Who Makes The Best "Joke"-er?

A. Heath Ledger


B. Jack Nicholson


C. Cesar Romero


D. Marian Hossa

-or-

E. The NY Islanders

And the winner is...
...E. narrowly edging out D.

Pens 2008-2009 Schedule Released!

EN has a pretty nice breakdown of the Pens schedule next season.

While you really shouldn't miss any home games featuring the Rangers, Flyers, or Caps (just 'cause we like to spank them and that selfish tool of a hockey player) the game I am double circling on my calendar is The Maple Leafs on October 18th!

Why?
1. Because the TML nation descend upon the Mellon Arena in a mass druken stupor and you get to see idiots like this and this (of course fans like this and this are always welcomed with open arms)
2. The games are ALWAYS entertaining
-and-
3. the Leafs are really gonna suck this year, esp. if they don't resign Sundin - so you're likely to see a Pens victory!

...just remeber TML losers since 1967

Oh, yes, and I almost forgot...here's a new cat video as requested by my one fan out there.



That's all for now...GGG

Shero Signs Three

Shero signed three players today : Beech, Thomas, and Stone.

My take.... while all are one year, two-way deals I can see Stone and Thomas - both are young with upside potential, but why Beech? I realize that Shero wants some depth - and a player with NHL experience - but Beech played 5 games before sustaining a season-ending broken wrist. Beech has done nothing but underachieve after being selected in the first round in 1999 (seventh overall!).

I realize Beech comes cheap, and on a two-way deal to boot - meaning the Pens can pay him a fraction of his salary if they demote him to WBS - but why not use that money to resign an Adam Hall or Georges Laraque? Okay some would argue that a.) both Hall and Laraque would be on one-way, multi-year deals; and, b.) whatever money they paid Beech would not have been enough to bridge the contract gaps to either Hall or Laraque, but I say chop a Beech here and a Godard there and resign to valuable role players in Hall and Laraque,

Whatev.

The over and under on Beech's goals and games is 5 and 25, respectively. I'll take the under.

Here is the take on Thomas from Forecaster.Info...
ASSETS: Has a good-sized frame and the ability to put the puck in the net. Shoots the puck with aplomb and knows where to go in order to light the lamp.
FLAWS: Needs to work on his play without the puck, as well as display greater consistency from game to game in order to reach the NHL permanently.
CAREER POTENTIAL: Third line right wing.

And Stone...
ASSETS: Is an industrious winger with physical toughness and two-way skills. Will also drop the gloves if the situation warrants it.
FLAWS: Will likely never meet early offensive expectations. Must start showing more game-to-game consistency in the professional ranks.
CAREER POTENTIAL: Fourth line winger.

Free Agency Predictions - Revisited

Let's take a look at how my free agency predictions turned out...

Let's start with the easy ones....

I said: "Dupius, Rutuu, Laraque, Hall signed"
What Actually Happened: Dupius Signed. Rutuu (Sens); Laraque (Habs); and Hall (TB) all gone.

The skinny: Shero signed Dupius because he needed a speedy winger that showed some flash on his limited time with the Pens. Ruutu and Hall were victims of contract length more than $ (each got 3 years - Shero offered only 2). Laraque was a victim of both length and $. Shero wasn't going to pay him the $1.5 M he wanted, never mind for 3 years!

The repercussions: It'll be nice to see what Dupius can do on Crosby's/Malkin's wing for a full year. I think Hall brings excellent utlilty for the measly $600K he commands....but with him gone others can get more ice time. Ruutu will be missed but should be adequately replaced by Cooke. Which leaves Laraque...this one is tough. Good to see the Pens save some $ for other key players, but they gave up the premier enforcer in the entire NHL! I know they signed Godard for toughness and Cooke for peskiness, but I can't help to feel that this decision might come back to bite them in the ....


I said: "Eaton, Orpik, and Hossa - Gone"
What Actually Happened: Eaton and Orpik signed. Hossa gone.

