On The Way to the Stanley Cup !!

Canucks beat the Rangers

You just reminded me that after the Wild, we play the Pen's(I think).

Pens are in Atlanta tonight, then back home against Van. Hope you like morning hockey, because the game is at 2pm. here.

When are the Pens here Muzy ??

beat the Wild

Pens were there last year. This year, the game is here.

What date is the game ?

It's this Saturday, at 2pm. here.

Thanks..........11AM here if we get it.....hmmmmmmmmmm hockey and breakfast together

So how many households do you suppose will be having Beer for breakfast then?

QUOTE (muzykant @ November 21, 2008, 00:09)

11:00 am,  that's doable.

Whitney Practices for First Time This Season 

After foot surgery in the summer, three months of rehab and a month of skating, Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney rejoined his teammates for practice for the first time since the Stanley Cup Final on Friday afternoon at Southpointe.

“It’s just nice to feel kind of normal again,” Whitney said following practice. “There’s plenty of rust. Handling the puck is something that tough to do after you haven’t done it for five or six months. It’s good to be passing the puck with guys. You can only do so much when you’re out there alone. Giving hard passes, taking hard passes, that gets you back into it.”

Practicing with the Penguins is the latest phase of Whitney’s recovery process. He skated on his own and with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar for the past month, but is still only in the early stages of a complete return.

“I won’t be practicing the full (session),” Whitney said. “I don’t think I’m ready for the physical stuff – the one-on-ones and things like that – but just getting back into the timing of passing the puck at this speed and those types of things. It’s to start passing to guys, shooting the puck and getting flow. You have to get your timing back down. When you’re out there by yourself there’s no timing.”

Whitney was paired with Mark Eaton during the practice session. Though his return to practice – even if it is only for a portion of practice – is an inspiring sign, his return to the lineup is still unknown.

“I haven’t set a return game or return date,” Whitney said. “In my head, I had Christmas and right around then. Hopefully it’s a little before that but I don’t want to get my hopes up and have it be after. It’s something I just have to stay with it. You have to have solid practices and feel real good in practice before you even think about playing.

“Once I’m practicing full time, in two to three weeks I should be ready to play a game. You should really have your timing back and have solid practices before you’re playing again.”

Whitney had offseason surgery on two areas of his left foot following a few seasons of severe discomfort. He was born with high arched feet and the problem was compounded by his shot blocking prowess.

“Playing hockey and taking a lot of shots off each (foot) have created problems,” he said. “After two years, enough had been enough. It kept getting worse and worse. I couldn’t have gone through another year like last year where everyday you don’t know how it’s going to feel.”

Whitney broached the problem with Penguins management and staff. Everyone was onboard with the surgery and supported Whitney through the process.

“Management, I can’t say enough about how much they helped me through this,” he said. “At no time were they hesitant to help me find help and find out what was wrong. Once I needed surgery, they were 100 percent with me. They said don’t worry about anything. I can’t say enough about how good Ray (Shero) was through the whole thing.”

After his foot healed from surgery, Whitney began an arduous rehab regime that incorporated a total body workout. He arrived at Mellon Arena long before his teammates and started his day with stretching and strength exercises for his foot. Then he would skate on the ice with Kadar for over an hour, followed by weight training and more foot exercises.

“You’re here for a long time but it’s necessary to get healthy again,” Whitney said. “We use a band to strengthen (my foot) and getting it stronger. You do balance stuff. Being on the ice, there’s a lot of stuff that comes with skating, sports specific rehab. Then there’s upper-body lifting and leg strength. I tried to get a stronger upper body while I’ve been out and keep working on the ankle strength and getting that back.”

But rehabbing isn’t only taxing on a player’s physicality. It can seem like a never ending and lonely road to recovery for any player with a lengthy rehab. A player must have the right frame of mind to handle the frustrations and remain patient.

“It’s more mental than anything,” Whitney said. “The rehab’s been tough. There have been up days and down days. Being away from the team has been real tough. You get lonely. When they’re around and at home it’s not bad. When they’re on the road, it’s an hour or two hours of rehab and then a whole day of being by yourself, which isn’t any fun.”

To keep his mind off of hockey during the last few months, Whitney threw himself into community projects. He attended a street hockey tournament and handed out trophies. Whitney also visited local schools and read to fourth-grade children as a way of encouraging students to learn through reading.

“I thought it would be a good idea; it would get my mind off of (rehab),” Whitney said. “It’s pretty cool to bring a smile to a kid’s face or help out people that are in need. When you’re hurt, it makes you think of how lucky you are. Even if you’re injured and you’re down and out, once you see people that really need help it puts everything in perspective.”

That perspective helped Whitney overcome an unexpected scare during his rehab. He experienced that all too familiar discomfort to his foot when he skated for the first time after surgery.

“It was a little disheartening,” Whitney admitted. “I thought it would be better right away. The trainers actually told me, ‘Don’t worry, it’s still really weak.’ In the three weeks of skating by myself, it’s gotten a lot better. But right at the beginning it was a little nerve racking.”

Whitney will rejoin his teammates in the lineup once he is completely healthy. Until then, he’ll continue to rehab and strengthen his foot.

“The rehab continues. I’m by no means done with that,” Whitney said. “There’s a lot left to do there. It’s still weak right now but at the same time I notice a difference. Day-by-day, week-by-week, it’s gotten a lot better. As the weeks go on it feels stronger.”

