Kevin Thomas's Pittsburgh Penguins fan blog

Every game the Penguins play these days is big. The playoffs are fast approaching and the Pens have been sitting just outside the top eight, unable to squeeze past the likes of the Hurricanes, Panthers and even the free-falling Rangers. There is little margin for error as every point counts. So when the NHL's secomd best team comes to the Mellon Arena fresh off a win against the statistically best team it's pretty clear just how huge a win would be against any team let alone San Jose, a team who a victory against could boost not only Crosby, Malkin and the gangs rank in the conference, it could also do wonders for their confidence.

 On that note let me be the first to say: look out for the Pens.

 While they certainly made us all worry about another 3rd period collapse (although blowing a one goal lead against the Sharks wouldn't be as bad as doing likewise against, say, the Predators) in the end, the boys in black and gold came through.

Continue reading "Penguins Top Sharks"

Normally, I would expect the Penguins to beat the Blue Jackets. But even with the Penguins having won their last game there hasn't been much reason to be certain of anything this sseason. Thankfully, for the sake of my sanity and surely that of many others, the Pens played the way the were expected to going into ths season and soundly handled the BJ's.

The main reason for this win, although the offense played great getting contributions from everyone you'd expect and some you wouldn't, was Marc-Andre Fleury. In a scoreless first period Fleury made several noteworth savesand kept Columbus off the board when theycould easily have been up two or more goals. This brilliance and a timely powerplay opportunity in the second open the door for the Pens to open a three goal lead.

Of course, in the recent past even a lead of this size has left Pens fans worrying but tonight the Pns did what any respectable professional sports team would do. They did give up one powerplay goal but otherwise they shut theirn opponent down. This convincing win could not have come at a better time with huge games looming in the next week against Detroit and San Jos, the number 2 and 3 teams in the league respectively. With these challenges ahead, hopefully the Pens have finally righted the ship.  

Continue reading "Another Win for the Pens"

O.K., so if you hear the words Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and late-game heroics in the sam sentence what recent event do you think of? Obviously, the Super Bowl is being referenced here in some way but, cleverly, that's not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is tonight's game pitting the struggling Penguins against the lowly Lightning. Now, in nature this would not be much of a matchup and for the first two periods it wasn't much of a contest in the friendly confines of the Mellon Arena. Then, Evgeni Malkin lifted the team on his shoulders as one of only a few players to give consistent effort through grinding in the corners andlaying at least one Lightning plaer out.

The Pens were down 3-0 and not really accumulating a lot of quality scoring chances. But a few lucky bounces later the Pens pulled within one and soon finally tied the game late in regulation with the type of gritty, in front of the net goal Steigy and Bob Errey are always saying you need to win in the NHL.

Continue reading "That's More Like It: Pens mount huge comback against 'ning."

If anyone were reading this they would know it's been a while since my last posting. I haven't posted anything i a couple months and the main reason for that is that I've been so pissed of after the majority of Penguin's games that have occurred since then. I've been waiting for this team, the one that got off to one of the best starts in franchise history, to turn things around and return to top form. Consistently I have been disappointed. If we don't blow a lead we spend the majority of the game trying to come from behind. I don't know what's wrong. It could be the coaches, bad team chemistry, injury, missing players who we lost in the offseason, not getting enough production from the players we signed in the offseason, lack of energy, lack of effort, or a combination of all of the above.

Continue reading "AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

When I wake up in the morning and make myself some breakfast I typically enjoy sitting down, turning on the TV and watching SportsCenter to catch up on the latest sports news. I'm still pretty tired and kind of trying to get myself mentally prepared for another day so I figure this is a good thing to watch since it doesn't require much thinking and usually isn't depressing like the news would normally be.

Now I know that ESPN has the TV rights for the NBA and that the NBA is loved by fans worldwide so I'm bound to see some highlights and analysis while I'm tuned in but still, would it kill you (ESPN I'm talking to you) to show some freakin NHL highlights. Hockey gets like two minutes per each 8 hour period on ESPN and that is pretty much true even in the playoffs. This is not the WNBA I'm talking about here. I'm talking about hockey: the fastest sport on earth not involving a bobsled or car. Show some highlights, give me some analysis or I'l take my business elsewhere.

