I am alive

Hello friends, readers, fellow Pittsburgh fans... I wanted to take the time to tell you I am alive, just been ridiculously busy with work and did not have time to watch any Pens games or blog. So I've been out of the loop for a week or so and may be for a while longer while I play catch up. I just started watching the game that aired 8 days ago on Versus (against the Blue Jackets) last night off my DVR.

Some bad news if you haven't heard already:

TK won't be playing in tonight's game against Montreal due to an "undisclosed injury." My response to this? "NOOOOOOOO!" Tyler Kennedy is a clutch player and a really important part of our amazing third line. I think this will hurt us. Hopefully his injury is not too serious. TK has started off the season very well for us. I don't have his stats memorized or available to me at this moment, but he's got to have a decent amount of points. Chris Bourque will take Kennedy's spot tonight.

Let's go Pens!

Pens-Lightning Recap

Good game last night. I think the Pens came out a little slow, but got their shit together soon thereafter and Billy G put one right through the 4x6. Woo! 1-0 Pens in the 1st period thanks to a power play.

Cupcake (Jay McKee) had an awesome game with a total of 7 blocked shots. I knew he would be a great addition/replacement D-man to the team before he even rolled into town. He's leading the league in blocked shots right now. Yeah!

Serrrgei Goncharrrr looked awesome as well last night. I was disappointed that one of his (originally two) goals was taken away and given to Pascal Dupuis... looking at the replay, I still can't see where Dupuis got his stick on the puck, but whatever, a Pens goal is a goal no matter who scored so I should be happy. Gonch looked so sweet last night, well, he's such a talent at scoring from the blue line with his quick wristers that this should come as no surprise, I am just in awe of him every time he scores. His goals are beautiful! I don't know whose wristers I like better, Sarge's or Tanger's... that is a very hard decision.

Speaking of Tanger, I thought he skated well last night. Bob and Paul were giving him some much-needed love and the media production was giving me lovely close-ups of him. Yay. Thank you FSN Pittsburgh! :)

Fleury went 22/23 for the night and is 7-0. MAF is great. I'll say it time and time again.

I can't spend too much time on here because I've got to drive to a bar to watch the Steelers destroy the Brownies at 10 AM so I'll sign-off now and leave you with this:
(Can't post pics today for some reason)

Stunned.

Bust out the blues

Tonight the Penguins will be sporting their third jerseys (alternates) for the first time this season when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at home.

I know everyone is somewhat freaked out because of what happened last time we wore our blues, but you've got to put the superstition behind you and move on. That was last year. This year we're defying ordinary, damnit! I really like our powder blues. It was cool to see them be worn in the Winter Classic in 2008. In addition to tonight, they'll be wearing them for the games listed below:

Oct. 30 at Columbus
Nov. 16 vs. Anaheim
Nov. 27 at New York Islanders
Dec. 3 vs. Colorado
Dec. 12 vs. Florida
Dec. 27 vs. Toronto
Jan. 5 vs. Atlanta
Jan. 28 vs. Ottawa
Feb. 1 vs. Buffalo
Feb. 14 vs. Nashville
March 6 vs. Dallas

Sport Illustrated ranked all of the NHL's third jerseys and the Pens were #1. This is what Sarah Kwak, of SI, had to say about the blues:

"If you're going to create a third jersey, you might as well make it a memorable departure from the normal fare. The color, a nod to the Pens of the '70s, and the vintage look make this a perfect marriage of tradition of fun -- and our pick as the best of the new 19."

The blue jerseys were originally worn from 1968 to 1972.

Let's go retro

Today's post is in reply to Joe Concha's MSN Fox Sports article "Best/worst of NFL's retro uniforms."

First off, I want to throw out the disclaimer that my somewhat hostile responses are all in good fun. I really shouldn't need to say that, but I just wanted everyone to be clear on it before I begin. These are totally my opinions and I don't care if you agree with me or not. All pics are from Getty Images. I'm not going to respond to every team uniform Concha has mentioned, but just a select few.

Joe says:

Lame outfit: Broncos

Hey, San Diego Padres of 1984: Eat your heart out!

