It is being deemed “radical” what the NHL has done in terms of realignment for the 2012 season.  I personally don’t think anything “radical” needed to be done.  The NHL could have just moved Winnipeg to the Western Conference’s Central Division and Columbus to the East, maybe, and I emphasize the maybe, shifting around some of the East’s teams so that Columbus wasn’t in the South East, which would have been a little silly.

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.

Sources with the Penguins say that the team will announce later today that Sidney Crosby will be in the lineup Monday when the Penguins host the New York Islanders.

I have now watched the events that transpired during Friday night’s game between the Islanders and the Penguins three times.  I had to rewatch it because after seeing it the first time I just could not believe what I saw and needed to make sure I really did in fact see what I saw.

After the previous game between the two clubs, which ended with Rick DiPietro acting like an ass, trying to trip Matt Cooke in the waning moments, and then getting a one punch beat down from Penguins backup goalie Brent Johnson, everyone expected the pathetic, next to last place in the Eastern Conference, laughing stocks of the league that are the New York Islanders to exact their pound of flesh like a child having a temper tantrum.  What ensued however can only be best described as an institutional decision to make a mockery of the game.  Furthermore it was a decision that most likely emanating from the offices of General Manager Garth Snow.

Yes, that is right I said it.  It is obvious to me that that Garth Snow (career record of 135-147-44) who made a career out of being a loser has imparted his loser mentality on the New York Islanders.   It is clear that he and his folks sitting up away from the ice (and not having to worry about getting their own asses kicked) sent a message that to the Islanders players that they were to brawl up a storm on Friday night because the fisticuffs never stopped.  Had these actions not been condoned by management it would have been stopped long before it got out of hand by order of Mr. Snow or others.  On Sunday, after his team instigated nearly every on ice incident, Garth Snow actually opined that he could not imagine why the Penguins were not fined $100,000 like his team of miscreants was.

In a night filled with fights the lowlights culminated with Trevor Gillies going after the head of Eric Tangradi and then continuing to beat on his injured body like a spastic child and Michael Haley trying to take on goalie Brant Johnson, a move which prompted, rightfully, Eric Godard leaping from the bench to intervene and protect his net minder.

Gillies got a pathetically laughable 9 games for his assault.  Godard got an automatic 10 game suspension for coming to the defense of his teammate.  That is the rule when it comes to Godard’s actions however it is sad that the league even considers this somehow adequate punishment for Gillies based on his actions.  10 games for defending someone but just 9 games for Gillies’ obvious attempt to maliciously injure?  HA!

Lemieux said of the incident the following:

“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

“The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

“We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players.  We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.

“If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.”

That response was panned, humorously, by league officials, Islanders fans (who wouldn’t know a hockey puck from a hamburger) and so-called hockey experts who swoon any time Wayne Gretzky speaks but have rarely had anything nice to say about a player as great or greater in Mr. Lemieux.  And everyone here knows that I have not kind things to say about Mario at times, particularly when he threatened to move the Penguins to Kansas City or elsewhere.  But he is right on the mark.

Yeah, I know what you ill informed and hockey illiterate types out there have moaned and even have had echoed by certain media outlets with their noses so far up the league’s posterior that you certainly do not want to get too close to them.  ”But the Penguins have Matt Cooke!”  Yeah, Matt Cooke who has become known in recent years as a vicious “head hunter” and a “dirty player”.  Ok, first of all let’s get this straight.  Every team has a “dirty player” by some definition or another.  The only difference is whether or not that player plays for the team you root for as to how “dirty” you think they are.

Matt Cooke plays hockey hard.  He also does not pull punches or checks.  He looks for people to hit.  Yep.  He does all that.  He even raises an elbow every now and again as do all players in the league from Alex Ovechkin to Sidney Crosby on down the line.  Cooke rarely pulls up.  If a player goes after a puck along the boards and turns his back while Cooke is in flight for a check he still hits them.  He also gets penalized a lot for that.  And the truth is that a lot of players purposefully turn their backs when they know players like Cooke are coming at them to try and draw penalties.  Fact is that Matt Cooke is no dirtier than the player on your particular team of choice that you root for who does the same thing.

But here is something else that Matt Cooke does.  He plays offense.  He plays hockey with the puck as well.  Matt Cooke this season has 10 goals and 13 assists and is a plus 9.  He is not a goon no matter how badly you want him to be one.  Last year he scored 15 goals and 15 assists and was a plus 17.  In 2008-09 he had 13 goals and 18 assists and was  even one the score sheet.  He is also one of the league’s premier penalty killers and has 2 short handed goals this season.  He is not, by any stretch of the imagination, some no talent hack like so many of those employed by other teams for the same purposes.

Yeah he plays on the edge.  Lots of players do.  And sometimes he goes over that edge. This year he has 106 penalty minutes as punishment for that.

But there is no way on this or any other planet that you can compare him to Trevor Gillies; a man who in 32 games this year has just 1 goal, no assists is a minus 2 and has 109 penalty minutes.  Mind you that is 109 penalty minutes in just 32 games.  Again, Matt Cooke has 106, but in 54 games.  Gillies is a man that is out there to do exactly what he did on Friday night.  Even the Penguins, who employ pugilist Eric Godard, use him sparingly and dress him when the other team dresses their big fighters.  Godard has played in only 17 games this season.  In 2009-10 when Godard played in 45 games even he only racked up 76 penalty minutes all year.  In 2008-09 in 71 games Godard had 171 penalty minutes.  If Gillies played that many games this year, which he won’t because he has about half as much tallent, he would be on pace for 241 total penalty minutes.

So spare me the excuses about who the Penguins employ to play on their team as justification for Friday night’s atrocity.  Doing so only shows you as what you are; a die hard ignorant Islander’s apologist, a league official trying desperately to cover your ass or a know-nothing hack who is in over your head trying to curry favor with league officials who probably don’t even know you exist.

