Janne report....

Janne has quietly scored goals in 2 straight games with 11 for the season. Ak bars has been playing some of best hockey of the year as of late...

Janne avg about 14 mins a game and is 4th in goals behind Morozov, Zaripov and Kazionov

Winter Crappic...

Leave it to the NHL to take an idea that was so great and just run it into the ground... Two years ago the pens vs the sabers was not a big rivalry, but it was a big deal cause it was the first winter classic. Everybody wondered, how could they follow the first one... And they did, they found one of the best rivalries (of all time and at the time) and put it on ice in Chicago... Then everybody was like, man I hope the winter classic is not like the Godfather where 1 and 2 were awesome and 3 was a total waste of film... And guess what!!! Yeah, that's what happened... They took two teams that have little to no history with each other, two teams, which were considered overachievers last year, and threw them into a baseball stadium that isn't that great for baseball let alone hockey... When I heard the bruins name being tossed around all i could think about is Bruins vs Canadians, yeah the habs aren't that good right now, but who cares, the Winter CLASSIC, it's about the long standing history and tradition of hockey... Anyways, I am sure that next year they will drive it even further into the ground (if this years Winter classic is the godfather 3, think of next year as that parody movie with Jay Moher Mafia!), maybe it will be the battle of california, The Ducks vs The Kings... It'll be the first NHL game played on roller blades... Anyways here are a list of the games that I would like to see a winter classic for...

1. Pittsburgh vs. Philly at Beaver Stadium - this is wet dream for Pens or Flyers fans, pick a great venue right between the two, add some snow, and let the fists fly. This will not happen (at least as a winter classic game) for some time now due to the fact that they have already played in one each, but wouldn't it be great.

2. The battle of alberta - I can see it now, a football stadium in Canada, one half all wearing Oilers blue and one side all rockin the red (they did it first capitals so shut up). This would be a classic battle, and it would be an amazing atmosphere. They will probably never do it cause NBC hates canadians as much as don cherry hates europeans though...

3. Toronto vs the Habs - This is another rivalry that has lost its luster due to the consistent under achieving of both teams, but it is a classic one none the least. This game has less of an opportunity than #2

4. Subway series - Islanders vs Rangers - Yeah new york sucks, but it would be cool to see these teams go at it in NYC. Especially with Gabby's new found health and the star that is JT... this could be an actual possible game in the future

5. Avs vs Detroit in the mile high city - this would be awesome, detroit already cashed their winter classic coupon in, so it's not possible for a while, but it'd be great... Especially in Roy is the honorary goaltender and gets in a fight...

Anyways i can't thikn of anymore off the top of my head, any thoughts? Honestly I assume the next one is going to be the capitals vs somebody because the capitals fans tears are screwing with the infrastructure in DC and causing Public Works to go bankrupt and the US government is stepping in so they don't have to bail out somebody else... The thing about the Crapitals is all their rivals (other than the pens) are southern teams so i can't see that being terribly interesting...

Pens new third revealed

So if you didn't know Rob Rossi reported that this year will be the last year for the 3rd jerseys that we have come to know and loath (for their losses not their aesthetic value).... The whole chat is here...

Anyways, after hearing that, we here at PATP tapped into our sources to see if we could get more information... Well what do you know, one of our sources had more information than we would ahve ever expected...

After our "Donald Southerland in JFK"-esque meeting we have the first look at the new 3rd jersey for next season!.... scroll down to see it




























































THEY'RE BACK!!!!!

Justice Sweet Justice...

Ovechkin went after somebody's knees again... Although this time he was the one limping off the ice... Seriously the NHL needs to make an example out of this clown now... You have Cooke get suspended, Laraque got suspended 5 F*CKIN GAMES FOR THE EXACT SAME THING. But no, the NHL is not gonna take action and Ovechkin will get better and he will keep running people down and injuring players because that's how the NHL works and that's the kind of guy he is... I have the highest amount of respect for his abilities on the ice, but the way he plays the game sometimes in unacceptable and shows a complete lack of respect for the other players on the ice... If he doesn't get suspended he deserves to be injured for a while...

