I have a dilemma that I'd like some assistance solving.  As I live in Virginia, I can't watch the majority of Penguins games on TV.  Therefore, I'd like to get NHL CenterIce (via Comcast) or alternatively, NHL GaameCenter (via the world wide web).  

Have any of you guys tried either?  I'd like some pros and cons or something.  I'm leaning towards the internet coverage as I can watch that anywhere with my computer (i.e. in class).  I'm just a little worried that it will be choppy or laggy.  Has anyone tried it? 

I've used MLB.tv, the baseball version of GameCenter, and I was overall pleased with the experience.  

Thanks in advance to anyone that helps me.

JD

Gentlemen, I bought NHL09 today for the PS3.  I just wanted to post in case others have done/plan to do the same.  

My PS3 gamertag is, of course, JDMaker1.   Please feel free to "friend" me so that we can play.   FrankD, go ahead and buy a PS3 and set up a Pensburgh team.   A PS3 is a great investment in entertainment.

GO PENS! GO PENS! GO PENS! GO PENS! GO PENS! GO PENS! GO PENS! GO PENS!

Yahoo opened up their leagues for fantasy hockey this week.  Wanted to make another call for interest before I send out the info on how to join up.  So if you're interested in playing just drop a comment and I'll add you to the list.  If anything, at least looking for an even number of teams so we can do a head-to-head league without having someone sit out every week.

Even if you're new to the site or just check in occasionally, we'd love to have you on board for the fun. 

Don't be shy.

If anything I'll try and swing one more call in about 2 weeks if we can't fill out the league just yet.

FrankD

[9:30 am] - Four spots left

[9/10 @ 11:30am] - Three spots left

[9/10 @ 2:45pm] - Two spots left

[9/19 @ 10:41am] - One spot left

Original post by JDMaker1...updated, edited and promoted over the past two weeks.

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Penguins assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher said the Penguins signed forward Adam Henrich and defenseman T.J. Kemp to one-year contracts.

Henrich, 24, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound forward, scored 51 points (24 goals, 27 assists) last season between the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. Henrich also had 122 penalty minutes between the two clubs.

He has appeared in 145 career games in the AHL, registering 69 points (27 goals, 42 assists) along with 230 penalty minutes. Henrich, a native of Thornhill, Ontario, was originally selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round (60th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Kemp (5-11, 197) appeared in 73 games for the Springfield Falcons (AHL), notching 46 points (8 goals, 38 assists)..

A native of Pickering, Ontario, Kemp has played in 152 career games in the AHL, scoring 84 points (13 goals, 71 assists) along with 104 penalty minutes. Kemp appeared in 14 games in the 2007 Calder Cup playoffs, notching seven points (two goals, five assists) and 12 penalty minutes in 14 games.

Both very interesting pickups.  Henrich sounds like a Ryan Malone type player; he's big and can score.  Kemp, on the other hand, is a smaller D-Man (at 197lbs).  I'm not sure if that makes him Gonchar like or what.

Also today, the Penguins have agreed to contracts with free-agent wingers Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, both of whom spent last season with the New York Islanders.

Contract terms were not immediately available.

Satan has outstanding goal-scoring ability but has been criticized for being a no-show in some games.

He is coming off one of his least productive seasons, with just 16 goals and 25 assists in 80 games on Long Island.

Fedotenko had 16 goals and 17 assists in 67 games in 2007-08.

The Penguins are believed to have focused on those two after learning they would not be able to sign ex-Penguin Markus Naslund.

Well we got Satan . . .

Thursday, July 03, 2008 By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008 9:09 am EDT

Gary Roberts leaves Pittsburgh, but reality moves in

By Greg Wyshynski

But the shock isn't that Roberts is leaving. It's the shock that despite all the Evgeni Malkin free-agent discounts (is that Geno or Gino?), the Penguins team that played for the Cup is effectively dead.

Roberts is gone, Hossa will be gone, any number of other grunts will be gone. (And yet Therrien remains ...) What is lost on many of my Pittsburgh friends is that this is a good thing.

Your team was a bridesmaid. Complacency leads to the 2007-08 Ottawa Senators; modification means that the Penguins, going forward, can build a team that will win a Cup rather than one that might. Keeping around a fourth-liner who is two years younger than the head coach doesn't achieve that goal.

