Lemieux Returns To Ice In Staff Scrimmage

 -In anticipation of the Penguins-Capitals Alumni Game on December 31st at Heinz Field, Mario Lemieux, Brian Trottier, and Phil Bourque all took part in the staff scrimmage today to get some practice. Those three former players will participate in the alumni game. Lemieux showed that he can still play scoring three goals and recording an assist. The Penguins roster currently includes Lemieux, Trottier, Bourque, Ron Francis, Bob Errey, Rob Brown, Bill Guerin, Craig Simpson, Rick Tocchet, Jay Caufield, Dave Hannan, and Paul Coffey, according to Faceoff Factor. The Capitals roster only includes Peter Bondra, Mike Gartner, and Rod Langway at the moment. Full rosters should be announced soon.


Here is a video of Marios's performance today:


 

Penguins-Flyers Live Blog

As I hope you all know, the Penguins take on the Flyers tonight in Philadelphia with both their winning streak and Crosby's point streak on the line. Not to mention first place in the Atlantic Division.

In honor of the occasion, we have decided to host the first-ever Pens Nation live blog. Tune in tonight at 7 pm and you can join Andy, Josh, Dan, Nick and myself in discussing the game as it happens!

(Warning: I will be monitoring everyone's comments so try not to say anything *too* offensive if you want to take part. We'd like to try and maintain a modicum of dignity/professionalism, after all.)

Penguins and Capitals To Play Alumni Game at Heinz Field

-Mario Lemieux is returning to the ice once again....for one day at least. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that an alumni game between the Penguins and Washington Capitals will be played on December 31, 2010 at Heinz Field. Lemieux will join Bill Guerin, Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, and Bryan Trottier for Pittsburgh. The only Capitals player that was announced was Peter Bondra. The entire roster will be announced later. After the 9:30 AM game, the Penguins will hold a practice on the outdoor rink.

Around the NHL- 12/9

It's official- Bill Guerin has retired from the NHL after 18 years in the league. As I'm sure you all saw, he officially retired as a Penguin in a ceremony before Monday night's game against the Devils, the other team with whom he won a Cup. (Coincidence? Or not?) The Penguins handled the whole situation like the world-class organization they are, with a collage (pictured above) and video dedicated to Guerin. Oh and they gave his family a paid vacation to Hawaii. Still wondering why players are so willing to waive their no-trade clauses to come to Pittsburgh?

It says a lot about the organization that Guerin choose to retire as a Penguin. He was drafted by and won his first Cup with the Devils and also played for the Oilers, Bruins, Stars, Blues, Sharks and Islanders. He was with the Penguins for only a season and a half yet his time with the team definitely left a lasting impression. He clearly loved playing in Pittsburgh.

We, as fans, returned that love. Much like Gary Roberts before him, Guerin became a fan favorite in a short period of time. His sense of humor and the leadership role he filled on and off the ice endeared him to Pittsburgh fans. Look no further than the "one more year!" chants from the Stanley Cup championship parade in 2009. A good number of fans have said that Guerin in one of their all-time favorite Penguins, which is saying a lot.

As for his future, Guerin is still weighing his options. He said for now he's content spending time with his family, but it's safe to say the hockey world hasn't seen the last of him. There are rumblings that Ray Shero will give him a front office position with the Penguins. There's also been talk of Guerin going into hockey broadcasting. Whatever he chooses to do, we wish him the very best of luck. Enjoy that trip to Hawaii, Billy G, and be sure that your son's awesome Ogie Ogilthrope hair isn't eaten by sea turtles.

Last Night's Games-

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs found out the difference between the Pens and the Caps. The Penguins had a comfortable 4-0 lead, only to fall asleep in the third period and let Toronto score two successive goals. Fortunately, MAF was working overtime and held down the fort with a number of key saves. Mark Letestu netted his second goal of the game (his first two-goal NHL game) to make it 5-2 Pens.

The Penguins have now won 11 straight games. Sid scored two goals last night to keep his scoring streak alive at 17 games. Kevin Burgundy of Stay Classy fame pointed out that Sid alone has more goals and points than the Senators top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Alex Kovalev. Crosby has 26 goals and 50 points; Alfredsson, Spezza and Kovalev have 21 goals and 47 points.

San Jose Sharks vs. Philadelphia Flyers

This was a hilarious game for Pens fans. The Flyers had a 3-0 lead only to see the Sharks come back and send the game into OT with a 4-4 score. Mike Richards scored what would've been the game-winner in overtime... except that it crossed the line 0.1 seconds too late. The Sharks then went on to win 2-0 in the shootout for a final score of 5-4.

How good is Logan Couture? He hasn't been getting a lot of media attention, but in my mind he's one of the leading Calder nominees right now.

