PensBurgh: FanPosts

What is boarding?

2009-11-20T19:45:36Z

Hey everyone, I wanted a little clarification on what exactly boarding is?

I know that you cannot hit someone into the boards when they are like three or four feet out because they might hit their heads or whatever, but are there other calls for boarding too?

If you remember when the Pens played in Anaheim with like five seconds left in the entire game, one of the Ducks got called for boarding Orpik, but he was up against the boards, only his head was down, as in bent over.

If someone could clear this up that would be cool, all of the sites I've looked up said it's just the three to four foot rule and nothing else.

Cocktail Recipe--Bloody Eric

2009-11-20T04:39:31Z

I'm still doing a cocktail for each Penguins player. I was going to give it a rest (you know, for about 2-3 weeks), since we're entering do or die time for American home cooks this week. However, this one was just inevitable, and tonight's as good a time as any to post it. Eric Godard's fight late in the 11/19 game against the Senators managed to overshadow the returns of both Max Talbot and Sergei Gonchar. It's time to celebrate him.

I hate Bloody Marys and certainly didn't drink this during the game. While I'm being honest, I may as well admit that I initially put wasabi into a Bloody Mary that a friend of mine had made for himself to punish him for a joke that cut too deep. He liked it. We tinkered with the recipe and came up with this, which I renamed for my fellow and sister Pens fans.

Bloody Eric

1 1/2 oz. vodka

1 can V8 juice

1 dash ginger

2 dashes wasabi

2 dashes liquid smoke

Fill a highball glass with ice. Build liquid ingredients in glass, starting with vodka, then adding V8 juice until the glass is full. Add spices and liquid smoke to taste. Stir until spices are blended in. Drink up.

Flower

2009-11-20T03:17:43Z

Some one needs to tell him to pull his head out of his ass and start acting like the HOF goalie everyone says he's supposed to be.

And if it's the injuries and you're down because your buddies are out, start acting like the veteran and leader you should be and lift a struggling team on your shoulders. This is re-God damn- diculous.

This goes for everyone. Sure we have 6 guys out, but that just means other guys need to start waking up and realizing they need to contribute a little more, that this is their shot to prove why they're around.

And can we please trade Bourque for like a hot tub or something that actually is useful?

Frustrated,

Pensburg, is Bettman full of it or not?

2009-11-18T04:17:49Z

This is a link great interview with Garry Bettman by macleans.ca

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/17/the-interview-gary-bettman/

I wanted to ask you all one question about an assumption Bettman has.

When his recent public opinion polls are pointed out to him he replied,

"That’s based on the coverage, not necessarily the reality".

Is this true?

I do not live in Pittsburgh and do not wish to assume how you think and feel. So Im stopping by to present this poll and find out your thoughts on this matter

Poll

"I was booed presenting the Stanley Cup in Detroit to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Had I been presenting it in Pittsburgh I probably wouldn’t have been booed".-Garry Bettman

Cocktail recipe--Cookie Monster

2009-11-17T14:29:40Z

I have it in my head to create a cocktail for each Penguins player by the end of the season, unless somebody begs me to stop. (No way can I do it every game.) I created one for Chris Bourque last night. This one's better by far, of course. It is the one I actually drank.

I wanted to make something blue to match the blue jerseys. Plus, Matt Cooke deserves to be celebrated for his two goals! The blue color and Cooke's name came together when I named this drink. It looks a bit fussy, but essentially, it's a Sonic Ocean Water with rum, something I often enjoyed when I lived close to a Sonic. I added a lower-calorie option because most hockey fans don't have the metabolisms of professional hockey players.

Cookie Monster:

1 shot light rum
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar or Splenda blend
1 teaspoon imitation coconut extract
3 drops blue food coloring, give or take
1 12-ounce can cold lemon-lime soda
ice

Mix water and sugar in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add coconut extract and food coloring to the syrup. Stir well.

Combine blue syrup with lemon-lime soda. Add rum. Stir. Pour over ice into tumbler.

Cocktail recipe--The Lucky 13

2009-11-15T12:54:36Z

(Promoted from Fanposts - FrankD)

Well, after the Cussing Penguin, Hooks said he hoped I'd be able to post a celebratory drink. I fixed this for myself during a commercial in the second period. I don't normally name the drinks I invent--as with most of the food I make, I just throw things together based on the season, what is in my kitchen, and "eyeballing." But I want to make this again, and last night's game deserves to be immortalized!

This is a good deal stronger than the Cussing Penguin. I named it after Bill Guerin, even though he would probably consider it too girly, because ~~I've been crazy about him since last year's playoffs~~ that was one hell of a time for him to snap his goal-less streak, and luck doesn't get much better than that.

