Crib Notes - Pittsburgh Penguins

I'm going to cover 30 teams in 30 days. Aggressive? Not really. No information in these crib notes is new or useful.

First up - the Pittsburgh Penguins



Last season
2nd in the Atlantic, won the Cup

Offseason
Lost Rob Scuderi - who was a dman's dman (including a few butterfly saves in the Finals) to LA via free agency
Lost Hall Gill who was a dman's potato salad to Montreal via free agency
Signed backup G Brent Johnson, defensive rock, Jay McKee, and tough guy Mike Rupp
Re-upped Billy Guerin for another season - Maybe the best move of the summer.

Questions going into 2009-2010:
Can they repeat?
Is Serg Gonchar healthy again?
Can Sid and Malkin top last year's totals?
Has anyone ever seen a baby pigeon in NYC?
Having lost Ryan Whitney (at the deadline), Scuderi and Gill (in the offseason)is this the D corp of a repeat winner?

Poised for a breakout season:
Alex Goligoski playing full seasons with the club.

Guy on roster who most closely resembles Manny Pacquiao:
Casey Pierro-Zabotel


Guy on roster whose nose most closely resembles Patrick Ewing's:
Tyler Kennedy


If you had to buy one Pens sweater:
Black Billy Guerin or Billy Guerin Black/Billy Black Guerin. Powder blue and Billy Guerin don't go together.

Player whose game you sneaky like:
Jordan Staal. Your friends say that if his last name was Brown he'd be making the league minimum. Overpaid or not he gets shit done.

Old guys:
Bill Guerin had so much white in his beard last post season.
If I told you that Sergei Gonchar is 35 years old would it sneaky surprise you?

Young guys:
Almost everyone else.
BTW Sid and Malkin are 22 and 23 years old, respectively. Jesus

Tough guys:
Paul Bissionnette lights up the AHL and Eric Godard is a top 3 tough guy in the NHL.
Kennedy, Kunitz and Cooke aren't big but are consistently physical.

Interesting:
Much-travelled Craig Adams. Born in Brunei Darussalam (somewhere in SE Asia) but reared in Calgary. 4-year player at Harvard, last ever draft pick of the Whale.

Nostalgia:
This is the Igloo's (Mellon Arena) last season. The new Consol Energy Center is scheduled to open for the 2010-11 season.

NHL 94 names
Starting D of Ulf Sauelsson and Larry Murphy

Youtube video:
Bill Guerin with the kids.


- Nemmy