#RIPCivicArena

Picture from 105.9 The X's Facebook Page

The Civic/Mellon Arena was a huge part of my childhood, sad times.  My greatest memory from the Civic Arena was when Mario Lemieux came back from retirement.




Share your favorite memories with us on Twitter.  Use the #RIPCivicArena.

Ovechkin Statement on ASG

Brilliance from Head to the Net.

The Problem with the Penguins Showing Solidarity

Today in response to Dejan Kovacevic's article about Sidney Crosby, the entire Penguins team decided to don the letter "C" during practice.  Am I the only one that doesn't like this move?

The letter "C" symbolizes a team's leader and captain on the ice.  The word captain is defined as: One who commands, leads, or guides others; the designated leader of a team or crew in sports.  Names like Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis come to mind when thinking of Penguins captains.

SIdney Crosby has been team captain since 2007 so I was as shocked as all of you when Dejan posted an article saying:

"Last week in Pittsburgh, according to three sources, a group of players held a 45-minute meeting to discuss a temporary captaincy. Another source disputed that any such meeting occurred."

Dejan Kovacevic is an established writer in the city of Pittsburgh and has no reason to make up the fact that three sources spoke of this meeting.

The Penguins are in the midst of a six game losing streak, and should have other things on their mind than proving a local journalist wrong.  Quite frankly, I think they did indeed have this meeting and are now publicly covering up for it.  Think about it: player A and player B call a team meeting and discuss a temporary captain, the rest of the team talks some sense into them and that's that.  I really do not doubt that this meeting happened.  Why else would the team act so abruptly to prove a journalist wrong?

Also, if the Penguins really wanted to show solidarity to their captain Sidney Crosby, why not tape the #87 onto their backs or onto their helmets?  Why wear the letter that puts Sidney Crosby in the same boat as Ron Francis, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr?  Sidney Crosby is the ONLY leader on this hockey team.  Sure Brooks Orpik has tried to step up and be the team's voice during this slide, but that doesn't grant him the leadership qualities that the likes of Francis, Lemieux, and Jagr had and Crosby has.  There are many different ways to show solidarity to your captain, wearing the special letter that he worked so hard to obtain is not one of those ways.

Armchair GM | January 12, 2012

Welcome to our first installment of Armchair GM.  Here we will be listening to possible trade offers sent to us by our followers on twitter, and we'll be evaluating the deals in the mindset of an NHL GM.

___________________________________________

To our First Offer:

@Brumistheshow

To Pittsburgh:

-F Bobby Ryan

Cap Hit: 5.1 Million and expires after the 2014-2015 NHL season

Stat Line:

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM		Playoffs	GP	G	A	TP	PIM
2002-2003	Honeybaked U18	Midget	-	-	-	-	-	|
2003-2004	Owen Sound Attack	OHL	65	22	17	39	52	|	Playoffs	7	1	2	3	2
2004-2005	Owen Sound Attack	OHL	62	37	52	89	51	|	Playoffs	8	2	7	9	8
2005-2006	Owen Sound Attack	OHL	59	31	64	95	44	|	Playoffs	11	5	7	12	14
	Portland Pirates	AHL	0	0	0	0	0	|	Playoffs	19	1	7	8	22
	USA U20	WJC-20	7	3	4	7	0	|
2006-2007	Owen Sound Attack	OHL	63	43	59	102	63	|	Playoffs	4	1	1	2	2
	Portland Pirates	AHL	8	3	6	9	6	|
2007-2008	Portland Pirates	AHL	48	21	28	49	38	|	Playoffs	16	8	12	20	18
	Anaheim Ducks	NHL	23	5	5	10	6	|	Playoffs	2	0	0	0	2
2008-2009	Iowa Chops	AHL	14	9	10	19	19	|
	Anaheim Ducks	NHL	64	31	26	57	33	|	Playoffs	13	5	2	7	0
2009-2010	Anaheim Ducks	NHL	81	35	29	64	81	|
	USA OG	OG	6	1	1	2	2	|
2010-2011	Anaheim Ducks	NHL	82	34	37	71	61	|	Playoffs	4	3	1	4	2
2011-2012	Anaheim Ducks	NHL	41	15	10	25	25	|

