The Daily Bongo

Pittsburgh Penguins





2011-2012 Atlantic division
Team GP W L OT PTS L10
NY Rangers 50 33 12 5 71 6-3-1
Philadelphia 52 30 16 6 66 4-4-2
PITTSBURGH 53 30 19 4 64 8-2-0
New Jersey 52 30 19 3 63 7-2-1
NY Islanders 51 21 22 8 50 6-2-2

Sunday, January 29, 2012 -- Evening

Crosby's Injuries
The news this NHL All-Star weekend centered around Sidney Crosby. This weekend, the Pens announced that after seeing a specialist in LA that Crosby indeed did have a concussion. In addition, he had fractures to two vertebrae, which had healed. Now Crosby is seeing a third party specialist, and there are rumors that Crosby is unhappy with the diagnosis that he has been getting from the Pens' doctors. However, I'm not sure that he is blaming the Pens. I could understand that he would blame them if they were pushing for him to return, which they aren't, or diminishing his claims, which they aren't. But there is obviously some stress there. Who knows where this will lead.

Friday, January 13, 2012 -- Evening

Pens' players wear C at morning skate
Pens Wear C
The Pens were in Florida to play the Panthers this evening, and today at the morning skate, the players all wore Cs on their jerseys to show support for their captain. There have been rumors that there was dissension in Pens' locker room over Sidney Crosby being out for so long with concussion symptoms. Although Crosby was skating with the team, he has had problems with headaches and balance. An anonymous player said that the team's players were planning on assigning someone else the job as temporary captain. it's hard for people to understand something like a concussion or brain injury. Others cannot see a headache, and they don't know how serious it is. Sometimes I really wonder if Crosby will make it back to the ice. With the team's losing streak, emotions are high on the side of the fans, and probably even with the players. Hopefully, things will end well.

Sunday, January 8, 2012 -- Afternoon

More Bad News for the Pens
The Pens are having a really rough time of it this year. Not only are Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang out for an indefinite period, with no updates or comments from the team on them, but there are more injuries. Jordan Staal is out for 4-6 weeks with a knee injury, and James Neal is out indefinitely with a broken foot. Ray Shero is going to have to do make some sort of trade to try to get something going for the team. I really feel for Neal because he has been scoring as if he were on fire.

Sunday, November 20, 2011 -- Afternoon

Sidney Crosby to Play Tomorrow
Sidney Crosby will be playing in tomorrow's Pens game against the New York Islanders. He finally got the clearance for game activity, which is great news. The team will be playing back at Console, here in Pittsburgh.

Thursday, October 13, 2011 -- Evening

Crosby is a Black Hat
Good news for the Pens! Sidney Crosby has seen improvement with his concussion and has been upgraded to practice with contact. That means that during practice, Crosby gets to wear a black helmet just as the others wear. There's no rush to get Crosby onto the ice for a game. Since the team is doing okay without him, they can hold off to have a healthy Crosby in the latter part of the season. We want to get the Stanley Cup, not get Crosby back on the ice in the first month of the season.

Friday, July 1, 2011 -- Afternoon

Flyers Suck
Really horrible news with Jagr came out around an hour ago. Jagr signed a $3.3 million, one year deal with the Flyers. Then shortly after that, they announced that Max Talbot had signed with a 5 year, $9 million deal with the Flyers. Gosh, we hate the Flyers in this city, and now with they getting Jagr and Talbot, the hate is even stronger. I can only imagine Jagr's reception in the city when the Flyers come to town.

Friday, July 1, 2011 -- Late Morning

JagrWatch Over
JagrWatch is over. The Pens have withdrawn their offer to Jaromir Jagr because his agent has been trying to generate more interest and money for Jagr. This is a huge disappointment because I thought for sure that Jagr would be a Pen. There have been rumors flying all around the city over the past few days, and people were really hyped up over the thought that Jags would be back in a Pens' uniform. But it was not to be. I don't know how much of this is due to Jags, and how much to his agent, but I know that a deep sadness has fallen over me over the whole thing. It's so disappointing. :(

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 -- Evening

JagrWatch
Pens fans around the 'Burgh have been on seat's edge all day, waiting to hear whether Jaromir Jagr is going go accept the one year offer made by Ray Shero. Supposedly, Jagr was on the way to New York from Europe/Russia, with his plane landing at 4:00 p.m. However, as of almost 8:00 p.m., there has been no word from Jagr or the Pens. What this means I don't know. I just know that I'm on the edge of my seat waiting and hoping that next year I get to see Jagr and Crosby on the same team.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 -- Afternoon

Jaromir Jagr Returns?
The Pittsburgh sports media have been buzzing for weeks about the possibility of Jaromir Jagr returning to the Pens. At first, most people were nay saying the whole discussion. The Pens were just reaching out to Jagr to attend an alumni golf event. Others were saying that Jagr was a cancer for any team, and that he would definitely not fit on the Pens with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Then Jagr was quoted as saying that he loved playing with the Pens and that he wished he could return. Jagr even said that he owed everything he had in hockey to Mario Lemieux, and that for Mario, he would come back to the Pens for a smaller amount of money. Dan Bylsma said that he would love to have Jagr on the team. Then it started to become real. Jagr was planning on returning to the NHL. The Red Wings were interested in him. And the reports of talking to the Pens returned with renewed vigor. Jagr and Mario had a recent phone conversation that "went well." Now the city is abuzz because the Pens appear to be making a serious effort to sign Jagr. All I know is that I have always loved Jagr. I was hurt when he first left, as most Pens fans were. I was amongst those that booed him in the early years to express my displeasure at the way he left. But then the love returned. I was back on the Jagr bandwagon, and I really hope that he returns to the Pens. We should know this week, because Jagr can't sign with a team before July 1.