Friday, January 28, 2011

Congratulations: Fleury and Letang


Good luck to Fleury and Letang who will be representing the Penguins in the NHL All-Star game this weekend. Top vote receiver Sidney Crosby and fellow super-star Evgeni Malkin will miss the activities due to injuries.

This is Fleury's first All-Star game appearance, he was the top vote earner for Goalies. "I'm really excited about it, I've never been (to the All-Star Game), never seen it. So I'm just looking forward to being there and seeing what it's like and having some fun."

This is Letang's (highest vote earner for defense-men) third time to the All-Star activities first time he gets to play in the main game. He played in the NHL YoungStars games his rookie (2008) and sophomore (2009) years.

"It means a lot to me that the fans took the time to vote for me, especially because I was not on the ballot,"Letang said. "We had guys who were supposed to come and they had to take care of some other stuff, so I'm going to try and represent my team the best I can."

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Steelers Injury Report: Maurkice Pouncey

It is being reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Maurkice Pouncey has a broken bone along with a High Ankle Sprain.

Rumor: Hines Ward... Retire?


It has been rumored that Hines Ward might Retire if the Steelers win the Super Bowl.

In the spring Ward told a group of school students that if the Steelers win a third Super Bowl with him that he might retire.

Now he isn't sure.

"My mom asked me the other day. I really haven't thought about it, to be honest," Ward told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The precedent that Jerome Bettis set when he retired after Super Bowl XL is on Ward's mind, "I know Jerome went out on top and stuff like that, I really haven't thought about it. I just want to be singly focused on winning this ballgame and figure out what is going to happen after that."

Steelers Injury Report: Maurkice Pouncey


Reported on ESPN today that Pro Bowl Center Maurkice Pouncey has not practiced with a high ankle sprain he suffered in the AFC Championship Game.

The Steelers still list him as questionable for the game. So there is no official word if he has been ruled out or not.

According to Chris Kemoeatu, in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Pouncey will miss the Super Bowl:


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pens Beat Islanders:Fleury Earns 18th Career Shut-out


Missing their two biggest stars, Crosby and Malkin, another major star on the Penguins stepped up to help the Pens win: Marc-Andre Fleury.

Craig Adams scored 8:35 into the third and that is all Fleury needed to get the win.

This game was a shooting gallery for both goal tenders. The Islanders had 29 shots and the Penguins had 31. 60 shots and only one went in, it was thrilling to watch the goal tenders at work.

Pirates Invite Five Non-Roster Players to Spring Training

You can read the full post at Piratesprospects.com (here).
The five invitees are:
Catchers: Tony Sanchez and Eric Fryer
Outfielder: Andrew Lambo

Malkin Out of All-Star Game


Evgeni Malkin has been ruled out of Sunday's NHL All Star game with a Knee injury and sinus infection. He joins fellow Pens star Sidney Crosby who is also going to miss the All Star game due to concussion symptoms.

Steelers Injury Report

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey has a high ankle sprain and it is questionable if he will play in the Super Bowl.


"Most definitely," Pouncey said when asked whether he would be playing against the Packers in two weeks in Dallas. "I had this same injury before on my other ankle and I know how to attack it. I know how to approach things. I know in my heart I'm playing in that game."

As for Aaron Smith (triceps) is still doubtful.




Pens Face-off against Islanders Tonight


The Penguins, without Crosby and maybe without Malkin, will take on the Islanders tonight at the Consol Energy Center. Kunitz and Letang both missed practice on Monday with illnesses but are expected to play.

At home against the Islanders the Pens are 15-2-2 since the lockout.

Crosby to miss All-Star Game

Penguins' super star and highest vote earner Sidney Crosby will miss the All-Star game with concussion symptoms.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Here We Go....

AND THE STEELERS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!


The Steelers came out into this game guns blazing. A 9+ minute drive to open the game was really a difference maker in wearing down the Jets Defense. Rashard Mendenhall had 27 carries for 121 yards and a Td to lead the way.