To Anaheim:

-D Paul Martin

Cap Hit: 5.0 Million and expires after the 2014-2015 NHL season

Stat Line:

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM		Playoffs	GP	G	A	TP	PIM
1998-1999	Elk River	USHS	24	9	11	20	-	|
1999-2000	Elk River	USHS	24	15	35	50	26	|
2000-2001	Univ. of Minnesota	NCAA	38	3	17	20	8	|
	USA U20	WJC-20	7	0	4	4	0	|
2001-2002	Univ. of Minnesota	NCAA	44	8	30	38	22	|
2002-2003	Univ. of Minnesota	NCAA	45	9	30	39	32	|
2003-2004	New Jersey Devils	NHL	70	6	18	24	4	|	Playoffs	5	1	1	2	4
	USA WCup	WCup	3	0	1	1	0	|
2004-2005	Gottéron	NLA	11	3	4	7	2	|
	USA	WC	7	0	0	0	2	|
2005-2006	New Jersey Devils	NHL	80	5	32	37	32	|	Playoffs	9	0	3	3	4
2006-2007	New Jersey Devils	NHL	82	3	23	26	18	|	Playoffs	11	0	4	4	6
2007-2008	New Jersey Devils	NHL	73	5	27	32	22	|	Playoffs	5	1	2	3	2
	USA	WC	7	1	7	8	0	|
2008-2009	New Jersey Devils	NHL	73	5	28	33	36	|	Playoffs	7	0	4	4	2
2009-2010	New Jersey Devils	NHL	22	2	9	11	2	|	Playoffs	5	0	0	0	0
2010-2011	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	77	3	21	24	16	|	Playoffs	7	0	2	2	2
2011-2012	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	35	1	10	11	10	|

-F Eric Tangradi

Cap Hit: $845,833 and he becomes a RFA at this end of this season.

Stat Line:

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM		Postseason	GP	G	A	TP	PIM
2005-2006	Wyoming Seminary	USHS	38	21	23	44	120	|
2006-2007	Belleville Bulls	OHL	65	5	15	20	32	|	Playoffs	15	8	9	17	14
2007-2008	Belleville Bulls	OHL	56	24	36	60	41	|	Playoffs	21	7	11	18	20
	Belleville Bulls	M-Cup	3	0	0	0	6	|
2008-2009	Belleville Bulls	OHL	55	38	50	88	61	|	Playoffs	16	8	13	21	12
	USA U20	WJC-20	6	1	2	3	6	|
2009-2010	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	65	17	22	39	31	|	Playoffs	4	1	1	2	6
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	1	0	0	0	0	|
2010-2011	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	42	18	15	33	86	|
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	15	1	2	3	10	|	Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0
2011-2012	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	30	14	11	25	34	|
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	6	0	0	0	0	|

-2012 3rd Round Pick

Our Take: Anaheim is bad this season no way around that, and GM Bob Murray has made it known that no players other than Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu are considered "untouchable".  However, that does not mean that there is a firesale, and prices will be high.  The highest price of any of their star players will probably be placed on Bobby Ryan.  Ryan, a 24-yr old Forward, has atleast 30 goals in each of his first 3 full seasons, and has a reasonably fair cap hit on his next contract.  A young goalscoring right winger in this market will get quite a haul.  The starting price probably is around ATLEAST a first round pick (or two), a top prospect, and a solid roster player at a reasonable price.  However, this proposed deal is vastly overvaluing Martin and Tangradi.  Tangradi is a fringe player as of now and has yet to consistently crack an NHL lineup decimated by injuries.  Where Martin is a 30-yr old defenseman on a rather large contract which may have been ignorable had the other pieces of the deal been strong enough.

Possible Counter Offer: (One of Morrow, Despres, Harrington), our 1st round pick, and Paul Martin. (and that might not even be enough)

________________________________________________

2nd Offer:

@Brumistheshow

To Pittsburgh:

-F Zach Parise

Cap Hit: 6.0 Million, and becomes an UFA after this season.

