It has been just one game. But it was against the defending Western Division champs. It was just one game. But the Penguins scored twice on the power play. It was just one game. But the Penguins got a short handed goal. It was just one game. But Fleury made 33 saves on 36 shots. It was just one game. But James Neal scored a timely first goal after producing anything at all last year. It was just one game. Matt Cooke, the much maligned Matt Cooke mind you, showed what he could do and notched two goals (PPG & SHG). It was just one game. But when it counted Evgeni Maklin scored in the shootout.
That’s not bad for an opening night’s work three hours out of phase on the West Coast. Lots of positives. But it was still just one game.
As if Pens fans didn’t have enough reasons to think Jagr was a total dick, some justified while others are made up, he goes and hands them a huge new one?
Well, there goes his chance at having his jersey hung in the rafters here in Hockeyburgh. I hope Brooks lines him up into the boards and gives him a couple good reminders during the course of the season as to why playing this sort of silly game that he has apparently been playing was a bad idea.
Jagr is officially dead to Pittsburgh. Fans were willing to give him a chance to make amends. We’ve heard rumors that he had grown up. Now we see is is as childish as ever.
My source within the Pens organization tells me that they and Jagr have an understanding about terms for a contract. My source would not cite terms.
Jagr and or his agent should be making this official later today.
My source has not been wrong yet. Let’s see if he/she/it can keep a perfect record.
Update June 30th, 10 AM:
I am being told official announcement to be made Friday at noon.
Update July 1st, 10 AM:
Looks like other sources in the media are confirming all this. Jagr to Pens with announcement at noon today with a big splash page on the site welcoming Jags home.
Update July 1st, 11 AM:
My source says the Penguins are getting ready to revoke their offer to Jags! Citing that the agree they had appears to be off as Jagr seems interested in getting more money than coming to Pittsburgh. Reportedly Mario is fuming.
Update July 1st 11:45 AM:
NHL.com is reporting the Pens have withdrawn their offer.
So much for Jagr’s proclamation that he would return to Pittsburgh for league minimum if asked by Mario. Looks like Jags really hasn’t grown up?
Update July 1st 1 PM:
The Red Wings also have dropped out of the list of teams seeking Jagr. Looks like they are not interested in playing games. Apparently Jagr is.
Received a two word text over lunch from source in the Pens org saying only, “extremely disappointed.”
Matt Cooke threw and elbow to the head of the Rangers Ryan McDonagh. He deserved a suspension for the hit. He deserved it because:
1) It was a dirty hit
2) Cooke is a repeat offender
He also knew it was coming because:
1) He knew Mario pissed off Gary Bettman by calling the NHL on the carpet over head shots
2) The league had just wrapped up its winter meetings where head shots were a hot topic
But the suspension he got was silly. It was, at the time because the Penguins were not a lock for the playoffs, a minimum of 10 games (if they had missed the playoffs) and a maximum of 17 games (if they played a seven game opening round having made the playoffs). Now the suspension, with the Penguins having made the playoffs is a minimum of 14 games.
It was a silly suspension because, I bring this up again, Gillies of the Islanders … sorry I mean the New York Goons … chased down a man across the ice, knocked him down and then continued to beat on him while he was on the ice and got just 9 games. Then Gillies came back from suspension and in his first game back threw a blatant elbow and promptly got a 10 game suspension. At least Cooke waited a few games between coming off his last suspension and his latest infraction for crying out loud!
There was little doubt at the time of the Cooke suspension that the league was sending Mario a message to sit down, shut up, and stop making them look so bad. There is even less doubt now.
Last night, repeat offender, and Red Wings thumper, Todd Bertuzzi proved that. You might remember Mr. Bertuzzi. He is the schlub that punched Steve Moore from behind on March 8th, 2004. Moore suffered a concussion, facial lacerations and several broken vertebrae. That incident got Bertuzzi suspended indefinitely by the league and he wound up missing 20 games (13 regular season and 7 in the playoffs).
