Back After a Long Hiatus

I'm willing to bet that some of you are college students. At least, I hope you are; it'd be weird if my main demographic was oldey tyme folk. Anyway, you know how it goes, you're writing a paper that's just under fifty pages, you're studying for your finals, you're trying to graduate. You get away from what you really love, hockey. Well, not all that way away as that paper was about hockey, but still. Now I'm back to my favorite thing in the world, my goons. Oh, boys, I've missed you so. I missed two games against Philadelphia, it's as depressing as it is infuriating. Really proud of how the boys stepped off and took the Flyer chuckleheads off the ice one after another and let our big time skill boys have free range. Good stuff.

But, tonight we didn't play the Flyers, we played the Sens. Over the past few years, I guess you could say there's a dislike between the Penguins and the Senators, dating back to our playoff two playoff series from a few years ago. It's also certainly no secret that I don't like Chris Neil at all, so it's always nice to see him get what's coming to him...you know, when he doesn't wuss out.

Now, now, I already know what you're gonna say readers: "But, tGB, what about Matt Cooke? Doesn't he do the same thing?" The answer is, obviously, yes. The difference, aside from Cooke have a skating Penguin on his chest, being that Neil acts like a goon and then runs away when it's time to answer for those actions; Cooke is a pest, plain and simple. Cooke, however, should still answer the call sometimes.

But, you don't really care about me pretending to explain away double standards, do you? You care about the sweet fights and shenanigans that happened during the game. Gotta say, it all started with "Fuck, Yeah!" Craig Adams crushing Daniel Alfredsson with, APPARENTLY, a dirty hit? I'm going to show you a feed that wasn't from Pittsburgh first, mostly because it fills me with mirth. Really, isn't that what the Holidays are all about? Mirth?



Major for elbowing? Dirty hit? What fucking hit are these guys watching? Are you serious? Maybe it's because they didn't have a good angle like FSNP had:



Just watch from the thirty-six second mark and you can tell Adams CLEARLY connects with Alfredsson's shoulder and takes him down. It sucks that your Captain got hurt Ottawa, but that doesn't mean it was a dirty hit. Why don't you cry about it? It's not like Adams purposefully slap shotted the puck at his head at the end of the period...



Can't say I have much pity...

I'm totally OK with the response by Ottawa. It's how things should be done, regardless of if the hit is dirty or not. You hit our star hard, hurt him, dirty or not we're going to come after you: this simply HAS to be the thought in everyone's head when you play hockey. Twice the Senators came after Adams for vengeance, but more on the second one later.

Oh, Chris Neil. It's like every time we play the Senators you give me a new reason to hate you. Neil goes off for Charging, skating in from Wexford to hit Sergei Gonchar and it's all on again. On his way to the box he smacks Malkin's hands with his stick which somehow leads to Mike Rupp getting put in the box too for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. Maybe Mike Rupp said Chris Neil's mom wasn't a classy lady or something, who knows. Rupp and Neil go to the box chirping and eventually it boiled over at the start of the third:



It's a draw. Rupp and Neil each get some shots in. Mostly I'm surprised Neil dropped them. I imagine it had to do with the score more than anything else. A close game and Chris Neil will skate away...cause, you know, Chris Neil is a big time part of Ottawa's game and he shouldn't be stewing in the box for five minutes, right? Oh, no wait, it's because he's a joke.

Less than a minute later Matt Carkner was fighting Craig Adams. Adams had to have known this was coming and answered the call as best he could. Unfortunately for Adams, he was fighting a dude much bigger than him and gave up four inches and thirty pounds. Kudos to Adams for not going turtle in this fight and at least attempting to fight back. Carkner essentially jumps him, however, and doesn't give Adams a chance in the fight, popping him a few times before Adams can even get his gloves all the way off.


[Getty Images]

Adams doesn't seem too worse for the wear though, does he? Still chirping as he's lead away from Carkner with balled fists and blood running does his nose. I love me some Craig Adams. Every game the dude is playing like this and killing it on the penalty kill. Ray Shero doesn't get enough credit for this waiver wire snag.

Finally, we come to our favorite pest wearing #24. Matt Cooke should have dropped them with Shean Donovan. Really, simply, it's part of The Code. When considering the Steve Moore incident with Todd Bertuzzi, many forget what happened first. When Steve Moore injured Markus Naslund, Cooke fought him in the next game, that's how it goes. You injure someone, you pay the price. Cooke even did this earlier in the season when he answered the bell in the Rangers game against Ryan Callahan after his hit on Artem Anisimov. Donovan wanted answers for Cooke's hit on him that took him out of the lineup, and he should've gotten as much. Skating away and drawing penalties when you do other things is one thing, but here, with a guy looking to put his injury behind him, it's not something you do. Not too happy with Cooke.

It was a great last game for the Penguins before their Holiday Break. Got in some fights and tough play against a faux rival. I'll take that any day.

