Still Some Celebrating To Do!!

The Penguins time with the Stanley Cup this summer is closely coming to an end. It's September and hockey season is approaching, but that doesn't mean there's nothing left to look forward to.

According to a recent interview with Evgeni Malkin, the team will be visiting President Obama at the White House on September 9th (which is shortly after he arrives back in the States on September 5th to get ready for training camp on the 12th).

Also, their Championship ring ceremony will be held sometime in November (Malkin joked when asked if Mario orders the rings that Lemieux has a shop in his basement and that he's carving them right now promising he'd be done by November - what a jokester!).

[Ring pictured in this post is from Pittsburgh's 1991 Championship season]

Next Up: Malkin Hosts the Cup in Magnitogorsk

Malkin's tight schedule spending the day with Lord Stanley began early this morning visiting the local hockey academy at 9 AM. He talked and took pictures with the young players. Then he stopped at "School No. 28" where he used to study.

Afterwards, he paraded around Magnitogorsk with the Cup in a limousine as people stood to watch him pass while taking pictures and video. He visited and took pictures at the World War II memorial where the Cup was on display "at the town's main square, opposite the local economic mainstay - the metallurgical plant."

“Of course I have outlived the euphoria [of a Stanley Cup victory] by now. But, anyway, I think this feeling will stay with me for a long time. We have kept all our players, which is most important. The coaches are also staying and that’s a big plus. Everyone knows each other and the chances are high this year. It's hard not to think about big wins with a team like this, when you have a goalkeeper on the team like Fleury, and a captain like Crosby. So we expect victories. We’ll do our best to be in the [Stanley Cup] finals again,” - Evgeni Malkin

Team Russia Opens Olympic Orientation Camp

Sunday, Team Russia (which includes Penguins players Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin) gathered in Moscow for the first day of their three-day Olympic orientation camp practicing in front over 5,000 fans who came out for a preview of the upcoming Olympics in February.

Monday, the team was visited by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who sat in to watch the practice session.

Eaton to be Honored at Notre Dame VS Nevada Halftime

It was announced yesterday that Notre Dame will honor Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Mark Eaton during halftime of this weekend's Notre Dame VS Nevada football game (September 5th) at Notre Dame Stadium.

Eaton played for Notre Dame during his freshman year (1997 - 1998) and was voted the Central Collegiate Hockey Association rookie of the year by league coaches and was also on the CCHA All-Rookie team and a special mention pick on the all-CCHA squad. This was the only year he played college hockey as he moved on to play for the AHL (Philadelphia Phantoms) the following season.

Tickets for Black & Gold Game on Sale September 8th

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Baby Pens announced yesterday that a limited number of individual tickets for the Pittsburgh Penguins Black and Gold Game will go on sale to the public beginning Tuesday, September 8th at 10:00 am.

The Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Championship team will be at the Wachovia Arena along with the Stanley Cup on Thursday, September 17th at 7:05 pm.

Tickets are available at the Wachovia Arena box office or through any Ticketmaster location.

Next Up: Brno Enjoys the Cup with Sykora

Late Friday, Satan passed on the Stanley Cup to fellow "former" Penguin Petr Sykora who spent Saturday and Sunday with the pretigious trophy in Brno where he started his celebration with the people of the town. The Cup was on display as fans lined up to wait to talk to Sykora and get an autograph and pictures. Like Satan, Sykora enjoyed Lord Stanley's company for 2 days (why? IDK). On Sunday, Sykora was the Guest-of-Honor at the Pilsen VS Czech hockey game where he sported a Czech Milan jersey.

Next Up: OOPS - I Missed Fedotenko in WI with the Cup!

Ruslan Fedotenko had his day with the Cup a few weeks ago on Tuesday, August 18th and I didn't come across it until now (SORRY!).

Ruslan and his wife, Debbie, were married and own property in (Sister Bay) Door County, Wisconsin which is where he took Lord Stanley on his day. The day included numerous stops at Wilson's restaurant to eat ice cream from the Cup bowl, the top of the tower at Peninsula State Park, Johnson's Park where the Cup rode "shotgun" in a go-cart.

Fedotenko shared the Cup with fans in the afternoon at the Waterfront Restaurant for an autograph session.

What Does Tangers Do in the Off-Season?

Well go to VIP parties and hang out with lovely ladies, of course!!!

Kris Letang was recently spotted (by Hollywood P.Q.) at the VIP party celebrating the 6th anniversary of Dom Rebel (designer clothing company) - surrounded by beautiful woman with one on his arm!! The Cup MUST change everything!!