Nashville Predators vs. Detroit Red Wings

This was a game that the Predators desperately needed to win. They've been on a bit of a skid of late and have been struggling score goals. A signature win over what has been the NHL's signature franchise for the past 10 trillion years was just what the doctor ordered. The Preds took an early 2-0 and rookie goaltender Anders Lindback (filling in for the injured Pekka Rinne) never relinquished that lead. The Preds ended up winning 3-2. Detroit is actually in a bit of a slump themselves, this being their third straight loss, a franchise record. Detroit fans are in a panic, not used to all this losing. Islanders and Leafs fans have no sympathy.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars

Despite Chicago being extremely banged up right now and missing two of their best players (Hossa and Kane), they found a way to beat the Pacific Division leading Stars, 5-3. Even though Chicago lead the entire game, it was extremely close and back-and-forth. The final score probably should've been 4-3; Patrick Sharp wristed an empty-netter with about two seconds left to play. Mike Richards hates him for that.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Anaheim Ducks

For the second straight game, the Ducks found themselves in a shootout. Unfortunately, Cam Fowler wasn't enough in this shootout as the Canucks won 5-4 after coming back from behind twice in regulation. The Ducks scored first, only to have the Canucks score twice. The Ducks then scored three unanswered goals to make it 4-2. Vancouver, bolstered by Ryan Kesler's heroics, scored another two goals to tie it 4-4 and Jeff Tambellini's lone shootout goal was enough to win it for the Canucks.

Tonight's Games-

7:00 pm

New York Islanders @ Boston Bruins

San Jose Sharks @ Buffalo Sabres

Philadelphia Flyers at Toronto Maple Leafs

Florida Panthers @ Washington Capitals

7:30 pm

New York Rangers @ Ottawa Senators

8:00 pm

Columbus Blue Jackets @ St. Louis Blues

9:00 pm

Minnesota Wild @ Phoenix Coyotes

10:30 pm

Calgary Flames @ Los Angeles Kings

Injury Report-

-Malkin is probably still a few games away from returning from his knee injury. Still no word on when we can expect to see J. Staal back in the lineup. Mike Comrie shows no sign of recovering from the suck bug (see our podcast).

-Andy McDonald of the St. Louis Blues is out indefinitely with a concussion.

-Patrick Kane is going to miss a maximum of three weeks with a lower body injury.

-The Blackhawks also placed Marian Hossa on IR to clear up roster room. Rob Klinkhammer and Jeremy Morin were recalled in his absence.

-Willie Mitchell, who's been out with a broken wrist, could return to the Kings lineup any day now.

-Vinny Prospal is skating with the rest of the Rangers for the first time since his knee surgery. He should be back in the lineup sometime after Christmas.

-Dion Phaneuf will return to the Leafs lineup tonight against Philly.

Trades/Signings-

-Nothing official, just a rumor that Shero is talking to Pascal Dupuis and his agent about a deal to keep him in Pittsburgh. Dupuis is slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Other News-

-Michael Del Zotto will be a healthy scratch for the Rangers tonight. Matt Gilroy will play in his place.

-Jere Lehtinen, a 14-year veteran, has decided to join Guerin in retirement. A three-time Selke winner and one-time Cup champion, Lehtinen spent his entire NHL career with the Dallas Stars. Best of luck to him.

-Congratulation to Flyers defenseman Matt Walker and his wife Kate on the birth of their daughter and first child Georgia Isabel. She was born this morning at 5:32 a.m. Mom and baby are doing well.

-For my fellow Twitter addicts out there: Matt Duchene of the Avs is officially on Twitter. You can follow him at @Matt9Duchene.

The Penguins have only four games over the next 13 games. Stay strong everyone. Go Pens.

PensNation Podcast 12-4-10

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Around the NHL- 12/3

If you spent last night watching LeBron's return to Cleveland instead of one or more of the numerous hockey games that were on, may God have mercy on your soul and save you from the fires of hell.

That is all.

Last Night's Games-

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Atlanta Thrashers

Sid. What a beast. That pretty much sums up the game right there.

The Penguins beat the Thrashers 3-2, extending their winning streak to eight straight. Crosby scored all three Penguin goals for his seventh career hat trick and his first natural hat trick. (For those of you who don't know what a natural hat trick is, shame on you. You call yourself a hockey fan! Kidding, kidding. A natural hat trick is when the player who scored said hat trick scores all three goals in a row. No one else has a goal in between their three.) The Penguins now lead the Atlantic Division (the Flyers were idle last night) and Crosby is now tied for the NHL lead in goals (21) and is the overall leader points (44). I can't say anything about him that hasn't already been said, so I'm not going to bother. Be grateful for what you have, fellow Pens fans. We're extremely privileged to be able to watch a player like Crosby night in and night out.