I agree that the yellow and brown aren't the best mix, but come on, there's something about Denver's socks that are mesmerizing in an awesomely ridiculous way. Btw, you know everyone was talking about them, so really, they were getting noticed and giving them publicity. You know what they say, even bad publicity is still publicity. PS- aren't the Broncos first in their division?

Joe says:

Lame outfit: Jets (formerly the Titans)

Remember the Titans? After looking at these uniforms, we don't want to!

Wtf? I could look at this uni all day! I think it's hott! I wish the Steelers had this as their retro uni instead. I love everything about it- the stripe down the pant leg, the number, the sleeves... it's classic.

Joe says:
Lame outfit: Steelers

How many fans in the stands do you ever see wearing these things? Would you drop over your hard-earned money for the brown and yellow when you could pay the same amount and go classic black and gold instead? I thought not.

Um, me, bitch. I own a Roethlisberger throwback. I don't wear it anymore, though, because all three times I did, we lost. That jersey is cursed and I will probably never wear it again. I wore it when I watched the Colts and Chargers play in the AFC playoffs last year. Being from San Diego, naturally I was rooting for Peyton and the Colts since I hate the Chargers. Guess what, the Chargers won that game, damnit, thus further proving that my throwback jersey is cursed. That's 60 dollars I will never get back... I never really thought the throwback uni was brown, more like dark navy/black. And our throwback helmets are sickkkkk. Love them, hater. Of course I like our regular uniforms better; they are one of the best unis in the league! They scream dominance and who doesn't love hypocycloids?

Joe says:

Lame outfit: Eagles

Why, oh why, go back to a uniform color and scheme absolutely NO ONE remembers???

Why the hate, Joe? What's wrong with the powder blue and yellow? I actually like these colors together. I don't understand how you can criticize the Eagles' throwbacks and then praise the Rams' hideous blue and bright I-will-go-blind-highlighter-yellow throwback uniforms.

Joe says:

Lame outfit: Buccaneers

Ok, but then he says, "Tampa has the coolest throwbacks out there."

So, which is it, hypocrite? Do you like them or not?

I'm gonna go with 2nd coolest with the 1st being the Jets/Titans. Tampa's throwbacks remind me of vintage USC. Love it. Too bad they don't get to wear their's this year.

President's Day

Columbus Day? Thanksgiving? Psh. President's Day came early on October 12th. President Kennedy dominated the 2nd period of Monday's game against the Ottawa Senators.

Things I'd like to mention:

Billy G's goal was amazing. The way he dove to get the shot in the net off his own rebound was awesome. At the age he is (38), really throwing his body out there to get the goal was great to see. Love you, Billy G. Major props for effort.

Chris Kunitz was really working hard. I never mention him so I thought it was time he got some acknowledgement for all the hard work he puts into each shift on the ice. Some nice hits against the glass too, as usual :)

Staal looked a little clumsy- he was a bit off. Jay McKee totally saved his ass once after he let a puck get past him and there was another time someone else saved him later in the game - I just forget who it was right now. However, I will say this, that is not typical of Staalsy so I will let it slide. He is crazy talented. Let's remember that he did get a rebound goal against the Sens off of Mike Rupp's shot.

TK's first goal of the night was great. Lucky it got past Leclaire like that. I'll take it! His 2nd goal was a sweet ass slapshot. Loved it! Clutch goals fersher. TK OWNED the 2nd period. Really wanted to see the President record his first career Hat Trick. Oh well, next time, TK. You will get it soon. He is a great player and the Cooke-Staal-Kennedy 3rd line is so solid. Love those boys.

I really like seeing Staal on Malkin's line. I think those two together could do some real damage. Of course you don't want to destroy the awesomeness of the solid 3rd line I just talked about, but it would be nice if Danny Balls experimented with that line change this season because I think it could be really effective. Staalsy is just SO GOOD for the age he is, which is only 21 as of September, I believe.