Stat Line:

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM		Postseason	GP	G	A	TP	PIM
2000-2001	Shattuck St. Mary's Midget AAA	USHS	58	69	93	162	-	|
2001-2002	Shattuck St. Mary's Midget AAA	USHS	67	77	101	178	58	|
	U.S. National U18 Team	USDP	12	7	7	14	6	|
	USA U18	WJC-18	8	7	3	10	6	|
2002-2003	Univ. of North Dakota	NCAA	39	26	35	61	34	|
	USA U20	WJC-20	7	4	4	8	4	|
2003-2004	Univ. of North Dakota	NCAA	37	23	32	55	24	|
	USA U20	WJC-20	6	5	6	11	4	|
2004-2005	Albany River Rats	AHL	73	18	40	58	56	|
	USA	WC	3	0	2	2	0	|
2005-2006	New Jersey Devils	NHL	81	14	18	32	28	|	Playoffs	9	1	2	3	2
2006-2007	New Jersey Devils	NHL	82	31	31	62	30	|	Playoffs	11	7	3	10	8
	USA	WC	1	0	0	0	0	|
2007-2008	New Jersey Devils	NHL	81	32	33	65	25	|	Playoffs	5	1	4	5	2
	USA	WC	7	5	3	8	2	|
2008-2009	New Jersey Devils	NHL	82	45	49	94	24	|	Playoffs	7	3	3	6	2
2009-2010	New Jersey Devils	NHL	81	38	44	82	32	|	Playoffs	5	1	3	4	0
	USA OG	OG	6	4	4	8	0	|
2010-2011	New Jersey Devils	NHL	13	3	3	6	6	|
2011-2012	New Jersey Devils	NHL	43	15	23	38	24	|

To New Jersey:

-G Brad Thiessen

Cap Hit: $525,000 and becomes a RFA after this season.

Stat Line:

Season	Team	GP	GA	Mins	Saves	GAA	SV%	W	L	SOW	SOL	SOGA	SOA	SO%	T	SO
2011-12 Regular Season	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	26	69	1463	536	2.83	0.886	13	10	2	2	9	22	0.591	0	2
2010-11 Regular Season	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	46	83	2567	982	1.94	0.922	35	8	6	1	9	37	0.757	0	7
2009-10 Regular Season	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	30	72	1763	769	2.45	0.914	14	14	1	1	5	8	0.375

-F Eric Tangradi

Cap Hit: $845,833 and he becomes a RFA at this end of this season.

Stat Line:

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM		Postseason	GP	G	A	TP	PIM
2005-2006	Wyoming Seminary	USHS	38	21	23	44	120	|
2006-2007	Belleville Bulls	OHL	65	5	15	20	32	|	Playoffs	15	8	9	17	14
2007-2008	Belleville Bulls	OHL	56	24	36	60	41	|	Playoffs	21	7	11	18	20
	Belleville Bulls	M-Cup	3	0	0	0	6	|
2008-2009	Belleville Bulls	OHL	55	38	50	88	61	|	Playoffs	16	8	13	21	12
	USA U20	WJC-20	6	1	2	3	6	|
2009-2010	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	65	17	22	39	31	|	Playoffs	4	1	1	2	6
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	1	0	0	0	0	|
2010-2011	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	42	18	15	33	86	|
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	15	1	2	3	10	|	Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0
2011-2012	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	30	14	11	25	34	|
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	6	0	0	0	0	|

-3rd Round Pick

Our Take: Parise is a star player.  In this league you need to give talent to get talent, Tangradi is as stated earlier a tweener, with much question around his skating.  A common argument for this type of deal is NJ's need to acquire a goalie to take over for Marty after his retirement.  However, Brad Thiessen is probably not that goaltender, he is currently unproven and is struggling down in WB/S in his 3rd year, and should the Devils take a chance on any goaltending prospect it will probably be their own in Goaltender Scott Wedgewood. Simply put Zach Parise is a star player who has already eclipsed the 40 goal mark once in his career.  The price for Parise will be very high as the Devils are still in contention for the playoffs.  Any deal for Parise would have to be incredible, especially from a team in their division.   Not to mention that assuming players get healthy for the Penguins, they would not be able to fit Parise in under the Cap. 