The skinny: Okay so I was 33% right on this one. I was surpirsed to see the Pens sign the injury prone Eaton - especially at $2M per - but it'll be a good deal if he stays healthy. But that's a BIG "IF"!

The Orpik signing was a bit surprising, too. Good value for punishing D-man. Thought he would be more actively persued by other teams, but when Buffalo walked away it became clear that he would resign with the Pens. Hopefully will see more than just "The Shift" out of him this season.

Hossa was the talk - and the SHOCK - of free agency. If it went down according to some reports then we are good to be rid of him - he didn't want to be in Pittsburgh anyhow. Pffllt!

The repercussions: Over time the Orpik deal should look like a steal. Eaton's might, too, IF HE STAYS HEALTHY. Hossa is simply hard to replace. Period.

Scraps and Snippets...

Empty Netters has nice tributes to the dearly departed Penguins: Adam Hall, Georges Laraque, and Marian Hossa.

Mike Chen from FOXSports says that GMs need to stop spending like crazy. Can you say Lockout-Round 2, anyone?!

Faceoff Factor compiled a Penguins depth chart based on the recent acqusitions and depatures.

Puck Daddy has a rundown of the new NHL '09.

NHL Free Agency

http://view.break.com/502351 - Watch more free videos

This should help you clear your mind from the last several days of NHL lunacy.

More thoughts to come on Matt Cooke, Janne Pesonen, and Ray Shero .... GGG

Double J Is On His Way......Overseas, That Is

Reports out this morning that Jaromir Jagr is headed back to his favorite lockout club - Avangard Omsk. Penguin hat lady is somewhere drowning in her tears as this was her favorite player EVH-er!

I must admit it would have be interesting to see Mr. "Dying Alive", part deux. Oh well.

Bring on Tim Brent or Luca Caputi!!!

Miro, Miro On The Wing

Today is a much better day for Ray Shero. No more Hossa to job him. Instead he signs two wingers and a goalie...

(+)
Pens Sign Miroslav Satan
Pronounced Shah-tan, for you non-hockey folks (just like Sade is SHAR-day), Satan is a former winger for the New York Islanders and, prior, the Buffalo Sabres. This is a good signing. In the last ten years of his career - if you throw out the lockout season of '04-'05 - Satan has averaged over 60 points per season! The past two seasons stuck in hockey hell - umm, I mean Long Island, NY - he only managed 41 (16+25) and 59 (27+32) points, respectiuvely, while playing a full season. Just think what he will be able to do with Crosby or Malkin feeding him the puck! (Think Petr Sykora on steroids). Good, good move for the Pens especially on the heels of the Hossa betrayal.

Last year's salary: $4.5 MM.
New Contract: 1 yr. at $3.5 MM/yr.

(Neither + or -)
Pens Sign Ruslan Fedotenko
Okay I'm on the fence on this one. Some say he'll complement "the core" Pens well. He hovers around 34 pts/season and around 15-20 goals per year. We'll see if he can pick it up with the Pens. He did score the winning goal for Tampa Bay the year they won the cup - so I'll give him that.

Last year's salary: $2.9 MM.
New Contract: 1 yr. at $2.5 MM/yr.

Forecast for Today: Heavy Fleury

TSN Reports that the Pens have signed Marc Andre Fleury to a 7 yr., $35MM contract!

..and there was much rejoicing in Pitsburgh!

Rumors...Some Stupid

From various chat rooms...

The Penguins...

... have deal for Fleury at 6yrs/$33MM or 6yrs/$55MM

... are waiting on a decision from Markus Naslund today

... broke off talks with Todd Bertuzzi, but are still interested if his demands come down.

... are looking to trade Ryan Whitney or, perhaps, Sergei Gonchar

and the WILDEST one of all...Gonch to Tampa Bay for Martin St. Louis!

STAY TUNED! ... GGG

Ray Shero Speaks!