I thought this article made an interesting point about the changes taking place with the Penguins depth chart. 

Dunn doesn't show it much, but he loves baseball

Ken Rosenthal, June 24, 2008 

A bat for the Braves?

The Braves, who inquired about A's right-hander Joe Blanton earlier this season, no longer are in the market for a starting pitcher. Club officials are encouraged by the progress of the team's young starters and anticipate a potential surplus if lefties Tom Glavine and — ahem — Mike Hampton return from injuries.

The bigger need for the Braves, at least at the moment, is a hitter — preferably a right-handed hitting left fielder. Either the Pirates' Jason Bay or Xavier Nady would fit, but the Pirates are only four games under .500 and not yet ready to concede their season.

BMore a good fit for Teix?

Player cost. The Orioles are building an impressive stable of young arms, including their as-yet-unsigned first-round draft pick, University of San Diego left-hander Brian Matusz. But the team would not need to part with any of those pitchers if it signed Teixeira; its only player loss would be a top draft pick.

 . . .

Of course, even with all those arguments for signing Teixeira, Angelos might not be willing to meet the price of the player's agent, Scott Boras. Teixeira rejected a reported eight-year, $140 million offer from the Rangers before getting traded to the Braves last summer. His likely asking price will be eight years, $160 million.

I took some Braves only excerpts from Ken’s article.  He seems to think that the Braves are still buyers (which remains to be seen) and that Teix is definitely out at the end of the season.  Ken says that Teix will most likely be going to NYC, with either the Mets or the Yanks. 

Roberts will not return to Penguins Tuesday, June 24, 2008 By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Rick Curran, who represents Roberts -- a veritable folk hero in his season-plus with the Penguins -- said yesterday that Roberts will continue playing, but not in Pittsburgh.

"He very much enjoyed his time there," Curran said. "But he understands that Ray [Shero, the Penguins' general manager] has a number of items on his agenda that would take priority."

Curran added that Roberts, 42, "most definitely" intends to continue his career and will decide where after reaching unrestricted free agency next Tuesday.

There is more to the article and I recommend reading it, but that's the GR News.   Sad to see it.

P.S.:  It looks like Malkin is still staying . . . if anyone thinks that's news.

Would the Penguins actually consider moving Malkin for the 2nd overall draft pick from the Kings while ALSO getting Mike Cammallerri in the mix of things?

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The NHL approved a new changing in the rules that will definitely effect the method of play.  Faster power-play goals may be on the way.

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What you've been hearing might not be true at all...

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According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Braves are one team with "apparent interest" in Giants right fielder Randy Winn.  Winn can play all three outfield positions.  Lately the Braves have been using Brandon Jones in left, Gregor Blanco in center, and Jeff Francoeur in right.  Matt Diaz will be out several more weeks with a knee injury, while Mark Kotsay has a lower back issue.

Winn, 34, is hitting a respectable .298/.359/.447 in 288 plate appearances.  Winn's line would look better in center field, but Blanco has a tidy .375 OBP going.  Winn makes $8MM this year and $8.25MM in '09.  He can block trades to ten teams.  I imagine Brian Sabean would settle for a marginal prospect if a team would take on all of Winn's contract.

This quote is from MLBTR, but I thought people might be interested.  Personally, I don't think this trade really makes a whole hell of a lot of sense.  Let me know if I'm missing something.

 SOURCE

Simulated Spring Training and rehab stints next for lefty By Mark Bowman / MLB.com

"He threw great," Cox said. "His ball was sinking like crazy. He had a good change. He just looked great, just like in Spring Training."

Hampton's planned progression would then lead him to two Minor League rehab starts. If he's still healthy at that point, he'll attempt to make his first Major League start since Aug. 19, 2005. His target is to make this start sometime around the All-Star break.

[Note:  He would go to the Spring Training facility and the GCL before the MILB rehab starts.  Sorry if that's a misleading quote.]

So who else isn't holding their breath?

By Rob Rossi
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, June 14, 2008

LINK

The Penguins have made signing right wing Marian Hossa to a long-term contract their No. 1 priority, according to several players, agents and team officials who spoke to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on the condition of anonymity.

