Did anyone expect this not to happen? At noon today Crosby passed the 1,020,736-vote mark that Jaromir Jagr set in the 2000 All-Star voting. I don’t know why people are so surprised really, back in 2000 not as many people were on the internet. There was no Myspace, no Facebook, Google was only founded 2 years prior, no one knew what a blog was. With the growth of people using the internet and technology more there is no reason to expect Crosby not to break the record. Also being able to vote for all of your players via txt message makes things easier considering most people even old people know how to use text messaging these days. With that said congrats to Crosby, but I don’t know what the big deal is really.
- Malkin is also very close to passing the record as well and might do it since there are still 2 weeks left to vote.
- Also Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury as passed Carey Price to take over the #1 goalie spot in the All-Star game.
The Leafs are in town tonight to take on the Pens at 7PM. The Leafs sit in 11th place in the east, 8 points behind the Pens with a 12-13-6 record. They have won 3 of their last 4 games. Goaltending has been a bit shaky for the Leafs so no word on who will get the start tonight, Joseph or Toskala. The last time the Leafs played the Pens they lost 4-1, it was the game were Crosby scored his 100th career goal, 200th career assist and 300th point.
The Pens are coming off a 6-3 win in Atlanta on Thursday night. The Leafs should be a bit more of a challenge to the Pens then the Thrashers were, it will be a good game for sure. As expected Fluery will get the start tonight. Talbot will be back in the lineup tonight, Dupuis and Ziggomanis are still out. The Pens will be wearing their powder blue jerseys tonight, Go Pens!
Pens Headlines
- Talking about Talbot he inked a new 2 year extension that will keep him a Penguin until 2010-11.
- Ryan Whitney has been assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL for conditioning purposes. We will play in tonight’s game against the Albany River Rats.
Only 1 more day to wait till we see the Pens in action again! The biggest news of the week for the Pens would have to be that Console Energy has acquired the naming rights for the new arena. It will be called the Console Energy Center. What do you think? It’s not the best name, but better than some other sports venue’s out there. Would you rather it be called the PetSmart Sports Arena….I don’t think so! I’m sure a lot of people will still call it the Igloo, although it is not shaped like an Igloo like the current arena.
There are so many rumors going around about the Pens picking up Avery, I don’t see it happening neither does Dave Molinari.
Taffe and Ryan Stone have been recalled from WBS, hopefully they will get some point on the board in Atlanta tomorrow.
Crosby is threating Jagr’s All-Star Game ballot box record of 1,020,736 set in 2000. Just before posting this Crosby had 837,171 votes to lead the eastern confernece. We expect he will pass Jagr’s record as you have until January 2nd to vote. To easily vote just text PENS to 81812 and it will vote for all of the Penguins that are on the ballot.
Puck Daddy got his hands on a translated interview of Evgeni Malkin, he his moving into a new house and his having a party on December 19th, you going to be there?
The Pens are in Jersery tonight to take on the Devils for the 3rd time this year. Just like with Buffalo the season series is tied 1-1. The pens won the last game against the Devils 4-1, where Sidney Crosby scored his 2nd career hat-trick. The Devils are having a pretty good season so far with a 14-8-2 record. Having Brodeur out has not made that much of a difference. Scott Clemmensen has held the fort for the Devis, he will get his 6th consecutive start tonight.
The Pens are coming off their 2nd loss so they are going to want to bounce back for sure. They are really going to need to work on their power play that was 1 for 8 on Monday night. Looks the like pens are mixing things up again recalling Taffe and Tim Wallace, who will make his NHL debut, from from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. With the Pesonen has been demoted back down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Taffe and Wallace will both play on the 4 line. Puck drops at 7:08PM. Go Pens!!