Van 3.........Pens 1

oh oh Muzy won't be happy

Not sure I like these morning after lunch games..........more fun at night

I wanna know how much the zebras got paid off to miss those 4 blatant penalties (3 Interference + 1 Tripping) in the 3^rd Period.

He is mad, I guess a hug won't help any.  I missed what our good friend Matt Cook did??

Cooke actually got screwed over by the refs... Brooks Orpik was actually the 3^rd man in on the fight. That said, Orpik, our top defenseman, is far more valuable than is Cooke.

It all startes with Mattias Ohlund attempting (and missing) a heavy hit on Tyler Kennedy. Cooke responded with a hit of his own, flipping Alexander Edler. Then, a scrum ensued, with the fights developing then.

Got this in my email

Toronto Hydro is warning customers of the rotating winter power blackouts that are expected to occur on:

This is a province wide alert. The lack of power seems to consistently occur just after 7 pm on Saturday or 7:30 pm weekdays and is attributed to the excessive power required to run the goal judge light behind the Leafs' net.


Sincerely Yours,

Toronto Hydro

Canadiens retire Patrick Roy's No. 33

Sun Nov 23, 12:54 PM

MONTREAL (AFP) - Patrick Roy, who left the Montreal Canadiens in a bitter departure in 1995, had his No. 33 retired by the National Hockey League team on Saturday.

The Canadiens retired Roy's number prior to Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins, making the Hall of Famer the 15th player to receive the honour from the storied franchise.

Others to have their numbers retired by Montreal are Jacques Plante (1), Doug Harvey (2), Jean Beliveau (4), Bernie Geoffrion (5), Howie Morenz (7), Maurice Richard (9), Guy Lafleur (10), Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore (12), Henri Richard (16), Serge Savard (18), Larry Robinson (19), Bob Gainey (23) and Ken Dryden (29).

Proudly wearing his red jersey No. 33, Roy addressed the Bell Centre arena crowd in both French and English.

"Thank you to my coaches teaching me to make the most of my indomitable will, my teammates for their confidence and support, and my opponents for pushing me beyond my limits," Roy said.

A third-round pick in 1984, Roy was one of the top goaltenders in team history, leading Montreal to Stanley Cup championships in 1986 and 1993 - the last of the franchise's record 23 NHL titles.

However, the native of Quebec's tenure with Montreal came to a halt on December 2, 1995, when Roy allowed nine goals on 26 shots in a 12-1 home loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

Feeling that coach Mario Tremblay humiliated him by refusing to pull him earlier in the game, Roy stormed past the coach to inform team president Ronald Corey he never again would play for the Canadiens.

"You always have some regrets," Roy said during a conference call on Wednesday. "I mean, nobody's perfect. But I don't think I would have the career I had if I was not that type of person."

Three days later, Roy was traded to Colorado in a five-player deal. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner went on to win two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche, who retired his No. 33 in 2003.

His 551 victories are the most in NHL history, seven more than New Jersey's Martin Brodeur.

A three-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Roy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006.

The Toronto Maple Leafs also retired the No. 17 of forward Wendel Clark on Saturday.

Clarke, known more for his fists than finish around the net, played 793 games with Toronto, Quebec, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay, Detroit and Chicago amassing 1,690 penalty minutes.

QUOTE (youngforever @ November 23, 2008, 21:53)

Are we over the game from Saturday??

Of course. I just had to protest really loudly to uphold the reputation of Pittsburgh fans.

We just beat the Wings five minutes ago, 3-2 in overtime!!

At least we did something right

It was a good game,  Detroit is so impressive out on the ice.

Brian Burke a Leaf at last

November 25, 2008
Damien Cox
Sports Columnist

The wait is over. Brian Burke is set to become the new president and general manager of the Maple Leafs.

With only a few final details to be sorted out, none of which are viewed as deal-breakers, the deal is all but done.

The former Anaheim GM was forwarded a "term sheet" by the Leafs over the past 24 hours, which included acceptable clauses on the length of contract and compensation.

Burke's deal will include the rest of this season, then a five-year contract that kicks in next season. He made about $1.4 million managing the Ducks, and is expected to see his salary doubled in Toronto.

Cliff Fletcher, who has been acting as Leaf GM since John Ferguson was fired last January, all but confirmed the deal on the FAN 590 morning show today by saying he believes it would be a "great move" for the Leafs to hire the 53-year-old Burke.

Burke was willing to strike a deal last week, but the Leafs dictated the pace of these negotiations, which slowed towards the end of last week then picked up speed on the weekend.

The only key remaining negotiating point is believed to be the reporting structure of the new regime, whether Burke will report directly to the MLSE board on a regular basis, or to a senior executive like current Leaf president Richard Peddie.

It's not believed, however, that Burke is particularly worried, having had to "manage up" during his days running the Canucks and Ducks. There are no other road blocks left that would impede a deal from being cut between the Leafs and Burke.

Theoretically, Burke could have signed a deal Sunday or Monday, but is now committed to stay in the Boston-area with his family through his daughter's bridal shower on Friday.

That sets the stage for the Leafs to introduce him as their new hockey czar on Saturday, with full coverage allotted to CBC's Hockey Night in Canada on a nation-wide basis that evening before and during the Leafs' home game against the Philadelphia Flyers, coincidentally the team for whom Burke once played as a minor-leaguer.

Dave Nonis, the former Vancouver GM, is expected to be announced as a new member of the Leaf front office at the same time as Burke is introduced.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Burke will become the first American to be GM of the Leafs, joining his college pal, head coach Ron Wilson.

So do you think he will fix the Leafs or will TO get the best of him?