Pens Points: Toronto Game Day
Daily source of Pittsburgh Penguins and NHL news and stories.
Good morning one and all,
The Pens return to game action tonight by hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. Matt Murray will be in goal. Kris Letang will play, and I seriously question the wisdom of that. Even if NHL's concussion protocols are in the 1980s, the Pens should be more prudent with someone who's had a stroke and 4 known concussions in the past 5 seasons.
The Leafs will have James Reimer in goal tonight, who had to relieve Jonathan Bernier in their last game, in which they defeated the Isles 6-3. The Leafs are back to scoring lots of goals. [Yahoo Sports Canada]
Neutral zone play is still proving challenging for the Pens, and this is something they are continuing to focus on. Oh joy. There are 7 coaches there still, maybe someone can figure it out. [Trib]
WBS Penguins have a new head coach, but also a new assistant coach - one Mark Recchi. [Citizens Voice]
Florida Panthers have posted the best month in franchise history in December. Together with the Broward County ruling that solidifies the team remaining in Florida, these are happy times in south Florida. [NBC Sports]
Dimwit extraordinaire Brad Marchand will have a hearing for chopping up Borowiecki last night, or as Jack Edwards termed it "getting tangled up". It would be a very Brad Marchand thing to be suspended for the Winter Classic, but at least he can partaaaay tomorrow night. [TSN]
Today in positional power rankings, we bring you the top 10 left wingers in the NHL. Maybe not the list I would have made but if you only look at this season I guess it would be different than looking at a bigger body of work. [Sportsnet]
The World Juniors are currently going on in Finland, which was the site of Canada's most disastrous showing ever back in 1998. They even have graphic novels about it. [Sportsnet]
On a sad note, Canada's assistant coach in this year's tourney is mourning the loss of his dad, but the team has rallied around him and will try to win one together for them. [The Score]
William Nylander will miss the remainder of the preliminary round for Sweden but hopes to return for the medal round. [Sportsnet]
For a fitting end, Leijonat legend Teemu Selanne had his #8 national jersey retired today. I have had that white jersey for I don't know how many years. Teemu forever. [NHL]