FUMY

PATP Trade Block

A new feature here at PATP, the Trade Block, will discuss Penguin players who could be sent away, and what they would bring in... We are not saying who should or will get traded, we are just trying to step back and take a look at the situation. Our goal is to just give general ideas of who the pens might trade, so if you are looking for crazy Staal for Kovulchuk trade proposals I suggest you hit up HFBoards

The first installment of this series will be discussing the great Kristopher "Silk" Letang. If I were Silky I would be afraid everytime the phone rings. I like Kris, I think he's a good player, I think he will be a very good player as he matures. With a career plagued with inconsistancy, the rise of players such as Gogo, The Great Martain Skoula and Ben Lovejoy, and his pending RFA status (with high asking price), Kris Letang's trade status is looking better than ever. The big thing with him is what he would bring in. I have a hard time seeing a 1 for 1 deal with him a la whitney for kunitz. I think the goal with moving him is we can't get any more of these borderline top-6 forwards. In order to get us somebody with that always important scoring touch, I think he would have to be packaged with a good draft pick (2nd or 3rd round), or a mid-top prospect/AHL player. With the injuries that have been plaguing the penguins I doubt we would sacrifice our defensive depth this early in the season, so I think with him it will be more of a wait and see type thing.

Move over Lady here comes Stamjoke..

There might be a new emerging star. Checkout this goal by Stamjoke. The lady would be envious.

And so it begins... (Also FUMY)

Much like the Germans marched across Europe during WWI & WWII the Russians answer to the NHL, the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), has begun their triumphant march. Yesterday they officially began their quest to swallow up Europe when they received a pledge from Swedish elite team AIK to join their league for the 2010-2011 season... Though most people do not see this as being a big deal, I on the other hand see this as the next step in them creating a league that can rival the NHL. If the KHL is able to unite Europe under one banner, the NHL will have to start worrying about losing players of all European ethnicity's to the new powerhouse league... Though I do have trouble taking a league that's goal leader is Marcel Hossa and can't spell Continental correct seriously...

Link to original article via KHL website

In other news, due to the success of last years campaign to get Mikey T fired, PATP has officially declared war on the architect of the Penguins powerplay Mikey Y...

FUMY

Kevin's take:

Yo Yeo, listen up..what the hell is the problem, to many stars? not enough finishers? To many passes? Our pp is loaded with to many underachievers. Lets change up the Gonchar getting the puck fading to his left and passing back to Ugly, then Ugly will either one-time it or drop it to the Lip at the side of the net with no one in front. Look Lip isn't a finisher(0 goals in 16 games), pure and simple, so let him take the puck behind the net to do his damage passing. Make the other 4 attack the net. Hit the guy(s) in front, high slot or points. the points have options too, attack, back door(highly successful in the past) or blast from the point, with traffic in front of the goalie.

Just try something different, find the right combo even if it puts a star on the bench.

Yo Yeo, listen up just ask Mikey T what happened the last time we campaigned to have a coach fired..

Kunitz out 2 weeks

In more injury news, the Pittsburgh Penguins have lost Chris Kunitz for 2 weeks... The Penguins recalled Mark Letestu, in the pre-game interview, Disco Dan stated that he has confidence in Letestu's ability to almost score, and he should be a good replacement for Kunitz during the next week, but also that other players need to step up and have near goals to make up for the absence of Kunitz...

Heee Shooots He Scores...

Thanks to one of our sources out of Finland here are some video recaps of Janne's first (of what will hopefully be many) hat trick in the KHL...







In other Janne news, it seems the curse of the Penguins has followed him across the seas as he sustained a mild injury that will keep him sidelined for 1-2 weeks... Best of luck recovering, Go Janne and Go Pens..

Janne Goes Down...

In the second round match up between Finland and Russia for the Karjala cup (conveniently advertised on the back of janne's sweater) Janne got hurt and left the game with an injury... This was actually like 10 days ago, but that might be why he didn't have that great of a showing...

Also i will not acknowledge the penguins until they score a goal...

Goose is Loose...

How good has the Goose been in his first full year with the Pens...Here are some numbers.

6- Tied for the lead in goals with Flames Pion me Enough amongst D-men..

7- assists good for 19th pos...

13- 4th place ..total points

+14- tied for the lead in plus/minus w/ Cryers D-man Carle.

21 shots/ 28% (6-goals)...

Goose has been poised, plus has picked up big time in the loss of Sarge...should be interesting once we get get totally healthy.

If I had my way..

Last year I was calling for the Ugly(Malkin) trade to LA for Kopitar and Dustin Brown. We could have had a up and coming superstar center and a top power forward. Kopitar's speed really showed last night. The trade would have taken care of a winger for Lip Crosby, could you imagine the damage Brown and the Lip would do as linemates, plus we have still another superstar center who just turned 22. My motto is when trading 1 star for 2, I make that trade everytime.

Our winning streak would still be alive.