Brian "Chicken" Little and Nik Antropov scored the goals for Atlanta.

(Funniest moment of the night- I forgot exactly who brought it up, but at some point it was said that the Thrashers "would love to win over the fans there [in Atlanta]." Whoever said that clearly has no idea that the Thrashers do not, in fact, have fans.)

Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Marc Savard returned from the dead last night and apparently his resurrection was contagious. The Bruins' offense sprang to life, putting up 8 goals on the Lighting for an 8-1 win. David Krejci had two goals for Boston and the other six were scored by Milan Lucic, Dennis Seidenburg, Shawn Thornton, Mark Recci and Blake Wheeler. (Interesting sidenote- when Milan Lucic scores a goal this season, the Bruins are 9-0-0.) Victor Hedman had Tampa's lone tally. Goalie Mike Smith got pulled after the Bruins' fifth goal and was replaced was Dan Ellis, who didn't fare much better. A 3.02 GAA and .888 save percentage are just two more #DanEllisProblems.

Also, Stamkos had now been held without a goal for four straight games.

San Jose Sharks vs. Ottawa Senators

Possibly the biggest hockey story of the night, Dany Heatley returned to Ottawa for the first time since demanding a trade and being send to San Jose. Even though Ottawa fans are usually much more placid than the average NHL crowed, but even they were extremely angry and gave Heatley a very rude homecoming. There were the usual signs, the boos, an old Heatley Sens jersey was thrown on the ice in protest, etc. One Senators fan went above and beyond even bitter Cavs fans, placing miniature Heatley figurines placed in the urinals in the men's bathroom. (Well played, sir.) This didn't seem to deter Heatley- he was determined to show-up his former team and actually played with effort. You had to see it to believe it. Kevin Burgundy of Stay Classy wondered via Twitter how Heatley had any saliva left, he was playing so hard. (You all know my theory- he had saliva to spare because he wasn't demanding a trade for once.)

Oh yeah, and the Sharks won 4-0. Logan Couture had two goals, Patrick Marleau had one and Justin Braun had the other. Heatley had two assists on the night.

Edmonton Oilers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Cheer up, Sens fans- you weren't the only ones who were shutout last night. The Oilers beat the Maples Leafs 5-0 in Khabibulin's return from a groin injury. (Ontario hockey is looking grim this season.) Taylor Hall notched two goals, Jordan Eberle had one, Sam Gagner had one and Ryan Jones had Edmonton's final tally.

Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils

At the beginning of this season, who would've predicted that the Thrashers would be a better team than the Devils? The Canadiens, who lost a tough one on the road the night before, took out their frustration on the Devils, who didn't exactly put up much of a fight. The Habs beat New Jersey 5-1. Five different Habs contributed on the scoresheet, team captain Brian Gionta, Lars Eller, Tom Pyatt, Scott Gomez and Benoit Pouliot. (Expect maybe, MAYBE for Gionta, I guarantee none of you have any of those guys on your fantasy teams.)

Jason Arnott ruined Carey Price's shutout bid about halfway through the 3rd period. A shutout would've tied Price for NHL lead in shutouts. He is also tied for most wins (15) in the NHL. Maybe the Canadiens management knew what they were doing when they traded away Halak after all...?

New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders

One of the more underappreciated rivalries in the NHL (mainly because the Islanders suck) saw a very bizarre game last night. The Rangers and Islanders both scored over two goals, Marty Biron was replaced by Henrik Lundqvist instead of the other way around and Sean Avery played on the Rangers first line. Think about that. Let it really sink in for a moment. Sean Avery played on the top line. Even stranger was that, well, it worked. In this crazy back-and-forth, seesaw-esque game, the Rangers came out on top 6-5, even after blowing a two-goal lead. Twice. Marian Gaborik had his second hat trick of the season (including the game winner) with Avery on his line for the first time. Bizarre. Erik Christensen, Ryan Callahan and Brandon Prust also had goals for the NYR. Zenon Konopka (who?), Matt Moulson, Rob Schremp, Michael Grabner and Blake Comeau all tailled for the Isles.

Good news for the Islanders- defenseman Andrew MacDonald was back in the lineup last night. He'd missed 15 games with a broken wrist. Bad news for the Islanders- their power play is now 0-for-30. Yikes.

Dallas Stars vs. Washington Capitals

This was a surprisingly entertaining game, although Caps fans might use a different word for it. The Stars got extremely lucky late in the third period. John Carlson appeared to have tipped in a game tying goal with literally 7.6 seconds left to play, but it was ruled that Ovechkin, who was tangled up with Dallas d-man Karlis Skrastins, had interfered with the goaltender. (Both Ovechkin and Skrastins crashed into backup goalie Andrew Raycroft, who was laid out on the ice when Carlson's shot when it.) Apparently Bruce Boudreau's face turned that spectacular shade of red only Bruce Boudreau's face can reach. And then his head exploded.

