It's Still July
It's summer.
Summer is great for many reasons.
It's warm.
That usually means vacations and parties and BBQs.
It means sitting outside with a cold beer, getting a tan and ogling strangers in their bathing suits.
It also means there isn't any hockey.
Now, the Penguins offseason has been the shortest in the league over the past two summers.
That means we've had to endure less time without hockey than fans of most teams.
We can't imagine what we'd be doing right now if we were Lightning, Islanders or Leafs fans.
Actually, we can.
If the Pens missed the playoffs last season we would have probably spent this summer the same way we did during the dark ages:
Googling "Tomas Surovy" and waiting for Konstantin Koltsov's breakout season.
Mike Vick
What happens when Mike Vick is a receiver on a certain play in a Wildcat formation...
and he comes across the middle...
and a linebacker with 4 dogs is waiting to get a free shot at him?
Everyone will rejoice.
go pens
The Summer of Woooooo
The Pens won the Cup.
Every now and then we wake up and remember that.
This has been a summer of celebration.
Not just for the team, but for all of the fans as well.
It's the Summer of Woooooo
This Feeling Was Wrong
Found on YouTube today:
"I know that Pittsburgh will fall.
When we get down to the Joe and just win it all."
"Here we come, here we go
We want the Cup.
Pittsburgh come, Pittsburgh go.
Now we on top."
That video was posted on June 11th, which probably was "a good night" for Red Wings fans.
That said, so are most nights when a tanker doesn't explode or a fan doesn't fall from a roof.
June 12th?
We Won The Cup.
We Won The Cup.
The Cup Changes Everything
With the Blues obligated to pay him US$2.67 million because of their decision to walk away from the final year of his four-year, $16-million deal, [Jay] McKee simply was looking for an opportunity to join an organization with a legitimate shot to win hockey's top prize.
"It's no secret I'm still getting paid by St. Louis. My main objective was to find a winning team," McKee, 31, said.
"But unless that team is interested in what you bring, it can't happen. But Pittsburgh called and they were trying real hard to get me there. They lost a couple of defensive guys with similar attributes (Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi), so it worked out kind of perfect. I just hope to fill their needs."
McKee, who signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Penguins, also hopes to win the first Stanley Cup of his career.
That's from an article in the Kingston Whig Standard.
This is from an article in the Ottawa Citizen:
Twice bitten, thrice shy? Apparently not for the Oilers, who, despite being continually rebuffed by disgruntled Ottawa Senators winger Dany Heatley, haven't given up on the idea of bringing him to Edmonton.
According to the Edmonton Journal, an Oilers representative has delivered a highlight package of tapes to Heatley at his summer home in Kelowna, B.C., hoping the gesture somehow convinces him to change his mind and accept a trade to the Alberta capital.
That's what the Stanley Cup does.
And not just in McKee's case.
We've seen Bill Guerin and Craig Adams and Ruslan Fedotenko take pay cuts to remain with the Penguins.
That's what winning the Stanley Cup does for a team.
It's Summer
PensTV has a summer update online:
They talk about the draft, free agency and the upcoming schedule.
It's pretty good stuff.
Phillip Samuelsson Age 6
Phillip Samuelsson isn't at the Pens prospect thing because he is overseas.
But shit. We know he can play:
Big thanks to [Kent] for the footage.
A pens paintball video after the jump.
Hint: Alyonka in pig tails
Pens Prospect Camp
Coffeytalk went to the Penguins Prospect Conditioning Camp and came back with these photos.
You can view all of her photos here on Flickr.
A few quotes from camp after the jump.
