Around the Net – your afternoon skate around the league

I am a bit out of order today, but I wanted to give my newest addition center stage by posting his introductory blog first. Tangent and I go way back… If I remember correctly, we started associating early on in my Hockey Buzz tenure and have been buds ever since. We have had many a late night chat via facebook’s chat feature talking over all of the subjects that he tends to touch on in his writing hockey, scotch, life experiences etc. I think that you are really going to enjoy his stuff…even though he is loyal to that team that lives across the Commonwealth.

With that let’s get moving… first a couple of announcements. I will be hosting a series of live chats via Cover it Live for Versus.com and I would love it if you would participate. Not sure if I am supposed to be doing it or not, but the chat applet will be available here as well as over at Versus.com. Not only will you be able to chat with a real live hockey blogger and media mastodon (me) while I am live and screaming at Mellon Arena, but I have selected a handful of Twitter feeds that will also run through the chat to give you even more content…

Those feeds in no particular order:

  • @pghpenguins – official Pittsburgh Penguins
  • @NHL_Sens – official Ottawa Senators
  • @FriedmanHNIC – Elliott Friedman from HNIC will also be in the building.
  • @emptynetters – The Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Seth Rorabaugh will be at Mellon Arena.
  • @VersusNHL – The official Versus NHL feed.
  • @sroarke_nhl – the great Shawn Roarke from NHL.com.
  • @tpanotch – last but not least, Tim Panaccio, who will be on hand covering the Flyers/Devils so that we can follow that one as well!

Without further adieu, let’s get to your Around the Net… an afternoon skate around the league!

First of all, I have to post the final standings from the College Hockey Pick’em game that was sponsored by Forgotten Miracle and Pond Hockey. The contest was heavily promoted by our friends over at Puck Daddy… the point of my posting this?? I finished in a tie for ninth out of 2,064! Rats… Not a bad showing for Metzer…

Metzer ties for Ninth!

Shelly Anderson of the Post Gazette takes a look at the age old rivalry between Sidney Crosby, Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips. The latter two names make up the shut down combo that will most likely be used against Sidney Crosby throughout this series.

Crosby used to Volchenkov and Phillips

Josh Yohe of the Tribune Review talks about how the Penguins forecheck will change and or be altered without the services of Chris Kunitz and Matt Cooke. Both players are expected to be game time decisions.

Cooke and Kunitz game time decisions…

In this notebook, Rob Rossi takes a look at the daunting task of trying to repeat, Ruslan Fedotenko’s time of year setting in and more!

Fedotenko is Mr. April?

Rob Rossi chats with Kris Letang about taking on the role of a shutdown defender during these playoffs.

Letang in shutdown mode?

The Penguins set new team records for TV Ratings and Sellouts. Here is the release:

PENGUINS SET RECORDS FOR TV RATINGS, SELLOUTS

The Pittsburgh Penguins set a new team record for television ratings with an 8.17 rating on FSN Pittsburgh in 2009-10 – a 17 percent increase over last season’s record rating of 6.98.

The Penguins led all U.S.-based NHL teams in local television ratings.

The Penguins also sold out every game at Mellon Arena for the third straight season. The team’s sellout streak is now at 159 games, counting playoffs, heading into tonight’s Stanley Cup playoff opener against Ottawa at 7 p.m.

“Our fans are the foundation of this franchise,” said Penguins president David Morehouse, “and the passion, pride and dedication our fans continue to show for Penguins hockey is both exhilarating and humbling to us. We promise you that we will continue to work hard for your support. The best thing we can say is, ‘Thank you.’”

Alex Kovalev who was lost for the season just prior to the start of the playoffs has vowed to make a return to the Ottawa Senators for the second year of his contract.

Kovy says: “I’ll be back.”

Ottawa to rename the Elgin Street Strip – “Sens Mile.” Just in time for the start of the playoffs…the “Sens Mile” features tons of destination locales, bars, restaurants etc.

Elgin Street Strip becoming “Sens Mile”

The Canadiens and Capitals are in the middle of a war of worlds that started when Tomas Plekanec took a shot at Caps goaltender Jose Theodore. He insinuated that the Caps might not have the most solid goaltending tandem in the playoffs and that Jaro Halak gave them an advantage in that regard.

Theordore a weak link? Yes, according to Tomas Plekanec

The Atlanta Thrashers are the latest NHL team to go through a re-organization. The Thrash decided that they would send their coaching staff packing, promoted Don Waddell to President and promoted Rick Dudley to General Manager. Truthfully, this is a great move for the Thrashers, as Dudley’s fingerprints are all over the Chicago Blackhawks young nucleus.

Thrashers go through re-org

The Edmonton Oilers might have secured the number one pick in the Draft Lottery, but they have a long summer ahead of them.

Oil in for a long summer…

Former Penguins assistant GM, Chuck Fletcher, is disappointed to be out of the post season for the first time in a while… here is a look at Fletch and some of the storylines that abound in these playoffs.

Storylines abound

Speaking of Chuck Fletcher, here is a Q&A that was done by the Wild’s website… Fletch is a smart hockey man and it is only a matter of time before he gets the Wild on track.

Talking with Fletch

More later…

2 thoughts on “Around the Net – your afternoon skate around the league

  1. Great to see you have Shawn on board Metz. I think you will remember the night we all had after that Caps game.
    Shawn was nice enough to take me on a tour of NHL.com in NY after that night.
    Thanks for introducing me to the man, and Dan Rosen too.
    You couldnt have been a better host of Pitt!

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