Ahhh Vacation

Ahh the beach...

Back from vacation I can see that not much has gone on in the hockey world.

We do have a shot at the first hockey mom VEEP ... who happens to be a Pens fan ... cool

...Kudos to Pensblog/DenP for the Picture...

Oh yeah, and a bunch of Pens changed their jersey numbers...

"The Penguins' roster on their Web site has a few changes to some jersey numbers. Mark Eaton is now No. 7 instead of No. 3. Jeff Taffe is now No. 22 instead of No. 38. And Alex Goligoski is now No. 13 instead of No. 67."

Hats off to Empty Netters for spotting this...why the hell would Goligoski choose Dan Marino's number? After all 67 is one bad-ass number, dont cha think? Being wedged between the greatest player of all time and one of the greatest players (albeit a cry-baby) isn't all that bad, is it?

Maybe he wanted to avoid comparisions...but now he is going to be compared to another great player that never won the big one.

In any case it's time to put away the clubs....

....and get out the hockey jerseys!

Until next time...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!!!

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

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