2009 NHL All Star Starters Announced

The 2009 All-Stars were announced today in Montreal by an aging hockey star Jean Béliveau.

“In three weeks, the world’s greatest players will come here, to one of the world’s great hockey cities, to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens,” former Canadiens star Jean Beliveau said in announcing the rosters. “I had the pleasure of playing in 13 All-Star Games and I can tell you it was an absolute honor. I look forward to watching the stars of today.”

In the Eastern Conference, it was no real big surprise. The top two vote getters Sid Crosby and "Geno" Malkin were named starting forwards along with former Penguin Alex Kovalev. Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek will be at the blueline to guard for sophomore sensation Carey Price.

On the Western Conference side, the Ducks and Blackhawks will start on the ice. Fresh off their Winter Classic efforts, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews led the West in fan balloting. On defense, another Hawk, Brian Campbel will support Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

I am going to refrain from giving too much opinion here so that I could see who else gets selected to go to Montreal for the game. It could depend on who goes with what goalie and who has the worst goalie outing considering they each play one period a piece.

[Via: Yahoo! Sports]

Malkin Finalist for Hart Trophy

Russian Hockey Sniper Evgeni Malkin is one of the three finalists for NHL's Hart Trophy (Season MVP). Fans, reporters and other players took notice when Malkin took over the scoring race in Crosby's absence. This news is great for Malkin to perhaps give him some added motivation while playing in MSG tonight against the Rangers in Round 2 Game 3.

Alex Ovechkin and Jerome Iginla are the other two candidates for the league's MVP. We here at COHF were considering a Swiftboating campaign against these other two in hopes that Malkin would get some much needed recognition for his season this year. No word as to how many "super delegates" have already pledged their vote to Malkin or Ovechkin.

[Via: Pittsburgh Tribune Review]

Penguins Vs Capitals Rivalry Faces Revamped Hype

It's going to have a different take this time around as Versus initially hoped they would have a classic match-up of two of the best young NHL superstars in the game. With Crosby hurt, the fledgling new Versus should be scrambling to give viewers a new reason to watch tonight's game.

Leave that job up to one of the best blogs about the D.C. area in Japer's Rink. Last time the Penguins and Capitals met, writers from that blog searched out bloggers' opinions on who they thought would win. This new edition (the link found at bottom) is a sure-fire winner for it's entertainment value. I was contacted and subsequently gave a reply in hopes that the battle blog-esque post grows into a new blogger phenomenon.

Ovechkin is carrying the Capitals, and this match-up will be the first time Pittsburgh has seen him since he signed that ridiculously long contract It would be silly to watch if the Penguins faithful waved fake money at him from their seats in Mellon Arena. Malkin will likely continue his path to breaking out of the Crosby shadow and give the fans something else to ponder about his young team. Is this Malkin's coming out party on national TV? Stay tuned.

Check out what NHL.com has to say about the preview to the game story at their official website.

[Via: Japer's Rink]

Malkin Assimilates to American Life

Even at a time when America has an internal political debate about immigration and assimilation to American cultures, hockey fans are following the story of superstar Russian players Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin and their progress as they live and work in America during the autumn and winter months.

Speaking as a journalist, there is always an awkward time when reporters must talk through a team-employed translator. The quotes produced are most often sanitized and paraphrased. So either the players have to adjust or the journalists do. Make it the players, because I barely survived high school spanish.

Malkin's attempts to adjust to his new surroundings is making progress as a new story posted in the Tribune Review.

Malkin's teammates, including last-season linemate Jordan Staal, insist that his language barrier presented no problem on the ice. However, a consensus among people within the organization is that Malkin's willingness to room with an English-speaking player on the road this season should go a long way toward accelerating his cultural assimilation.

You can read the rest of the article with the link provided. It gives a time line of Malkin's growth as well as lay out the future plans for this young superstar.

I like the idea of having him room with his linemate J-Staal. Malkin is sure to be exposed to every beer list in the western hemisphere.

[Via: Pittsburgh Tribune Review]

Hockey Fanatic Stanley Cup Endorsement 2007

And now for the moment I know all my readers have been waiting for! The one post that will saddle the NHL franchise with my endorsement of being favorites to win it all this season. Regretfully, last year's pick let me down as I thought the Senators would be a better show and have learned from the sins of their past. But they didn't and invested in a lot of the wrong free agents. Undaunted, I am going to try again and put all my "chips" on the one team that surely won't let me down. I didn't use any saber metrics or any lengthy look at statistics. Heck, I didn't even look at the season series outcomes.

Now, I realize that one look at my page, it makes pretty clear where my priorities lie. But I want to make one thing clear, my decision to endorse my hometown team as my favorite to win the Stanley Cup was not a homer pick. I would gladly see another deserving team hoist the Stanley Cup, but soon you will read just how and why I reached the decision that I did.

Starting out, I believe that this year the Pittsburgh Penguins are a team of destiny. It was a magical moment that was getting the top pick for Crosby, so much so, that the media coverage surrounding this team can get quite interesting at times. Some chose to stay bitter and hate the hype, but still others embrace the romanticism of a team that would not give up hope on it's future. The Penguins fans are the type that can rival Detroit, Toronto, and Montreal as thee "hockeytown" because of the way that the fans rallied to save the team that they love.