Pictures courtesy of Hollywood P.Q. (Freelance Underground)


















And what else has Letang been up to this summer aside from all the VIP parties and beautiful women? Deep-sea fishing, according to Joe Starkey! He went to the Bahamas with his uncle for a week and told Starkey he estimates catching around 80 fish including a 210 pound lemon shark which took him two-and-a-half hours to reel in. They enjoyed the "fruits of his labor" by dining on the shark which Letang says, "... tastes like swordfish."

2009-2010 "City of Champions" Season 'Preview'

If you're like me, you don't need much to get pumped about the upcoming football / hockey seasons; however, this video has been making its way around the internet this past weekend and if you want to get your heart rate up and start the competitive, "Pittsburgh Nation" juices flowing then -

WATCH THIS!!

Johnstown Jets Hold Training Camp

There hasn't been much news on the new junior hockey team in Johnstown although I haven't been checking the webpage as I had earlier this summer.

I did learn that they started their training camp this week (Monday, August 24th) and the season begins Saturday, September 12th. It looks like all UJHL games are played over the weekends - Saturday and Sunday.

The webpage has their schedule (which is combined for the entire UJHL). They have yet to have a players / coach roster up, but I'm thinking that it's just the fact that it's not being kept up especially since they're holding training camp this week (they need players and coaches for that!)!!

CLICK HERE FOR THE UJHL 2009-2010 SCHEDULE

I went to the UJHL official webpage and found the following news:

08/03/09 The Johnstown Jets ink four players from their tryouts last weekend. Forwards, Zack Brown from Turtle Creek, PA and Scott Mathis from Morton Grove, IL.; along with Defensemen, RC Double from Lyndora, PA and Kyle Firth from Raleigh, NC.

07/29/09 The Jets have hired Dr. Ian Katz as their Team Orthopedist, as well as Dr. Gary Minchau of Hilltop Dental Associates as their Team Dentist for the 2009-10 season

07/27/09 The Johnstown Jets have signed Forward, Donny Koewacich, from Sharon, PA. for the 2009-10 season.

07/23/09 The Johnstown Jets have signed goalie Cody Martin from Cumberland, MD. and forward, Josh Hine from Ashland, MD. for the 2009-10 season.

07/14/09 The Jets obtained the rights to Defenseman, Cory Petrie from the Philadelphia Thunder for a future draft selection in 2010. Cory is from Campbellcroft, Ontario, Canada.

07/07/09 The Johnstown Jets Junior are Rocking and Rolling as the Johnstown hockey tradition continues. They have signed Anthony McDaniel a Goalie from Florida. Anthony played last year for the Wooster Oilers. The Jets have also signed Lucas Glass, a defenseman from Altoona, PA and played High School hockey for Bishop Guilfoyle Marauders.

06/06/09 The Jets have hired Tammy Barnwell from Johnstown, PA., who will be the Jets Director of Community/Media Relations & Corporate Sponsorship Coordinator.

05/21/09 The Johnstown Jets announced their Head Coach and first player signing at their Press Conference this afternoon. Jets Head Coach is Bill Blanset and netminder, Scott Van Horn, along with the Jets Mascot, Morley.

05/18/09 The Jets have announced their Press Conference for this Thursday, May, 21, 2009 at the War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, PA. Where they will introduce their Coaching Staff, first player signing and their Mascot.

05/13/09 The Johnstown Jets have signed their first player, netminder, Scott Van Horn who played Midget 'AAA' last year for the Pittsburgh Huskies.

Next Up: Satan and Hometown Celebrates with Lord Stanley

Miroslav Satan and his family spent yesterday (August 27th) with the Stanley Cup in his hometown of Jacovieck, Slovakia beginning at his parent's house in the morning.

In the afternoon, he spent about an hour-and-a-half signing autographs for and taking pictures with 500 adoring fans.

Later that evening, Satan and Lord Stanley went to Topoľčany for a charity hockey game.

Satan handed over the Cup to Petr Sykora who gets his time with it today (August 28th).

Here's a few videos (and more pictures as well) from Pravda.sk (CLICK ON LINK); however, they're in Slovak. [the man with Satan in the picture to the left is his first coach, Jozef Nemec]

TSCSF Selected in Top 100 Hockey Blogs!!!

The Steel City Sports Fan (Penguins Edition)

Top hockey blogs

I'm excited to report that my blog was one of 100 blogs selected by The Daily Reviewer to be in an exclusive list of "Top 100 Hockey Blogs!"

The Daily Reviewer selects only the world's top blogs (and RSS feeds). We sift through thousands of blogs daily to present you the world's best writers. The blogs that we include are authoritative on their respective niche topics and are widely read. To be included in The Daily Reviewer is a mark of excellence.

I'd like to thank Angelina and The Daily Reviewer's selection committee for choosing The Steel City Sports Fan. It's an honor to have my hard-work and dedication to this blog and the Penguins be recognized! I'M THRILLED!!