Free Agency: Day Two Thoughts

Okay I'm am emotionally drained and physically sick on this - the most up and down day in Pittsburgh Penguins history. Let's recap...

(+)
Pens Resign Evgeni Malkin!
God bless you Geno! God bless you for your loyalty...for not upstaging Crosby...and for playing for the best hockey team in the best league in the world! I look forward to you doing 5 more years of this.

Last year's salary: $984,200.
New Contract: 5 yrs. at $8.7 M/yr. (+$7,175,800M/yr.)


Pens Resign Brooks Orpik!
Solid defensive defenseman gets a new deal. Hey and he can play RW too! Both sides win! Orpik gets a long term deal. Pens get a bit of a discount. So much for those Thierren rumors.

Last year's salary: $1,075 M
New Contract: 6 yrs. at $3.75 M/yr.

(-)
Marian Hossa Signs with Detroit
Enough has been said about this. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to play for a team that had a chance to win a Cup. Huh?! Wasn't Pittsburgh just in the friggn' Stanley Cup Final???

In short, he didn't want to be here so *good bye*!

Somewhere Jaromir Jagr is smiling...because he just became the second most reviled ex-Pen today.

Last year's salary: $7.0 MM (of which the Pens paid only about 25%) New Contract: 1 yr. at $7.4 M/yr. (+$7,175,800M/yr.)

Puck Daddy compiles it well in this article. Hossa's decision was a slap in the face.

Until next post...GGG

Free Agency: Day One Thoughts Part Two

A conitinued look at the Pens moves...

(-)
Pens Lose Adam Hall.
Adam Hall was a plugger. He was a solid role guy that was good on the PK, good on face-offs, and occaisonally chipped in the big goal. Tampa Bay signed him to a 3 yr. deal at a very slight ($75 M) increase over what he was making last year. To win Cups you need solid role players. Adam Hall was a solid role player. Some would argue that others can easily replace him. I would argue that he brings a lot to the table for little cash. I just have to wonder why the Pens didn't try harder to keep him. Was it that he wanted 3 yrs.? Or was it that he no longer wanted a two-way deal?

Little Know Fact That May Only Interest Me: Both former Penguin Dominic Moore and current Penguin Pascal Dupius have been the other party in trades involving Adam Hall.

Last year's salary: $525,000. New Contract: 3 yrs. at $600 M/yr. ($525M off the books)

Pens sign Eric Goddard.
Eric Goddard was the enforcer for Calgary last year. By signing him they effectively said "bye-bye" to big Georges Laraque. The move was entirely financially motivated. BGL made $1.3 M last year and was looking for $1.5 MM for 2-3 years. Goddard signed for a measly $750,000 per year - half of what big Georges expects to make. I put this in the "-" column because big Geroges was and is the best enforcer in the league. He played well on an energy line with Max Talbot and Jarkko Ruutu. An occaisonally chipped in a goal. But what he'll be remebered for is the fights (esp. with Philly). Who can forget his non-fight with Zdeno Chara that *embarassingly* resulted only in a 2 min roughing call! Or how about his fight with Cote where he put Cote's helmet from blue line to blue line with just one punch! Ahh how I'll miss BGL!

If you are interested in Goddard's work you can see it here and here.

Fact that may only interest me: Georges is actually a real nice guy off the ice. He was involved in several charities in Pittsburgh including Hockey In The Hood. Georges was nominated for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and given the Edward J. DeBartolo “Community Service” Award.

New Contract: 3 yrs. at $750 M/yr. ($550M soon to be off the books when BGL moves on)

Summing It Up

Think this sums up many a Pens Fans' feelings today:

From "The Faceoff Circle" live blog...

