didn't mean to make it sound so ho-hum-ish. I know I hate it when others think it's their God-given right to win something because it's the way it should be. Still, it is about where Carolina was expected to be based on what I saw in preseason pubs (SE winners, but Ottawa was East favorites).

At any rate, Leighton got a surprise back-to-back start against the Blues last night and seemed to play well, giving up just a goal midway through the first, but the offense was non-existent and got shut out, 1-0. Down the coaster again. Wheeee....