[El Scorcho]

Okay folks, let's get the hockey talk started. The season is underway and I'm ready to get the ball rolling.

My 'Canes are off to a slow start and are currently tied with Washington, but I have faith they'll be able to shake off the "Cup Drunk" state.

Who are your early favorites this season?

[PAmedic]

1. FLY-Guys
2. Hartford Whalers

[bigsmooth]

i was at the season opener for the canes with the hoisitng of the banner, and there is no hangover, just some key injuries in not having stillman and kaberle. the canes will make the playoffs but a repeat will not happen. it will be wide open this year!

[El Scorcho]

You sure about that hangover? They didn't look that great tonight. I have no doubt the talent and the team are still there, but right now I think they're all just sleeping a little. Cam Ward is still streaky.

[bigsmooth]

im not convinced yet, the caps had our number last year too. the NJ loss friday night was not good though. i think it's gonna take a few weeks to get going, b/c the canes played a short pre-season schedule this year. i do hope that if it is a hangover it wont last long. the franchise cannot have the hangover they did back in 02-03.

[El Scorcho]

So now, with my Hurricanes sitting at 5-5-2, their season could go anywhere. If they play the way they played last night at home, they'll be close to getting back on track. If they get 10 losses before they get 10 wins, I'm officially downgrading them to a tropical storm for this season.

If the Sabres keep up their level of the play through the spring, I don't see how anyone could stop them. Even falling short of the 12-0 record record last night, they're on fire.

[PAmedic]

man, I hate Buffalo.

[bigsmooth]

the sabres are tough, and certainly are the best at this point, but it is a marathon. the canes are doing just enough, and despite the injuries, im pleased where we are right now. the fly guys?? well maybe next year!

[PAmedic]

along with the Eagles.

It gets old, trust me

what a weekend:

• LU v. Coastal: doesn't bear repeating
  
  Craftsman Truck race: Martin wrecks
  
  Nextel Cup race: ditto (idiots 47 laps down take yet ANOTHER Chase contender out)
  
  Flyers: lost 5 of last 6
  
  Eagles: another disaster, this time no offense

thank God its Monday

[bigsmooth]

i had the oppty. to see the great sidney crosby last friday night when the pens squared off with canes. i have seen sidney score his 1st NHL point and his 200th...very cool, but the canes still won the game and are in a real battle just to make the playoffs. the fly guys...well, not even in the picture. where ya at medic??

[bigsmooth]

this pens situation continues. Kansas City seems to be the leader now. it is amazing to me how PA. opened the bank for the city of philadelphia. what gives???

Penguins owners will meet with officials, NHL chief today in Philadelphia
Thursday, March 08, 2007
By Mark Belko and Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Penguins officials will meet with state and local leaders today in Philadelphia in what could be a pivotal moment in deciding whether the team stays here or moves elsewhere next season

Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle will meet with Gov. Ed Rendell, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

The stakes are so high that National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, who has been serving as a go-between for the last three weeks, will sit in on the negotiations.

The fact that the meeting is being held in Mr. Rendell's hometown, known for its rough-and-tumble style, is not lost on team officials. Sources close to the Penguins warn privately that Mr. Rendell's style may not be ideally suited for this delicate stage of the talks and said a more collegial approach could hasten the conclusion of negotiations.

A day after vowing that political leaders may go to the NHL to block a move of the team, Mr. Rendell softened his tone yesterday, saying he was "still optimistic" the Penguins would remain in Pittsburgh.

"I think we're pretty close. And I'm looking forward to the next meeting as hopefully even wrapping it up," he told reporters in Harrisburg.

Today's hastily arranged make-or-break session comes four days after Mr. Lemieux and Mr. Burkle declared an impasse in talks over a new arena and said they would "aggressively explore" a possible relocation.

Since receiving the letter Monday declaring the impasse, Mr. Ravenstahl and Mr. Onorato also have been reaching out to the team. Mr. Onorato said yesterday it would be a "tragedy" if the Penguins left Pittsburgh given how close the two sides were.

He said his goal heading into today's meeting is to find out what led negotiations to break down, to resolve it and "to close the deal."

