So I will just say let’s go Power!

Other thoughts:

Lots of disappointed Flyers fans at the game yesterday hoping to see their team win.  Too bad, so sad.  It just was not meant to be as Malkin notched his 50th goal of the year to seal the deal.  On top of watching the loss, they probably paid a nice premium to watch that loss.  Nice!

The refs called a pretty good game, for a change.  Not much was let go.  It is the way games should be called but rarely are for some unknown reason.  Would be nice to see the playoffs called correctly but every year I get disappointed in the officiating very quickly.

Tonight’s win versus the Rangers makes Saturday’s game against the Flyers meaningless in terms of where the Penguins will finish.  It does however matter for other things such as Evgeni Malkin’s quest for 50 goals.  Malkin needs just one goal to reach that plateau.

Look, I know Mario and his crew live a life of champagne wishes and caviar dreams, but an eight freaking percent increase? Seriously? You know, I got a raise this year. It was 2.1%.

I do not know how much longer the Pens can keep these yearly astronomical and out of line with the rest of the nation price increases up. But at the rate things are going soon my pair of seats are going to be close to $10k.

Looks like as a season ticket holder I will be going to even fewer games next year. Maybe 10 at most. The rest will have to be sold just so I can do that and afford to see some games in the playoffs too.

Hey Mario, just a suggestion. You know, from the little people. Next time before you stick it to the season ticket holders how about a little warning and at least offer up some lube?

Pittsburgh did not register the kinds of shot totals they have been, putting just 28 shots on net for the game and Fleury was strong down the stretch with several key saves on scoring chances with the Briuns looking to tie the game late.  James Neal led the way for the Penguins with six shots.  Newcommer Cal O’Reilly had just one shot and a prime scoring chance that he failed to convert on.  Pittsburgh has to do a quick turnaround and face off against New Jersey at 1:00 PM tomorrow.

At the Pens game tonight to once again watch the walking wounded. Good news though is that James Neal is gritting through the pain of a bruise to a bone in his foot originally thought to be broken. He’s a trooper!

Let’s go Pens!

But instead they decided to be “radical”.  Starting in 2012, the NHL will play with four yet to be named conferences as follows:

Conference D:
New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Washington and Carolina

Conference C:
Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay

Conference B:
Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg

Conference A:
Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado

Each conference will send its top four teams into the playoffs with the playoffs starting out with games among the top four teams in each conference.  After that the teams will be reseeded leading to the very real potential for an all Western or all Eastern Stanley Cup Final.  It think that is bad but hey, what do I know right?  I thought this could have been solved by moving just two teams.

Anyway, the Penguins are now in what I would call potentially the toughest of all the conferences based on the teams as they currently are.  They will have to contend with Washington, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Carolina for one of the top four places in that conference.  And let us not forget the New York Rangers too.  Year in and year out that is six quality teams vying for four spots and you know the Penguins are going to get shut out at least once in the near future from the playoffs based on that.

Once good thing about this realignment is that the regular season now means a lot more than it has in the past.  You don’t have 15 teams competing for eight spots.  You have seven or eight teams competing for just four.  You don’t have to just be better than the bottom half of the Eastern or Western Conference but better than the bottom half of your, essentially, division.  Yes, I know they are calling them conferences, but they are more like divisions to me.

Really, ok, that is fine.  No more coasting in to eighth place on the last day of the season.  Now play hard all season or be left behind.  Although the loser in this could be the teams that are not perennially good and the New York Islanders look to not be making any playoff appearances any time soon based on their lot in “Conference D”.  I think that hurts the game if you ask me.  I mean, we are not talking about a conference with only one or two perennial powers but, again, a conference with the Penguins, Flyers, Rangers, Captials, Hurricanes and Devils in in.  Seriously?  If I were an Islanders fan, and I am not because I actually know a thing or two about hockey, I would be screaming bloody murder.

It is what it is though.  I liked the current set up and didn’t think, again other than two moves, that it needed changing.  But hockey seems to be a sport with fickle women in charge of it.  They realign more that a car with a bad front end.

2 Goals, 2 Assists … Like he never missed a beat.

Welcome back Sid!

Back in the 1990s I jumped at the chance to get away from the “Pitt” bandwagon for good and enrolled at West Virginia University. And since I have been a loyal Mountaineer fan.

When the Big East expanded to football in 1991 (my sophomore year) I liked the league. It was a good conference. But in 2005 when BC, Virginia Tech and Miami jumped ship to the ACC, resulting in the forced additions of Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida, signaled what everyone knew was going to be a long, painful death.

The conference, every year, became a contest between Pitt and WVU to see who would screw up and let the other win the league. Some years, both screwed up and someone else would take the title.

Now the death throws appear to be ending. Pitt an Syracuse are bolting for the ACC. The Big 12 has formally announced that WVU will go west to compete. WVU wants out now. The Big East wants to hold them for 27 months, a term to which Pitt and Syracuse have agreed not to contest.

So why hold together a bunch of schools that no longer want to be associated with each other? The Big East has long been accused, and rightly so, of focusing too much on creating what was, unarguably, the premiere basketball conference in the nation while not working to help the football side.

It is time to give up the ghost. I know there are contracts and money involved. I know people want to keep their power. But it is time for the Big East to let all those who want out, out. Then rebuild – at least on the basketball side. As for football though?

R.I.P. Big East. It was fun while it lasted. But the Big East has never had the respect it had when Miami was a member. Let us all just part ways.