Drop the Puck!!

I think we're all pretty anxious for the hockey season begin even though there really hasn't been any lack of news (with them winning the Cup and it touring this summer, and now with the men's Olympic orientation camps underway).

But I'm ready for some hockey and tickets for the two pre-season home games went on sale this morning at 10:00 AM. I was able to get two for the Friday, September 18th game against the Leafs.

Is it me or did the prices get ridiculous?? For Section F, I paid $54 / each (and that wasn't the cheapest tickets either)! I'm not complaining since I'm happy to be going and Section F is one of my preferred sections for the money, but I guess we (I) should expect this when they've been doing so well - that's just the price you pay for being a hockey fan!!

O [Team] Canada

This week Canada is following suit and is holding the men's Olympic hockey orientation camp (in Calgary). Among the chosen are three Penguins and these are their official team photos.

A reader from my other blog pointed out that Crosby and Fleury have both cover the Nike logo on their jerseys (since they Reebok endorsers) -- pretty clever; however, the more I look at it, I can't decide if they're actually hiding it or it was digitally "erased."

Orpik's Brother Given AHL Contract

The San Antonio Rampage announced the signing of right wing Andrew Orpik to an AHL contract.

Andrew is the younger brother of Brooks and was selected in the 7th round of the 2005 entry draft by the Buffalo Sabres and recently graduated from Boston college.

Next Up: Catching Up with the Cup (Goligoski, Kadar & Godard)!

OK so I let the ball drop on some of the Stanley Cup visits over the past week or so, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things.

Right now, I'm just going to give a short overview as to where / with whom Lord Stanley has visited!!!

AUGUST 19th - Alex Goligoski brought the Cup to the IRA Civic Center in Grand Rapids, MN (click here for audio)

AUGUST 22nd - Mike Kadar (Elnora Community Hall); the mayor declared this day "Mike Kadar Day" in Elnora (click for brief article / video)

AUGUST 23rd - Eric Godard (Vernon); made a stop at the local RCMP detachment, Vernon Boys & Girls Club, Vernon Fire Station as well as celebrated with family and friends at a private party.

TIOPS Tidbits

As always, here is some interesting information I found at TIOPS (please keep in mind that none of this has been confirmed at this point):

• Letang has turned down Pittsburgh's initial four-year deal
• Sykora is in talks with three teams: Philadelphia, TB, and another unknown team (not Buffalo or Minnesota)
• Talbot's shoulder is coming along nicely; he will be able to take contact within 6 weeks (and he should only miss 5 weeks of the regular season)
• Zigomanis is considering several camp invites (the NHLPA webpage has since updated his current contract information)

That's So MAF (musings of a Penguins goalie)!

Fleury was recently in Montreal doing a private signing according to Allan Walsh (being helped by Walsh's kids - shown in this picture). CUTE!!

Fleury began training last week in Montreal with fellow Penguin Ruslan Fedotenko among other NHL players. He's also taking part in Team Canada's orientation camp (he arrived at the Calgary International Airport on Monday to a bunch of fans).

Penguins Training Camp

I don't know about you, but I'm anxious for the hockey season to begin and even though the Penguins stretched out their season by winning the Cup, it still feels like a LONG off-season (a fellow fan / blogger pointed out that its because we're eager to defend the Cup).

The start of the season will be marked with the start of Penguins training camp which starts on Wednesday, September 12th - it was pushed up since the one pre-season game was made earlier due to G20 in Pittsburgh that same time (a little over than two weeks away), and that's at least something to look forward to!!!

2009-2010 THN Yearbook

The Hockey News 2009-2010 Yearbooks are out and there are a total of nine of them (Vancouver; Toronto & Ottawa; Pittsburgh & Philadelphia; New York, New Jersey & Washington; Montreal - English; Montreal - French; Detroit & Chicago; Boston & Buffalo; and Alberta).

Of course the cover of the Pittsburgh & Philadelphia yearbook is our very own coverboy and captain, Sidney Crosby. It retails for $9.99.

Top 50 player rankings and Stanley Cup champion predictions; Milan Lucic rise to stardom in Boston; how Ryan Getzlaf has become Anaheim's top dog; early storylines from the 2010 Olympics; coach Ron Wilson describes life in Toronto in his own words; John Tavares and the future of the Islanders; Team Reports evaluating each team's strengths and weaknesses; and more.

Also out now is the 2009-2010 Ultimate Pool Fantasy Guide which cover features another Penguins young gun, Evgeni Malkin. It retails for $7.99.

THN's annual Ultimate Fantasy Guide Poolbook, predictions for more than 350 NHL players; a fantasy outlook and examination of each of the 30 teams; and stories who to take No. 1, the best rookies, and more.