MR SHERO TEAR DOWN THIS WALL

the "saint" is injured....malkin throws pucks at the nets for fun...alexander Seamen calls out sid the injured quasi man...minard runs around like an all star...and now the day which we have came from has come....TOMORROW JANNE WILL ENTER THE BUILDING...

EDIT:

Yeah, not that i did not believe kevin but i have been having a hell of a time finding confirmation...and i finally did over at the penguins insider... so it is confirmed, tune in tonight for some JANNE... read the penguins insider article here

Janne is coming to the Burgh!!!

IT IS OFFICAL Janne is coming to the Burgh. The Pens have recalled Janne,  I had been reporting that this was a possibility. It   now is a reality!!! So tune into tomorrow night as the Pens are in St.Louis to see what JanneNation had been waiting for.. GOODLUCK PESSI!!! Janne, listen up..Stay away from Santonio Holmes, he is the anti-christ.

I kinda have been out of the Janne loop the last couple of days due to my work schedule. I just got in figure I would tune into the WBS game and wa-la!! no Janne, whats up? Is he hurt, or is Janne still in the bus stop waiting for the call and no one notified him that the Baby Pens were playing tonight. Some fill me in on whats happening, should Vince and I start turning out milkcartons with his face on it.

Edit: 

Very strong report are surfacing from Jannenation, are we about see the second coming? I kinda figured something was going down and it wasn't Linda Lovelace.   So as the nation sits and waits, fill our blog with any report on this possible phenomena. 

Edit the Edit: Wbs announcers have reported Janne has been called up, let the games begin.  I guess Sid is going to miss a few games? I dunno..But Finland your Golden Boy has made it to the big show. Let Go Pessi!!

Seriously...Phoenix?

Tonight the pens decided to mix things up alittle bit...No i'm not talking about their lines, i'm talking about they decided to only play the 2nd period... A nice change of pace from only playing the 1st or 3rd. Anyways, other than a few faithful minutes in the 2nd the pens were outplayed from start to finish by the lowly Phoenix Coyotes... To make matters worse Crosby left during the third with an injury. Unfortionatally I can't comment on that injury because I was in the other room and missed it, so I have no idea the seriousness or anything...

Furthermore, Minard... I'm not gonna jump on the "reassign" bandwagon just yet, but trust me, his skills did not transfer from AHL to NHL just yet. I understand he did not have time to get in sync with his teammates so that aspect can be ignored, but wow.... this guy is a terrible passer.... Seriously I think we missed like three or four chances of good breakouts because of his off target passes... Anyways, IDK what the Pens need to do here, they started slow last year, and they picked it up... So hopefully they are able to find something that is missing (Janne?) and pull it all together here, because this city is quickly becoming a one sport town again...

UPDATE:

Crosby has deemed the injury "day-to-day" and he said "I don't even know what happened...I had some discomfort. In the third period, I couldn't really do much.

So hopefully this isn't anything major, but we will see...

1st Opportunity missed....

Due to the injury of Pascal Dupuis the Big Pens made a call up from WBS today.... Unfortionatally it was not our boy, instead they give the nod to another player the Pesonation has respect for, Chris Minard...

This could be due to the fact that the Pens barely got 10 shots on goal against the Sharks and aren't looking for another guy who can pass the puck, but who knows...

Minard has his own short comings which may open up a spot for Janne, there is speculation that he is slow (Although the penguins insider disputes this), and will he be able to get his shot off with the significantly faster defense...

Anyways stay tuned and go pens...

A Call to Action....

Over the past few weeks the Pesonation has been patiently waiting on the sidelines as we have not only watched our boy tear up the AHL on a point a game pace, but we have also watched our beloved Pittsburgh Penguins play around 20 min a game. As we saw last night against the San Jose Sharks, the Penguins are not at the level of the top tier Western Conference teams. I say the time is neigh, it is time that Janne finally gets the Nod... Something is missing on the Pens, and I say we give Janne a chance to see if he can fill that void... I am not guarunteeing anything here, i am not saying that Janne is the answer to all of our problems, but when you are playing Miroslav Satan who night after night is not producing at levels we expected, we might as well experiment a bit and give Janne his chance.... What is the worst that happens, you send him back down... Although we will stay patient and calm now, it is only a matter of time, a matter of poor showings by the pens, a matter of Janne dominated AHL games, before the Pesonation becomes unruly, and declares war against Ray Ray and Mikey T...

Stay tuned Pesonation.... Janne will be tearing up the AHL on Saturday news from that, and any other news or updates of Janne that we stumble across

Reminants of Game 1....

Penguins 1 - Sharks 2

Yeah i don't really want to write about this game, it reminded me about game 1 of the SCF, the pens just got dismantled and destroyed. Anyways the pens showed alittle bit of energy with 5 min left, but that was too little too late...

Kevin's Edit:
Hey, I didn't watch the game due to needing my beauty sleep. From the highlights below, it wasn't that bad was it? Yea it was, One stat that caught my eye was Sharks Joe Thornton was 12 of 13 on faceoffs. 9 of 9 in the offensive zone against Zigomanis and Crosby(who was 4-20). It is nice to Sabu stepping up, this could prove to be vital at some point in this season. Wonder what line combos Mickey T will dream up next. I hear Pessi is sleeping at the bus station waiting for the call. Just hope he doesn't get rolled.

My New Hero..Milan Lucic--

Check out the hit by Milan Lucic on Mike Van Ryn, so far hit of the year.

What a pussy...

When Jordan Staal grandfather died he rock and rolled and was the only bright lite in Game 4 Pens vs. Flyers... When Lady Alex's granddaddy is sick he goes crying back to russia

I hope he gets kidnapped by the KGB and they don't let him leave...

ps: since some people have not gotten my dark humor in past posts i am joking about lady alex being a pussy for being with his grandfather....but he is a pussy for other reasons, and i do hope he gets kidnapped by the kgb...

Gamenight

Tonight at 10:30 the Pens will be taking on their biggest challenge yet, San Jose. I cannot guarantee that there will be a game summary right after the game due to it's late conclusion time. Anyways, the pens can't go into this game like they have been playing recently or we may have a blog out on our hands, so hopefully that long flight out west gave them some time to think about what they have been doing. Also there was some earlier speculation that Janne may be getting a nod after this road trip out west is over, so we'll have to stay tuned for that....