The Penguins and the Islanders meet once more this season, in New York, on April 8^th.  It is the next to last game before the playoffs start and the Islanders start making plans for tee times at the golf course (and tea times with their wives too) because that is how badly they suck.  Part of me wants to see a Penguins team with their lineup (minus Malkin) back intact go in there and beat them on the score sheet so badly that in the final minutes, with nothing left to prove, Eric Godard can jump over the boards, hunt down and grab a cowering Trevor Gillies who has just wet himself by the scruff of his yellow neck, beat his ass senseless on the ice, drag him through the door to the player’s bench and down the runway to the visiting team’s locker room and slam his head against the wall repeatedly while beating him to a bloody pulp then leaving him on the floor to think about what he has done.  After all, Godard isn’t going to play in the playoffs anyway so what would another suspension mean to him at that point?

Hey, I am not a rich man, but if you are listening Mr. Godard, I have got a $1,000 for your favorite charity if you make Gillies your bitch on April 8^th and make him rue the day he ever even so much as thought about becoming the pathetic little goon he is.  I would offer the same deal to Matt Cooke, but Mr. Cooke, even despite his reputation, is needed for the playoffs.

To paraphrase the Rock, Mr. Goddard, know your role and shut Trevor Gillies’ hole!

On Wednesday night, after putting away the New York Islanders, Rick DiPietro engaged in some funny business around his own net with 16.5 seconds remaining in the game.  That resulted in a dog pile in the corner and Brent Johnson leaving his own crease and darting down the ice to confront his counterpart.

DiPietro both removed their gloves and helmets as they squared off.  The New York netminder looked to be in such shock that there was actually going to be a goalie fight that he was smiling!  He wasn’t smiling at the end of it all however which wasn’t very long.  One left from Johnson and DiPiertro was down with Johnson hovering over him with his fist cocked for another blow in case he wanted more.

DiPietro, who the Islanders singed to a long term contract worth big bucks but who has also been unable to remain healthy, is once again sidelined for four to six weeks following the fight with facial fractures.  Wow.  Talk about bad luck.

It was just before the 06-07 season that DiPietro signed a 15 year $67.5 million contract.  However since the start of the 08-09 season he has played in just 34 games and 21 of those games have been this year.

Bad luck and bad signing all the way around.  Maybe Rick DiPietro needs to become a bubble boy because he is getting hurt almost just looking at the ice it seems.

Billy Guerin officially announced his retirement today after am 18 year stint in the NHL. Having played with eight different teams, Guerin’s last official home was in Pittsburgh where he helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 2008-2009. He remained with the team for the 2009-2010 season but was not tendered a new contract for this year. He tried out for the Philadelphia Flyers this year but was released before the season began.

Bill Guerin will be honored by the Penguins in a ceremony before tonight’s home game versus the New Jersey Devils. “We were only here a short time, but my family and I developed such a deep connection to the city, the team and the fans,” said Guerin.

It was obvious how much the fans in Pittsburgh appreciated Guerin’s presence. Despite being a veteran, the fans regularly cheered for Guerin on the ice and applauded when his kids were shown on the old Igloo’s scoreboard.

Guerin was no doubt thankful that the Penguins acquired him from the New York Islanders for literally a song. He was struggling on a team that showed little penchant for winning and that was obviously frustrating to a player of Guerin’s caliber.

Guerin made his reputation as a player that could both finish and set up his teammates and also as a no-nonsense player on the ice who was not adverse to getting down and dirty. He often exceeded 100 penalty minutes by year’s end.

Considering the success he had at the tail end of his career here in Pittsburgh and how much the fans and the players loved him on the ice and in the locker-room I do not think it is any surprise that tonight, bad boy Billy Guerin retires a Penguin. Billy, I salute you. And with your announcement of a well deserved retirement after a long and productive career I am proud to see that you will now forever be a Pittsburgh Penguin.

Despite on ice officials making a terrible call on Kris Letang, ejecting him from the game for a phantom headshot that never happened, the Penguins beat the New York Islanders 3-2 in OT. The Letang penalty which was called on a clean shoulder to shoulder hit against the Islanders Blake Comeau came with Pittsburgh leading the game 2-0 in the second. The game turned and New York eventually tied the contest at 2-2. The Penguins have announced that they will appeal the penalty.

Pittsburgh played a lackluster game in the first period. In second period it was Mike Rupp (1) who gave the Penguins a lead 4:07 into the period. Tangradi (1) scored his first at 6:57 to extend the lead and the Penguins looked to have figured out that playing hard in front of the opponents net and actually shooting the puck would result in goals. But the Letang penalty derailed the Pens for a while.

Josh Bailey (2) scored during the five minute major which was cut to a three minute man advantage thanks to him jumping on Letang after the phantom penalty. He had to serve two minutes for that before jumping back on the ice to score. Radek Martinek (1) scored less than two minutes later to tie the game.

The game remained that way until overtime. Milan Jurcina of the Islanders took a hooking penalty 52 seconds in and it was Alex Goligoski (3) who ended it with a wrist shot.

Johnson, starting in goal in place of Fleury who struggled in Wednesday’s loss to the Maple Leafs, stopped 22 shots. He looked solid most of the game. He improved his record to 2-0 and is the only Penguins goalie to win a game yet this season. But before the Fleury bashers get on this train, realize that both those wins have come against teams beat up due to injuries. The Islanders were missing key players last night and New Jersey only skated with 15 (instead of 18) players due to salary cap issues.

The Penguins are now 2-3-0 on the season with 4 points. They play today at 6:00 PM against the Philadelphia Flyers who won the inaugural game at the Consol Energy Center 3-2.