…Sydney Crosby is good.
Anyone see his little pass to himself off the boards? The whole sequence? Been a while since I’ve seen someone protect the puck that well. 55 points to lead the league in scoring. At 19.
Not the days of Gretzky having 100 points by now, but he has a decent points per game average and he missed 3 games already. Anyway, Ovechkin has a trophy from last year, but I think time will show Crosby to be the better player.
One of the three chiming in… ; )
I find myself watching the Pens any time they are on Versus. With Crosby, Malkin and Jordan Staal, they have become a fun team to watch and with the new rule changes opening up the ice, they have more room to work and come up with some great highlight passes and goals. Sad thing is, with the casino deal getting shot down in Pittsburgh this week, they’ll most likely have to move after this season once their lease on Mellon Arena expires.
Canes fan here, and hoping that they are in the process of righting the ship. Looking forward to the New Year’s Eve game and party.
It would be great if the Pens would move to KC. I was too young to remember pro hockey there before the team left.
It’s going to be great to see how he develops. When he was 16, Gretzky identified him as the one with the potential to beat his scoring records. The game is opening up and that will help him and Pittsburgh is developing a good looking young team. I expect them to challenge for the Cup within a few years, if they can keep Staal, Crosby, Malkin together.
He is leading the league in scoring on an average team so it is impressive. He has a long way to go to be considered with some of the elites but so far he is looking like he is on the right track.
I love watching the Pens play nowadays. His strength on his skates is just astounding. The pass of the boards was good, but that’s good hockey knowledge. The play where he went through the Rangers a couple of weeks ago is a better barometer of what type of player he really is, though (at least I think so).
Did anyone see Malkin’s goal last week (maybe two weeks ago) where he pulled the puck between his own legs just outside the crease? He’s still got a lot to learn, but he’s incredible.
I played a lot of hockey with a couple of the defensemen on the Pens (Whitney and Welch), so I’ve become a fan.
I’m from the Kitchener/Waterloo area. Home of Jim Balsillie, soon to be owner of the Penguins. When he moves the Pens here, I’ll keep you guys posted on Crosbie’s exploits 
Brad
I’m from Pit and love the pens. Such a shame the deal went through. I hope Mario is just playing hardball by taking the team off the market and suggesting a move. The need and deserve a new arena in the burgh. I jsut can’t believe the city coughed it up for the stinking Pirates but not the pens. Seems to me there is some back channel stuff going on in Harrisburg to not grant the Isle of Capri the slots license. Whatever city gets them is getting a helluva good, young team.
Yeah, it’s pretty interesting here in the KW region with all the hype about JB buying (and moving) the Pens. There initially was a lot of talk that they would move them to Hamilton, ON because of their empty NHL-caliber arena. However, since Buffalo and Toronto could either boycott that move or charge huge $$$ to any team moving into their areas, this talk has dampened. Recent talk has been about moving them into Waterloo. The local KW radio station has even started picking up the feed of quite a few Pens games.
Brad
Well, the Pittsburgh mayor is scrambling to get something done and I hope he does…but if they do move I hope it is somewhere in Canada. I don’t want to follow the Kansas City Penguins. No offense to KC peeps…I’d just like to see Canada get some teams back.
Crosby, Malikn, and the 18yo on Pittsburg look to be a terrific trio. The best thing that might happen to them is Pittsburg moves to a new city, new market, and flourishes … like the Dallas Stars (Northstars), Colorado Avalance (Nordiques), and Carolina Hurricanes (Whalers).
I’m trying to get back into hockey, but I only have so much time, and well the Blackhawks are frustrating. They seem to be the “Rex Grossman of hockey”. They’re either winning or losing 7 straight.
I don’t know if you had seen the entire clip. I can see where they would only cut to that, but if you saw the whole rush from outside the zone, with the man onhim and protecting the puck the way he did without turning his back on the man was just unbelivable. Were the pass off the boards all it was, I would agree wiht you, it doesn’t tell you much, but the whole sequence was just phenomenal.
I only saw it on sportscenter, and I think I remember seeing him moving along the boards away from the net, spinning back towards the net, then fronting the defensemen, and then passing it off the boards.
I agree with you re: the strength on the skates thing and protecting the puck, though…the dude’s impressively strong in that regard.
Is KW actaully far enough away to avoid the market competition issue that Hamilton had to live with? I mean it is only another 45 minutes down the road. I used to live in Hamilton and watched them get frustrated on a regular basis by Toronto and Buffalo.
According to NHL rules, any club moving within an 80 kilometere radius of another team is required to pay a fee. In the case of Hamilton, they would have to pay territorial rights fees to both the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs. (The cost of paying off Buffalo and Toronto for territorial rights could be around $75 million). Waterloo would be outside the 80km. It’s around 100km.
Brad
I’m trying to get back into hockey, but I only have so much time, and well the Blackhawks are frustrating. They seem to be the “Rex Grossman of hockey”. They’re either winning or losing 7 straight.
That makes the Flyers who???
I went to the game Saturday vs. Ottawa … The Flyers are terrible. They can’t pass, don’t shoot, and have no defense (de-fence?) Plus, my daughter hits harder than they do.
If it wasn’t for Jerry, oops, Jeff Garcia (sorry: old habit) reviving the Eagles, there would be *no *pro sports in Philly.
Brad…you do know the deal fell through right?
Apparently now Balsillie is willing to look at options again. I guess Lemieux keeping his deposit changed his mind…??
Brad…you do know the deal fell through right?
Again? Last I heard (In your hometown KW Record on Dec 27) Balsillie wanted to go “arm-in-arm” with Mario to get a deal done.
From the KW website:
2006-12-27 03:20:32 ****
(Dec 27, 2006) – The on-again, off-again intrigue surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins and their possible sale to Waterloo billionaire Jim Balsillie continues. Late last week, the co-CEO of Research In Motion – who had earlier pulled his offer to buy the NHL team, raising the ire of Penguins owner Mario Lemieux – sent a letter to Lemieux apologizing for any misunderstandings involved.
However, part of his letter stated that we wanted to ensure the Pens stayed in Pittsburg. I’m sure it’s all contingent on the “free” arena. I highly doubt there’s any chance of the Pens coming to KW, but it’s more interesting reading than usual in this area…
Brad