Monday Igloo Update

Yinzers,

I hope all of your Mondays are going well and here we go with your Monday Igloo Update. Since ynz last read, the Pens have played two games against two tough, hated opponents. Thursday night was a hockey night in Pittsburgh when the Washington Capitals came to town. The Caps were boasting the Eastern Conference's best record. Sidney Crosby opened up the scoring at 4:22 in the first period and the Pens seemed to have the energy and momentum to begin. The Caps answered at 14:24 when Mike Knuble knocked home an Alexander Ovechkin rebound. Let's face it folks, if it weren't for rebounds, Ovechkin would have approximately 1/4 the assists he gets. The second period came up with a split score as well. The Pens got tallies from Nick Johnson and Kris Letang in coincidence with Eric Fehr and Alexander Ovechkin scoring for the Caps. The Pens broke down in the 3rd period, giving up a break-away to Tomas Fleischmann and a soft powerplay goal to Niklas Backstrom. Ovechkin then played the selfish card and added an empty netter. Bottom line, Pens drop this one 6-3.


On Sunday afternoon, the Pens traveled across state to take on the Broad Street Dirtbags. The game was offered on NBC since now that the NFL regular season is over, they need to fill airtime. Thanks for the side seat Liberal Media. At any rate, the scoring opened up at 5:18 in the first on the Philadelphia powerplay by the hand of Jeff Carter. Sergei Gonchar answered with a powerplay goal of his own late in the period. The game winning goal was slammed home by Matt "Cookie Monster" Cooke at 18:13 in the third period. Evgeni Malkin added two assists to his point total and the Pens got a much-needed win against an Atlantic Division opponent. It was a usual Pens/Flyers matchup with over 20 penalties called. All that matters is Sideshow Bob and his goons went back to their studio apartments with a loss.


The Pens next game is tonight at 7:00 against King Henrik and the New York Rangers. Keep Marion Gaborik quiet and Sean Avery in the sin bin and the game should be in hand.

Lets Go Pens,
B Brog

A Saturday in SoCal

Hola Yinz,

It's tough being a fan of the Steel City in Southern California. The Pens are almost never televised, nor is any other hockey team. (ps. We don't have Verses either.) So last Saturday I made the journey to Los Angeles to see the Kings and the Bruins. Yes, I was desperate for some hockey. I was stumped as to who to root for, so I donned my Pens gear and yelled "LETS GO PENS!"


This Sunday is monumental; the Pens and the Flyers go at it 12:30et (9:30 here), and I get to see it! Thank you NBC!

So, in tribute to actually getting to watch a game, here is your trivia for the week. Pittsburgh is home to the first major indoor sports arena with a retractable roof. I bet you can't guess what it is!


The Civic Arena, or more affectionately known as the Igloo. It opened in 1961 and was originally home to the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. It became home to the Penguins in 1967 and is the the oldest arena in the NHL. The Igloo has a seating capacity of 17,800; the smallest in the NHL. It also contains 2,950 tons of Pittsburgh Steel! Don't forget it had a starring role along side Jean Claude Van Damme in 1995 in the movie Sudden Death.


Happy Saturday Yinz!

Eat Pierogies and Watch the PENS!

Labuda on the Left Coast

Penn State Phriday

Yinzers and Staters,

Back in live action, your Penn State athletics update is here.
Sorry for the late post, but I had an SHL game last night. Your White team lost a heart-breaker to the speedy Red team. Too many turnovers in the offensive zone led to too many odd man rushes for the Red team. In the end, the final score was 4-2 Red team.

In other, not so surprising news, the Penn State Nittwits lost two more Big-10 matches since we last spoke. The Nittany Lions took on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday in Iowa City. The only thing that comes to mind is a lyric from "On Saturday" by the Clarks:

I'm gonna quit, cuz it's getting old
[...]

We're breaking up, you're moving out on Saturday
I'm losing friends, I'm losing face, I'm losing weight
So get your things out of my place on Saturday
On Saturday, on Saturday, on Saturday

The Nittany Lions were up by 11, that's right 11, at the half and ended up dropping the game 67-64. Taylor Battle had 31 points and 7 rebounds which is pretty impressive, but what matters in the long run is that Penn State is still winless (0-5) in the Big-10 after the game. Iowa went on a 36-16 run over the middle 16 minutes of the game...I have nothing more to say on that game.