Possible Counter-offer: No deal, don't sacrifice too much of the future for a player that will be a UFA next year, not to mention the cap struggle.

________________________________________

3rd Offer-

@LOSTIEforLife

To Pittsburgh:

-F Ales Hemsky

Cap Hit: 4.1 Million and becomes an UFA after this season.

Stat Line:

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM		Playoffs	GP	G	A	TP	PIM
1999-2000	HC Pardubice U20	Czech U20	45	20	36	56	54	|	Playoffs	7	4	14	18	36
	HC Pardubice	Czech	4	0	1	1	0	|
2000-2001	Hull Olympiques	QMJHL	68	36	64	100	67	|	Playoffs	5	2	3	5	2
2001-2002	Hull Olympiques	QMJHL	53	27	70	97	86	|	Playoffs	10	6	10	16	6
	Czech Republic U20	WJC-20	7	3	6	9	6	|
2002-2003	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	59	6	24	30	14	|	Playoffs	6	0	0	0	0
2003-2004	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	71	12	22	34	14	|
	Czech Republic (all)	International	2	1	0	1	0	|
2004-2005	HC Pardubice	Czech	47	13	18	31	28	|	Playoffs	16	4	10	14	26
	Czech Republic	WC	7	2	0	2	2	|
	Czech Republic (all)	International	16	5	5	10	4	|
2005-2006	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	81	19	58	77	64	|	Playoffs	24	6	11	17	14
	Czech Republic OG	OG	8	1	2	3	2	|
	Czech Republic (all)	International	8	1	2	3	2	|
2006-2007	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	64	13	40	53	40	|
2007-2008	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	74	20	51	71	34	|
2008-2009	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	72	23	43	66	32	|
	Czech Republic	WC	7	2	4	6	4	|
	Czech Republic (all)	International	7	2	4	6	4	|
2009-2010	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	22	7	15	22	8	|
2010-2011	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	47	14	28	42	18	|
2011-2012	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	29	4	11	15	8	|

To Edmonton:

-F Eric Tangradi

Cap Hit: $845,833 and he becomes a RFA at this end of this season.

Stat Line:

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	TP	PIM		Postseason	GP	G	A	TP	PIM
2005-2006	Wyoming Seminary	USHS	38	21	23	44	120	|
2006-2007	Belleville Bulls	OHL	65	5	15	20	32	|	Playoffs	15	8	9	17	14
2007-2008	Belleville Bulls	OHL	56	24	36	60	41	|	Playoffs	21	7	11	18	20
	Belleville Bulls	M-Cup	3	0	0	0	6	|
2008-2009	Belleville Bulls	OHL	55	38	50	88	61	|	Playoffs	16	8	13	21	12
	USA U20	WJC-20	6	1	2	3	6	|
2009-2010	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	65	17	22	39	31	|	Playoffs	4	1	1	2	6
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	1	0	0	0	0	|
2010-2011	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	42	18	15	33	86	|
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	15	1	2	3	10	|	Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0
2011-2012	Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins	AHL	30	14	11	25	34	|
	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	6	0	0	0	0	|

-3rd Round Pick

Our take:  A deal for Ales Hemsky is an interesting thought for the Pens, and while he is one of the top targets for this year's deadline, there is a big question mark surrounding his true value.  Hemsky's value is determined by how long he can stay healthy, and lately that hasn't been long.  Out of the three targets mentioned tonight, Hemsky is probably the most logical.  Hemmer is easily a top 6 forward on any team when healthy, but the injuries make you question what a "good" trade for Hemsky would be.

Possible Counter-offer: Harrington, and a conditional 3rd (which can turn into a 2nd in 2012 based on the number of games he plays or 1st in 2013 if he resigns.)

Note: This deal would put the Penguins over the cap so there would probably be salary moved in this deal, possibly Martin for an extra prospect (One of Omark, Lander, or Paajarvi).

_____________________________

Thank you to all who contributed, we're looking forward to doing this again in the future.