MAF is a beast. He played SUCH a good game. Yay Flower. Awesome. That's all you can say about the guy. Champion goaltending right therrrr. He was a wall all night. Solid. Oh and:

Dear Sens,

When there's only about 5 minutes left in the 3rd period, don't pull a page out of the Flyer's book and think running into our awesome goalie is going to help you win the game.

The Sportsnet commentators just said that when the Penguins visited the White House after their championship season last year, Mario walked onto the stage and Billy G goaded him by asking, "And you are?" which is a reference to when Mario first won the cup and visted the White House back after the 1991 Cup Finals. George Sr. was the Prez at the time and asked Mario that. Can you believe it?! hahahaha

Random information about that trip to the White House: The Pens were the first NHL team to ever visit the White House, period. That's legit.

Pens win 4-1 against the Sens. Woooo!

Wednesday's game is a... wait for it... 2-Staal brother game! Eric and the Canes take on Jordan and the Pens. Staal Brothers Drinking Game! We all know how things went down the last time these two teams played. Malkin had the most amazing goal I have ever seen during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final and I immediately fell in love with him when he scored that goal.

<3

Kris Letasty is better than you

We've had two games this week so far, on Wednesday and Thursday. They were nothing alike. Wednesday's game against the Yotes had the Pens playing sloppy. they weren't working together, they looked kind of drunk out there on the ice taking dumb penalties (10 total!) The Yotes' 2 goals unshockingly both came from Power Plays and the 3rd was an empty netter. I think we should have beaten them. It looked like we weren't even trying. I'm not a big fan of Brent johnson in goal. He did ok, but he's no MAF. I guess they figured Brent could handle the Coyotes' offense. There was at least one time where he just stood there and did nothing as they came on the attack and scored. It was like, "what the hell are you doing?! Do something!" Did our boys go out and have too much fun the night before the game? Wtf? No excuse. 3-0. never like to see a shutout. Alright, get your heads back in the fucking game boys because we've got a long season ahead.

Against the Flyers on Thursday we looked mostly back in form so I don't know what the fuck Wednesday's game was all about. Malkin played terrible in that game. But I'm not here to criticize the team, I'm here to provide support and entertain you with colorful commentary. Malkin came out immediately like the ususal BAMF that he is and scored giving the Pens a 1-nothing lead. Awesome. Staalsy got a goal in the 1st period also and did Billy G got one not long into the 2nd. Always like to see these guys score. Colburn gave us a goal in the 2nd which we'll gladly take. Nothing like a guy getting an own goal. haha sucka. Staalsy was pleased. GoGo gets credit for it. Meh, you already know how I feel about him. TK scored what ends up being the game winner and you wish this had been a home game just so we can see Mr. Kennedy on the jumbotron announce it.

Craig Adams had a sick body check. It was hott. MAF had some unreal saves in this game.

MAF > Brent Johnson. He was also getting beat up. Flyers players ran into Fleury at least twice and nothing was done by the refs which is ridiculous.

At the end of the game, with I-kid-you-not 2 seconds left (!), my fav, Kris Letang, denies Scott Hartnell a scoring chance to make the game tied at 4-4. Hartnell then proceeds to grab Kris, throw him into the net which comes unhinged, and then wrestles him to the ice. Letang was just doing his job. In the middle of the scrum Hartnell bites Kris's finger. That is the alligation anyways. We can't see it from all the players around them, but after the refs come and break it up, Kris skates away holding his hand in pain. Wtf, this is not the Doner party. Chris Pronger was choking Chris Kunitz while the refs were right there! Total barbaricism by the Flyers. You should not resort to cannibalism to try to win the game. There was two seconds left! Ridic. It looks like Hartnell bit the ring finger on Kris's right hand. You can see it bandaged up in his post-game interview.

He didn't say that Hartnell bit him, but instead that "he knows what he did." Scott Hartnell, Kris Letang is better than you. Class act. Love you Tanger.

Here is a video of the scrum. Thanks to Stan over at Pens Head for the footage.

Here's Kris's post-game interview.

Random findings in the NHL catalog (Fall 2009 Issue)

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

The cover

Well, of course no one wants to see Ovi get all the attention on the cover, they probably figured they wouldn't be able to hang out free copies with just him on the cover so they wisely decided to include a picture of Sid with the Cup. The cup gets alllll the ladies.

