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A new week is here, which means we're another week closer to real hockey news. For now, we'll have to make do with 5000 tweets of Paulina Gretzky getting engaged.
On to more intelligent topics. Michael Schuckers, a sports statistics guru affiliated with St. Lawrence University gave an interesting interview to the Boston Globe (Stats Studies Illuminate NHL Signings). Pens signing of Rob Scuderi is used as case in point of a team overpaying for a player whose best days are behind him. I honestly do not disagree. I love Scuds and I thought it was a mistake to let him go when we did, but I'd have preferred that money spent on solidifying our bottom 6. But hey, at least I get to dust off my #4 sweater.
Over the last few days we talked about our success at drafting and developing forwards in the Ray Shero era. Over at THW, an in-depth look at our 2010 first-round pick (Beau Bennett: Bringing a Fresh Face to the Penguins). I've said it before, and I'll say it again: of all the things I look forward to this season, I look forward the most to watching Beau Bennett play in the top 6. The kid's a keeper.
Here's one Pens fan wish list for 2013-14 season. In no particular order, this guy would like Sid to stay healthy, Tanger to win the Norris, aliens to return the real Marc-Andre Fleury and the Pens to win the Metro Division followed by the Stanley Cup win on home ice. Okey-dokey then. Works for me.
Now for some news from the NHL. The divorce saga between Daniel Alfredsson and the Ottawa Senators is quickly escalating into TMZ territory. On Thursday the former captain was in town for a charity event and held a press conference that everyone thought would be a final goodbye, thank you to the fans, that sort of thing. Little did we know that he was going to kiss and tell. He said that, at the time he and the club agreed to his 4-year contract, both parties had an understanding that he wouldn't play out that last year conveniently tacked on at $1M. Then, 3 years later, he decided he still had some hockey left in him so he played it out. The Senators confirmed that's what went down. The question is, if he and the club initially planned to circumvent the cap, but the player ended up not retiring, should the intent still be punished by the NHL? The league preferred to just let the sleeping dogs lie.
And now for some laughs. The Philadelphia Flyers are going to be laying down the ice and painting lines and logos at Wells Fargo Center on Monday and they invited fans over to watch paint dry. Ostensibly they want to set the Guinness world record for the most people watching paint dry together (not that there is such a category in GBWR mind you). If I didn't have better things to do, I'd totally go. It's free and watching paint dry would still be more fun than actually watching them play.
In lieu of Pens history, let's do some Pirates history today. Roberto Clemente would have been 79 years old Sunday. Instead he will always be 38 and firing bullets to home plate from right field. Here he is getting his 3000th hit.
Song of the day. It's Monday, so say hi to The Boomtown Rats. I really don't like Mondays.
OVER-TIME
A look at the Penguins-Capitals rivalry, highlighted by Washington domination in the 1980s, followed by all those epic playoff series in the '90s in which Mario Lemieux and company completely turned the tables on them. (The Peerless Prognosticator)
Our friends at Jackets Cannon (The Columbus SB Nation blog) had their annual Cannonfest summer fan get-together and the GM of the team, Jarmo Kekalainen, showed up. That's pretty darn cool.