Source for actual Janne Pesonen jerseys

So some guy emailed me recently saying that he was importing a few dozen authentic Janne Pesonen Karpat jerseys. His asking price is a bit steep (125-150) but I will keep everybody posted just in case anybody in interested

Also, TIOPS has been reporting that some teams have been scouting Janne Pesonen, I can't read the entire article because i don't like to pay for my sports rumors, but if anybody has any more input on this i would appreciate it.

UPDATE:

yllwcrdkid518241 informed us, TIOPS basically said that three scouts were in attendance for the baby pens game, one from the leafs, but he has been scouting the phantoms, one from the panthers, and one from the predators. The pens probably wont give pesonen up easily though, so i dont think there is anything to worry about, the only person on the preds or panthers that would even be worth it right now is David Booth, and they wouldnt give him up for janne.THANKS FOR THE UPDATE!!

Winter Classic Retro Jerseys..

This Winter Classic features 2 storied franchises, Detroit Redwings  vs Chicago Blackhawks. The Nhl just released the two teams retro jerseys. Detroit founded in 1926 and went by the name Detroit Cougars. The Redwings have won 11 Stanley Cups. I'm not going to get to in depth on either team. There is just to much history and this is a blog, short and sweet. 

Chicago Blackhawks also founded in 1926, went by the Black Hawks as 2 words. The Blackhawks have won 3 Stanley Cups. Both teams are part of the "Original Six".

The Blackhawk logo in my all-time favorite.

I'm going to find it hard to believe this year event will have the magic of the Pens, Sabres match-up. That game was something special, enjoy it anyways.

Pens 2 Rangers 3 SO

Well the Pens just couldn't hold on, Leading 2-0 after 2 periods with goals from Sydor and Crosby. The Ranger stormed back in the 3rd period with goals from Naslund and Zherdev, Zherdev goal came with 8.1 seconds to go in the game tieing it at 2-2. MAF had another outstanding game in net for the Pens with 42 saves. The Rangers outshot the Pens in the 3rd period 18 to F'n 2.  There was no scoring in OT setting up the shootout. Letang,Sykora and Crosby came up with a big fat zero. Rangers Fredrik Sjostrom beat MAF just inside the post right post with a backhand . That is all she wrote.

Janne Road Show Continues

Tonight WBS Penguins will take on the Portland Pirates... In honor of breast cancer awareness the Pirates will be wearing this...

I'm all for breast cancer awareness, but if Janne loses to a bunch of dudes in pink....

Portland 5   Pens 4

The streak is over, Pessi was held scoreless for the first time this season in the Baby Pens 5-4 loss to Portland. Once again the Pens fell behing quickly in the first period with John Curry allowing 3 goals on Portlands first 5 shots. BOO!!! The Pens outshot the Pirates 16-4 in the first period. In the second period the Penguins Gove scored on a 3-1 shorthanded goal making it 3-1, but Portalnd scored a late PP making 4-1 after 2 periods. Also for the second game in a row the Pens woke up  firing 15 shots at Portland goalie and scoring 3 goals(Taffe,Minard and Taffe(scored after Portland netted an MT netter make it 5-3). After listening to the game Our Baby Pens need to be able to take advantage of their strong play in the first period. The just can't seem to finish. Two games in a row now against teams they should far superior than, they have quickly fallen behind and just can't recover. Oh well what do you want from a minor league team.  

Game Notes:  Janne had a season high 6 shots on goal, Plus, I say Plus he had a roughing penalty. The hockey world had better watch out Janne is turning into an true American Badass!!!

The golden helmet doesn't seem so bad now...

In the swiss hockey league the top scorer gets a flame helmet and a jersey that says TOP SCORER...in english for some reason... Makes the golden helmet seem alittle less flamboyant

The beat goes on...

    Manchester 3         Pens 2

Although WBS lost 3-2 in a game that wasn't as close as it sounds, Janne Pesonen keeps his point streak going with an assist on a Jeff Taffe goal. It was a 6 on 5 goal that janne set up from behind the net. Janne def got more shots on goal this game than he has in prior games....

Stay tuned for more up to date janne pesonen news...

Sorry no updates

Hey just wanted to apologize to everybody for no updates on the game last night, both Kevin and I were busy and couldn't get to it... We'll try and make sure it doesn't happen again...

EDIT: I was in Bora Bora, and Vince was too drunk to type. We do apologize. I'm trying to get Vince help.

A new era?

Rumor has it that Bill Thomas is being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre, no word yet on who they are bringing up, but this could be good for our boy Janne... More to come...

Update: Wilkes-Barre Penguins Insider has confirmed that Bill Thomas has been brought down the AHL. He also says that he feels a call up will depend on whether or not Matt Cooke is healthy. I predict that if somebody gets called up it will be after this little road trip of ours...

Stay tuned Pesonation, Janne may be on the brink of shocking the world...

Janne's road show continues

Janne and his baby Pens take their two game winning streak to the Verizon Wireless Arena tonight to play the Manchester Monarchs. The Pens are into their third of seven game road trip. They are 2-0 with wins against Hershey and a shutout 5-0 win verses Lowell.

Our favorite son, Pessi with linemates Jeff Taffe and Chris Minard have been on fire of late. They have formed one of the top lines in the AHL this year. Janne has a point in all five games to date.

Molinari on Janne...part 2...

A reader other than myself recently contacted Dave Molinari about Janne Pesonen in his Penguins Q&A section. Molinari like any sane human suggests it won't be long till we see Golden Boy rockin the bigs... A big shout out goes to fellow Janniac Mike Wilson from Brokline for showing his obvious distaste for the situation and asking the question...

Read the entire question and response here

Godard should be Pens spokesman

After listening to years to Mario and now his prodigy Mr. Sid Crosby, I use to think that here they are 2 of the best players to come down Interstate 376, how could their interviews be so bad. Then I thought it was a Pittsburgh thing, right? Just ask Cowher and Tomlin. Their pre and post game interviews sound exactly like, some many questions with so little answers, just a lot of lip service. Sid has more eh,ah,O and ewwws then Dale Carnegie would allow. I found this Eric Godard interview, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't have to lean forward to hear what they weren't saying. There was more substance in one Godard interview then Mario and Sid produced in their Stanley Cup runs. How many ways can you keep give the same answers over and over and over again. I say let guys like Eric and Max receive alittle more air time. Let all the Pens fan everywhere look forward to an interview instead of listening to our superstars ramble mumble through the Q & A that our media brainwashes us into thinking we have to listen to or we aren't true blue fans. Godard is an upgrade. Maybe he should anchor the top line?