The Lucky 13

1 shot bourbon

1 1/2 ounces pomegranate liqueur

About 5-6 ounces apple cider

Dash allspice

Shake bourbon and pomegranate liqueur with 2-3 ice cubes in cocktail shaker. Pour it, ice cubes and all, into a tumbler (plastic's fine). Pour in apple cider until the glass is about full. Add allspice. Stir, then sip.

Since it isn't my objective to kill myself or anyone else, I should probably note that I mean non-alcoholic/sweet apple cider, not hard cider. If I were trying to impress you with my bartending skills, I'd strain out the ice, serve it in a chilled glass tumbler, and garnish it with a few pomegranate seeds. But hey, it's just game night.

Taking a peak at the WBS "Baby" Pens

2009-11-14T03:42:11Z

With the Pens struggling to find scoring in the last few games I thought it's a good idea to see how are the WBS Penguins doing and what is there "to offer"...

So I watched my first WBS Penguins game ever (not as easy as it may sound...:) - a game @ Albany River Rats ("Baby" 'Canes) which we won 3:1

And decided to share my observations...

Caputi is already a more confident professional player and could easily be on the 3rd line in Pittsburgh from next season.

Tangradi and Veilleux are both bringing big bodies and some skills... I was actually more impressed with Veilleux...

My pre-game "next winger called-up" favorite Bayda made some Bourque-like misses, although he did get an ENG

Chris Lee and Brian Strait were the 2 best Dmen... but with Lee being a life-long AHL-er Strait is the one to keep an eye on. Guenin didn't impress me at all... too one-dimensional

Brad Thiessen was in goal... and was absolutely stellar... almost singlehandedly kept the W in the 3rd

Letestu was not dressed which makes me think he is either being called-up tomorrow or he's injured... but I hope the first of those...

Where to buy a Talbot jersey?

2009-11-13T06:02:56Z

My girlfriend recently dropped some hints that she would love a Max Talbot jersey for Christmas.

Unfortunately, not being in Pittsburgh anymore has taken the black and gold out of my every day life and I'm trying to find the best place to get her a women's cut Talbot jersey.

NHL.com sells the Penguins women's cut premier jerseys starting for $79.99 without customization. With the name and number customization, that price jumps to $129.99. I noticed that some online retailers sell the pre-customized Crosby and Malkin women's cut jerseys for $104.99. But, no superstar!

Having the current income of a graduate student, I'm just wondering if any of you know where I might be able to find what I'm looking for at a more reasonable price.

On a related note, I've always wondered why football jerseys were so much more expensive than hockey jerseys. I went through the same struggle last Christmas. But, eventually came through with a women's cut Heath Miller jersey for a pretty reasonable price.

Recipe--The Cussing Penguin

2009-11-13T03:47:33Z

Tonight, November 12, I planned to make classic cognac-based French 75 cocktails in my penguin-shaped cocktail shaker if the boys underperformed. Unfortunately, I had the opportunity. However, I didn't feel right about wasting champagne, not even the cheap and cheerful kind, on a cocktail on a weeknight. Also, um, I have to work tomorrow. So I substituted Lorina sparkling lemonade. Chris Kunitz gave my tasty new cocktail its name. It's bitter, like defeat, but with a slight edge of sweetness, like the knowledge that Evgeni Malkin will be back soon and Martin Brodeur didn't get to set a record for shutouts with our guys.

Cussing Penguin

1 1/2 ounce cognac
1 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
6 ounces sparkling lemonade

Mix cognac, lemon juice, and sugar in a cocktail shaker. Add crushed ice; shake until liquid is chilled. Pour cognac mixture in champagne flute. Pour in sparkling lemonade up to the top.

Whatever It Takes We Walk Together

2009-11-09T05:05:00Z

The Pens are struggling right now, but that's okay. It's a long season, and it's better to struggle early now right? I think it's hard when you have such a close knit group like these guys though, and to see them or some of them I should say just start to fall due to injuries- Sarge, Geno, TK, now Letang (possibly Sid)- and all in a row too. Point: it's a rough patch, but I think our boys can figure it out, and honestly, I think it's a pretty good test to be given. Becaues no matter what, Whatever it takes, we talk together.

Go Pens!

Hockey players

2009-11-06T18:18:29Z

Hey what's up everyone? So this is just a curiosity post. I'm 22 years old and I want to start playing hockey. I've played street hockey before, but never ice, so I at least know how to skate on roller.

Any suggestions for a beginner? Do you think it's too late I should give up? I've already gotten some skates and have been practicing while I'm trying to get all of my pads and equipment.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, on anything- technique, equipment, what to focus on first, whatever.

Thanks everyone. Go Pens!

Anaheim & LA games

2009-11-06T17:48:14Z

I was able to see the Pens beat the Ducks on Tuesday, but also was able to see them, for whatever reason, shove their heads up each others asses in an unnecessary loss to the Kings last night.

