You might already have heard, but it's gonna be hairy for the Pens to get to Washington, DC.  I live roughly 5 miles away from the Verizon Center and have 28 inches of snow.  The plan: fly from Montreal to Newark, NJ then take a "4 hour" bus ride down to the nation's capital.  If you think that takes four hours (even without snow in the region) you've never made that trip.  Regardless of time it's gonna take, let's all hope for safe passage. [Post-Gazette]

Sidney Crosby is the coverboy in Canada for Sports Illustrated, and here's the worth-a-read article (thanks to commenter Pensfan8725) [SI]

From all of us here at Pensburgh, we extend our deepest condolences to the Burke family with the passing of their son/brother Brendan.  He was a truly brave guy and Wrap Around Curl has a great idea to honor him. She gave a great idea, about progress and how we all (present company included, I'll admit) should find new vocabulary words to insult someone. [Wrap Around Curl]

Sadly, BSH's Travis Hughes reminds us that it's not just the Burke family that's hurting today. [SB Nation]

If you haven't gotten the chance to read this, fix it.  Here's the initial story from a couple months ago when Brendan Burke made the exceptionally difficult decision to "come out" to everyone in his life, including his father who basically defines machismo.  They way Brian Burke immediately accepted and supported his boy unconditionally says something great about him. [ESPN]

A few months ago Red Wings fans were really high on Ville Leino.  Yesterday Detroit traded him to Philly for a player (who they promptly waived) and a 5th round pick.  Nothing against a young player finding his way in a new city, but hopefully it won't be Philadelphia. [Puck Daddy]

Caps owner Ted Leonsis extends the invitation to bandwagon fans. [Teds Take]

The Boston Bruins have lost 10 straight games. [Stanley Cup of Chowder]

Former Pens farmhand Matt Carkner has taken some tough lumps from Toronto's Colton Orr this season....But credit to Carkner, he keeps coming back for more. [Silver Seven Sens]

Is Ilya Kovalchuk really as good as his gaudy goal numbers make you think he is? [Behind the Net]

Ryan Miller's got to be the #1, every game, for Team USA. [The Hockey News]

Finally, not hockey related, but congratulations to Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau on his long overdue election to the NFL Hall of Fame.  LeBeau still ranks third all-time, amongst NFL cornerbacks, with 62 interceptions.   His HOF honors don't even consider his 37 straight years as a coach in which he innovated an entire "fire zone/zone blitz" scheme and won 4 AFC titles and 2 Super Bowls.  [NFL.com]

(Now put Dirt Dawson in already, bitches)