Cap problems for the Pens...

Hockey News Article..

8. Pittsburgh – Cap Payroll: $55,945,067 - Cap Space: $754,933
• Sidney Crosby leads the cap barrage at $8.7 million – Evgeni Malkin will get there next season – with Sergei Gonchar and Marc-Andre Fleury next at $5 million.
• Strong nucleus of Crosby, Malkin, Whitney, Orpik and Fleury signed through at least 2012-13.
• Have overpaid for bit players such as Satan, Fedotenko and Eaton.

With just 12 players signed for almost $42 million next season, the club could turn into a one-and-done option for players looking to bump their offensive totals. And with the likes of Staal and Sykora among those without contracts for 2009-10 and beyond, cap problems look like they’ll be an ongoing issue in Steeltown, USA.

here is the complete list

Tied for 6th...

Obelix pointed out to me that Janne is in fact tied for 6th in the AHL scoring race with 8 points... Let's hope he can carry that over into the bigs..

The complete scoring list

He shoulda kept his mouth shut...

Does anybody else feel now that Malkin is comfortable speaking english in front of the media he is becoming like a side show?

Pesonen's a specimen....

That is how color commentator Tom Grace described janne...

Anyways, the line of Pesonen Taffe and Minard seems to be tearing up the AHL... Interesting to see who gets the NHL nod first...

NOW WE ALLLLL KNOW!!!

what happens when god himself graces us with a goal...



Stay tuned for some post game reactions as we find out more information

Janne tonight in more AHL action

Tonight Janne Pesonen and the Baby Pens will be taking on the Lowell Devils in some AHL action. We will be posting post game updates and reactions, we're hoping that Janne has another break out game and finally starts to gain more recognition from higher ups...

 Pens 5       Devils 0

EDIT:
Pessi is second in scoring for Wilkes-Barre with 6 pts, Janne has also scored in all four games he has appeared in this season Baby Pens are playing their second of 7 straight road games.

First Period:

 The BP started alittle slow being outshot 17-10 with both teams have a few PP, with no scoring.

2nd Period:

Saw the Pens score 4 goals on 9 shots Jeff Taffe had 2 goals, Janne assisted on the first goal. Chris Minard scored a team leading 6th goal. and Caputi rounded out the scoring in the second stanza. Janne's assist gives him points in 5 straight games.

3rd Period:

Lowell kept on trucking, but a 9 PP 46 shot game was upstaged by Pens goalie Adam Berkhoel. Berkhoel posted his first shutout of the year. Our own hometown favorite Janne Pesonen scored the only goal of the third period. Come on Vince, let the whole Jannenation see the video. Janne has a nice game 1 goal 1 assist +3 and 2 shots on goal.

Janne Pesonen Shirt....part 1...

Front:

Back:

So this is just an initial idea I had about the shirt, wanted any and all feedback. Whenever we goto sell them they will be probably around $20 so we are able to gain a profit to donate to a charity that we as the pesonation will vote on. Since we are donating all the money to charity we will need to sell as many of these shirts as possible (the more we sell the smaller the cost of printing, i looked at 50 shirts they will cost around $11 if we somehow get to 100 they will cost $8). Anyways, we probably won't be gettin ready to sell these for some time now, just wanted to put this out there and see what everybody thought. I would appreciate any other bloggers reading this to pass it around to their readers and see what kind of interest we can get.

I will be linking to this post on the side bar at the top for easy access... Party on Pesonation

PS if you are wondering about the shirt...Team Finland Hockey...and the text reads Janne's Finnish Army

Meet the Competition

Down in wilkes barre Janne Pesonen is not the only one making waves. Chris Minard is on a goal a game streak, and is right now one of the hottest goal scorers in the AHL. Not only this but Minard has played up with the Big Penguins and has a nice size to him, and is a winger. Especially right now with the penguins desperatly needing somebody who can put the puck in the net, he might end up getting the call everybody dreams about before Janne.

WBS Pens 5 vs Hershey 4

With Pessi's breakout game now behind him, The AHL better bewere, Janne takes his show on the road today playing the Hershey Bears at the Giant Center today at 5 pm. All you AHL fans better hurry if you want a chance to see the Finnish Finsher before he makes way to the big club, I doubt he will be back.

UPDATE:

Just to inform everybody, the Hershey Bears are the hottest team in the AHL right now so this is a big game for Janne to prove himself against some established talent.

The Baby Pens went into the Giant Center and defeated the AHL hottest team The Hershey Bears 5-4. Pens started fast with 2 goals in about the first 1:31 of the first period with goals by Cote and James, but Hershey came back with the next 3 goals, goalie John Curry was pulled in favor of Adam Berkhoel, pretty much shutdown the Bears for the rest of the game until late goal with about 22 secs to go in the game. Minard scored on the PP with an assist from Janne making it 3-3 a little more than midway through the 2nd period, when about 5 mins later Ryan Stone put the Pens ahead for good. Minard scored late in the 3rd making it 5-3, then Hershey scored a meaningless goal to make the final 5-4 and handing the red-hot Bears their first loss of the season. The Baby Pens have started to what will be a 7 game road trip.

Janne was pretty quiet with just 1 assist, 1 shot and +1.

Leafs 1 vs Pens 4

Thank God the Leafs came to town, this team blows....I missed the Leafs goal(thank god, I would have thrown up) and the first 10 mins, but I returned to  Goal Pascal Dupuis(2) scoring on a feed from the KID.  Looks like the PK is doing well again.

• Can't believe Cujo is a starting Tender( he still has the best cage in the NHL).
• We need Sid to start scoring some goals.
  

2nd Period:

Pens start the period strong with Malkin making a sweet move inside and feeding Dupuis to the outside, resulting in a nice scoring chance, Cujo the save.

Sid's line is looking awsome tonight, Stacky and Errey are orgasmic over them.

4:45- Fedetenko takes a hooking penalty, no harm done Pens kill it off without any damage.

7:03- Frogen takes a slash.

7:55- Goal by Satan(3) on  a sweet pass from Sid. it was Sid's 300 pt of his career.

Since Satan's goal Leafs have been coming on, they just tag a post to keep it 2-1.

Pens seem to settle back down, play is about even now.

