Penguins Don't Take Flight

So, time to haul out the record books with the Wings and Chris Osgood's second shutout in two games in this so-called "dream" matchup in the Stanley Cup Final.

In 2003, a Final (noted mainly by the Scott Stevens hit on Paul Kariya) one saw the deadly dull Devils and Martin Brodeur shut out Anaheim two games in a row but it still went seven thanks to the Michelin Man Giguere in the Ducks' net. Satan's minions still won the Cup though, of course, with a shutout in Game 7.

Have faith Pens fans, the 1945 Final had the Leafs and Frank McCool shutting out Detroit in the first three games before the Almost Dead Things stormed back to tie the series with two of their three wins being shutouts also...then losing Game 7 to the Leafs.

We have to go back to the 1926 Final to find that the Montreal (in the words of Bugs Bunny: "What a Bunch of") Maroons shut out the Victoria Cougars of the old pro Western Hockey League in Games 1 and 2 of a sweep to win the Cup. The Maroons even threw a shutout in game 4 making it a hat trick of whitewashing for Hannibal Lechter lookalike Clint Benedict in the Final.

So, there is hope of making this a series, if the Pens can get the puck off the Wings for enough time to actually pressure Ozzie.

Nathan Smith--Another Stellar Character Draft Pick

Ah, Brian Burke...the NHL's best GM. Let's get an update on one of the genius's top draft picks while he was the Canuck GM.

Former WHL "star" Nathan Smith seems to have gone all Dino Ciccarelli on us. Dino, of course, made a stop in DC whereas Mr. Smith seemed headed anywhere but Washington on his late-night foray sans his Wilkes-Barre Penguins gear.

Sadly, the only exposure Nathan's getting is now in the AHL although he is on a bit of streak.

Whiteout the Whiteout

Am I missing something? The Penguins pulled the old "whiteout" giving out free white T-shirts for tonight's Game 1 vs. the Rangers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Pens won on the night 5-4 but they had to claw back from a slow start falling 3-0 down early on.

So, why the whiteout? It never worked well for the Winnipeg Jets all those years, and it nearly did not work tonight at the Mellonhead Arena. I just never got the whiteout. If anything fans should wear the black so the puck is harder to see among all the black T-shirts and jerseys.

From the city that gave sports the Terrible Towel of Pittsburgh Steelers' fame, why are the Pens aping an idea from a city that not only lost its NHL franchise but also never really did anything in the playoffs?