The win goes to the Steelers Defense who held the Jets to 19 points. One of the biggest plays was holding the Jets on 4th and goal, though on the next play the Jets scored a safety, in my eyes 2 is less the 7.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Update on Godard, Malkin and Crosby

According to Penguins Head Coach Dan Bylsma, Eric Godard will return to full contact practice on Monday.

Crosby is "progressing, but not symptom free yet," said the coach.

As for Malkin "(Malkin) has a situation with his knee, a banged up knee. He also isn't feeling well. He has a sinus infection and pressure in the head."



Playoff Xtra Cover Story: Steelers' Mike Tomlin, Jets' Rex Ryan a study in coaching contrasts

Great article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today!

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan is accustomed to raising eyebrows and grabbing headlines with some of the outrageous statements he seems to make on an almost daily basis. But Mike Tomlin? Strangely, he managed to do just that this week when he said he and Ryan "are probably more similar than you would imagine." Talk about your jaw-dropping comments?

Rex Ryan is brash and controversial, comedic and jovial, with no alarm systems to prevent some of the words and sentences that come out of his mouth. If he were a cartoon, he'd be Sponge Bob SquarePants.

Tomlin is none of that. He can be matter of fact, blunt, intellectually challenging and, at times, passionately insightful. But he is unfazed by flattery and seemingly unwilling to revel in achievement or absorb an accolade. On most occasions, he is more guarded than a Brink's truck.

Still, there is some measure of truth in what he said.

Tomlin and Ryan may not deliver their message with the same public flair, but there is substance in their words and a motivational motor to the method. Whatever it is they do, no matter how drastically different they appear, they share the same important quality of getting their players to respond to their message.

By extension, the players take on the personality of their head coach -- a quality that seems to be in apparent in the teams that will meet Sunday in the AFC championship game at Heinz Field

"You have to believe in the guy," said Steelers backup quarterback Byron Leftwich, who has been with four different National Football League teams. "I've been on a team before where we had 15 different personalities and we weren't a good football team. When you got one guy at the top who's going to lead us, and his whole main goal is winning football games, and you know that when you talk to him he's always going to put you in the best situation to win, and the guy is going to be as straight-forward as possible; as a player that's all you can ask for, especially in this business because you very seldom get what Mike is.

"And when you got it, that's why guys love playing here. This is a great organization. It was great before he came. But there's a reason they hired him. He's just a great guy to follow.

"A lot of guys run through a lot of brick walls for that guy, and that's because of his personality, his demeanor and his temperament and the way everyone feels about the guy. Everyone really loves and respects him being our coach."

The Jets feel the same way about their coach.

Taking a cue

Coincidence or not, the Jets seem to take their cue from Ryan, whose words have spawned more back-page headlines in New York tabloids than George Steinbrenner. His bombastic, loquacious style -- entertaining to some, annoying to others -- is a departure from most NFL coaches who prefer to say little, if anything, that might rile or motivate the opponent.

He embraced having the HBO cameras at training camp to film the "Hard Knocks" series, hoping the exposure to him and the way he does things would attract potential free agents to the Jets.

Two weeks ago, when the Jets were preparing to play the Indianapolis Colts in a rematch of last year's AFC championship game, Ryan said the matchup with Peyton Manning was "personal." Before last week's playoff game against New England, Ryan chided Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for attending the Broadway show "Lombardi" with his supermodel wife, Gisele Bundchen, while the Jets were playing the Colts.

"Peyton Manning would have been watching our game," Ryan said.

His players merely follow his lead. Last week, cornerback Antonio Cromartie called Brady a one-word expletive in the days leading up to the game, seemingly unconcerned that such vitriol could only further motivate the NFL's top quarterback.