The one up side to the entire thing is that there were tons of Pittsburgh faithful at both games, which made me all the more home sick and hate the city I currently live in, Los Angeles. You can tell the huge difference between those who are from PA or back east in general, who aren't selfish and the biggest assholes in the universe.

Mike Lange said it best, if you think the Pens are going to win every game you are very wrong. It's not going to happen, but I trust that we will again have a good season and more importantly a great post- season.

I have some pics from both games, still working on getting them up if anyone is interested.

HAT - like in HAT-trick

2009-11-05T20:05:19Z

There was a story today at the Pens official website that reminded me of one of my favorite little-funny-part-of-the-game things that I've thought about... what do teams do with hats thrown at the ice after a hat-trick?...

It turns out some boy has "asked a coupe of people" and got the hats in order to give them out to charity... it seems almost too easy to be done... which brought me to the idea that if there's another good idea on "what to do with the hats" it could be really considered...

For me to simply dispose of the hats is just plain stupid and sad (I don't buy into the "health and safety" crap)... there's so much emotion attached to them and they should be used for some better cause.

Seems more and more teams start to collect and showcase them inside the arenas, which is cool and can bring a smile on everyone's face thinking "yeah, was a great game that was:)"... but I'm sure there can be also other good ideas to use the hats... say have a "Original Penguins game worn and game thrown gear" museum with the occasional auction to raise money for kids hockey development...

So... what's your take?

New Hockey Fan Here...

2009-11-05T18:32:18Z

...I was hoping that someone could explain the "+/-" stat to me. I'm going to the Pens v Sharks game on Saturday night in San Jose, and certainly don't want to be "that guy" that talks all game, but doesn't know his hockey jargon.

Any help is appreciated.

By the way, love the site. I'm a regular on the Steelers site, and I have to say, being a West Coaster, I'm really impressed with the support Pittsburgh fans show their teams (Kings and A's fans are pretty fair weathered out here, and the weather's been dismal the last couple seasons). Even the Pirates, inexplicably, get love.

Go Pens!

Feedback wanted on Pensburgh's new look

2009-11-03T19:07:45Z

Hey friends,

I was hoping maybe we could have a thread here for some feedback on the new look to the site. One of the cool parts about blogging on SBN is that the tech guys always have the reader in mind when doing these sorts of updates. The main focus of this one was to cut back on load time which, personally, I think is great. But sometimes for such an enhancement you have to sacrifice elsewhere with the way other things load and generally how they look.

Before I go listing my personal pros and cons, I was wondering what you guys had to say. What do you like? What do you hate? What would you like to see changed?

Keep in mind I plan on shooting this thread over to the tech guys as part of the general feedback, so if you don't like something speak up. A few changes have already been made because users on other sites made some suggestions right off the bat.

Poll

How do you feel about the new look?

I like it

12 votes

It'll grow on me

20 votes

I don't like it

3 votes

35 votes | Poll has closed

Not if, but when

2009-11-03T03:31:53Z

OK folks, so a few weeks into the season there have been some great goals, great saves and great hits. There is nothing in the world like the game of hockey. the NFL is about 1/4 speed, basketball is actually a tall mans version of soccer, and baseball is at its core is about individual achievement (pitcher vs hitter). But the one thing that stands out is the rash of dirty, late, and just ill intentioned hits.

So what can the NHL do about it? Well in an article by SI.com's Darren Elliothe seems to point towards the NHLPA's unwillingness to bend on mandating shoulder pads and elbow pads no longer having the hard plastic end caps on them. Now for those of you folks who haven't played a competitive game, let me just let the cat out of the bag. ITS NOT THE BLASTED PLASTIC CAPS YOU DOLT!

Honestly my jaw hit the floor when i read this and thought to myself "what is this guy smoking because i want some too". But this article did serve a purpose, and i think that it was intended to get everyone thinking about what the NHL should do to prevent hits like

Now look, i have been and always will be a proponent of the "don't skate with your head down" mentality. but with that being said i think its safe to say something has to be done about the "grey area" that exists. It is just mind boggling to me that the NHL in all its wisdom (oxymoron kinda like military intelligence) established what a low hit is, established that going knee to knee is no good, but has as of yet established anything about head shots. Does anyone else find this fascinating? Seriously watching and listening to some of the explanations about why head shots aren't considered is amazing. "You should never skate with your head down". That mind set allows the hitter to do hist work with out any consideration of the consequences. "He had his head down, so i tried to separate it from his neck". Thats what you saw with the richards hit, it really doesnt matter if you look at it in slow mo, super slow mo, or doppler radar homer vision, at full speed he targeted his head. Same think with Panuef. meanwhile, Steve ott literally tried to seperate a guys legs from his hips.