1:05 PM - Andrew sums up the Pens fans opinion for us:“I’m not trying to sound greedy or like a poor sport but this Hossa signing is the ultimate form of greed. Hossa came and talked about how much he loved Pittsburgh and how he loved the atmosphere the city had on game days. He poured his blood and guts for the pens in the playoffs and now he shows no allegiance whatsoever and goes to play for the team he lost to in the finals. Let alone for a one year deal with the same money the Pens were offering him. He readily admitted that he would rather piggy back his way to a cup with Detroit than work for it with the two best players in the world in Pittsburgh, a team that boosted his status as a primetime player. He’ll win his cup next year and become another UFA, then he can cash in on a ridiculous contract with a jobber team like Edmonton and fade away into the sunset, not having to worry about winning and just cashing that check. I’ve never booed Jagr since he left, but when we play Detroit next season I’ll boo that turncoat for sure.”

1:14 PM - Kevin’s opinion on Hossa: (BBR is back woo, lol, kidding)I pretty much agree with Andrew in your 1:05 post. To sign just a one-year deal is fishy. I also don’t boo Jagr but I might do it for Hossa. It very much seems like a hanger-on move, a last gasp effort at winning a Cup. It’s like Hossa is 49, not 29. TSN’s headline “if you can’t beat them…”I’m going to throw up.From Rob Rossi of the Tribune Review: Pneguins ownership and management is bitterly disappointed. They believed they would land Hossa to the end, based off conversations with Hossa himself.

1:17 PM - To tell you the truth, Hossa is a shrewd guy. I gotta give it to him; he goes to the best team in the league on a 1 year deal to win it all with them, then hits the market and gets an even bigger payday than he would’ve gotten today. Mark it down folks, 11-12 is the last year of hockey before another CBA spat.

Not looking forward to another "lock out"...but the NHL GM's sure seem to be setting it up that way!

GGG

Let's Focus On The Positive: Part 2

"Today the foundation has been laid for a new tomorrow!" What?!? Aw, just read here.

Let's Focus On The Positive

Today the Pens signed Geno to a five year deal. Thank you, Geno, for being a good guy - and a loyal one, too. Thanks for making what would have been a disasterous day in Pens history less so.

Coping With Change

There are six (expanded from four!) stages in reacting to change...

Common reactions to change
Stage 1 - Shock
In a similar style to a grief reaction people may take some time to address the reality of what has just occurred. People can't really do much at this stage but come to grips with what the new situation entails.
Stage 2 - Denial
A common reaction may be to deny the impact of the change. "It doesn't relate to me, and it doesn't affect my department". A ritualised form of 'farewell" to the old ways akin to a funeral sometimes helps.
Stage 3 - Anger
It is important to openly deal with what angers people. "Why did we need to change at all when the way we were doing things was fine?" Some may actively resist or attack the change. Anger de-skills and can engender a mood of self-preservation. This may promote risk avoidance and hold back innovation.
Stage 4 - Passive Acceptance
The commencement of accepting that the way things are done has indeed changed and that the old ways are in fact gone. "I suppose if we have to deal with this, we might as well get on with it"
Stage 5 - Exploration
A willingness to look at actual methods for implementing and taking the change process forward. "How do we actually go forward from here?"
Stage 6 - Challenge
Actually going forward. Ensuring that the change process is the catalyst for continuous improvement and not just there as an obstacle. What stage is the team in now, and how do we move forward?

Today, depending on the Penguin player/former player I am in one of the first three stages. At don't see myself being at Stage Four through Six any time real soon.

GGG

Hossa's Gonnnne....

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports Hossa is going to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. TSN says its a one year, $7.4 MM deal. Gee he must really want a Cup bad!

Good News: At least he didn't go to a divisional or conference rival.

Bad News: Now the Pens have to settle for sloppy seconds (Jagr, Naslund, etc.) Bleecch.

More thoughts to come....GGG

Free Agency: Day One Thoughts

Well day one of free agency is in the books and what a wild one it was! Let's take at look at the Pens moves (or lack of moves)

(+)
Resigned Pascal Dupuis.
Dupuis looked pretty good the short time he was in a Pens uni. He skates very well, has great energy, and can put the puck in the net on occasion. I would like to see him score more, esp. when he's being set up by the "Wizard of Cros", but let's give him a full year and see what he does then.