All other offseason moves will be determined by the Penguins' success or failure in this pursuit of Hossa, who scored 12 goals and recorded 26 points in 20 Stanley Cup playoff games skating alongside star center Sidney Crosby.

Pitt. Tribune-Review: Chipped Ice Blog: Off-season update (satisfaction)
Posted June 12, 2008 10 :30 AM

I found the aforementioned article very interesting.  Here is a short summary:

Malkin: Negotiations begin July 1 (obviously), he won't be traded anywhere.  [He has one year left in Pittsburgh if they cannot come to a consensus this summer.]

MAF:  No phone calls back from his reps.  Thefore, he is in "serious discussions" with Pens management.

J. Staal: Negotiations begin July 1. Pens want to ink long-term deal, but Staal may want to test free agency at the end of next season.   [He has one year left in Pittsburgh if they cannot come to a consensus this summer.]

Hossa:  Reps did not return any phone calls.  Therefore he could currently be negotiating with management.

I just saw this article on the web.  The Dominator finally decides to hang up the skates.

Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens.Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens. Go Pens.

After a 3-2 loss against Pittsburgh last night, the Wings have another concern to add to the list. Forward Tomas Holmstrom left the game with just over six minutes remaining after a Hal Gill cross check and did not return. He was seen limping as he exited Mellon Arena.  - Christy from Winging it in Motown.

Editor's Note: Promoted from fanposts [FrankD]

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"Roberts, Pens Dig Deep."

Great and funny article about Game 3 written by John Starkey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.     

Here are some quotes:

"Dirty Gary, huh? It's awesome. I love when the crowd goes, "Gaaary!" He's a legend in here. ... You look at him after a goal -- during the celebration -- you look in his eyes, and you're kind of scared, like, 'Oh my God, that guy's intense.' And it's great. -- Maxime Talbot

The "A" on that guy's jersey stands for "angry." - speaking of Gary Roberts

According to Jason Stark at ESPN the Braves should win the division.  Also in the article he talks about Chipper and his .420 BA, and who the Braves are going to get as their next starting pitcher.  He opines that it won't be Maddux, but a younger guy more like Arroyo, Blanton, Harden, etc. 

Read the artcile for yourself:

Reaching the unreachable could be possible this season

P.P.S.:  Sorry for the multiple fanpost, but I'm a little bored at work this morning and scouring the internet. 

It looks like Teix is starting to heat up.  Take a look at his stats from the last ten games (listed below, coutesy of Yahoo! Sports.) By no means is he knocking the cover off the ball, but he does have 13 RBI, 12 hits, and 6 BB.   On the other side he does have 5Ks, but he is a power hitter none-the-less.

Thoughts?

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According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Sydor may dress in tonight's Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  

I was thinking that Sydor might dress tonight.  But like Frank mentioned in another post, I thought it might be in place of Hal Gill (See Frank's reply to the first comment). The article mentions that Sydor generally plays with Whitney, which would mean he would be taking the place of Letang.  Though, it's possible that he could take the place of Gill if Therrien moved the pairings around.

I'm not sure how I feel about this move, except that something needs to light a fire under these guys.  I'm interested to see if/how Sydor plays tonight.  Any thoughts?

Gondee, any plans to sell more shirts?  

This isn't exactly a diary post, it is more of a comment.  As I mentioned in a comment a couple of threads back, my brother and I wore our shirts to our weekly Sandlot baseball game.   Well needless to say, they were an instant hit!   Everyone was asking where they can get theirs.  That being said, I think demand for them is still going up and you may need to increase supply.

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I watched Lance pitch in Richmond on July 5th.  I would have posted sooner, but I didn't really thinking about writing a diary entry.

My initial impression of Cormier is that he will not be back in an A. Braves uniform for some time.  He reminded me very much of Davies . . . only worse.

The R Braves picked up an early 3-0 lead and Cormier couldn't hold it.  Although he was throwing fairly hard, he was not locating his fastball well. He allowed 2 runs in each of the first innings and 6 total in only 4.2 innings pitched.  

Here was his line: Jul 05 SYR 11.57 ERA 4.2IP 10H 6ER 2BB 3SO (no decision).