"I think this is the meeting to get it done," he said.

Even as state and local leaders prepare for a crucial face-off, Mr. Burkle and other team officials began exploring other options, meeting for about an hour yesterday with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in his office.

"They had a very pleasant conversation," said Elena Owens, special assistant to the mayor.

Mr. Goodman, who has been actively seeking a professional sports team, would not give reporters any details of his talks.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Mr. Goodman was asked whether he thought Las Vegas was being used as a bargaining chip in the Pittsburgh negotiations. He replied, "I learned that lesson a long time ago. I will never allow the city to be used as leverage."

Team officials also talked yesterday with Tim Lewieke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which will manage the $276 million Sprint Center in Kansas City, to be ready by next season. Officials there have offered a deal that includes no rent or construction costs and a split of the building revenues.

The Penguins also were looking to talk to officials in Houston about a possible relocation, but in a new development last night, Houston dropped its pursuit of the team for now, saying it could not compete with a new offer from Kansas City.

Michael Moore, chief of staff to Houston Mayor Bill White, said Kansas City had "sweetened substantially" an earlier offer to the Penguins that included free rent and half the building revenues at the new Sprint Center.

"We want an NHL team, but we're not going to give everything away," he said. "We're not going to get into this bidding war back and forth."

He said one factor is that Houston already has the NBA Rockets playing at the Toyota Center, while Kansas City is trying to fill an empty arena.

Today, all eyes will be on Philadelphia, where state and local leaders hope to salvage a deal they thought was close to being completed, only to learn otherwise from the team.

The Penguins have agreed to put up $4 million a year toward a new arena -- the same amount Mr. Rendell asked the team to chip in a year ago when he unveiled his Plan B funding formula. That includes $3.6 million a year in rent and $400,000 annually toward capital improvements.

Mr. Lemieux and Mr. Burkle said in their letter they can contribute no more. They also are putting up $500,000 a year for a parking garage.

Under Plan B, another $7.5 million a year would come from casino licensee Don Barden. The state also has pledged $7.5 million a year, up $500,000 since negotiations began, from a gambling-backed economic development fund.

One of the key economic issues still to be decided is how to account for an extra $20 million added as a contingency to a proposed arena bond issue, bringing the total borrowing to $290 million.

There's also a question of whether the money on the table will be enough. The Penguins believe the gambling and team contributions will cover the $290 million; the state believes there's still a gap.

For the team, however, the talks may be as much about tone as substance. The Penguins were upset that public officials pulled back on an initial offer that set their contribution at $2.8 million as well as a table-pounding outburst by Mr. Rendell Jan. 18.

Sources close to the team indicated the last straw came Friday when state officials refused to share interest rate information with them in the dispute over whether more money was needed in the financing plan.

At the same time, Penguins have been welcomed with open arms in Kansas City, where corporate leaders have pledged support in ticket sales and sponsorships.

Despite the ruffled feathers, Mr. Rendell said he is still hopeful an agreement can be reached. He said he told Mr. Bettman the same thing after getting the letter from the Penguins declaring an impasse.

"I said, 'Commissioner, notwithstanding this letter, I think we're making great progress and I actually think we are very close,' " he said.

Mr. Rendell said he sees no "financial advantage" for the Penguins in a move to Las Vegas, because, like Pittsburgh, it would have to build a new hockey arena from scratch. That differs from Kansas City, which is completing a new arena and wants a hockey team to fill it.

Mr. Rendell said that since the two sides started meeting two months ago, the Penguins have asked for about 14 changes from the original Plan B proposal. He said his "guess" is that public officials have "made 12 or 13 of the 14."

The Penguins also have raised concerns about the impact the losers' appeals of the Pittsburgh slots license award will have on funding, although Mr. Onorato and Mr. Ravenstahl did not see that as a major impediment.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[bigsmooth]

this explains it. gov. rendell is from philly!

Plan B has feel of deja vu for Rendell
Thursday, March 08, 2007
By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Of all the principals involved in deciding the fate of the Penguins, the only one with experience in an earlier Plan B is the one who controls the purse strings that can finish the deal today.

