Penguins Nation

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter Last season Washington Capitals super star Alexander Ovechkin led the NHL with a total of 56 goals. Ovechkin was the only player to reach the coveted fifty goal mark with the likes of Philadelphia Flyers sniper Jeff Carter (46), New Jersey Devils forward Zach Parise (45) and former Atlanta Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk (43) hot on his heals. This season Ovechkin finds himself in his usual spot on top of the scoring leader board, that said, the landscape has changed dramatically when you consider those players that are in the running to score fifty goals ...

It's all about timing when it comes to entering the playoffs on the right foot. With only 16 games left in the regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins are picking a good time to elevate their game and make them—yet again—a force to be reckoned with as the second season approaches. Sure, the Pens have the best group of centers in the game—but while Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal are hitting the top of their game, the rest of the team is right behind them. With every new season comes a set of battles that will test every team. To win the ...

Marc Savard never saw it coming. Likewise, the chances of remembering the collision--doubtful. Late in the third period of an intense 2-1 contest between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins , Savard found himself just inside the blue line with a bouncing puck that surprisingly found his stick. As he fired the puck towards Marc-Andre Fluery , Savard had no clue what was about to hit him. Unless you are an avid Matt Cooke hater. Cooke's shoulder slammed into Savard's head, causing a violent collision that sent his head snapping back and his body flying wildly onto the ice. The crowd silenced. Fans, with a collective ...

When the Pittsburgh Penguins are being discussed in articles, on TV or any other media outlet the first forwards mentioned are inevitably Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal (usually in that order). There is very good reason for this to be the case. Sidney Crosby is the face of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise, as well as the NHL. He is arguably the best all-around player in the game today and deserves all of the recognition and accolades that are constantly showered upon him. Evgeni Malkin is the reigning NHL scoring champ and the Penguins playoff MVP from their 2009 Stanley Cup ...

It was a pick that changed the face of the Pittsburgh Penguins. An early pick of a sure-fire core player. A pick that became a key to the Penguins' Stanley Cup victory of 2008-2009. And the words of Gary Bettman changed the lives of Penguins fans everywhere: "With the second overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins select Evgeni Malkin, out of Russia." Ahem. Sorry. I actually meant: "With the first overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins select Marc-André Fleury, from the Cape Brenton Screaming Eagles." I think it was actually a bit later than that. "With ...

Ray Shero, Pittsburgh's wizardly General Manager, said on March 1 following the acquisition of Jordan Leopold from the Florida Panthers, "I'm not really that interested in trading players off our team because I'm trying to strengthen it, not weaken it." This has been Shero's mentality and when the Olympic "trade-freeze" was lifted Sunday at midnight, he waved his wand. 63 hours later, Jordan Leopold from Florida and Alexei Ponikarovsky from Toronto were turning in their jerseys to don the black and gold until, at least, the end of the season.  Toronto also sent over a 2010 sixth-round draft pick. And what did Pittsburgh ...

Another NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and for the fourth year in a row—at first glance, anyway—it looks like the Pittsburgh Penguins' savvy GM Ray Shero has acquired some nice additions to an already-solid and playoff-tested lineup.   Shero’s trades for defenseman Jordan Leopold and left winger Alexei Ponikarovsky signify that the Pens and their sharp-minded GM have no plans to surrender Lord Stanley’s Cup at the end of the 2010 playoffs—at least not without a serious fight.   Once again, Shero has seemed to find a way to attain quality players—and quality people—for his team's playoff push. It is something that ...

Another year, another busy trade deadline period for Ray Shero and the Pittsburgh Penguins. A day after trading a second round pick in the upcoming draft to Florida for defenseman Jordan Leopold, Shero was at it again, this time with offense in mind. After the conclusion of Tuesday night's victory over the Ryan Miller-less Buffalo Sabres, the Penguins announced the addition of Toronto left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky. But at what price? Veteran defenseman Martin Skoula and 21-year-old prospect Luca Caputi will be packing their bags and heading north to Canada. The initial thought was that Maple Leafs' General Manager Brian Burke wanted at least ...

The trade deadline is one of the most entertaining portions of an NHL season. Rumors abound, and the casual fans' fantasy world explodes. Don't be ridiculous, Pittsburgh. The Penguins are not going to make a major move as the trade deadline approaches. We all know general manager Ray Shero is quite capable of pulling the trigger on a major deal, as he provided fans the services of sniper Marian Hossa in 2008. How well did that work for the team? Yes, they did make it to the Stanely Cup Finals, and were two games from bringing home the prize, but did it validate the necessity ...

Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Ray Shero opened the trade deadline madness by acquiring defenseman Jordan Leopold from Florida in exchange for a second-round draft pick in the 2010 draft. Leopold is a 29-year-old 6'1", 200 pound left-handed shooter. He has put up 18 points thus far this season with seven goals and 11 assists. A local blogger associated with one of the local newspapers said this wasn't a great move and that it may be a sign of someone heading out before Wednesday's deadline. The acquisition of Leopold added a physical defenseman to the Penguins' blue line thus fulfilling one of ...