TheXym

/Raises a dram of the Macallan in salute to the epic awesomeness of Jagr's mulletude.

The vid on TSN from the league explaining the suspension was pretty clear it was a head shot. Long overdue. He should have been banned from the the league earlier. As others have said, hopefully this forces him out of the league next year.

Agreed, having two solid goalies is not a bad thing.

Larkin is definitely looking like a stud. I'm honestly torn. If he is going to stay up, it shouldn't be in a fourth line role, IMHO. I think he (and the Wings) long-term would be better served by him being the stud 1C dominating in GR than only having spot duty in the NHL. The opportunity to further develop chemistry with Mantha and AA or Bertuzzi could lead to a line that has a bigger impact than Tampa Bay's vaunted triplets line. Pavel's injury does seem to leave a door open for him, though.

Cool. I was born there. I'm about 35 miles north of Scranton.

Pens announcer called it a "hoper" pass.

Mrazek looking good so far. If both goalies play well, it bodes well for the team this season. Nice feed from Ferraro to set up Smith to make it 3-0

I just tried again and was able to get the Pens stream to work.

Eastern PA isn't local enough apparently.

Ice tracker on the pens site says Larkin and Athanasiou have goals already.

Someone had to put their twenty cents in.

Too bad I was in a rehearsal. So far, our kids and 4th line lost to Chicago's vets in OT, our other squad beat Chicago, and now the kids wrecked shop in Pittsburgh. A great preseason thus far, IMHO. The news about Pavel seems to be a big plus as well. I think it is going to be a good year for our boys. I'm looking forward to tonight's highlights. One question, I saw Halloran screwed us on a no-goal call (costing Larkin the hat trick?) Was it a toe in the crease, actually interference, or the classic Holmstrom call for apparently farting into the crease because there was no part of the Wing in the crease at all?

Sounds like our kids kicked some serious butt tonight. A good sign for the future.

On break at chorale rehearsal, what's the short recap?

Will Arby's give up the fries for a preseason hat trick? Too bad they don't have tater tots as an option for Tatar.

I was also disappointed to see Larkin wasn't in yet, though I hope he is added in a roster update. It's the first hockey game I got for the Xbox One. Nice graphics, looking forward to playing through a season then doing be a pro.

He started well when he came to Detroit, but was way too much of a liability in the D zone. You could almost say he made Kindl look like a top pairing guy in his own zone at times by comparison. Still, Zidlicky seems like a decent guy, so I'm glad he caught on somewhere.

Ho-Sang is a very talented player, but his self-entitlement is going to ruin a golden opportunity for him. I'm shocked but also pleasantly surprised that the Isles took such a firm stance. Apparently Ho-Sang was a locker room cancer before he got traded in junior, so maybe this is a pre-emptive strike to nip that stuff in the bud. His comments about the Canadian national team were also low class. Some other prospect will hopefully seize the opportunity.

Unfortunate, but better he misses preseason games than more regular season games. I hope he recovers quickly and fully and has a great year for the Wings. A shame about Verrier as well, not how the kid wanted to make an impression at camp. Hopefully he heals and has a good season at McGill. If the accident was involving Cleary and Helm, people would have been having apoplectic fits.

Thanks for the scoring commentary. Looking forward to the highlights.

I think if he stays healthy, Gustavsson has a good shot at sticking in Boston.

I agree with krsmith, no hockey player wants to sit on the bench, and if Cleary or any other healthy scratch wasn't hungry and wanting to play, then they darn well better be on the way out of the organization. I think the points that have been made about Cleary being like a player-coach with the Griffs (why do I have a flashback to Paul Newman as Reggie Dunlop in Slapshot?) to provide leadership and advice on how to make it in the NHL are good ones. If we set the wayback machine to the time before Cleary arrived in Detroit, he was a major first-round bust. He really got his act together when he got the opportunity in Detroit, and that is some hard-knock experience that he can pass on to the young guys like Mantha, Athanasiou, Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, etc. to hopefully help them avoid the same mistakes he made. I wasn't thrilled about the signing at first, but since the salary hit can be completely buried in the AHL it doesn't irk me as much. There is also the possibility, however unlikely, that if he can't play in the AHL that he goes on LTIR (does it work in he AHL like the NHL?) or retires early to free up the contract spot if needed. His early experience in the league prior to becoming a Wing as I mentioned before, is a good cautionary tale for our young prospects to be well aware of as they prepare for the NHL.

I feel bad for the kid goalie. If he makes a save on Putin, his family gets sent to Siberia.

Well said, though a prime Datsyuk on a line with a prime Fedorov would be absolutely breathtaking to watch.

I read in the Malik Report that he has a lion tattoo that inspired the mask. Here's the link from In-Goal magazine that George posted. http://ingoalmag.com/masks/howard-ready-to-roar-in-awesome-lion-mask/ If they put lions on Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall, and Green's helmets will that turn the power play into Voltron? Or is Jimmy trying to channel his inner Lion-O? (Sorry for the old '80's cartoon references, I haven't had my coffee yet today).