Scary stat: Dupius had roughly the same points last year as Staal and Talbot, 27 (12+15) and **GULP** HALL GILL, 24 (3+21). Talbot makes $650M/year. Staal makes $850M/yr, but is due for a raise due to his tremendous upside potential.

Last year salary: $880,000. New Contract: 3 yrs. at $1.4 MM/yr. (Delta +$550,000/yr.)

Reasigned Mark Eaton.
On the plus side Mark Eaton is one hell of a defensive defenseman WHEN HEALTHY. And therein lies the problem.

Scary Stat: He's only played 71 out of 164 regular season games! That's playing a mere 43% of the season! He missed the 2008 playoffs entirely. Eaton says he'll be ready to go this fall coming off of a recontructed knee (MCL). We'll see. He also has lingering wrist issues having missed games in Pgh and Nashville thanks to that.

Bottom line: Eaton is an excellent complementary defenseman, esp. with Gonchar. He would get far more money if he could only stay healthy.

Last year salary: $1,600,000. New Contract: 2 yrs. at $2.0 MM/yr. (Delta +$400,000/yr.)

(Neither + or -)
Lost Ty Conklin to Detroit Red Wings.
The Red Wings pulled of one of the steals of the draft, in my opinion, signing Conks to a 1 yr $750,000 deal. (Their only mistake - they should have signed him for two yrs. ) Especially when other far less -or maybe, similar- talented goalies (Theodore, Auld, etc.) got at least 2 yrs. at $2 MM/yr.! But I can see where Conks gives a discount due to the fact that he will have arguably the league's best defense in front of him when he plays...and they're set up to take a run at another Cup.

Last year's salary: $500,000. New Contract: 2 yrs. at $750 M/yr. ($500M off the books)

Dupuis Resigned!

TSN and the Post Gazette reports that the Pens resigned Dupuis to a 3 year contract at $1.4 M per year. Good deal for both sides.

Free Agency Predictions

Here are my free agency predictions for the Pens based on absolutely nothing...

Hossa gone (Boston? Montreal?)
Orpik gone (Buffalo? Atlanta?)
Dupius, Rutuu, Laraque, Hall signed
Eaton likely gone (solid defender - too injury prone)
New contracts for Malkin, Fleury and Staal

New acquisitions: Niklas Hagman, LW, Dallas and Jay Pandalfo, LW, New Jersey

Okay Pandalfo is a stretch. Lou Lam would be stupid not to resign him. But if the Pens could pry him away they would win twice (new player + loss of player for competing team in division)

Personally I would like to see Hagman in a Pens uni. He had 27 goals last years playing only 15 mins/game and by all accounts he is a great, fast skater. How many goals do you think he'd rack up along side Crosby or Malkin???

James Mirtle has a solid UFA rundown found here

TSN will be an excellent place for the latest information, if you plan to follow along at home/work.

Sit tight...the fun begins in just a few short hours....GGG

Free Agency is Here!

Today marks the start of free agency in the NHL. Here is a list of unrestricted free agents (UFAs). If you are a Pens fan like the Garbage Goal Guru, then this is the day you have been dreading.

The million dollar question....WWHD (what will Hossa do)?

Will Ray Shero look like a genius or will he fill the role of the goat?

If Shero signs Malkin, Fleury, and a few others but not Hossa and Orpik, will fans give him a pass?

What unhearalded UFA can Shero nab this year ala Sykora or Sydor?

Courtesy of TSN.CA here is the all important timeline...

Jul. 1: Free Agency period begins
Jul. 5: Deadline for player-elected salary arbitration
Jul. 6: Deadline for club-elected salary arbitration
Jul. 20 - Aug. 4 : Salary arbitration hearings held
Aug. 6: Deadline for arbitration decisions to be rendered

If you are a hockey fan this day is right up in terms of excitement with the trading dealine and NHL draft.

Stay tuned....GGG