3rd Period:

4:37- Malkin takes an offensive zone holding penalty. Pens kill the penalty.

• Ziggy is awsome in the faceoff circle(looks like Shero made another nice pick-up)

9:51- Satan is off for tripping

12:15 GOAL Sid(1) is given a gift by a Leafs D-man as a pass out front ends up in Toronto's net.

Finally the sandwich of the game tonight resembles a nice hit by Fedetenko. Their selection the last two games resembled to grade school kids fighting on the playground

Computer is on the blink, so I'm not finishing this, you all know what happens. Sykora does score the 4th goal.

Live from Wilkes-Barre it's Pesonen Night...

Here are the pictures that I promised, also remember, my camera is like 5 years old and kinda trashy, sorry for the order, they are a little whacked out, and i don't feel like re-organizing them...












In retrospect he probably thinks i'm a stalker... Can you get a restraining order for somebody you don't know? I hope not, not being able to come withing 500 feet of him will limit my ticket purchasing ability for Pens games...

Celebration and some various news and notes....

first of all, janne scored...


Kevin's Edit: Pulled this from the Penguins Insider.

Janne Pesonen had his coming out party. Two assists and a nifty breakaway backhand goal after a Bridgeport defenseman fell down when trying to take a shot at the point. This is the kind of game you expect from the Finnish scoring star.

Dan Bylsma, in an interesting quote afterwards, took the opportunity to note the plusses and minuses of Pesonen's game. He said: "We certainly showed us again what he can do with time and space, both with his breakaway goal 5-on-5 and in the shootout. He’s got a large amount of skill, he’s got speed and he’s got an offensive knack around the net. When he plays with that speed, you see his skill. When he tries to go east-west, that’s an area he needs to get better at. You saw both of those things tonight."

I get nervous when I hear a coach talk about trying to tame a talented wild horse like Pesonen, but I guess that's the way the game is played these days.

I'll post some pictures that I got tomorrow, my camera kind of sucks so i couldn't get the best quality or quantity, but whatever. After the game Janne was signing autographs, I got one for myself... I wanted to get a picture with him but there was a long line and he looked tired so i didn't bother, though I did tell him I will look forward to seeing him play for the pens...

So after going to my first AHL game, here are the main takeaways i got about janne:

- Taffe and Janne look way better than any of the other scrubs in the AHL...hmmm...conspiracy theory time....maybe the pens sent taffe down to wilkes barre so he and janne could get accustomed to eachother in a low pressure environment....
- Janne's skating style reminds me of a young Jagr...
- I don't want to sound elitest here, but I really do feel that the low quality of some of the players is holding Janne back. Janne is a playmaker, but he isn't a great one.... By that I mean, he can't make people who are ok look great (like how supposidly crosby and malkin can, haven't seen that yet this year). Janne has impecible positioning, but half the passes that are sent to him are off target (on breakouts most of the time behind him) and when he makes good passes they bobble the puck... I really want to see what he can do with some high caliber talent...
- Janne is amazing at driving the puck down the ice, nobody in the AHL can touch him... He starts to have troubles when he tries to bring the puck across the ice... This is one of those things where it will either come with time, or he will just focus on the North-South game...
- Janne rolls with the physicality... He was out there taking and throwing hits with the best of them. Now nobody out there was throwing insanly cheap Ovechkin shots, but it was a fairly physical game, and janne was taking and giving... Problem gone....


Ok now some general thoughts about the AHL atmosphere:

- Wilkes Barre fans refer to the Pens as "The Big Pens"
- I have never seen so many variations of the same teams jerseys in one arena... I think they must change their jersey 4 times a year...
- I don't think I saw one jersey that was not autographed... That just shows how accessible these players are to their fans...
- You really have to give it up for some of these guys playing out there... They will most likely never play in the NHL, and they know it, but yet they are still out there doing what they love... I say bravo...
- Wilkes Barre fans do not understand getting to your seat before the game... I swear to god people trickle in till atleast halfway through the period...
- WOW on price... I thought i was buying the cheapest seat for $35, i get there and i am right next to the glass in the home zone by the right faceoff circle... incredible... I have never been that close for a hockey game, and it was a great experience... Food was reasonably priced too.... If any of you have a chance to make it to a Baby Pens or any other AHL game I highly recomend it...

So yeah, overall positive experience. After watching that game I really do feel that Janne staying down there is going to start to be a waste of talent. At this point he just needs to start getting his rhythm with the big dogs...

Pictures at some point this weekend, plus i have some preliminary shirt ideas i'm gonna start tossing around the blog this week hopefully so i would love everybody's feedback...

To go or not to go...

So i was debating on whether or not to make the 2 hour drive to see Janne Pesonen and the Baby Pens rock it tonight at the Wachovia arena... Then I went online to check out their website... Tonight after the game Janne Pesonen will be signing Autographs.... Yeah I'm going....

Anyways, i'll provide pictures and what not, so that'll be sweet, other than that i decided I am not going to say anything to him about me owning this blog cause, yeah, that'd be alittle creepy...

Kevin's Edit: its 6:30pm, I just talked to Vince, he is at the game and has tickets first row right next to the goal. Vince might be sending some updates, I'll post...

Vince's game report: Early in the second period Janne just set-up Chris Minard scoring a PP goal making it 3-1 South Tigers. 

Just asked Vince how does  Pessi's overall game look: " Fine..the baby pens look about as cohesive as their NHL counterparts, these scrubs are pulling our boy down"

Vince's game report: 3rd period Janne has set-up another Baby Pens goal. Janne must know Vince is in the arena, Janne has just scored on a breakaway. The report was was nice freakin goal. Janne has 1 goal 2 assists.

They went to shootout and Janne buries a goal, but the Pens lose. I'm not going any further on this. Just a GREAT Janne game, I'll wait for Vince actual game report, He did tell me some interesting info on his thoughts on Pessi.

Just out of curiosity...

Does anybody know where the bad blood between Malkin and Ovechkin came from? It's quite a fun rivalry, but it really seems like Ovechkin is seriously out to hurt him, I wonder what pissed him off so much...

It's called the heimlich...

The crapitals win one, Lady Alex does nothing, and he tries to run his mouth after... I hope we get the last laugh...

Lady Alex takes 3-4 cheap charges on malkin and nothing happens... I don't care about getting a call, I just want to see our guys step up and put his cheap shot ass on the ice...

