Three Years Makes Quite A Difference in Penguins Roster for 2011 Winter Classic

 On January 1, 2011, it will be exactly three years from the first ever Winter Classic in 2008 where the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout. It seems like yesterday when Sidney Crosby scored that famous game winning goal in the shootout. Three years may not seem like a long time, but the Penguins roster has changed dramatically since then. Only 8 of the 23 players remain on the Penguins currently. That includes players that were injured in 2008 as well as right now. Let's take a look at the 2008 Winter Classic roster:
D Rob Scuderi







D Darryl Sydor







C Jordan Staal







LW Ryan Malone






C Erik Christensen






RW Petr Sykora






LW Adam Hall






D Ryan Whitney






RW Colby Armstrong






RW Georges Laraque






G Dany Sabourin






G Ty Conklin






LW Jarkko Ruutu






C Jeff Taffe






D Brooks Orpik






RW Tyler Kennedy






D Sergei Gonchar






D Kris Letang






LW Evgeni Malkin






C Sidney Crosby





 G Marc-Andre Fleury (Injured)





C Max Talbot (Injured)





D Mark Eaton (Injured)

2011 Tentative Roster:

G Brent Johnson

D Alex Goligoski

D Zbynek Michalek

D Deryk Engelland

D Ben Lovejoy

D Paul Martin

RW Pascal Dupuis

C Mark Letestu

LW Chris Kunitz






C Mike Rupp






RW Chris Conner






LW Matt Cooke






C Max Talbot






RW Craig Adams






RW Eric Godard






G Marc-Andre Fleury






D Brooks Orpik






RW Arron Asham






LW Tyler Kennedy






D Kris Letang






C Evgeni Malkin






C Sidney Crosby






C Jordan Staal (Injured)

C Mike Comrie (Injured)

 The eight players that were on that 2008 roster were Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Max Talbot, and Tyler Kennedy. At least seven of them will likely play in the 2011 Winter Classic. Staal is battling a hand injury and could miss the game, but he has not ruled it out just yet.

Where Are They Now? A Look at the 2008 former Penguins who participated in the Winter Classic:

Rob Scuderi: Signed a four year deal with the Los Angeles Kings in 2009.

Darryl Sydor: Retired

Ryan Malone: In the summer of 2008, he signed a seven year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Erik Christensen: Playing for the New York Rangers after they claimed him on waivers.

Petr Sykora: Playing for the Dynamo Minsk in the KHL.

Adam Hall: Currently playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Ryan Whitney: Currently playing for the Edmonton Oilers after he was traded there from Anaheim.

Colby Armstrong: Signed a three year deal this summer with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Georges Laraque: Retired

Dany Sabourin: Currently playing for the Hershey Bears in the AHL.

Ty Conklin: Currently playing for the St. Louis Blues.

Jarkko Ruutu: Currently playing for the Ottawa Senators.

Jeff Taffe: Currently playing for the Rockford Icehogs in the AHL.

Sergei Gonchar: Left the Penguins this summer to sign a three year contract with the Ottawa Senators.

Mark Eaton: Left the Penguins this summer to sign a two year contract with the New York Islanders.

Around the NHL- 12/26

Merry Christmas everyone! (Or Happy Holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas- we want to be politically correct after all!) I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got everything you wanted, especially if you asked for Penguins and/or hockey related merchandise.

The Penguins are rolling, Crosby and Fleury continue to dominate, Malkin is back, and HBO's 24/7 is better than any of us could've hoped. I'd call that a pretty good end to the year. Not to mention the Winter Classic and Alumni Game are just around the corner. Is there a better way to close out 2010?

Christmas Day Games-

None.

Boxing Day Games-

7:00 pm

Toronto Maple Leafs @ New Jersey Devils

Montreal Canadiens @ New York Islanders

Washington Capitals @ Carolina Hurricanes

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Atlanta Thrashers

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Chicago Blackhawks

Nashville Predators @ St. Louis Blues

Detroit Red Wings @ Minnesota Wild

7:30 pm

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Ottawa Senators

8:00 pm

Phoenix Coyotes @ Dallas Stars

9:00 pm

Edmonton Oilers @ Vancouver Canucks

Anaheim Ducks @ L.A. Kings

Injury Report-

-Here's the exciting news for Pens fans- via Mike Colligan of TheHockeyWriters.com, Jordan Staal stated that he did NOT suffer a second break in his hand. He also hinted that he could be back in time for the Winter Classic! If he returned before or at the WC, THAT would be the best possible way to close out 2010/welcome 2011. Staal skated today in Ottawa. He didn't skate with any Penguins lines at practice but he took part in some drills and one-on-one work with the coaches.