Final thought, not that Kopitar is a looker, but that overall image of the team improves.

Vince's Take: Man that was brutal last night... That line might be the scariest line in hockey... I know everybody is gonna jump on the Lady Alex - Backstrom and Semen line, but honestly, the way that line was able to forecheck, scores and move the puck was incredible... I would love to see a penguins line be able to do that... Not that our top two lines are not good, but I have never seen them bang like that... The Kopitar line basically has a combination of the Physicality and forechecking of our Staal-Cooke-Kennedy line, with elite scoring ability of a line with Malkin and Crosby, let's just be happy that the only possible way we'd ahve to see this team in the playoffs is if they make it through the west, and at that point they'd be so beat up they woulnd't be nearly as scary...

Janne turns 27...

Happy Birthday to Janne, who turned 27 today. Pessi has been on fire of late with 6 points in his last 2 games. Rumors are swirling that Pete Forsberg is asking for Janne permission to join AK Bars. We will have to wait and see.

Sid who?

Our name sake Janne Pesonen has been on fire as of late, in his last 2 games Janne as 6 points.

Janne had a hat trick in a 6-3 win vs Kahbarovsk today.....

Hey Pens, keep Stonehands Dupuis, that makes sense...

Simply the Scariest...

Just did a little of surfing on some Hockey sites with many going the way of the Halloween theme scariest hockey masks. The Hockey News put their list out. The list had some good ones on there. They did leave off one and IMO prolly the best all-time hockey mask that Gerry Cheervers use to wear during the late 60's early 70's. Happy Halloween!

Vince's Edit:

They also ignored the scariest mask today in the NHL... I know his team sucks, but let's give him something to hang his hat (or mask) on...


Vesa Toskala... but in my opinion nothing beats the old jason style masks like the one kevin posted above... Also viewing them when nobody is wearing them does not do them justice...

Gary Bromley (If the jersey wasn't scary enough...)

Murray Bannerman

Giles Gratton

Bourque get's a nickname...

We have the lip... Now we have.... THE BROW....

Janne hurt...

After a handful of games in which Janne has under performed he was officially placed on the injured list and is currently not on the AK Bars active Roster as they are Battling Mettalurg for their next game... No word on how serious the injury is yet, but we will keep the Pesonation informed...

Bourque it....

He didn't score but I thought Janne 2 played a fairly good game out there tonight... He kept his feet moving, wasn't afraid to throw hits and dig out pucks and put the puck on net (which is more than Janne 1 could say about his NHL stint)... In my opinion for games that the pens know are not gonna be overly physical there is no reason to dress both Rupp and Godard.... So they should either play J2 or call up Bayda who is rockin it in WBS (goals in 3 straight games)...

Time to step up...

Apparently some guy named Gonchar is out 4-6 weeks? Every blog over there ----> probably has some tear jerking article about how he is out, and how he will be missed, which are all true statements, but we here at PATP like to look to the future. Everybody is saying Letang and Gogo need to step up, but we are only calling out one... Believe it or not, Gogo right now could be our best puck moving defenseman (including Gonchar), and right here is his chance to prove it... Also the penguins brass have an amazing opportunity to save themselves a few million next year... If gogo does what I think he can do, speek english and run the power play, then we will save ourselves tons of money next year by letting Gonch go... Gonch is fine and all, but right now our prosepect system is packed full of compitent Defenders that are ready to goto the next level... We are rocking such a great young offensive core on O, it's time to do the same to our defense...

That glass looks half full to me...

The Hangover...

In the preseason the talk of the town was whether or not the penguins would have a Stanley Cup hang over but little did we know that we here at PATP would be suffering one ourselves. Though it is great to be the defending stanley cup champions, I have to admit that last year at this time was a bit more exciting from a bloggers point of view... We had a head coach that we disliked (atleast kevin and i did), the thought of janne entering the NHL was still a possibility, and we still had that desire to the world to prove that we were good enough to hoist lord stanley at the end of the season...

This season is a new one, and one full of possibilities... Our team is playing high caliber hockey, our head coach is one that we enjoy and Janne is playing his heart out in the #2 league in the world... The scariest thing about it is that Malkin and Crosby haven't even hit their stride yet... If our D keeps playing like it does, the team stays healthy, and Malkin and Crosby get back into dominant form, I honestly don't know if there is a team in the league that can skate with the penguins...