That would be Gov. Ed Rendell, a Philadelphian who is the most removed from the intricacies of Pittsburgh and who was central in a sequence when an earlier stadium package nearly collapsed in its final stages.

Back in 1998, when former Mayor Tom Murphy had crafted a plan with commissioners Mike Dawida and Bob Cranmer to provide the local funding for a ballpark and stadium, the final piece of the deal hinged on getting a state contribution.

With approval pending before the Legislature in late November, Mr. Rendell -- then the Democratic mayor of Philadelphia -- had promised Mr. Murphy he would deliver the votes of Philadelphia area lawmakers because the state money would go into a fund to help the Pirates, Steelers, Phillies and Eagles build new homes.

But Mr. Rendell figured the Pittsburgh plan was so far ahead of Philadelphia's that he failed to get the right people on board. Without their support, there wasn't even a vote taken and the whole plan appeared to be dead. Mr. Murphy said he felt "double-crossed" by Mr. Rendell. And Mr. Rendell later confessed he hadn't laid the groundwork, saying, "I miscalculated."

It took two full months of damage control and insider maneuvering by the administration of then-Gov. Tom Ridge to get things back on course. One week before the Pirates and Steelers could trigger escape clauses, the Legislature approved the state's share on Feb. 3, 1999. This time, Mr. Rendell delivered. While these public expenditures are always hotly debated, even reluctant Republicans lent their support to approve the spending.

"I really thought the Pirates would leave, and I didn't want the House of Representatives to be blamed," said John Perzel of Philadelphia, then the House Majority Leader.

Back then, the Plan B engine was driven by Pittsburgh. Mr. Murphy and his administration considered the sports team to be brand names for Pittsburgh and did everything he could to keep them. And Mr. Ridge, who considered the loss of sports franchises to be a step back for the state, had Pittsburgh roots in that his family settled in Munhall.

This time around, the dynamic is different in a lot of ways.

Back then, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl was a sophomore place-kicker in college. County Chief Executive Dan Onorato was on city council. Both are on board for a new arena, but the city and county aren't putting up public money for it. The bulk of the money comes from slot machine casinos -- in the form of a state development fund and a pledge from Pittsburgh's licensee Don Barden.

Mr. Rendell, Mr. Onorato and Mr. Ravenstahl want the Penguins to stay. The Penguins and co-owner Mario Lemieux, despite public frustrations over the pace of arena talks over the years, want to stay in their home market even though they have an offer on the table to move into a new Kansas City arena without having to pay rent. As a sign of where they stand, the Penguins have pledged to pay what Mr. Rendell asked when he crafted Plan B -- $4 million a year. The NHL wants the Penguins, one of the hottest commodities in hockey, to stay in an established market with an established fan base and with loyal TV viewers.

So why, after all the posturing and the debate, is this not a done deal?

The devil, as always, is in the details.

More than two months after a Jan. 4 meeting that set the framework for a deal, a couple of stumbling blocks remain. The Penguins have agreed to pay cost overruns once construction starts, but they want to know who is on the hook for what if bids come in that surpass the guaranteed maximum price. The Penguins also believe there is enough money on the table to cover a $290 million bond issue, but the state believes there is a gap in funding. The Penguins asked for but did not receive information on interest rates to find out the reason for the discrepancy.

Those aren't deal-breakers. But unhappy over the failure to get the final figures, the Penguins have declared an impasse in talks and are aggressively exploring what may be available beyond Kansas City by visiting Las Vegas and Houston, although Houston officials say they now are no longer interested in pursuing the team.

The Penguins are free to leave Pittsburgh in June if there is no deal. And there could be an outrageously awkward situation in which they announce ticket sales for this year's playoffs while they announce they are leaving town.

Mr. Rendell's comments indicate that he can't understand why the Penguins haven't jumped on board yet for Plan B. He has even said he will ask NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to intervene and order the Penguins to stay. That may not be the best tone going into the final phase.

The future of the Penguins in Pittsburgh may well be decided at a meeting today in Philadelphia. Given that these negotiations have dragged on like a terminal condition, that meeting may be held at what used to be the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, which was the place where Legionnaires' Disease was first identified in 1976.