Few pages in we see a hot guy sporting Pens gear. Ok, I like it. I like that hoodie too; I would prefer my made-up bf to wear that.. kthxbai.

Hate to say it, but he looks even hotter in this San Jose Sharks t-shirt. Damn, he makes the Sharks look hott.

Work it.

Again, how can we make this page look more appealing and not repulsive? Stick Sidney in there! Voilà!

And finally, that brings us to the "Original Retro Brand Pittsburgh Penguins Heathered T-shirt"
This one was not featured in the catalog (probably for the reasons stated below), but it's on the NHL Shop website.


"Don't mind me, I'm kind of a douche but you'll love me in this t-shirt!"

He kind of screams jackass, but I'd probably date him if he stopped using all that hair gel, shaved that ridiculous thing he calls facial hair and wore that shirt all the time.


To look at the whole catalog, click here.

Pens against the Coyotes tomorrow. The Coyotes are not the worst team in the league despite their off-season woes. Good for them. I no longer feel sorry for them and therefore, will not cut them any slack during this game.

Pretty in pink

Steelers win against the Chargers 38-28. It shouldn't even have been a 10 point game but whatevs, let's not dwell on it. A win's a win. Our boys looked pretty in pink as the NFL is showing it's support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Ben threw for 333 yards, had 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Rashard Mendenhall finally stepped up big and had a great game. He rushed for 165 yards on 29 carries and had 2 touchdowns.

Heath had a pretty good game with 2 touchdowns of his own and 8 catches for 70 yards.

Hines had 8 catches for 113 yards and had a SICK hit on some sad Charger, I forget who at the moment. Someone seriously needs to make a gif of that and then email it to me. Do it.

Mewelde Moore had 1 touchdown and threw to Heath Miller for one as well. That was awesome. Memo was 1 for 1 and something like 19 yards on that trick city play.

Pens win both games, Pirates win their game, Steelers win their game. City of Champions.

Thanks to the Morning Freak Show for letting me steal borrow stats.

Heeeeeeee shoots and scores

So far it's been a good weekend. Pens won against the Rangers 3-2 on Friday, a good way to kick off the season for them, and on Saturday against Billy G's former team, the NY Islanders in a 4-3 SO win.

At some point we take note that the Pens are defending last year's championship season and then it's shown that Pens > Islanders in all aspects when it comes to Lord Stanley's Cup.

Fail.

It's mentioned that Dan Potash's name should be on the cup. We fully support that notion here at SoCal Black 'N gold.

Just want to comment on a few things from the Isles' game.

The hit on Feds might have been clean, but it was still big and I'm not surprised to see our guys stand up for him. Malkin kind of brushed by to show his discontent since he is not really a fighter, nor is Pascal but he got in there a little bit. One of my fav newbies to the team, Jay McKee, really stepped up and showed his support by dropping the gloves. Paul and Bob tell us McKee is out for the rest of the game with an instigator penalty. Fail. Turns out he only got slapped with a 10 minute misconduct which is good for us because we were committing a TON of penalties in this game, consecutively right after another which was killing us. No wonder Tavares scored, they had about 3 or 4 Power Plays in a row. At one point it was 5 on 3 because McKee was serving his misconduct, Billy G stepped into the penalty box to serve for McKee, and Rupp and Malkin were already in there.

Third period we got our shit together and played really well. It would have been awesome if Brooksie had got that goal, but it's ok, we still love him. We came out and played more aggressive in the third period and I was really pleased with the effort put forth. Mark Eaton's goal was sweet. Too bad it was short-lived as the Islanders got one past Fleury to take the lead once more. I will say that throughout the entire game, MAF played like a champion. We already know he is one, but he was making crazy saves as if it were the playoffs. Chill MAF, you do know this is only the second game of the season and that it's against the Islanders, right? Still, it's nice to see that level of commitment regardless.