Tricks are for Kids...

I usually don't throw a hell ya out to opposing players, But I have to acknowledge the accomplishment of Dallas Stars's rookie Fabian Brunnstrom on becoming only the 3rd player in NHL history to record a hat trick in his first NHL game. I like the jumbotron title so much I stole it for my title heading of this blog. Montreal's Alex Smith in 1943 and Real Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques in 1979 are the only other rookies to accomplish this feat. I know very little about Brunnstrom, but I do remember the free agency battle between Dallas and a few other teams. Congrats Fabian on your special feat

Gameday Pens vs. Crapitals

Tonight Lady Alex will be prancing into the Mellon Arena, bringing with him a bunch of overrated slobs that will most likely make the playoffs because their division is comprised of AHL caliber teams...

Anyways, Cooke will probably not be playing, which upsets me because I was looking forward to him putting Lady Alex on his ass when he tries to take cheap shot after cheap shot... I guess it will have to be up to Brooksie... Or maybe Lady Alex will do us all a favor and try and hurt himself again...



Anyways, I think today is going to be a big break out game for Malkin and Sid... They have both been under producing, and i think having their main competition for best youngest player come to town is the best remedy for that.... Be prepared for a 2-4 point game out of the both of them (you heard it here first!)...

I'm guessing with Cooke out of the line up we will see BizShitty play, which may be interesting if he decides to fight Brashere... But i expect to see Godard throw down in that arena. Ok well stay tuned...

Update:

Alexander Semin just gave Lady Alex a cumshot...

Update #2: Brashere is not playing... Presumably because he is afraid of Godard...

Where does Janne fit?

So during the game last night Kevin and I were talking about general Pens stuff, and he brought up a very interesting point...where could Janne fit on this current team? I started thinking about it, as of right now, we have more than enough forwards on our team, and not many of them have 2 way contracts. Making matters worse, I think everybody but Sykora (and i guess Satan) are 3rd/4th liners... I do not think they will bring the J man up to the big leagues if he is just gonna be a 3rd or 4th liner (barring any injuries)... So Janne really has to turn it up and really make an argument that he can come here and be that mythical "winger-for-sid" that we have been looking for the past 3 years...

Update:

Just found this on the post-gazette Q&A, Dave Molonari answered a question about who should be on Crosby's line, and he got to Janne...

All of which means that Janne Pesonen, an accomplished scorer in his native Finland who was the final forward sent to the Penguins' farm team in Wilkes-Barre before the regular season began, might well be the best candidate in their organization to produce goals with any regularity if he's placed alongside Crosby at some point in the future.

His analysis is quite interesting, read it here

Larionov wants emergency KHL meeting after Cherepanov death

ESPN 's continuing coverage of this sad story...Read here

Cryers 2 vs Pens 3 OT

First period action, Pens and Cryers has some chances on the PP's with no results. Satan had a nice chance but failed to bury it, My man Max had a clear cut breakaway and got nothing but a weak 5 hole shot. Flyers have hit a goal post. Fluery is looking sharp. Nice fight between Goodard and Cote, very slight edge to Goody with both fighters throwing some nice punches. 2nd half of the period became tight checking. Cryers outshot the Pens 7-6..

2nd Period: Pens come out with better intensity and have dominated the first 5 mins and drawing a penalty. Pascal had what looked like 3 shots on one shift, what stone hands he has. PP has looked to be some organized, resulting in a fat big 0...Cooke takes a stupid penalty, maybe Therrien needs to send this team to shady lady ranch, they need to relax.Orpik takes cue from Cooke, another mindless penalty. OMG Fleury is outstanding on PK..Malkin dings the poster..a GOAL by Orpik, you got to be kidding me...Its Christmas in October, I must add a nice screen by TYYYYYYler Kennedy. GOAL by Ziggy makes it 2-0, they dam is ready to burst. Jeff Cater scores late to make it 2-1..Goal deflects off Gills stick..Don't believe it 2 goals in the last min of second period.Goal by Simone Gagne 2-2 after 2. GAME NOTE: Orpik's goal was his 5th in 301 games.

3rd period: Crowd was just announces as the Pens 69th straight sellout. Pens had an early PP, good puck movement, resulting in nothing. Early 3rd period, looks like the game might open up, advantage Pens. Pens grab a penalty against Hartnell, 12 mins to go. Cryers on a PP with about 9 mins to go..Pens Kill it (0-5). Its time for sid to step it up, he has been invisble tonight for most part. Malkin backckecks Hossa style. Carter's speed draws a tripping penalty with 4 mins to go. MAF has played pretty good tonight, I hope he doesn't give up his bullsh*t goal. Its OT.

OT: 4-4 this should give the Pens the advan.  alot of action , stone hands wins it for the Pens. Pascal finally buries it...oh what a shot!!!  top shelf... 3-2 Pens win  Good night everyone!!!!

Back to business

The citizens voice in wilkes barre has a nice little article on Janne. Not too much new information other than the fact that Janne served in the Finish army and was a Grenadier...i kid you not. Anyways, it seems that Golden Boy is in this for the long haul and isn't gonna stop until he realizes his dream of playing in the NHL...

They also have an interesting analysis comparing scoring in the AHL to scoring in SM-Liiga:

Jarkko Immonen was one of the Hartford Wolf Pack’s best players in 2005-06, posting 20 goals and 46 points in 54 games. Back in Finland last year, he had 26 goals and 63 points in the same number of games.

Going the other direction, Hershey defenseman Sami Lepisto had 29 points in 56 games for Jokerit in 2005-06 and 45 points in 55 games with the Bears last season.

Slight advantage AHL.

Anyways, if you want to read the rest of the article, click here

A moment of silence....

Normally here at Pesonen and the Pens we focus on all things Janne Pesonen and the Pittsburgh Penguins. That being said we would like to express our deepest condolences to the family of Alexei Cherepanov on behaf of the entire Pesonation....

To read the entire article of Cherepanov's untimely death click here

Janne Pesonen Fact of the Week

Janne Pesonen taught Malkin how to speak english...

Janne Pesonen Picture of the Week

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Minard comments

on playing with Jeff Taffe and Janne.

For a sniper like Minard, the opportunity to skate on a line with Taffe and Pesonen can make the hurt of an injury disappear quickly.

“It’s exactly what I want – two guys like that,” Minard said.