That leaves me to this question I would like to pose to our viewing audience... Right now in the east the new hip teams to pick to win are the Flyers and the Capitals... The flyers have a great Offense and Defense, but you would have to be kidding me if you think that Emery is gonna lead them to lord stanleys thrones... The capitals have a similar situation in goal, but everybody is clouded by their offense... I cannot deny that the Capitals have the most potent offensive forces in the game, but please tell me when the last team to win the Stanley Cup was that gave up 4 points a game... I cannot take the crapitals serious until they either a. get a real goaltender (or Varlomsoft steps up), or b. get an actual defenender... That leaves me to this, Kevin and I have talked and agree that right now the biggest threat to the penguins in the east are the rangers... They have one of the best shut down goaltenders in the game, a rising offensive deffensive force (aka kevins boyfriend Del Zotto), and can actually score this year with their top lines... Assuming they stay healthy and we stay healthy, Rangers vs. The Penguins in the playoffs might be the series to watch... Your thoughts?

A...for the Defense

Hey, what can you say about the Pens defense. They have been solid in every game but one. Our D has been nothing but sensational. Sarge,Silk,Goose have been all over the ice. Newcomer Jay McKee is leading the NHL in blocked shots making Marc-Andre's job a lot easier.

Hopefully kevin doesn't win...

He might go all Dick Cheney on his Cryer ass...

Bernie Parent Hunting trip via Ebay

The young season...Just a thought....

Islanders have 0(wins) 0(losses) 3 points and have lost 3 in a row.....

Sabres are 2-0-1 with 4 goals for /3 goals against...

Canucks were undefeated in pre-season and have won 1 game so far in the regular season...

Redwings are in last place....

A healthy Gaborik has the Rangers rolling...

Pens Pigman has 2 winning goals....

Ugly leads the NHL with 7 minors....

Marc-Andre is tied with 4 wins....

Champs Roll..5-2

I'm not sure what kind team Burke is trying to build in Toronto, lets just say they got a lesson on how to play hockey from the Champs.

The Lip led the way with 2 goals, as the Champs went 3 for 5 on the PP. Captain Close(Staal) scored in his second straight game. Ugly had another strong game with a couple of assists..

The way I saw it the Leaf have some major issues...Lets look.

There first line would be any other teams second line.

The young goalie was horrid...you can't give the defending champs gimme goals..

The Leafs only heart is that of a goon...they showed no fore check or D...

They can't play an up tempo game type of game that the Champs play.

So far the Coyotes's speed has been the only issue that the Pens had problems with....Their team speed was a bit much for us the other night.

What can you say, Pens showed tonight they are / will be the team to beat again even tho it could have been at the hands of a NHL's bottom feeder...

Note: Cryers choked again leading 2-0 with less than 7 mins to play when Teemu Selanne went off score 2 goals to tie it, then smoked Emery with the game winning shootout goal...to funny

Gotta love beating the cryers...

The game was 5-4, but it easily could have been 5-2... After watching this game you gotta be thinking that whenever our team gets rolling, there might not be any team in the league that can play with us... We might not have the most talented top line in the NHL, but top to bottom you cannot argue with our depth... Just some things i'd like to note in non paragraph form...

• I really like Rupp's offensive upside... I like Godard for what he does, but honestly Rupp seems to have more offensive talent and the same ability to wreck faces... For games like this against the flyers we will have both of those guys in for obvious reasons, but in the long run I think you will see Godard scratched and Rupp in...
• Jay McKee blocks shots like a pro... Kevin had some thoughts that he might not pan out, but so far I am pleasantly impressed...
• Malkin was possessed... He was two bounces away from a hat trick and some highlight real goals...
  
• Gogo looks impressive as hell, you can really tell he has come a long way in his own zone...
• STAAL... Whenever Kevin and I talk pens the same topic seems to come up... Staal needs to step up his game in order to deserve the money he is getting, and tonight he did. He is rockin defensively, and the offense he showed last night was impressive... Dare i say that move was Le Magnifiquesqe?
  
• Hartnell is a piece of shit...
• Fleury's glove hand is off the hook
  

Kevn's take:

Sorry due to late night work, I missed this one, I'm one of the few that wake up in the morning thinking god I hate the Cryers.

I was rolling on the ground laughing when I heard Emery had a chance to experience a typical Pens/Cryers game where the team from Phil-thy gives us a shit goal. How can we forget Biron's blunders over the years. Thanks for signing a Biron clone..

bet I don't miss their the next 7 games....

Joke city...

Do you seriously expect a response?

Eric Tangradi doing his best Janne impression....

Eric Tangradi is rockin Janne's old number down in WBS... Hopefully he can put up the same point totals and folk-hero stati at the greatest one....