The Mike Rupp Show

Who was excited for a rock 'em sock 'em night against the Rangers? I certainly was. But, then, nothing happened. Eric Godard came out, tried to go with Brashear, Brashear not so politely declined by roughing up Tyler Kennedy instead. This really begs a question of Brashear: Is he afraid of Eric Godard? Two games in a row Godard has gone after him and each time Brashear has skated away from him. Perhaps he's not too fondly recalling this when he sees Eric Godard skating towards him with a challenge in his hands:



Ouch. I remember that too. You thought you had the fight won, huh Brashear? You got him good but then he came back for more. Terrifying, no? So, I mean, nothing really happened then in this game then? No fights, no goons being awesome, nothing.

Oh, wait. There's this guy that plays for the Penguins now:


[Reuters]

Mike Rupp is king of the fucking mountain right now. I had my ode to him in an earlier post but he decided that wasn't enough for him. So, instead of just a nice fight, maybe a goal, maybe some other good stuff, he goes for a hat trick. It's like Mike Rupp is serenading me every time he touches the puck right now. It's glorious.

To make matters even greater is Mike Rupp after the game is over. The man is still fuming about Sean Avery's antics from the game before. Rupp tried to get at Avery multiple times throughout the game, and then let Danny Potash and FSN Pittsburgh viewers just how he felt after the game:



"He hung low, cause he knew that we have guys that remember those things."

What else can I really say about Mike Rupp? This is a short post for a reason, Mike Rupp is basically showing time after time what I keep saying: he's been an absolutely amazing signing for the Penguins thus far this season. He can play on any line, in any situation. He can score clutch goals, he can score multiple goals, he can fight, he talks like a leader, he stands up for his team, everything. I just sound redundant saying what is so clearly out on the ice.

Keep on doing what you're doing, Rupper. Here's hoping you stay in Pittsburgh a long, long time.

Sintra Is Not Amused

I hate the Rangers basically on principle. I don't hate them because they're in the our division, I hate them because of their fans and how their organization is run. Their fans have a sense of entitlement, not unlike Toronto or Montreal fans, acting like they deserve Stanley Cups despite only having one since modern hockey started. Their organization thinks they can buy Stanley Cups still. Really, I guess it's not so bad: You get to rub Ranger fans smugness in their face and their organization continues to give lucrative contracts to hockey mercenaries and building no team chemistry whatsoever.

This game was just another reason to hate the New York Rangers. Sean Avery being Sean Avery, Donald Brashear being Donald Brashear, crying like bitches instead of just taking their thumping like men, it had it all.

People want to pretend like this all started because of Matt Cooke's hit on Artem Anisimov. This is a ridiculous claim. This all started with Sean Avery going after Sidney Crosby. The puck is gone from Crosby's stick for about three seconds and Avery still tries to go in at him high. It's too damn bad that Crosby is actually aware of himself and ducks the check before Avery can get him. Cooke is responding to that, there was nothing on the ice before this...well...except the Penguins beating the Rangers senseless already at that point.

No one for the Rangers stepped up. There's no Jordan Staal to save Artem Anisimov from getting wrecked by Matt Cooke. The Rangers just let him skate slowly to the bench, clutching himself and doubled over. That team sure is going places.

Well, maybe they still are. By which, of course, I mean going to the penalty box. What is Donald Brashear thinking? Honestly. If anything is in cement in the changing roles of enforcers, it's that you cannot get the guy and be allowed to go unless you get him right after the fact. Brashear takes a terrible and stupid double minor because of it.


[Reuters]

Not only is Brashear being an idiot, but Linesman Derek Amell gets caught up in it. How Cooke is suspended two games for his hit, but Brashear isn't suspended for injuring an official is beyond me. Absolutely terrible. However, Brashear does take four minutes of penalties. How do you feel about drawing him into that, Cooke?


I thought so.

Cooke eventually paid his dues when he was ready to and wasn't being jumped. Cooke might not fight a lot, but he steps up when he has to and when the team wants to respond. Callahan challenges Cooke, they both take their lids off, and they start throwing:


[Getty Images]

It was a solid, honorable fight where everyone got out the animosity that had grown throughout the period, and the Rangers got some respect back. That SHOULD have been the end of it. Sean Avery, however, wasn't done. In between shifts that included running away Mike Rupp and Eric Godard for earlier transgressions, Avery was trying to get himself thrown out of the game so he wouldn't have to deal with it. He finally just gave up on it and pulled a Todd Bertuzzi on Ruslan Fedotenko:



Wow, what a solid player he is. This is another clear case of punishing the outcome rather than the action. Sean Avery essentially does to Fedotenko what Todd Bertuzzi does to Steve Moore, he grabs him from behind and takes a swing at him. However, Ruslan is able to stay up and come back, leaving Sean Avery's face bloody at the end of it to add insult to injury. Maybe that's why he wasn't suspended? Getting bloodied when you jump another guy from behind is embarrassing enough on its own. This picture was earlier in the game, but basically tells us all how Avery's game went:


[Getty Images]

Cry some more. Thanks for a seven minute power play.

By the way, Rangers, how did taking all those penalties work out for you?


[Reuters]

Well...shit, better luck next time.