I thought Kris played exceptionally well. Alex was really sloppy during one of his shifts and I was about ready to scream at the tv for Danny Balls to get Tangers in there to save us all. Luckily for Goligoski, others like Billy G came to his rescue and steered the puck away. I don't know the totals for the night, but I'm sure Kris had a decent amount of blocked shots and he was getting fiesty towards the end of the game. I liked it. He had a nice hit on someone too. Hopefully we'll get to see more of that this season. I know he wasn't big on hitting guys last year because of his shoulder.

Islanders get a PP with a little over two minutes to go and you're just like fffffffff. We hold on for OT. No one scores. It's time for a shootout. MAF totally denies two attempts, one of them coming from the new Crosby, Tavares. Kris comes up with a big score and Sid buries in in the back for the win.

It's a good day to be a Pens fan.

We still have the Steelers/Chargers game later today and I'm really hoping we don't go on a three-game losing streak. We know Troy is still out, making this week four of his knee rehab and now Willie Parker has turf toe. We brought Isaac Redman up from the practice squad so look for him to make some big plays. Sad news is that the Steelers released Nick Eason. I really liked Nick Eason so this kind of came as a surprise to me. I found out via the Steeler's official facebook page. Lame. We have to play better and win today, if only so that I can have a pleasant day at work Monday. Bad thing about living in San Diego is all of the bandwagon Charger fans who give you shit at work all week.

Pens have already done their part to make this weekend a great, please don't let me down Steelers. Almost game time. Here we go, Steelers, here we go!

A night to remember

We are just a few hours away from the Penguins' season opener against the NY Rangers. Here is my time to mention a few things regarding tonight's game and other randomness from earlier in the week.

It looks like Sidney will be in the lineup tonight. He skated at morning practice and said he is feeling good and healthy.

Crosby, Malkin, Guerin, Gonchar and Goligoski will be the top PP unit. I must say, I am more a fan of Letang in there over GoGo. I always thought having Sid, Geno, Billy G, Gonch and Tangers was a winning PP unit and I don't want to see Letang get the shaft. While I know Goligoski brings a fresh look to the unit, I don't how how much of a difference it is going to make. Both Letang and Goligoski are offensive defensemen so I don't see much of a point in switching it up. Also, this is going to be Alex's first start in the NHL after bouncing back and forth throughout last season from the AHL to the NHL while Tangers has more experience. I truly believe Kris will continue to get better as he gains more experience year after year and especially from playing with Gonchar. I've seen what Kris can do and I like it. Alex has to prove himself to me.

Say goodbye to Paul Bissonnette. The Pens stuck him on waivers and I was not surprised when a team claimed him off of there. Biz Nasty will be moving to Phoenix to play for the Coyotes (for the time being anyways) unless they ever get sold and move. It was fun while it lasted, Biz Nasty. I'm really going to miss typing that nickname.

We all knew the second line had a vacant spot to be filled beside Malkin and Feds and now it's official that Pascal Dupuis will fill Maxie's spot while he's still out recovering from his off-season shoulder surgery.

Speaking of Max, he's been out buying more ridiculous shirts to wear in public. Taylor Swift had a concert in Pittsburgh on Thursday and some of the boys met her and presented her with a jersey. (L to R: Maxie, Staalsy, Swift, GoGo, TK)

It's ok Max, you are so good looking, it really doesn't matter what you wear. I think I speak for all of us female Pens fans when I say that. I dare you to disagree.

Here's a picture of Taylor rocking out in her fly Pens jersey on stage.

If it's any indictation of the events to come, it's worth noting that EA Sports sees Pittsburgh repeating as champions.

Speaking of Stanley Cup champions, Billy G had some comments after receiving his ring:

Question: If you're throwning a punch down, which hand are you using?

Billy G: Oh, my left. I don't want to scratch my ring.

haha. I love you, Billy G. Please bury one in the back of the net against the Rangers tonight!

Banner raising tonight- get there early if you're lucky enough to have a ticket or if you plan on watching the game on the big screen outside Gate 3. Sidney has reminded us all that this will be the last home season opener at Mellon Arena.

It's a new season boys and girls and we have another chance to be great.

Let's go Pens!