Most awkward interview ever...

WBS Opens the Season with a Win...

It may have not been a banner raising night but the WBS Penguins opened their season tonight at home against the Syracuse Crunch with a 4-2 win... New members of the Penguins organization Brian Strait and Eric Tangradi both had assists while Wyatt Smith (2), Chris Conner, and Kevin Veillieux lit the lamp... Luca Caputi ended up with 2 shots on goal with a 0 +/-, for as touted as a prospect he is, he has yet to dominate on any level and the spotlight will really be on him this year... More to come from both the Pens and the Baby Pens...

Interesting Update: Everybody who registered a point in todays game was having their first game in the Penguins Organization, no returning players registered a point...

One last Time

The Old Igloo will shut its doors at the conclusion of the 2009/2010 playoffs, last night it hosted the final opening night. With the 2009 Stanley Cup Banner dangling from the rafters our beloved Penguins defeated the Rump Rangers 3-2. Both Ugly and The Lip picked up where they left off scoring the first two Pens goals, Pigman added the game winner. MAF looked strong in nets outplaying Sir Henrik...

just a thought...

All 3 goals were scored within three feet of the net..typical Pens goals

Someone last night mentioned 14-0-2 in the last 16 HOME games vs the Rangers

Marc-Andre looked very strong, just ask Vinny Prospal

Pens still continue to get the bounces....just like all good teams

Here is a shocker, every Penguin had a shot on goal except Jay McKee. Does that surprise anyone? (The leaders were Pigman and No Hands Dupuis with 4 shots apiece..

We are off and running and game 2 is against the lowly Islanders....Sounds like a good start to me..

Meet the new Janne...

Whenever Janne left I know the first thing that popped into everybodys mind, was "Shit, now i'll never hear pelimies at the Melon Arena..." , but the second thing everybody thought was... Man how are we gonna replace this undersized winger who excelled in the AHL... Well everybody I would like to Introduce you to.... Chris Bouque... Let's compare the two (AHL stats from last year)...

	Janne	Chris Bourque
Age	27	23
Weight	180	180
Height	5'11"	5'08
Games Played	70	69
Goals	32	21
Assists	50	52
Points	82	73
PM	33	57

Anyways, now the discussion begins... Is this our new janne in the NHL? Do we bestow pelimies on him as his official theme song (yes we have that power)? Who will be fired as a result of him not getting enough opportunities?

On the plus side the Crapitals fans are really pissed off that we snagged him off waivers since he was a #2 pick and is relatively young... Suck it crapitals...

Kevin's take: Little Ray Ray might be a nice steal for the Pens, in an article I was reading it mentioned Little Ray Ray was going to make the Craps roster only if the could have moved Mike Nylander, when that didn't happen the Craps had no choice, they had to try sneak Ray Ray down. Sorry, didn't workout to well for them. I hope he receives a fair shot at making the big club...

Enshrined forever... (Robert Langdon UPDATE)

Woooo

UPDATE:
We recieved an email from Professor Robert Langdon (pictured above) and he did some analysis on the new panel of the cup and sent us over this...

Black and Gold highlights...

Cool to see some of the Pens in WBS jerseys...

Go back where you came from...

This is not a political blog, and i am not an overly political person. But the last couple days seeing the news coming out of Pittsburgh, all these jackass anarchists need to go back from where they came from. They act like the government is what is screwing up everything today, meanwhile they are out on the streets messing up OUR city... Seriously, if any of those people out there attacking the cops or breaking shit is from somewhere else, tell them to go wreck their own city, and if they are from pittsburgh, tell them to get hell out they aren't welcome here anymore... In conclusion, I vote we bring in Janne and his grenadier skills and have him go to town on these chumps...

Nothing more boring than preseason hockey...

Everybody is probably thinking that we here at PATP are having a Stanley Cup hangover, while all the other Pens bloggers out there are having a field day with pre-season... Kevin and I both agree that Pre-season hockey is the pits and we don't see any reason to try and get ourselves excited to recap every game since not only they are boring, but there are tons of other blogs that do it better than we could... Anyways, since it seems like the last wave of players have been sent down to WBS, we can finally jump on one of their bandwagons and criticize management for not calling them up... Any ideas who we will support this year?

Janne score in 3-2 loss..

Ak Bars (Kazan)2 Naftokhimik (Nizhnekamsk)3

Janne scored his second goal of the season in a 3-2 loss.





Anyone with a video of Janne's goal let us know...

