I can't stand my job. It's very boring. I mean very boring, as in, I would rather let dental students practice their root canal skills on me than work this type of job again. It's just not me. My solution is to sit on Pensburgh and wait for people to comment on threads and stories so I have something to do, hence why some of my comments may not make sense because I'm just too thrilled to have some type of interaction that interests me.

But today, I'm taking matters into my own hands. There has been a lot of talk about America lately, especially because our economy is so horrendous right now, and this is magnified because of my employment within the financial realm. But nay, I say, America, and particularly Pittsburgh, should be proud, because hockey season is coming up! And lots of hockey events are in store for this city! Pittsburgh may most likely host the next Entry Draft. Penn State is getting a Division I hockey program! The Frozen Four will be held in Pittsburgh in a couple of years! Stock market floundering? I don't care, because I am just waiting for Canada to buy us.

I undid my tie and put on my Curious George shirt and started looking around the Penguins history of players, inspired by Hooks' All Ex-Penguin Team. The 2010-11 Penguins squad had quite a few Americans on the team, more than people thought; I heard a lot of questions while listening to either the radio or tv broadcasts correct questions submitted asking why the Pens don't have many American players.

From last year alone, we had players such as:

Mike Rupp, from beautiful Cleveland, OH

Alex Goligoski- Grand Rapids, MN

Chris Conner- Westland, MI

Brent Johnson- Farmington, MI

Ben Lovejoy- Canaan, NH

Paul Martin- Elk River, MN

Matt Niskanen- Virginia, MN

Eric Tangradi- Philadelphia, PA

Brooks Orpik- San Francisco, CA

Depending on the kind of discussion you're in, those are impressive names and key parts to this Penguins team, whether talking about great defenseman in Orpik and Martin, solid, promising young talent in Tangradi, or what could be a great steal of a trade in Niskanen.

But in case you're curious now, because you've read this far, and want to know what other players in Penguins past have hailed from the U.S. of A. Here's another list.

Russ Anderson- Defense 1976-82- Des Moines, Iowa- 353 GP, 15 G, 77 A, 92 PTS, 684 PIM

Tom Barrasso- Goalie 1988-2000- Boston, MA- 460 GP, career record of 226-153-53

Phil "No Relation to Chris" Bourque- Defense 1983-92- Chelmsford, MA- 344 GP, 75 G, 89 A, 164 PTS, 435 PIM

Andy Brickley- Left Wing 1983-85- Melrose, MA- 95 GP, 25 G, 35 A, 50 PTS, 19 PIM

Jay Caufield- Right Wing 1988-93- Philadelphia, PA- 194 GP, 3 G, 7 A, 10 PTS, 714 PIM

Joe Mullen- Forward 1990-97- New York, NY- 379 GP, 153 G, 172 A, 325 PTS, 101 PIM

Kevin Stevens- Left Wing 1987-2002- Brockton, MA- 522 GP, 260 G, 295 A, 555 PTS, 1048 PIM

There are quite a few more, but these are the ones that stood out the most, that may invoke the most memories, and weren't around for their quick cup of the coffee with the team. You can check out the list I was using here. It kind of surprised me or at least reminded me remembering Stevens and Bourque and players like that were actually American players, which I think is usually what happens when fans get confused with player nationalities.

Mar 218 7 24 31 8 I hope this offered yet another lazy summer day of hockey reading to simply pass the time, because it was the hardest 6 hours at work I've had in a long time.