Look, the bottom line is that all the other sports have measure to protect the players. No more helmet contact, no more horse collars, no more shots to the head, no more late hits on the qb. You plunk a guy in baseball, you better be read to get a fastball in the ear hole. So the question is not if, but when.....

When someone gets killed, will the nhl do something then? It nearly happened in the ohl. Lets stop beating around the bush here. You hit someone in the head, your suspended for 25 games. You board some one, 25 games, and if someone is injured because of your illegal hit, 35 games plus 1 game for each game that player misses. you end his career, you just ended yours.

problem solved

the truth about kunitz

2009-10-27T22:12:41Z

Ok folks, over the past few weeks I have seen something that I did not expect to see on this thread. The over the top kunitz bashing is getting a bit….passé. From my personal observations as well as statements from Bill Guerin and Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz is doing his jobs extremely well. "What job, he is supposed to score goals?!" you say, well lets really look at what his job is.

First and foremost Kunikazi is a battering ram with feet.

His job is to jar puck’s loose, play a sound defensive game, and grind the puck out of the corners. Those are his primary responsibilities. Simply being on the first line does not by any means demand that he be a 30g a year guy. It is obvious that some of you folks have never played a competitive game simply due to the whole "hes on the first line, he makes big money, he should be getting 40g+ and the end of the year" mindset. Guys it doesn’t work that way. Kunitz’s job in laymans terms in the offensive zone is to get the puck to sid, sid then set’s up bill, or scores on his own. Now would having Kunitz’s pot thirty to 40 this season help out the cause? Yes of course it would, however being 9 – 2 I wouldn’t be so worried about it. Let us not forget, it was kunitz who set the tone in virtually each and every playoff series last year. It was not the scoring of sid, geno, billy and max. That scoring was a byproduct of kunitz’s tenacity and wicked bad hitting game. Will he get on track, sure he will and quite frankly I would rather have hime start the season slow and come on strong late during the final playoff push and into the playoffs then have him start hot like he did last year and peter out in the playoffs.

how quickly we forget it was kunitz's hussle and tenacity that set-up the stanley cup clinching goal in game 7

Just some food for thought....also known as take a chill pill and relax.

Superstitions that "help" the Pens

2009-10-25T12:14:04Z

I've kinda wanted to do this anyway, but it seems more appropriate somehow after a loss. This is just to ask, do you have any superstitions that you adhere to in order to "help" the Penguins win? A lucky jersey, a certain place to sit, a phrase you say at a certain point in the game, a preferred drink? Also, when it doesn't work, do you go on using the same thing for luck, or do you try to switch things up?

Here are some of mine that I've had. This is not a comprehensive list--I am superstitious enough to make Sidney Crosby shake his head.

I eat something black and white before the game, even if I can't watch. I prefer a mini black and white cookie or vanilla ice cream with dark chocolate sauce. I have eaten Oreos in a pinch, but only if nothing else is available.
During the quarterfinals, I realized that I'd worn Ed Hardy's "Love Kills Slowly" perfume (yes, I know, it was a gift and it actually smells good on me) during the first two games when the Pens beat the Flyers. I wore no other perfume on game days during the rest of the playoffs. On a related note, I often wear Lucky You, but find that, ironically enough, it is not lucky for athletes that I like.
Also during the playoffs, I kept a desktop wallpaper showing Crosby scoring a goal up on my work computer. This was mostly to annoy Rangers fans, but since I didn't want to mess with success, it stayed up until the Pens won the Cup.

Your turn now!

PENS FANS WHO R GOING TO KINGS OR DUCKS GAMES

2009-10-23T20:58:51Z

penguins fans who live in L.A and Anaheim area if you want to get routy and combine our PENS PRIDE drop me a email games are NOVEMBER 3RD against DUCKS and NOVEMBER 4TH against KINGS . We plan to arrive early to tailgate for ducks games and maybe get lucky and see the penguins bus arrive. mustang_trouble@yahoo.com drop a email or contact me on myspace at myspace.com/lildvlfuentes LETTTTTTTTTTTSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PENSSSSS LETS GO

ALL PENS FANS WITH DIRECTV READ

2009-10-21T18:50:26Z

Yeah like most of you I have DirecTv.

Which since I live in Florida this of course means that I have NHL Center Ice. Since directv cant get their contracts together and the NHL decided to place there league in the hands of comcast, I dont have versus anymore. So I was starting to get pretty pissed off. I called direct and did everything I could to try and find the game. Well i'm here to let all of you know that there is indeed to watch every single Pens game on versus in the comfort of your own home. A friend called me last night and told me about it. It's called channelsurfing.net. Try it out I watched the entire Pens game even though it wasnt on my tv. You can watch everything from NBA preseason basketball to the KHL. It's free it doesnt require any sign up and most importantly WE CAN FINALLY SEE THE FREAKIN PENS. Not a hoax or scam i'm being serious it actually works.