How did i not see this before?

Is this an action shot?

Oh what a jokester...

Oh evgeni... your russian humor and broken english have captured our hearts...

PS... learn to put on a tie

It's a Penguin kinda night for AK Bars...

In his debut in the KHL Janne scored a goal in a 3-2 overtime win... The other two goals were contributed by former Pittsburgh Penguin Alexi Morozov...

Highlights....

The gravy train has left...

Tied 1-1 Janne shows the world what they missed out on...

Janne hits the ice...

Today at 11 AM EST Janne Pesonen hits the ice for the season opening game with the defending KHL champions AK Bars vs Lokomotiv.... The game will be streamed on the KHLs Website...

So yeah, we are back and we are ready for a new season to start up... Posts for the next week or two will be sparse (we are getting acclimated into football season), but once the Pens start up we'll be providing the same Overly Critical Analysis of the penguins season...

GO JANNE

Janne is off and running

It seems like it won't take to long for the fans of AK Bars Kazan to learn the name of what will soon to be the next KHL superstar. A friend from Finland has sent us some pictures of Janne first "training game". Janne had 1/goal 1/assist.

Lets Salute Janne with a NA NANA NANA NA

Please Stop

I don't get it, the latter part of the NHL this decade is going to be known as the retro reunion? First it was Claude Lemieux's feeble attempt at returning to the NHL at the ripe old age 44. Now we are hearing that a sober Theo Fleury (age 41)might be attempting a comeback. I guess he had been playing in some senior league and has been sober for what we are told for 4 years. Please Theo is being sober for 4 years has finally cleared your head and has you thinking straight do all of us a favor go to your local state store, purchase the biggest bottle of your favorite booze and start chugging. We liked you better when you mind was a little bit distorted.

Bettman are you listening, NHL owners pay attention too, don't let this happen, save your cash for the ever pressing salary cap. Just a thought, nah never mind let us just wait to see who might be next.

See what Styx started......I must admit tho I did go see them on their retro, Lemieux and Fleury should be so good.

Get ready Russia...

Janne's Next Goal?

Thanks to fellow Janniac Martin for informing us that janne has signed a 1 year contract with AK Bars Kazan of the KHL... We here at PATP and the Pesonation wish Janne the best of luck in his future endeavors and hope that his dream of playing in the NHL has not be deterred by his first experience... Though we would have liked to see Janne playing in the NHL, this does make it a little easier to cheer for him... GO AK BARS KAZAN...

Link to the story via MTV3 finland

UPDATE: Apparantly AK BARS KAZAN is the defending KHL champion and is one of the better hockey teams in Europe. Also captaining Janne's team will be former Pittsburgh Penguin Alexei Morozov...

A whole freekin year....

It's amazing that we were able to keep this up for a whole year... From weekly standards like "Fact of the Week" and "Picture of the Week," to one of the greatest campaigns since spin doctors James Carville and George Stephanopoulos put a country boy who cheats on his wife in the white house (you know i can only be talkin about FUMT). We had our failed campaign to FREE JANNE, but as we all know our first season culminated with one of the greatest playoff runs in the history of Pittsburgh. If I had to pick one season to start a blog, this would have been the one. Though we know that every season cannot be as successful as this one, we here at PATP hope to stay on the roller coaster ride of the NHL season for many more years.

Though our namesake has been a flop, we can only assume that we will latch onto another struggling player and turn him into an unappreciated Folk Hero (that should give those youngins some motivation going into training camp)...

I could sit here and ramble for another few paragraphs about how great this season was, about how janne never got his shot, how sidney crosby has huge lips and malkin is ugly, but our history is on the right sidebar, so it seems kinda a waste...

Only another month until training camp...



In other news the Janne jesus movie has been removed from youtube

Now that looks like a hockey player

Brian Strait is not gonna play in the NHL this year, maybe not next year... But when I look at this kid all I can think is, "this guy looks like a hockey player." They are calling him Pittsburgh top Defensive-minded prospect in their system, and his 6 foot 1 200 lb frame makes him a promising guy... Who knows what will happen...

All I know is that for the first time in a while the Penguins prospect pool is starting to really look promising... I cannot wait to get my ass back out to WBS to watch some of these future stars play.

Hilarious...

Taking joy in maid marian's misfortunes will never get old...

7 days...

Off season has been slow, our dreams have been crushed, but in 7 days there will be much rejoicing...

If Obama played hockey...

A Great day for...

New and improved video with all your favorite moments from the playoffs...