One person with a stake in the outcome has said that the decision on the future of the Penguins in Pittsburgh will be made by Mr. Lemieux and Mr. Bettman, who will be at today's meeting. But that decision hinges on what they hear from Mr. Rendell, Mr. Onorato and Mr. Ravenstahl.

Nobody can afford any miscalculations at this crucial point.

[PAmedic]

i had the oppty. to see the great sidney crosby last friday night when the pens squared off with canes. i have seen sidney score his 1st NHL point and his 200th...very cool, but the canes still won the game and are in a real battle just to make the playoffs. the fly guys...well, not even in the picture. where ya at medic??

quite possibly the WORST season I have EVER witnessed.

beyond hope at this point.

yes, Rendell is a Philly boy. at least 8 yrs as Mayor. Maybe more. SCAR would know better.

[bigsmooth]

there is always the draft!

[PAmedic]

a table-pounding outburst by Mr. Rendell Jan. 18.

Mr. Rendell's comments indicate that he can't understand why the Penguins haven't jumped on board yet for Plan B. He has even said he will ask NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to intervene and order the Penguins to stay.

yup, thats about right.

[bigsmooth]

i thought the bertuzzi incident a few years ago was worse, but a justifiable suspension. you just cannot use a stick as a weapon!

Islanders' Simon suspended for balance of regular season and Playoffs
NHL.com Mar 11, 2007, 9:35 AM EST
Minimum 25-game Ban Could Include Games At Start of 2007-08

NEW YORK - New York Islanders forward Chris Simon has been suspended, for the remainder of the 2006-07 regular season and the entirety of the Stanley Cup playoffs, for deliberately using his stick to injure New York Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg during the third period of Thursday night's game at Nassau Veterans' Memorial Coliseum.

Simon is suspended a minimum of 25 games, including Saturday night's game against Washington plus the 14 that remain in the 2006-07 regular season. If the Islanders do not qualify for the 2007 playoffs, or play fewer than 10 playoff games in the 2007 playoffs, Simon would serve additional games at the start of the 2007-08 regular season to satisfy the minimum term of the suspension.

"The National Hockey League will not accept the use of a stick in the manner and fashion in which Mr. Simon used his Thursday night," said Colin Campbell, NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations. "As a consequence of his actions, Mr. Simon has forfeited the privilege of playing in an NHL game again this season, regardless of how many games the Islanders ultimately play."

Based on his $1-million contract, which expires at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season, Simon forfeits a minimum of $80,213.90. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred at 13:29 of the third period. After receiving a hard check from Hollweg, Simon swung his stick and delivered a two-handed blow to Hollweg's upper body, causing a cut on Hollweg's chin. Simon was assessed a Match penalty.

[PAmedic]

waiting for assault charges to be filed.

dude is outta control.

[bigsmooth]

i doubt charges will be filed. the victim says its over.

[bigsmooth]

I know not many really care about hockey, but the playoffs have been very exciting this year. the buffalo/rangers series has been incredible especially friday's game. my pick ottawa is looking strong too. out west, the detroit/san jose series winner will have their hands full with anaheim.

[givemethemic]

I agree with you Smoothie but it's depressing that the Canes are not in it..

[bigsmooth]

yeah it does suck, because the tailgating in carolina is the best, but the canes had too many injuries and not enough consistent play. they will have to do some work in free agency, but they only missed the playoffs by a few points. they had a winning record...it is not like they were the worst team in the league. they will be back in the playoffs next year. season ticket sales last year and attendance were at an all time high and the future of hockey looks great in the triangle. the all-star game should be there by 2010-2011.

[bigsmooth]

buffalo moves on to the conference finals after beating the rangers in the garden. this series with ottawa promises to be really good.

[Fumblerooskies]

GO AMERICANS...

[bigsmooth]

Im sure many missed it, but last night's buffalo/ottawa game was classic! buffalo ties the score with 7 seconds left in the game and then it goes two overtimes before it was decided! great playoff hockey.

[thepostman]

i wish espn would pick the nhl up again....aside from weekend games its all on versus....which i do not have....