Bertuzzi has not seriously cleaned up his act since. He regularly finds any excuse he can to hit players late. In 2003-04 he amassed 122 PIMs in just 69 games. In 2005-06 he massed 120 PIMs in 82 games. In 2006-2007 he netted only 13 PIMs but also only played in 15 games. In 2007-08 Bertuzi had 97 PIMs in just 68 games. In 2008-2009 he got sent to the sin bin for 74 minutes in just 66 games. Last year he had a respectable year of just 80 minutes in 82 games. This year the aging winger has been able to get just 61 penalty minutes. This however is due mostly to the fact that he can no longer chase down players the way he used to. Make no mistake he would love to! But he just cannot.
And he was up to his old tricks again last night as he found an excuse to throw a purposeful elbow into the head of Ryan Johnson. Of course Red Wings fans, who as we here in the ‘Burgh have learned are some of the most ignorant and ill-educated hockey fans, around are defending the hit calling it unintentional. I have read numerous praises for Bertuzzi as being a “gentleman” for immediately seeking out Johnson and apologizing for the hit that got him a 5 minute major as well as ejected from the game. Coming from a Detroit fan ok, I can see why a thug who apologizes would be a “gentleman” in their eyes considering most of the thugs on Detroit’s streets have no such courtesy. I mean, could you imagine? It would be laughable to see a gangsta thug rob a woman at gun point and then tell her how sorry he was!
I have even seen comments from Johnson claiming that he does not think the hit was intentional. Ok, so because Johnson is too stupid to know what Bertuzzi was trying to do to him that makes it ok?
The video says it all and here it is. My commentary follows:
You can clearly see at around 0:39 of this clip (during the replay) that Bertuzzi sees that Johnson’s head is down as he tries to clear the puck. Bertuzzi lifts his elbow, rides it up Johnson’s arm and straight into his head. His right elbow is more than halfway up and Bertuzzi, seeing that he was going to miss Johnson, threw that elbow out there on purpose. There is no doubt about this. That is except to the NHL brass, Red Wings fans and other assorted people who know little to nothing about hockey.
Today the league announced Bertuzzi’s punishment. That punishment? Zero games suspension. Oh yeah, the NHL is really serious about hits to the head and cracking down on repeat offenders. Nope. What the league is really about is making sure Mario knows his place. Bettman cannot stand that Lemieux knows more about what’s up that he does and he certainly cannot stand that Lemieux gets more respect than him. I mean honestly, if you walk into a room and on one end is Mario and the other is Bugsy Bettman, who do you think is going to have the bigger crowd. I mean of legitimate hockey fans, not brown-nosing yes men. Of course it is going to be Mario.
So Bettman acts like a thug to get even. He slaps Cooke hard, lets Gillies off with a relatively comparable love tap and lets Todd Bertuzzi get off scott free.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were not weighed down by too much turkey on Thansksgiving as on Friday night they won a hard fought game against the Ottawa Senators 2-1 and on Saturday they breezed past the Calgary Flames 4-1. The Senators, now 9th in the East, have struggled.
Through Saturday the Senators had scored 14 less goals than they have allowed and are 4-6-0 in their last ten. Despite jumping out to a 1-0 lead against the Pens, Evgeni Malkin (8 – PPG) and Alex Goligoski (5) provided all the offense needed in front of Marc-Andre Fleuy’s 43 save performance. Despite 21 shot in the first period, Ottawa just could not find the net.
Calgary has been on of the worst teams in the Western Conference this year. After loosing to the Penguins their record stood at just 9-12-2 but with a goal differential of just -5 on the year they are capable of staying in games. But the Penguins jumped on them early in the second with a goal by Arron Asham (3) and a hat trick by Sidney Crosby (16, 17 & 18) thanks to the empty net to make the game never in doubt. Brent Johnson spelled Fleury who has been red hot lately and made 30 saves as the Penguins shot the puck 43 times.
The win against the Flames was the Penguins sixth in a row and they have points in their last 9 going 8-0-1 in that time. Over their last ten games the Penguins are 8-1-1.
Next up for the 15-8-2 Penguins are the 14-10-1 Rangers on Monday night. Last time these two teams met the Penguins scored two late goals to take a 2-1 lead only to see the Rangers score late to tie the game and then finish the Pens off in overtime.