I couldn't describe it any better than this brilliant snip-it from Katie who is controversially quoted with this idea:

Plus, anyone that has a soul is rooting for the Penguins, and (surprisingly enough) I haven't sold mine off yet.

She is certainly right that the Penguins have garnished their appeal by struggling through and emerging on top of some real serious adversity. No team in recent memory has had to put up with the constant issue of the team moving. I think that earned a little attention continent-wide.

Speaking of adversity, did you see how the Penguins have come through in the clutch? And they don't have to rely on their stars to do it either! Is Emery having re-occurring nightmares of Talbot wrist-shotting a rocket of a puck up and over his shoulder?

The next piece of evidence that I would like to present is that this is the Penguins year is the commonality between the Penguins first Stanley Cup wins and today. In 1990 and 1991, the hit movie of those years Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 and 2 came out. Guess what hit movie is in theaters this year! That's right. TMNT. Coincidence? Probably.

There is also the case of the veterans that were pivotal to the success of the season. Roberts was highly sought out by Ottawa at the trading deadline, but it was the Penguins who were able to fit all the puzzle pieces together. Shero's predecessor was able to come up with a couple of blockbuster trades at the deadline to get the team over the hump. Even if Roberts is in his twilight years, the Penguins have a key ingredient that balances out the lines allowing Coach Therrien to juggle the lines by spreading out the talent to all three lines.

This team was not expected to do much because of the lack of experience. This team has plenty of playoff experience! Whitney, Talbot, Fleury and company have seen a couple of great playoff runs in the AHL. Sure, the competition isn't as fierce as the major leagues, but they have played in the post season! Crosby has his own playoff push with Rimouski in the CHL Memorial Cup run. So, I don't think that these playoffs are going to be of any surprise to this young team.

How many teams have two (2) Calder trophy candidates? The learning curve for Malkin and Staal have slopped steeply and there is nowhere to go but grow into the dominating players they have the potential to be.

Good luck to all the teams in the NHL playoffs. Please keep in mind, fans, that this is just a game. Please support your teams and represent them with dignity!

Malkin Scores and Breaks Glass

Penguins fans had hoped that tonight's game would turn out with a different result, but the few bright spots to enjoy was when Malkin had finally become an NHL player. The always tough New Jersey Devils came into the 'Burgh and faced a Penguins team that was bursting with new confidence and on track to challenge for the Atlantic Division lead.

After a scoreless first period, the Penguins tied up the game on an excellent 2nd attempt by Evgeni Malkin to poke the vulcanized rubber through Martin Brodeur's pads. This is Malkin's first career NHL goal to which his wide mouthed smile and hugs from his supportive teammates celebrated the historical moment. The replays showed Malkin looking as if he had waited a long time for that. He had been left off the opening day roster and the subsequent games because of a shoulder injury he suffered in pre-season.

"Recchi gave me a great pass right on the stick and I gave him a pass," Malkin said. "I just went to the net and shot the puck."

Malkin's first goal wasn't the only memorable event during the game. He also took a shot at the Martin Brodeur-guarded goal which missed the target but shattered the rink Fiberglas sending a large chunk onto the fans. The Penguins had hoped that the timeout this took siphon off the momentum from the Devils who were then leading 2-1.

Despite pulling the goaltender, the Penguins weren't able to solve the problem that was Brodeur's steady work. They will have to meet up again next week (Oct. 24) in the Mellon Arena but featured on the national TV network Versus.

"And he's [Malkin} only going to get better and better," Therrien said.

[Via: Yahoo! Sports]

Malkin is in da houuuse!

Okay. Sure it seems like things are going to have a happy ending, but what if the Penguins contend this year and the Russians decide to challenge the validity of the NHL/Penguins contract. Magnitogorsk Metallurg and the Russian league promised revenge and it was a threat that I interpreted as very serious.

So, Malkin signed this morning and will be introduced later in a press conference. Everybody will clap and cheer. Sergei Gonchar will get a new roommate supposedly. But the message that I get from the drive-by media and the Penguins fans is that the Malkin signing is a new chapter to the franchise. They are already talking about the Penguins being instant playoff contenders - hoping to be just good enough to sneak into the 8th and final playoff spot this season.

This is really welcomed as fresh air of optimism for a franchise that has had a perpetual one foot out the door. I cant help but be pessimistic about this situation. When will this get screwed up? Penguins fans should be accustomed to the rug getting pulled out from under.

Mr. Malkin's deal is patterned after one signed by Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin, who was claimed first -- one spot ahead of Mr. Malkin -- in the 2004 entry draft. Reports out of Washington have placed the potential value of that contract as high as $3.83 million annually.

Sure the numbers look familiar, but everybody in the drive-by media is hoping that the play is similar to Crosby.

Only time will tell when the Russians decide to throw some cold water on the wet dream of a potent lineup of young superstars. Will the Russians decide to drag Malkin to court right at a critical time in the season like a playoff qualifying game? Will they decide to shakedown the Penguins for more money?

Plenty of questions that still need answered.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette