Pens Points: Canada vs. Russia for WJC Gold, What Else Is New?

Good morning one and all,

Hope your year is off to a good start and those of you who have to go back to work/school today are not too forlorn. The Pens year is of to a so-so start and that Montreal game was a bummer, so I have some cool non-Pens links to cheer you up.

I was 20 miles from Wilkes-Barre for a week and very much wanted to see the Baby Pens play, but no dice. Here's a great story by Josh Yohe on the excellent job John Hynes has been doing there. [Trib]

At least I read all my print issues of THN, which were great, and I particularly enjoyed this story on the Red Deer Rebels, who won the right to host 2016 Memorial Cup. [The Hockey News]

Another nice article in the Trib, whose new Pens beat writer Jason Mackey is a good read. A story on an established NHL tradition of housing rookies with veteran players. [Trib]

A day off on Sunday gave the Pens and David Perron some time to reflect on his first game, in which he was one of the better home team players. [BC Times]

The Philadelphia Flyers were fined an undisclosed amount for flying to Nashville on December 26, thereby violating the CBA's no-fly rule. [USA Today]

Some really tough times for Zach Parise, whose dad JP has stopped chemo for stage 4 lung cancer. My dad died of lung cancer between his chemo rounds, so I can relate to his pain, though I didn't have to show up and play hockey. [Minnesota Star-Tribune]

We knew Jaromir Jagr was going to break lots of records this season, so here's another: on Saturday he broke Gordie Howe's record for the oldest NHL player to record a hat trick, and it came against the Flyers. [NHL]

Roberto Luongo was steamrolled by Alex Ovechkin and had to leave the game temporarily, but luckily it looks like he's going to be fine. [The Hockey News]

Let's talk World Juniors for a bit. After playing like an absolute mess during group stage, the Russians woke up, shook off the usual chaos and started playing well when it matters, during elimination phase. They dismantled Sweden, 4-1, to advance to the championship game. [The Hockey News]

Canada has now thrashed poor Slovakia twice in the same tourney and booked themselves a spot in the gold medal game. Fans inside ACC seemed unhappy at the end of the 2nd period because the score was "only" 3-1. Seriously people. [The Canadian Press]

Oh my, if this isn't my favorite Swiss dentist. IIHF president Rene Fasel - basically hockey's Sepp Blatter - was on hand at WJC to offer his views on attendance, Olympics, WC, etc. There are certain things Swiss people should NOT be doing, and running international sports federations is tops among those. Stick to teeth and raclet. [IIHF]

Enjoy the winning while it lasts, Connor McDavid, because this might very well be your future team. At least then they might execute a 2-on-0 properly. [SB Nation]

Just kidding, the Oilers actually did themselves and us a huge favor by beating the Islanders 5-2. Yay. [NHL.com]

Sooo, Canada-Russia tonight. This should be fun.