Come on Glen Pull Harder...

Just a thought, is there any way we could invite the Craps and Cryers to join the Rump Rangers?

Nothing would be greater than rubbing the faces of the trio in the Penguin Poop as the banner is raised to the roof of the Igloo. I guess the Rangers will have to watch in awe, as the 3rd banner hits the rafters.

Maybe we could make Glen Sather be the rope man in the ceremonies. Pencil in Oct. 2ND ...one last thing Vince and I is looking for a volunteer to give Maid Marian a call to make sure he is watching.

As if we didn't already know...

According to a trustworthy source of mine, it seems that the dream of seeing Janne light the lamps in a Penguins uniform will not be coming to fruition... According to a Finnish newspaper:

It looks like Janne Pesonen will not be signing with the Pens for next season. Getting a contract looks like unreal at the moment even though his good numbers while in WBS. "I don't believe that that there would be place for me anymore for next season because of the full roster", says Janne. Pesonen who is an unrescricted agent at the moment and is free sign with any team at the moment. His goal is to get a one-way contract with an NHL team for next season."There are many NHL-teams at the moment who are interested in me, but let's wait and see who is really serious and who is not. European teams are also an alternative for me", he continues.

Though not a surprise to most of us, it is still sad to see somebody with so much potential leave the organization without really getting a chance. If this was a year ago, I could see Janne getting a chance over signing somebody like Miro Satan, but with the solid team we have right now there really just isn't anywhere for him to go. We here at PATP and the rest of the Pesonation hope that Janne is able to sign with a team who will appreciate his abbilities and give him a fair shot at being a successful winger in the NHL....

To our readers, though our namesake may be leaving the organization, both Kevin and I had such a good time sharing our opinions and hearing yours that we are not planning on letting this be the death of our blog and we will continue to cover the Penguins next season... For our Finnish readers, we are all here still hoping to see janne have success here in North America, and you can count on us to keep you in the loop if he decides to stay in the united states (unless he signs with the Capitals or the Flyers, then he is dead to us)...

Also keep an eye out for a poll on which obscure player we should become obsessed about next season...

Kevin's take:
Can't believe it is over so soon, though as one door closes, another opens. I'm going to be returning to the Outer Banks, NC this weekend where Vince and I spent alot of time hashing out this site. Maybe it will be the old addage, back to the drawing board. Who will step in? I just want to say to all of Finnish readers and esp. Janne, Thanks and Good luck.

A glimmer of hope...

I hate taking joy in other peoples misfortunes, but this rumor has been floating around alot lately and I didn't want to discuss it until it was confirmed, but, Max Talbot is out the first 1-2 months of the season for the pens... The pens have a few options here, promote somebody from wilkes barre and see if they can cut it, sign a winger on the cheap, or bring back Janne....

Guess which one we're hoping for?

Gloom and Doom...

Well people, it is starting to look like janne's odyssey in the Penguins organization might be coming to a close... According to shero, janne was somebody they would be looking into if Feds did not sign... Though it is a sad day for us as fans, if Janne does move on and get a chance to actually play in the NHL, we wish him the best... Let's just hope he doesn't sign with the cryers or the crapitals....

Shittank stays a Pen..

The Pens have sign Feds to a one year deal.

It might be looking good for janne...

At this point, I am quite confident that ShitTank will in fact sign somewhere else... During the playoffs he made himself an extra 500 grand that the pens cannot afford to give him. This leaves us in search of another winger for the team... Right now there is alot of mediocre talent that is quite expensive on the market right now... The pens could, rather than pay 2-3 mil for a winger, bring somebody like Janne in on the low... I'm not guarunteeing anything, it might still be a long shot, but you gotta think that logic is on Janne's side...

On a side note, Janne's partner in crime Ville Leino was resigned to Detroit for a 2 year deal, not sure if it is 1 way or 2 way though...

Can you hear them...

Not much else goin on in the pens FA signing....

It's Official...

Pens over Blackhawks for the repeat... you heard it here first....

Vince's Thoughts: Chicago is like one of those girls who thinks they can transform a guy who sleeps around into a one woman man. After watching Hossa whore himself out to the big guns for a few years, Chicago tried to make an honest player out of him... But we all know how these situations end, after a year or so, the man is at a bar, drinking down some Red-Bull and vodka, when a trampy girl walks in the room, and the night ends with her legs in the air and the man thinking to himself "man i can't believe i gave this up"....

July 1st, High Noon is.... Judgement Day....