-Injury news in Buffalo is not nearly as exciting for Sabres fans. Derek Roy, Buffalo's leading scorer, is done for the season with a torn left quadriceps tendon courtesy of Panthers' defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. Roy will undergo surgery sometime this coming week. His estimated recovery time is four to six months. This is a just a small dose of the misery Buffalo fans experience after season. Count your blessings, Pens fans.

-Red Wings fans didn't get off much better. Pavel Datsyuk broke his hand last Wednesday against Vancouver and will miss four weeks.

-Marian Hossa, who has not played since November 27 for Chicago, has been activated from IR, so we will see him in the lineup tonight against Columbus. Someone got their Christmas wish! Patrick Kane has taken Hossa's place on IR so he will not play, despite practicing this morning. He could return Tuesday, according to Joel Quenneville.

-Speaking of the Blackhawks, goalie Corey Crawford is sick and will not play tonight. Marty Turco will make his first start in net since December 13 against the Blue Jackets tonight.

-Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith will miss another week (at least) with a sprained ligament. This may not be a #DanEllisproblem, but it sure is a #TampaBayLightningproblem.

-Taylor Pyatt has been placed on IR after sustaining an upper body injury after fighting Deryk Engelland on December 20th. Even worse news for the Coyotes is that Vezina finalist Ilya Bryzgalov is still out, also with an upper body injury.

Trades/Signings-

None.

Other News-

-The underachieving New Jersey Devils dismissed head coach John MacLean and brought back a former New Jersey head coach; Jacques Lemaire. Three times the charm, I guess.

-Milan Lucic will not be suspended for his role in a scrum in the Bruins-Thrashers game last Thursday, which resulted in a match penalty. Following Lucic's disciplinary hearing, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli stated that Lucic will be fined $3,500 ($2,500 for a punch thrown during a scrum and another $1,000 for an obscene gesture aimed at Atlanta's bench. He will travel to Florida with the team and be able to play Monday against the Panthers.

Happy Boxing Day everyone! Go Pens.

Happy Holidays from Pens Nation!

-On behalf of all of our writers, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We appreciate all of our readers as we hope to continue to do more for this blog. Stay tuned for more podcasts and more for the new year!

Malkin Coming Alive

For much of last season and the start of this season, Pittsburgh Penguins fans were saying that Evgeni Malkin was underachieving. After battling through injuries to his shoulder and knee, Malkin has missed a decent amount of games. Malkin played in a career low 67 games last season and had his lowest point total of his NHL career. He also had the highest amount of penalty minutes in his career last season. With enormous expectations each year, fans began to worry whether they would see the “Geno” they are used to seeing. The 24 year old Russian has already won an Art Ross trophy as well as a Conn Smythe trophy, both in 2009 when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. After being selected by Pittsburgh as the second overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, Malkin did not make his NHL debut until the 2006-07 season since he played in Russia. There was a large transfer dispute that prevented Malkin from coming to the United States. When he came to Pittsburgh, he made an immediate impact by winning the Calder Memorial trophy, given to the league’s top rookie.

This season, Malkin has shown flashes of his talent, but it seemed like he could not get a break. After the first 26 games of the season, he had a total of 22 points, far from what fans expect of him. The Penguins center has been bothered by a sore knee and it may have been affecting his performance. After sitting out four games to let it heal, Malkin has been lighting the lamp quite a bit. After a career high five point performance in the Penguins 6-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday, he has reached 30 points. Therefore, he has recorded eight points in his last three games. Five of those eight points are goals, which puts his goal total at 13, which is 24th in the NHL. Many people have noticed his recent surge, including fans of other teams. While the Penguins fans have been supporting their team for the NHL All-Star Game, Malkin picked up a total of 31,152 votes last week to move past Steven Stamkos for the third position among forwards. His teammates center Sidney Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang are the top two vote getters thus far. Even Max Talbot, who has played on Malkin’s line this season has been voting for him. “Everyday. That’s all I do. Six votes a day I’m allowed to,” Talbot said. While the Penguins fans and players try to get Malkin into the All-Star Game, Malkin hopes his recent surge continues as Pittsburgh is gearing up for a game against the Florida Panthers tonight as well as a date with their rival, the Washington Capitals tomorrow night. The entire hockey world will be watching the highly anticipated Pittsburgh-Washington matchup, which is a perfect time for “Geno” to shine.

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