“Taffe wants to carry the puck, make plays and he does have a good shot. Janne is very skilled and goes into the corners.

“I just have to get open and put myself in position to be successful.”

Minard said Taffe and Pesonen are talented enough to play in the NHL. But as long as they are here, he predicts his line will be an offensive force.

More Pesonen rumors...

I talked with DePaoli, from http://www.insidepittsburghsports.com and asked him about if there was anything in the Penguins organization about how long Janne would be Painting Wilkes Barre red...

It is going to depend on the circumstances and how Pesonen plays. The
time table I've been hearing is the Penguins will re-evaluate their
plans for Pesonen following their West Coast trip at the end month.
We may see him in the lineup around thanksgiving. It seems the
Penguins want to give him at least 4-6 weeks in WBS getting top line
minutes.

The Penguins expectations are being somewhat downplayed but I talked
to a source in the Penguins front office the other day who feels
Pesonen reminds him of Germon Titov. Don't know if you remember him,
but he was a solid two way player for the Penguins in the late 90's.

Also, I am thinking, with their lack of ability to put the puck in the net, and the fact they are having trouble clearing the zone, getting somebody who will be able to play 2-ways well, and be able to score might be a huge plus. Once again let us play the waiting game some more....

Under the Lights: To Sweeden and Beyond

Not sure if any of you got a chance to check out the FSN Special tonight "Under the Lights: To Sweden and Beyond"... If not, I suggest you try and catch it at some point it was really interesting and fun to watch. Anyways, at several points in the special they say "Pesonen and the Penguins," I'm just gonna assume that was a shout out from Dan Potash to our blog...

Pessi set-ups Minard with game winner..

Janne set up what proved to be the game winner with a nice pass from behind the net to Chris Minard making it 4-2. It was Minard's 2nd goal of the game. The Phantom then scored a goal midway through the 3rd period making 4-3, but the baby Pens went into shutdown mode seal the victory. Janne had 1 assist  2 shots and +/- +2, looks like he is settling in faster than expected. Pens next game is Friday night vs Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Where was our offense?

One of our faithful readers mark said it the best... Where was our offense? Yeah I have no idea.... The pens looked really good in the 1st, had a nice hop to their step, played good two way hockey, got a nice powerplay goal... Then the next two periods... yeah i have no idea what happened. The pens really need to figure something out soon or we are in for a long season...

It's a great day for Hockey...

Today the Pens are hoping to get off on a better foot than they did in europe, and i'm confident they will be a completly different team. Anyways, the video above has already been making its way around the internet, since it's the Penguin's new saying for the year (it was one of the Badgers sayings as well)...

Anyways, it seems to me that it's a Sid the Kid promotional video more or less with a random shot at Philly at the end...Also is that giant midget hockey brawl in the middle? Cause that'd be awesome

Pesonen's potential intrigues

This article was wriiten in the Wilkes-Barre Time Leader, once you read this article you will see that the Dream still lives on for those of us stll believing Janne will make it back to the NHL.. Click here to read




UPDATE: Fixed the broken link

Is Jannimania dying?

Now i understand that everybody is being apprehensive now that Janne has been demoted, but seriously, I have been seeing a significant decrease in Janniacs hitting up our site. I am starting to get alittle worried here. I just want to know that the Janniac Nation is still there. Post a message on the comments, tell your friends, let's not give up here peope, remember what MLK said...let's show how we respond to moments of adversity...

also a while ago i made a post about naming a drink after Janne... but i have yet to receive any recipes... i am waiting, and sober...

Janne and Taffe...

Not sure if this means anything, but the current line down in wilkes barre is Pesonen - Taffe - Minard....

From what i'm hearing this is looking like a fairly dangerous line. Also it will be nice to have Janne playing with a center who has played in the NHL off and on...I'm glad to see that Taffe wasn't a little bitch like Beech and didn't run off to Europe...

Just don't look up

Saturday night as our beloved Pens take on those pesky N.J.Devils there will be some banner raising, lets count them 1,2,3,4,5. Wait is this correct 5 new banners, so this game is suppose to start at 7:30pm, right? Wrong, look for this game to start around 9pm. This is a town trying their dammnest to be known a Hockeytown, USA. as laid claim by the Redwings. uh uh our hockeytown as we want it to be known will just banner other cities to death, Along with the Division,Conference,Stanley Cup banners, now we have the 12 scoring title banners for Mario,Jagr and Sid, we add the MVP banner for Mario,Jagr and Sid. I must tell you and I hate to admit this, I've been in quite a few other arenas over the years, Banner raising was always a special ceremony. Banners were raised honoring team accomplishments and for special players like Mario. Maybe Mario is starting to feel he is not appreciated enough. He only saved hockey in Pittsburgh a few different times, has he own special avenue named after him around the Igloo. What more does he want or need? Ahhhh, maybe Mario and Sid one boring night around the house after watching the Nhl Network telecast of some vintage Guy Lafluer smoked some good weed and decided to become creative with these I I I me me me will to raise our own self esteem. Lets raise banners Sid blurts out, so we take the gleam and glitter of this special ceremony of accomplishments and turn it into a ahhh there I am again up on the rooftop, What next? A Michel Therrien how many different line combos can I use in one game banner or a Jeff Taffe contract signing and the waived within a 5 months period banner? I dunno, I know, post some banners you would like to see hanging from the Igloo rafters. Please be creative, smoke some good weed and see what you can up with. Just don't look up tomorrow night, you might end up with a stiff neck.

Put the shovel down, get out of the hole hoss...

So ESPN has a new article about whether or not Marians decision to jump ship to goto Detriot was a good or bad one, and they asked him about the comments he made to piss off Pittsburgh fans....

"Of course I didn't mean it that way," Hossa said Thursday. "Because they still have a really good young team, an excellent team. They're going to be battling on top for sure. I just felt coming to this dressing room and playing with future Hall of Famers … Just being here in this dressing room with them and spending the season with them and learning something new from those guys also brought me here.

Hmm... Yet another slap in the face to some of the younger stars in pittsburgh... Cause chances are none of them are ever gonna be in the hall of fame... And you know, maybe you could have learned something talking to the owner... Who is a hall of famer... Who is probably the 2nd best (some, may argue the best) hockey player ever...HERE is the entire article

In other news, my question to Dave Molonari got posted on the Post-Gazettes web site... Next game the Baby Pens play the Philadelphia Phantoms on Saturday, so it should be interesting to see how Janne fairs now that he isn't fresh off a plane from the other side of the planet and has actually had a chance to practice with some of these guys. I'm still trying to find a picture or something of Janne sportin the Baby Pens Uni, but it seems that generating Janne news out of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is more difficult than out of Finland in the offseason, I may have to go do my own investigative reporting...