Dallas ended up winning 2-1. Mike Ribeiro scored first for the Stars. Mike Knuble tied it in the third, only to have Brandon Segal score what turned out to be the game winner on Caps goalie Michal Neuvirth. Although he did get assisted by the disallowed goal, Raycroft certainly deserved the win, stopping 37 shots for the Stars.

Los Angeles Kings vs. Florida Panthers

The Kings, who had adopted Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" as their new team song after a two-week losing skid that saw them drop 10 spots in the Western Conference, finally pulled out a win last night. They beat the Panthers 3-2, thanks mainly in part to Anze Kopitar's late wrist shot. It was the Kings first full 60-minute effort in over two weeks. Jared Stroll gave L.A. the early lead but the Panthers tied it up with back-to-back goals from Michal Repik and David Booth. With Jonathan Quick holding down the fort, the Kings scored two unanswered goals, the first by Peter Harrold and then Kopitar's game winner.

Tonight's Games-

7:00 pm

New York Islanders @ New York Rangers

Colorado Avalanche @ Carolina Hurricanes

7:30 pm

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Buffalo Sabres

8:00 pm

Calgary Flames @ Minnesota Wild

8:30 pm

Vancouver Canucks @ Chicago Blackhawks (I'm benching Luongo tonight in fantasy)

10:00 pm

Detroit Red Wings @ Anaheim Ducks

Injury Report-

-Max Talbot took a shot to the leg in practice and had to be helped off the ice. (Yet a Dustin Byfuglien slapshot in the face left him unfazed.) He will make the trip to Columbus with the team and be reevaluated before Saturday night's game.

-Malkin and Orpik both missed practice today. Apparently Malkin was "banged up" yesterday against Atlanta and took a maintenance day. Orpik was out due to an illness. He probably caught whatever Arron Asham had.

-Pekka Rinne has an undisclosed lower-body injury and will miss at least one game for the Predators.

-Evander Kane did not play against the Pens last night (to Matt Cooke's relief) with a leg injury. There is no official word on his status, but he did skate this morning with the team.

-Steve Downie sprained his ankle and is out indefinitely. Remember, no matter how dirty or how much of a cheap shot artist a guy is, you never want to see a guy get hu.... oh, the guy I'm playing in fantasy hockey this week has Downie on his team...

-Aaron Voros has the flu and will miss tonight's game against the Red Wings. Matt Belesky has been recalled from the Syracuse Crunch to take his place.

-Colby Armstrong is set to return to the Leafs lineup on Saturday.

-This just in: Habs defenseman Andrei Markov will undergo knee surgery on December 8th. The Canadiens official site is saying that he's done for the season.

Trades/Signings-

-Yesterday, it was reported that the Bruins had traded left winger Marco Sturm to the Kings for a conditional draft pick, but both Bruins' GM and the L.A. Kings' insider reported that there was no done deal. Sturm, who is rehabbing from a knee injury, would have to pass a physical first. So there is no trade as of yet, but that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future.

Other News-

-Very cool story involving the Winter Classic. During the week leading up to the WC, an outdoor, NHL-sized public rink will be built adjacent to Heinz Field. It will be open to the public starting December 24th up until January 2nd. And get this- the boards and Zambonis from Civic Arena will be used in the rink!

The NBA still sucks. Go Pens.

This Week In Pens Nation-First Time for Everything!

Hellooooooo Nation, this week I will have a special post, so with 2010 winding down, here are the first's for CEC in 2010!

Consol Energy Center firsts August-December 2010

First Event: Paul McCartney-August 18, 2010


First Game: September 22, 2010 (PIT vs. DET)

First Anthem Singer: Jeff Jimerson


First Goal: Pittsburgh, Mike Comrie


First Fight: Jesse Boulerise vs. Aaron Downey


First Sellout: September 22, 2010 (18,087)

First Overtime: October 15, 2010 (PIT vs. NYI)

First Win: September 22, 2010 (PIT 5 DET 1)

First Regular Season Win: October 15, 2010 (PIT 3 NYI 2 F/OT)


First Shootout: November 19, 2010 (PIT vs. CAR)


First Hat Trick: November 27, 2010 (Crosby vs. CGY)


First College Hockey Game: October 17, 2010 (RMU vs. Air Force)


First Basketball Game: December 1, 2010 (PITT vs. DUQ)



First WWE Event: December 27, 2010 (Friday Night SmackDown!)

First Harlem Globetrotters Game: December 26, 2010

First AHL Game: December 30, 2010

It's been a great half-year for Consol Energy Center, and I will get get better (except for Justin Bieber, yikes)

Merry Christmas. Go Pens.