Farewell to the Wrecking Ball

A bit of news came by this weekend that I failed to discuss. Mark Recchi is no longer a Penguin. He was picked off on re-entry waivers by the Atlanta Thrashers. (BTW, haven't the Thrashers learned their lesson about picking up aging vets yet?) Recchi will always be remembered as one of the Penguin greats, a potential future Hall-of-Famer. But lately, he just doesn't have it anymore. His hands are gone. So many times this season, we've seen a pass gift-wrapped for him and he fanned on the shot. Also, his presence seemed to have an adverse effect on the youth on the team. Is it really a coincidence that the Pens have played so much better without him in the lineup? Remember how well they played when he was lent to the Hurricanes in 2006? This team must be put in the hands of the youth. They are the present and the future. Mark, you will always be fondly remembered, but it was time.

I've Been Dreaming Of A True Love's Kiss...

*in excited James Marsden voice*

GISELLE!!!

Penguins - 2, Canucks - 1 (SO)

Unbelievable! The Penguins complete a sweep of Western Canada, beating the Oilers, Flames, and Canucks. I wasn't able to catch most of the game but I see the shootout. I love Kris Letang! There, I said it! This guy is a defensemen? He's got better moves than the majority of snipers in the league. That's two games he's won for us now. Dany Sabourin is making everyone feel better about the goaltending situation, but I really hope Fleury comes back soon. The little celebration the team did at the end around the Letang was great. This is now looking like a real team, just like it was last year.

Penguins - 3, Flames - 2 (SO)

What a finish! That was some crazy, exciting hockey at the end of last night's game, concluding with Kris Letang deking out Kipper for the win in a shootout. Some of the Penguins looked great last night. Ryan Malone is finally looking consistent. Gary Roberts was very angry and it showed. Jordan Staal is visible on the ice again. The one sour note? Marc-Andre Fleury left the game in the first period with an injury. No word on how severe it is yet. Let's hope it's nothing serious. Max Talbot was hurt as well.

Penguins - 4, Oilers - 2

It's really true, the Penguins refuse to play the first two periods. Down 2 goals going into the 3rd, they all of a sudden went "Ok, time to play." They showed some scary offensive power in the 3rd dropping 4 goals on the Oilers in a 7-minute span. Imagine if they did that all game long. In his first visit to the land of Gretzky's dynasty, Sidney Crosby seemed to have his way with the Oilers, getting 3 assists on the night. Marc-Andre Fleury was so close this time to scoring. Keep on trying, Flower! With 5 wins in the last 6 games, is this the turnaround we've been waiting for?

Pirates DVD Event

So Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End came out today on DVD and Blu-ray and Walt Disney World decided to make a little event out of it. A month ago, I got the passholder newsletter telling me about a special pirates promotions. On December 4th at the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney, Disney would be giving away free gifts to the first 700 people to buy the movie. The gifts were a pirates watch, a pirates stein, and a limited edition lithograph with an actual piece of the sailcloth from the Empress Ship. There would also be some limited edition pirates pins on sale. The store would open at 6:30 am.

I made a horrible assumption. I had thought that only passholders knew about the promotion. And because of that, I couldn't imagine that many people in line for this event. I mean, how many passholders will be in the area and willing to get up that early for this? I was mistaken. Passholders weren't the only ones who knew about it, cast members did as well. That changes everything. There's an unlimited supply of cast members in the area and a lot of them are crazy enough to wait for this. I had gotten to the World of Disney store just before 6:00 am not expecting a crowd, only to see about 200 people already waiting in line. Some were there since last night. By the time the store opened, that number more than doubled. But you know what? It was fun! Disney actually had a band of pirates come and sing pirate songs and Christmas carols to the people in line. They were really good! There were even some people dressed as pirates in line. Some cast members were selling hot chocolate to people. I actually got bumped to the front of the line because I was a passholder. Nice! The store actually had Jack Sparrow do meet and greets inside. I bought the Blu-ray version of the movie, got all the free gifts, and got one of the pins. After my purchase, I went and met Captain Jack. I posed with the Blu-ray. It was so funny! All and all, I spent about 2 hours waiting to get the movie but the experience was a blast and I would love to do another event like this.

Penguins - 3, Coyotes - 1

Why is it that the Penguins only decide to play the 3rd period of games? Do they just enjoy the thrill of the final period? Things weren't looking so great during the first two periods, where the powerplay looked abysmal, being given all these chances and having nothing to show for it. With him gone, it's become so evident how important Sergei Gonchar is to the Pens powerplay. But then in the 3rd, they just came alive. Is Jordan Staal becoming a playmaker now that he has his own line? Funniest moment of the night was Marc-Andre Fleury's attempts to score a goal into an empty net. He wanted it so badly and the Penguins defensemen kept taking the puck from him. Hilarious!

Maple Leafs - 4, Penguins - 2

Well, that was a quick streak. Didn't see the game so I can't say much about it. Let's hope the Penguins start a new winning streak soon.

Regis and Kelly

Guess who I saw filming the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade today?

Penguins - 4, Stars - 1

The Penguins showed no rust after a week long layoff. In fact, they showed a lot of hunger. They seemed to thoroughly outplay Dallas in every facet of the game as they cruised back to .500. Seriously, who are these guys? They do not look like the team that has been struggling earlier this season. They look like a team with a lot of chemistry and that's oozing confidence. They look like last year's team. I really like these line combinations. Army and Malone work well with Sid. Sykora seems so natural with Malkin. And it looks like Staal is back and looks great paired with Roberts and Kennedy. Even Ruutu and Laraque are looking good. It's only been a few games so I don't want to get too excited yet, but things are looking good. Let's see how they fare against the Maple Leafs tonight.

It sure looks like Mark Recchi is on his way out of town. Recchi was a great Penguin and I hoped that he could have ended his career here but he just doesn't have it anymore. This team has been going on all cylinders ever since it was handed over to the young guys. Recchi just no longer has a place on the team.