"It seems to be working for us," said Jets center Nick Mangold. "I know I've been enjoying it. You've got to be confident. You've got to believe that you're doing things the right way, that you're putting the work in. That comes from the top. That comes from our coach."

Not surprisingly, when Sports Illustrated earlier this season asked 279 NFL players for whom they would like to play (other than their current coach), Ryan was the clear-cut winner with 21 percent of the vote. Tomlin was second with 12 percent.

Last week, two members of the New York Giants -- safeties Antrel Rolle and Kenny Phillips -- said they thought their coach, Tom Coughlin, should loosen up and be more like Ryan. That's not the first time that's happened.

Before the Giants' 2007 Super Bowl season, team owner John Mara told Coughlin he needed to change his image and lighten up a little, let his players see a more relaxed side of the coach with the demeanor of a marine drill sergeant. Apparently, it worked.

"If you have a coach who likes to talk in the media, your guys are usually going to do it because they're allowed to," said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "You look at the Patriots, their guy [Bill Belichick] is real quiet. He doesn't say much so you don't hear much from the Patriots. Whether that's from the rules the coach puts out, or whatever, you can tell."

Tomlin is more Belichick than Ryan, though his televised press conferences and public declarations are laced with frank assessments, intellectually advanced expressions and, at times, psycho-analytical babble -- all the product of a coach who was educated at William & Mary.

"Talk is cheap," said receiver Hines Ward, who has tempered some of his locker-room comments, even about the Ravens, the past couple of years. "You can talk all week and if you go out there and don't back it up, why even talk? That's why you don't hear much out of our camp about trash talk. It's not who we are. It's not the type of team we are."

Perhaps, but don't tell that to Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis, one of only three players who were with the Jets when they lost to the Steelers, 20-17 in overtime, in a 2004 wild-card playoff game at Heinz Field. He said the Steelers are "not all that different" than his team.

"They have the same mentality, and they play the game the same way," said Ellis, an 11-year veteran and the Jets' longest-tenured player. "It's just that they have a lot of people who have been there for a while, so maybe people just come to expect when one of their guys will talk. They've got the mystique, you know?"

Selling tool

It was that mystique that attracted former five-time Pro Bowl tackle Flozell Adams to sign with the Steelers in free agency after 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.

Known for his nasty disposition with the Cowboys, he has quickly assimilated into the Steelers' way. And he credits Tomlin for developing the personality.

"I believe a coach is a teacher and whatever the coach teaches, that's the personality you develop among the players," Adams said. "With a coach like Mike and tenacity he has and the know-all -- he's a very smart guy -- you can't help but appreciate it. You follow his lead, then another follows his lead, then another, and we all become cohesive."

Said offensive tackle Max Starks, a seven-year veteran, "All our personalities are dictated by the roles we're in, and all those coaching styles and philosophies reflect what the coaches believe. You assemble the team from top to bottom and you draft and sign free agents according to those theories. I guess you would say we do take on the personality of the coach, but it's the personality of the organization more so than anything else."

Those personalities will clash Sunday, in more ways than one.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11021/1119478-66.stm#ixzz1Bgqo5Vu6

New Jersey shuts out Crosby-Malkin-less Pens


I said it would be a low scoring affair, 2-0. but I thought the pens could do a little better then no goals without their star forwards. Staal is back and should have stepped up for the occasion, but it was not to be.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Pens take on NJ tonight!


The Penguins added forward Dustin Jeffrey for tonight's game against the Devils. Star center Sidney Crosby will be out again tonight with concussion symptoms and Malkin has an undisclosed injury he suffered in the win over Detroit.

New Jersey has ben awful this year spending all their money on Ilya Kovalchuk and not getting a supporting cast around him this season. But this is a division game, Martin Broudeur is a future hall of famer and the Pens always have trouble with the New Jersey shut down defense.

Look for this game to be a low scorer but a Pens win.

Steelers and Jets AFC Championship


Steelers face the Jets for the AFC Championship game on Sunday.... Be there!