Continue reading "ESPN pisses me off."

Yes, eleven shoys on goal is an absolutely pathetic total for any team, let alone a team that was in the Finals last year and is, despite their play lately, still one of the tp teams in the league. And yes, the Penguins should beat the Phoenix Coyotes because they are a better team. Of course it's also true that the Pens should have more points than they do (12) and are getting a bot behind the division leading Rangers who now have a nine point lead over the Pens. So, if all of these statement are true, shouldn't we be panicking? Believe it or not the answer to that question is a resounding NO. Here's why:

First of all, and maybe this isn't the best reasoning, but the Penguins are know for their bad starts to a season so coming from behind shouldn't be a huge worry. Besides, we're not all that far back. The Rangers have been playing really well but they'll fade and we're still right in the mix withthe rest of the conference. We're not out of it, it's a long season and once the team picks it up a little bit (which they will) we'll be right there with New York. 

Continue reading "No need to worry...yet: Penguins not in as much trouble as one might think."

I'm not going to give some in depth analysis at this point. I merely want to say that there is a direct correlation between my mood and what the Penguins do. I am always happier when they win. The sun seems to be just a little brighter and warmer...even at night. On the other hand, when they lose, look out! I try not to drive or operate any other type of heavy machinery but sometimes the best way to get home is via bull dozer so just be wary if you're on the road after a Penguins loss. Luckily losses are far more infrequent than wins. Thusly, the world is a safer place when the Pens win. That's all.

 Go Pens! Big game Saturday. Beat the Rangers just like last year in the playoffs. Show 'em who belongs in first.

Continue reading "Pens win = me happy"

So it has been a few weeks since I posted anything here. Unfortunately, the reason for that is that I have been working at my lame-ass real job far too much. I was unable to watch the Pens season opener(s) in Sweden so I had nothing to say about the games that hadn't already been said because everything i knew about the games was from articles I had read. I did get to see the Devils game, which was not too impressive but still, I don't want to say much about that because it's a little late now, isn't it?

With that said, I will focus on the future (i.e. the upcoming game against the hated Flyers). About those hated Flyers...I hate them. Everyone should hate them as well. If you don't hate the Flyers then why bother even watching hockey because you clearly know nothing about the game. If you did know something, even just ONE thing about hockey, it would be that you should bottle up all of your anger in the weeks leading up to games against the hated Flyers and let it all out at once specifically directed at Philadelphians, their team, the history of their city and so on.

Continue reading "Latest News of Relevance"

Last season the Penguins overcame quite a few injuries, namely to Sid and The Flower, and made it to the finals. Hopefully, they can do that again and hopefully the injuries will be less of a big deal than last year but so far it's not going too smoothly. Ryan Whitney went down in the summer and now Sarge is possibly out for a ginormous chunk of the season as well. These guys represent our top two defensemen so it'll be tough to start of the season without them, but I think we'll do just fine. True, Whitney and Gonchar are essential on the powerplay and we have a couple of more or less unproven D-men like Letang and Goligowski but we can't forget about the veterans we do have. Scuderi is solid, Eaton is good when healthy, Sydor is a proven vet and Hal Gill is possibly too gigantic to get a

Continue reading "Again, with the injuries."

Since hockey season is not quite here I'll continue writing about the currently 2-0 Steelers. Last night we beat the hapless Browns, once again. It was a close game, though, and therefore was a showcase of the finer points of football such as coaching, time management and  decision making. In several key moments, the most important action was taking place not on the field, but underneath the glorious, well-groomed hair of Mike Tomlin and behind the catfish-like face of Romeo Crennel. 

Late in the second quarter, with Cleveland driving towards a momentum-shifting touchdown, Romeo and his band of overrated jocks  screwed up as any good Brown would, by not calling a time-out opting rather to try and run a quick play. The play went nowhere and took valuable time off the clock that could have been used to take an extra shot at the endzone. i'm not complaining that they erred, nothing pleases me more than Cleveland failing, I'm just saying that one poor decision changed the course of the rest of the game considerably. Imagine if the Browns could have had another chance to score, there may have still been a glimmer of hope for a win.

Continue reading "Strategy Key in Steelers Win"