Update: Could Ravenstahl be seeking reparations from the Slovak government for the Hossa debacle? Read the Article HERE

What a queer...

What the hell is up with his hair and that giant forehead? He looks like an epoch Douche Bag...

Dave Molinari's take on Pesonen...

So I emailed Dave Molinari (post gazette) about his take on Janne, mainly asking him about how long he expects (and the penguins organization) Janne to be in Wilkes Barre and if they expect Janne to play in Pittsburgh this year...

Precisely how long he'll be in Wilkes-Barre depends on a lot of things --
how he performs, whether the Penguins have injuries or some wingers who
struggle, etc. -- but I think it's safe to say that the front office doesn't
see him being marooned there for the entire season.
I was a little surprised that Pesonen was the guy demoted to get the
Penguins down to the league limit -- I'm not sure what Bill Thomas has done
to merit a place ahead of him in the NHL -- but it's fairly easy to justify
the decision by saying that he will benefit from additional exposure to the
North American game, and that he'll get more ice time and responsibilities
in Wilkes-Barre than he would have in Pittsburgh.

So Dave thinks we are in a good place...

Hershey 8 @ WB Pens 4 final

Janne has some PP time and assisted on a late pp, but Ryan Stone has 2 goals for  the Pens,  Hershey has scored  5 goals on the PP.  I wasn't able to hear the whole game , considering that he was thrown to the wolves with hardy any practice with this group it was being reported Pessi had a solid game, I can only imagine he will continue to improve with his new teammates.

 

Starting to see a pattern here..

So, last weekend, the Pens cut Janne, and played two horrible games (although they did win one)...

Today, which was the start of the champions hockey league (which by the way is really sweet and I predict to see NHL teams to start getting involved in the next few years) Janne's old team Karpat, the Finnish Champions, played the underdog German league (DEL) champions, Eisbaren... So guess what happened... the Germans 3 - Karpat 2... i think i'm starting to see a pattern of what happens when Janne leaves your team...

I think Mikey T and Ray Ray should watch this video...

And so it begins...

Janne Pesonen will be on the Wilkes Barre Penguins opening night roster tonight against the Hershey Bears. We will give you updates about his performance, I would be surprised if he gets very much playing time since he hasn't really practiced with the team and hasn't been back in the states very long, but hopefully he gets off to a good start. If any of our readers are going to be at the game or able to watch it on TV, some pictures of Janne in his new duds (and new number, #25) would be appreciated.

Stay tuned people, the Battle Uphill begins today, I hope you are all on board.

Janne may have been demoted, but atleast he's not a flyer...

Apparently playing in the AHL is better than playing in Philadelphia...

How I imagined it went down....

Ring Ring

Mario: Go for mario...


Wayne: Sniff Sniff, hey Mario it's me Wayne...you know Gretzky?

Mario: Wayne you still crying cause you missed the Playoffs again?

Wayne: No...



Mario: Oh Pheonix rejected your pitch to move back to Winnipeg...

Wayne: No...well yes, but that's not why i'm crying...

Mario: Then what is it...you can talk to me Wayne...

Wayne: Well...I...I...I...heard you signed that guy Janne Pesonen...

Mario: Oh yeah, that kid has some real talent, I can't wait to put him on the top line with sid...

Wayne: Well you know I have all these records, and i'm just scared, you know, i'm scared you know that i loved scoring all those goals, and like everybody know that, you know i'm the best player and like i think that you know if Janne comes into the league he may take that away from me...

Mario: Wayne, quit crying you little bitch...what the hell do you want me to do?

Wayne: Can you just like, i don't know, send him to the AHL for a little...

Mario: Why the hell would i send him to the AHL...

Wayne: Sniff, i don't know, say he needs to adjust to the North American Game...

Mario: We know that's all bull shit Wayne...

Wayne: I'll give you 10 Million USD...



FU Wayne Gretzky...

Marci calls Stan on Janne

This comment was left by Marci, I thought it needed to posted on our main blog board. It shows Pesonation is alive and kickin.

I called into Savran's show on Friday and asked him why the pens took Biz over Janne and he told me that based on a discussion with Steigerwald, the pens are long on skill but short on grit. Didn't look like it this weekend.

Thanks Marci,

Once he starts to tear it up, the Pens brass will not have a choice.

Phil Borque comments on Janne...

Thanks to our fellow Janniac Alex for this comment...

The question was that "Why did they choose bill thomas
instead of pessi". Phil said "Bill has played in the nhl and the ahl
and has a little more experience, I am positive that once Peasonen is
done rippin up the ahl he will be back in a black and gold jersey
very soon! "

I think this is a fairly accurate statement, so i guess we get to continue to play the waitin game. I'm hoping to try and make it to a Wilkes-Barre Game at some point (assuming janne stays there) and we'll continue to keep everybody posted on his development...

Penguins vs. Senators 10/5

Kevin's Edit: I was preparing my own post on this game, then I thought what F for, that was disgusting. I'm keeping this short because it is not worth my time, Listen up Mike and/or Ray, this team is crying for Pesi, between inserting Thomas, who massed a whole 5:34 mins of ice time and the other 2 pieces of crap Biz and Goody bar man a whole 7 + mins , that is total for boff you all. You need to explain to Pesonation the madness to your method. The fourth line is handjob at best. Bring back Janne, place him on the his wing with Talbot and Cooke then turn them loose. Pascal really does try but skill level is very limited. Drop him to a fourth line until Sykora comes back. I'm stopping right here. Maybe once they get home and rest a week everything will settle down. I'm rambling and scrambling, well, think I'll just settle in and get ready for the Steeler game.

Here we go, ready for round 2. I'll be posting a stream once the game begins. I'll try and update here, but I can't guarantee that i'll be very consistent, if for whatever reason you are using me as a primary source for info on the game just post in the comments and i'll make sure to update fairly often....

Anyways...some pre-game notes

Goligoski and Thomas will be playing in place of Taffe and Sydor...

