WHAT THE HELL

As I was watching some clips for the much anticipated NHL 2008 video game, I discovered something quite obtrusive.

Just look at the Penguin defenseman's name at the .54 second mark. It is much easier to see the name if you play the Hi-Res file.




Yea thats right....it says "Ledouche"

There are two possible explanations that I have come up with. The first one is that one of the creators was creating Kristopher Letang on the roster and messed up his name because he is just an ass and hates the Penguins. The other explanation is that he is just an ass and thought it would be funny but he forgot to change it before it was posted.

Ice Bowl

Several NHL officials have confirmed that the Penguins will indeed play in an outdoor game against the Buffalo Sabres. The game will be played on New Year's Day at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. This is the same stadium that the Bills play at. Wide Right

If you can't make the game, don't worry. It will be nationally televised on NBC at 1pm. However if you are planning to go to the game, start looking for a hotel room now and expect a lot of Canadians to be there.

Hallelujah!

Finally, some hockey news about the pens.

The Penguins will open up their training camp at the Southpointe ICEOPLEX, in Cannonsburg. It starts on September13 and will run through the 16. After their short stay at Southpointe, the Pens will travel the short distance to Mellon Arena, which will be the home for their training camp until October 4.



Penguins first round pick, Angleo Esposito was slated to play for Team Canada in the Super Series from national junior teams from Canada and Russia. However Esposito recently suffered a groin injury which will sideline him for 7-10 days when he will be re-evaluated.

Look at that hair...holy hell

Hopefully Esposito will be healthy enough to participate in a rookie prospects camp that begins on Sept. 5 in Ontario.

Sid The Kid...One of A Kind

Most fans didn't care about the Pens, let alone the NHL itself, the year after the lockout. No one in Pittsburgh had heard anything about this kid from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I doubt many people even heard of Halifax. One by one the names of 28 teams were called out and thus stood the once "Mighty" Ducks of Anaheim, and the downtrodden Pittsburgh Penguins. Commissioner Gary Bettman called out the Penguins name to earn them the first pick in the 2005 Entry Draft.

Fast Forward to 2007.

While walking by a basket of assorted magazines and newspapers that had been saved, the sub-title on one of the newspapers read "NHL DRAFT LOTTERY."

After pulling the rest of the newspaper out, a full page picture of Sidney Crosby smiled back at me. The main title under his picture captured the moment perfectly..."JACKPOT...PENS WIN THE RIGHT TO PICK SURE-SHOT SUPERSTAR SIDNEY CROSBY."

After reading the article, the last words stuck out to me. It was a quote from Crosby. In fact it was the only quote from him in the entire article. When asked about the pressure of everything to come, Crosby responded with,

"I'm not worried about that. I put a lot of pressure on myself as it is."

Wow. Anyone could tell that this kid was all business. No Pressure he says? How bout saving a Franchise, and an entire league at the same time? No? How about, being a walking billboard for Reebok in the USA and Gatorade in Canada? Well if he has felt the pressure of all that he sure hasn't shown it. Crosby has become the youngest player to reach 100 and 200 points in a career, and youngest to capture a scoring title, and MVP Title.

By carrying a team and a league on his back, he has taken on the greatest challenge of any player in any sport. As it looks now Crosby has/is doing his job, now its up to the league to advertise the sport better.

Anyone Else Want To Sleep Until Oct. 5??

Not much going on with the Pens lately, except this stuff

The Penguins and Pizza Hut agreed to a partnership that will make Pizza Hut the official sponsors of the Pens for multiple years.

-All I can say is...yuuummmm

Penguins GM Ray Shero went to Latrobe to learn how things are down in the Steelers Organization. They compared scouting information and how both teams used their respective salary caps.

-Maybe the Pens can help the Steelers get a new mascot...or at least a new name. And by the way, did anyone notice he looks just like Bill Cower?

The Pens 6 game and 12 game ticket plans went on sale. So many people called at the same time, that the phone lines were temporarily jammed.

-To give you an idea of how many tickets will actually be left for individual game purchase, 13,500 people have bought season tickets. The waiting list for season tickets reached 700 and 400 of those people bought mini-game packages. So basically all these fair weather fans killed any chance of Student Rush. Especially all of these little girls begging their rich daddy to buy tickets so they can see Sidney Crosby, when they don't what the hell a blue line is. The Penguins wouldn't even be in Pittsburgh if it wasn't for the Student Rush fans.

Arena Debut Pushed Back

The new arena will not open for the 2009-2010 season as originally planned. It will instead open the following year. The reasoning behind this is so "the job will be done right for the city and fans." Personally, I think they just want the Pens to win a couple Stanley Cups for the first time in Pittsburgh and Mellon Arena.

The new arena will hold approximately 18,500 people, only about 1,500 more than Mellon Arena holds now. Best Place on Earth

Can The Season Start Now? Please?

News around the NHL:

Sean Avery was awarded a 1 year 1.9 million deal in arbitration, and the Rangers accepted.

-Avery is a piece of shit who will only fight someone who he knows he can beat. Just like the final game of the year against the Pens when Avery calls out Ruutu and then doesn't drop the gloves.
Pretty much sums it up...

The Nashville Predators could be staying in Nashville after a local group put 10 million down to buy the team. Owner Craig Leipold signed a letter of intent to sell the Predators.

-Just let them move to Canada so all the canucks will stop bitching.

The fate of Dustin Penner will be decided today after the Oilers put an offer of 5 years 21.25 million on him. This is the last day the Ducks have to try and match that offer. If the do not then the Ducks will receive the Oilers 1st, 2nd and 3rd draft picks.

-The Oilers did the same thing to the Sabres with Thomas Vanek, but the Sabres had the cap room to sign him. The Ducks don't have the cap room for an offer that is ridiculous. The offer they gave Penner is worth more than the deal Ryan Whitney got. Whitney had just as many assists as Penner had points. Screw the Oilers. Their leading scorer is now a Penguin, and their only new player worth mentioning is Sheldon Souray. They still are going to be the laughing stock of the NHL.
This Oiler is celebrating being traded

It's About Freaking Time

Now I know that only a hand full of people across the country will read it, but its a start. Scott Burnside published an article on espn.com that proclaims that, "In a perfect world, the NHL would be the people's choice." Of course this is a frequent writer for hockey on espn, but none the less makes a great argument.

Here is the article