After dropping what should have been a win in Iowa City, the Nittany Lion men came back home to "the Beej" (Bryce Jordan Center/BJ Center/BJC) against Indiana. "Hoosier daddy?" they exclaimed with great relish after beating the Nittany Lions 67-61. Taylor Battle added another 22 points and 4 assists, but to no avail. The Nittany Lions are now 0-6 in the Big-10 and 8-9 overall. The Nittwits next game is Sunday January 24 at Wisconsin.


In other news on campus, the Penn State womens basketball team picked up their fifth straight win since falling 69-60 to Illinois on December 31. The Lady Lions are now 14-4 overall and a 2nd place 6-2 in the Big-10. The next game for the Ladies is Sunday January 24, as they take on the Fighting Illini at the Beej.


The Nittany Lion wrestling season is also in full swing. The 13th ranked Nittany Lions take on Illinois tonight at Rec Hall. So far this year, the Nittany Lions are 8-3-1 and open up Big-10 duals tonight. Here is a direct quote from www.gopsusports.com about this year's team. I did not feel like doing all the research on this one:
"Head coach Cael Sanderson's crew has six ranked wrestlers, including three former All-Americans all ranked in the top eight. Senior Cyler Sanderson is No. 5 at 157 and sports a 19-2 mark while sophomore Frank Molinaro is No. 5 at 149 with a 21-1 mark. Senior Dan Vallimont is 18-3 overall and ranked No. 8 at 165. Sophomore Cameron Wade is No. 11 at heavyweight with a 12-5 mark while sophomore Brad Pataky is No. 12 at 125 and is 17-5. Senior David Erwin is No. 12 at 184 with a 19-5 overall record."

Overall, the Nittany Lions athletics programs are doing big things. Keep up the good work.

For the glory,

B Brog

Igloo Update Thursday

Yinzers,

I don't know what it is, but I absolutely love it when the Pens beat up on the New York teams. The two-headed monster was at it again on Tuesday night, "a hockey night in Pittsburgh." The Pens took on the Islanders in what would be a bounce-back game for Geno Malkin. Geno racked up a hat trick, all of which were on the power play and slap shots. Sidney Crosby added 6 points of his own scoring 2 goals and dishing 4 helpers. The Pens also got a tally from Billy Guerin. The Islanders showed their rock-solid discipline by taking 10 penalties. The big news from the game was the hit from behind that Andy Sutton put on Pascal Dupuis, spilling large amounts of blood onto the ice surface and resulting in a 5 minute major penalty and a 10 minute game misconduct. The last time I saw blood like that was when Kevin Stevens put a huge hit on Petr Bondra in NHLPA '93 for Sega Genesis.


Tonight, the Pens take on one of the most fun teams to root against, the Washington Capitals. The Pens and Caps have a long history of hatred, stemming back in the old Patrick Division of the Whales Conference. It takes on even more meaning now that the Pens have the Wizard of Croz and the Caps have Alexander "wouldn't have as many points if rebounds didn't count as assists" Ovechkin. Personaly, ladies and gentlemen, if I took 550 shots in a season, I sincerely hope 40-50 of them end up in the net.


In other news, the SHL started up Tuesday night with your White team opening the flood gates on the Teal team 10-5. The next game for the White team is tonight at 10:30 as they take on the Red team.

Bis Naechste Mal,

B Brog

MSM Breaking News.....

This just in from the MSM news desk a huge Douche bag has been spotted in Pittsburgh this morning....please be advised.

lets go Pens!

They call me MVP....

Last night Number 71 (Geno Malkin)from the Pittsburgh Penguins got his 5th career hat trick against the New York Islanders. 6-4 win.

That is not the only Trick that Geno has been keeping up with , this is a picture of his current girlfriend Oksana Kondakova( translation for hook job). I have to agree with Geno's mom about I really hope that he doesn't pull a J. Jagr and end up with the wrong people and ruin his career. Meaning leave this hook job on the street.

Geno Geno that is his name.....

wade

I not going to lie – I didn’t make it through a single pens game last week. Needless to say, I’m very glad they will be playing back on the East Coast so I can get back on track with my bed time! Looking forward to the Islanders tonight, but even more so for the Caps game on Thursday – I am excited to see the infamous Ovechkin in action. Is he really as awful as everyone makes him out to be? Guess I will see on Thursday!

In other hockey related news - I watched Miracle for the first time last night to get ready for the Olympics – 24 days and counting!

Sorry for the late post. It won’t happen again. Till next time,

Truck