The 4th line is...Bissonnette - Thomas - Godard....wow that is gonna stink up the entire country of sweden...I can't believe Bissonnette is still on this line up, he was absolutly terrible yesterday, honestly if he keeps it up i can't imagine them keeping him up in the NHL...but who knows, Mikey T is kind of a shithead...

Sykora does not seem to be coming back for this game, Kennedy will continue to replace him on the wing...

Gerber will not be starting in net for the Senators, in place of him will be Alex Auld...

Look to see them mix things up on the power play, can't get much worse than 0-7...

We'll check back once the game starts...

LIVE UPDATES:

2:44 - Emilie Clausen is still hot...the lady singing the US National Anthem is not very hot...
2:45 - Should be able to stream the game HERE
2:47 - Sweet Emilie is back for the Swedish national anthem...it's kind of a shitty national anthem, I couldn't imagine marching into battle listening to it, but i guess the Swedish don't really march into battle...
2:48 - I know they are the home team, but why is the announcer saying "You're Pittsburgh Penguins" and Aulds goalie mask is actually reall cool...
2:52 - Malkin just took Kennedy out... I assume he is just trying to put him in his place... "You not forget who star is on this team"
2:55 - Staal - Thomas PK line looked really good...
3:00 - Staal needs to get alittle more experience in front of the net before he starts to perform like Malone... But once he gets going, he will make Malone look like Rico Fata
3:03 - BizShitty - Crosby - Godard? BizShitty loses control of the puck during a breakout...what a surprise...
3:04 - Ruuts tried to kill crosby...
3:08 - Pittsburghs powerplay starts just where they left off, officially moving to 0-8 on the season...
3:14 - Pittsburgh will be getting the chance to move to 11.11% Powerplay efficiency...
3:18 - 0-9...
3:22 - The Tank going to the penalty box again...hey we have more goals on PK than PP... and we have given up an equal amount of goals on PP vs PK
3:24 - End of the first Pittsburgh 0 - Ottawa 0 still 33 seconds left on the PK...
3:45 - Penguins trying to start their first two games at 1/10 on the PP
3:51 - 0 for 10...
4:07 - Godard takes a dumb penalty, Senators Score...Pittsburgh 0 - Ottawa 1
4:19 - Pens got another power play, 0-11, end of the 2nd Pittsburgh 0 - Ottawa 1
4:40 - Pens go on the PP again...i'm praying 1-12, we really need a mark here..
4:44 - 0 for 12...
4:48 - Pens go on another power play...seriously this is getting out of hand here if we don't score...
4:52 - 0-13...probably their worst one..
4:59 - The Senators try to teach the Pens on how to score on the Power Play and get one behind Marc Andre...Pittsburgh 0 - Ottawa 2 Mario does not look like he is having a good birthday...
5:04 -Letang lets a forward get behind him, Pittsburgh 0 - Ottawa 3 Let's go back to pittsburgh and lick our wounds and pray this isn't a sign of the season to come...
5:10 - Cooke instigates a nice penalty, Gologoski scores on the pp 1 for 14 WOOT, we still lost but, yeah...

Janne Pesonen Picture of the Week...

Not the face of a quitter, could be the face of a convict, but not a quitter...

Janne Pesonen Fact of the Week...

Wayne Gretzky paid the Pittsburgh Penguins 3.5 Million USD to send Janne to the minor leagues to try and protect his records...

Did you drink last night cause you look alittle hungover...

Pittsburgh 4 - Ottawa 3

When it comes to stanley cup runner-up hang overs from the past 20 years, it's worse than a morning after drinking Cheap Whiskey and Mad Dog Cocktails. So here we are, facing history square in the eyes and trying to give them a big FU. We got the W, put two tallies in the points column. So here let's take a look at the pros and cons i saw from todays game...

Pros

• Tyler "F'ing" Kennedy.... he looks like he got some lessons from Janne this offseason. Anyways he really stepped up and showed that he is not planning on suffering from the Staal Sophmore Slump.
• Penalty Kill, we gave up one goal on the penalty but we also killed alot of key plays
• Satan, although he didn't get a mark he looked like he was all over the place
• Malkin, we could be the home of the points race this year...

Cons

• Our power play looked flatter than a middle school cheerleader. Wow, that was completly horrid. Honestly, not only did we not get a goal, but there were several powerplays that looked like we were not even at a man advantage...
• Toughness? We looked like a bunch of pussies getting pushed around out there
• Bisonette... I really could not believe that he is actually considered NHL caliber by anybody. Now this isn't a let's get Janne back point, but seriously, this guy looked absolutly terrible. He was either completly out of position or he looked like he was a dog chasing his tail out there. I smell a one way ticket in his future...
• Taffe... yeah he fell quite far from being that 1st round pick...

Eh's

• Fluery, does'nt look like he's stepping up and taking his plcae in the top tier of goal tenders
• Staal, i have high hopes for you Jordan... But that doesn't say much, the last guy I had high hopes for just got cut...
  

So yeah, it's weird getting back in the hockey mindset, I'm currently in the Football mindset where every game really matters (yeah i know every game matters, but not like football), so pardon me if i come off as a little extreme. Ok well we hope to get more news on Jannes trip to Wilkes Barre and i'll be around tomorrow. I'll post a stream for those out of market people, and i'll give my thoughts durring and after the game though.

Stay Strong Pesonatoin...

Pens 4 Sens 3 O.T.

Ok, due to prior commitments I must end that game blog for today. Check out the 3rd period @ yahoo hockey

Vinces Edit: Seriously, I know i'm biased here, but BizShitty looks absolutly Horrid, he has horrible positioning, during the goal we let up he had the oportunity to get off the ice like 4 times but never did and was out of position... Mikey T really knows how to pick them


Game 1 w/o Pessi

Man, both teams are still in preseason mode. Fleury was adequate at best to me. There is something the Flower lacks but I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe it is concentration. Gerber is just a terrible goaltender 3 out of our 4 goals were scored from about the same area. Guess what Ottawa, your going no where with Gerber in net.

TK goals were gifts, but the kid deserved a game like this every once in awhile, he just works his ass off shift after shift.

Where was Gogo at? wasn't he suppose to manning the point on the powerplay, MT decided not to even dress him. You think he'll play today, can't hurt.

Malkin picked up where he left off during last(regular)season.

Kris Latang still has a way to go to become the star I think he will become. Looks like teams are going to liberty on him.

Hopefully today's game goes a little smoother.