Hedberg1661's Blog

Pittsburgh Penguins Look Good Going Into Winter Classic

hedberg1661 — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:47:24 +0000

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on a bit of a hot streak lately. Similarly, the Washington Capitals are also turning things around after losing eight straight. The Winter Classic looks to be a great showdown between two of the best the NHL has to offer. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin will be bringing their “A” game to Heinz field on New Year’s Day. However, that is only if mother nature wants to cooperate.

The NHL is looking into moving the game back a day to Sunday due to impending rain. If they cannot play Sunday either, than the game will be moved to Consol Energy Center later in the season. Date TBD.

Penguins vs Hurricanes

hedberg1661 — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:09:01 +0000

The Pittsburgh Penguins face the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at Consol Energy Center at 7:00 PM. The Penguins have had recent success at home largely due to the play of their goaltender Marc Andre Fleury. Fleury, who struggled early in the season has begun to turn things around. He has played well in the last four games and this has shown up in the standings getting seven of the eight possible points in the last four games.

The Penguins, who have been battling the flu in the locker room, hope to have all their personnel back in action tonight. Asham, Malkin, and Martin all sat out the Penguins practice yesterday from what the team says is “maintenance” reasons. Rumors (and his play of late) also say that Michalek is also still hurting from his shoulder injury.

One Hurricane of interest to watch is Ian White D who was just acquired from Calgary. He could help solidify the Hurricane blue line and improve their penalty kill percentage.

Given the problems with the Power Play this year (the Pens only clicking at a 12.8%) this game could prove to not have too many Power Play goals. The Hurricanes are having many of the same issues on the PP clicking at just 15.7%. Both teams on the other end of the special teams excel.

Key to victory: Take advantage of our speed and out skate the Hurricanes to the puck and in the offensive zone.

Pens Collapse: Lose to Bruins 7-4

hedberg1661 — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:17:01 +0000

The Pittsburgh Penguins had a two goal lead (4-2) going into the third period. Final score: 7-4 Bruins. This game left many in the crowd wondering how one of the worst collapses in franchise history could happen right before their eyes.

The Penguins have had goalie trouble of late. Fleury has not played up to expectations and Johnson seemed to be the guy who was winning, at least for now. Last night, Johnson had his worst performance of the year and perhaps the worst as a Penguin.

The team in front of these two has also not played up to expectations. Terrible defensive plays and lack of scoring has hurt the Pens in the past few weeks.

The Penguins will look to break out of this funk at home on Friday against Tampa Bay at 7:00 PM.

GOP Takes the House of Representatives

hedberg1661 — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:05:43 +0000

The Republicans had a big day Tuesday. On a National level the GOP holds 240 seats in the House compared to the 184 held by the Democrats. 240-184…I like the odds.

In the Senate the Republicans make huge gains, especially in Pennsylvania. Not only did Tom Corbett win the Governor seat but also the Senate seat, vacated by Arlen Specter, was won by Pat Toomey (R) in a close race against Joe Sestak (D).

While the Republicans could not take full control of the Senate they did however narrow the gap with the Democrats holding 51 seats compared to the Republicans 46 seats.

All in all this election turned out to be a huge victory for the Republicans. President Obama will now have to work with Republicans if he wants to move forward with any legislature.

Staal Breaks Right Hand

hedberg1661 — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:12:15 +0000

Jordan Staal just can’t catch a break. Staal, who injured his foot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year had a recent setback due to an infection from the surgery he had after the Playoffs to repair the foot.

Yesterday during practice, Staal took a shot off his right hand. He was in instant pain and left the ice to find he has fractured his right hand which will require surgery. Staal is expected to be out up to six weeks.

The Penguins had been hoping to get Staal back for tomorrow night’s game in Dallas. The Penguins have struggled with many injuries to key players right from the start of the season. With Staal out, the Penguins must find another line combination for their second forward line.

The Penguins are expected to get Zbynek Michalek back in time for the game tomorrow in Dallas. However, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are game time decisions with day-to-day injuries. Game time in Dallas is at 8:30 PM EST.

Pittsburgh Penguins Lack Chemistry

hedberg1661 — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:28:37 +0000

The Pittsburgh Penguins are loaded with stars such as Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury and Letang. This offseason they added even more star power by signing Paul Martin, Zbynek Michalek, and Aaron Asham. Even with these signings and their already stacked lineup, the Penguins do not seem to hold up to expectations. Individual performances have held the Penguins back in so many ways.

To start the season, Marc Andre Fleury has been lackluster at best. Coming into tonight’s game with the Philadelphia Flyers, Fleury is 1-4-0 with a 3.41 GAA and a .861 SV%. These numbers are not good enough for a goalie who won the Stanley Cup just 2 years ago.

The two superstars on the Penguins roster, Crosby and Malkin, have accumulated 20 of the teams points combined. However, the more telling stat of both of these stars is the fact that they are both even coming into tonight’s game. Clearly we are losing our focus on defense. Not to mention the Penguins have gone just 8/54 on the power play.

Given these stats, the Penguins are still first in the division with a 5-4-1 record with total of 11 pts. If the Penguins want to keep that top spot in the division they will have to step up their game not only on an individual basis but also show that they can work together as a team to get the job done on a consistent basis. The Penguins will set out to prove this tonight as they face the Flyers tonight at Consol Energy Center at 7:00 PM EST.

Pittsburgh Penguins Make Great Moves at the Start of Free Agency

hedberg1661 — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:23:58 +0000

The Pittsburgh Penguins did a great job of adding two great defenseman as well as letting Gonchar leave. Gonchar, who is old and cannot skate anymore, was continuously slow and ineffective on the Power Play. Nice job Shero. This team will continue to be a force for many years to come.

Sutton hit on Dupis

hedberg1661 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:24:25 +0000

How can Sutton get two games for a hit that could have ended up much worse? In my opinion the league is not doing enough to stop these type of hits. For those of us at the game can someone please tell me how much blood has to be on the ice (in quarts) to warrant the emt’s to be brought out. There is no reason for this.

Steelers lose to Browns 13-6

hedberg1661 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:40:59 +0000

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Cleveland Browns Thursday night which just about puts them out of the playoffs. The Steelers who have lost 5 straight, needed to win this game to hope and make the playoffs. Instead they were alright through the air but horrible on the ground. They failed to score a touchdown on a defense that has looked just as bad as theirs in recent weeks. Special teams let the team down yet again allowing for large returns on kicks. Ben Roethlisberger played well as the looked alright through the air and he did not throw an interception the entire night. However, the Browns get the win for their ability to keep the ball on the ground and pound through the Steelers defense.

Penguins Defeat Canadians 3-2

hedberg1661 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:06:16 +0000

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Montreal Canadians 3-2. Penguins goals by Gonchar, Cooke, and Dupuis. The Penguins almost lost the game with around 5 minutes left on a controversial no-goal call by the officials. The official said that the whistle blew and therefore no goal. From the replay it seems as though the Pens got a lucky call as the puck is most certainly in the net before the whistle. Marc-Andre Fleury played a good game giving up two goals on 21 shots. The worst stat of the entire game was the 0-5 mark the Pens power play produced. Even with this stat the Penguins put 41 shots on Carey Price who also played a great game. The Penguins play the Florida Panthers Saturday at 7:30 PM EST.