Well it's finally here... The day we have all been waiting for since the ol' 29er proposed us going down to the river and partying all summer long... Who will stay, who will go, and who will be new... Over at the Penguins insider, Jonathan Bomboulie put together a pretty good list of wingers who are in the Penguins price range...

1. Taylor Pyatt, Vancouver (1.575): Great size. Underachiever. Averages about 16 goals a year the last three years.

2. Jason Williams, Columbus (2.2): Met him at the AHL all-star game in St. John's. Great guy. Goal totals per season since lockout: 19-13-15-21. Pfft.

3. Ales Kotalik, Edmonton (2.33): Goal totals since lockout: 20-23-16-25. Probably out of the price range.

4. Mikael Samuelsson, Detroit (1.20): Goal totals since lockout: 19-11-14-23. And they tried this once before with him.

5. Andy Hilbert, Islanders (0.675): No, I'm not kidding. 7 goals-11 assists in 19 games with Crosby in 05-06. Given the price tag, I can think of worse options.

6. Maxim Afinogenov, Buffalo (3.33): Due for a big paycut after goal totals of 6 and 10 the last two years. Tons of talent though. Can stickhandle in a phone booth.

7. Joakim Lindstrom, Phoenix (0.525): I actually liked this guy in Syracuse and 9 goals in 44 NHL games last year isn't nothing.

8. Alex Tanguay, Montreal (5.25): Could his price fall enough after two dismal seasons with the Habs? Probably not.

9. Todd Bertuzzi, Calgary (1.95): I like Bertuzzi. I even named my dog Bertuzzi. But he doesn't have much left. 44 points last year despite averaging more than 18 minutes a game.

10. Peter Schaefer, Boston (2.3): He did score 20 goals once.
For the full post go here

Anyways, that list isn't that attractive if you ask me... With this, and the chances of Tank walking, Pesonen is looking like a viable option... Who knows, I will post anything of interest as i hear it and get time...

BDZ is no more....

"Dashing" Dave Molonari reports that the Penguins are no longer looking to sign BDZ... The "Big Daddy (x)" nick name is currently a FA, and we will be looking to sign a new player to don it as soon as possible....

Adams - 2 year deal

Pittsburgh Penguins website is reporting that they resigned forward Craig Adams to a 2 year deal... It is getting pretty crowded in the bottom two lines, interesting to see where the pens go from here...

KENNEDY TRADED!!!!!!

BREAKING NEWS: PATP has heard that Tyler Kennedy has been traded to The Karlson Family Pig Farm in Mars PA for 2 pounds of Bacon and a Pulled Pork Platter... Though this has not officially been announced to the public, we here at PATP have it on good word that Shero and Karlson Family Pig Farm GM, Rick Karlson, have already inked the deal... We here at PATP wish Tyler "Pigman" Kennedy the best of luck in his future endevors. We can only assume in the coming months he will put on serious weight before he is put out to pasture and carved into several delicious meals...

Stay tuned to PATP for more up to the minute trade coverage that no other blogs can offer

Rumors Swirl....

I hate the days leading up to free agency... Every sports blogger passes on rumors that they are hearing from "multiple sources" or "verified sources"... Meanwhile they throw out 80+ rumors a day, then filate themselves when one of them partially comes true... Anyways here are my predictions...

- ShitTank wants more money, pens say eh, trade his rights for a draft pick or something dumb like that
- Guerrin returns to NY cause he is afraid that he'll throw his back out while moving his stuff to pittsburgh
- Penguins resign Boucher
- Penguins resign BDZ
- Pens trade Dupuis to Sammy's Famous Corned Beef (the East Liberty Location) for two corned beef sandwiches, 2 bags of chips (any variety) and a pitcher of Penn Dark for Mario and Ray Shero during their Lunch Break
- Pens resign Satan to a 1 year deal to keep him around as a potential 4th liner/AHL god
- In desperation for wingers on the cheap pens give Janne a 1 way contract (Janne - Malkin - Max)
- Chris Kunitz comes out of the closet

All of these are the results of my talks with un-verified sources that may or may not be figments of my imagination which may or may not be the result of alcohol abuse...

Kevin's Take:

To all bloggers, come on, tell me where you can hear better rumors? I know Vince doesn't does want to reveal PATP's sources, but we have to give props to Huggy Bear for all the above rumors.

Random Tuesday Morning...

Got this image from Jim Shearer of Yinz Love Da Guins fame... Pretty cool image...

Also, if you are getting ready for the NHL draft, a Maple Leafs blog has a really interesting read... Check it out here