The Steelers Weren't As Close As You Think To A Playoff Spot

The kick went wide right.  It was hard for Steelers fans to digest, even though it took place in a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers.  A Chiefs win would send the Steelers to the playoffs.  A win by the Chargers would send themselves to the playoffs, and knock the Steelers into the offseason.  Kansas City, despite only starting two of its twenty-two starters, held a ten point lead in the fourth quarter.  The Chargers tied the game, setting up the Chiefs, led by backup QB Chase Daniel, with a chance to mount a game winning drive with the clock winding down.  Daniel and his offense marched down the field, into field goal range.  They were content to run down the clock, and attempt a field goal as the clock expired.  Steeler fans were already clearing their schedules for next weekend. Except the kick missed. San Diego would go on to win it in overtime.

You could blame the Kansas City kicker. It would be easy. But why would this Steelers team make the playoffs?  Sure, they had an impressive win here and there.  But there were too many blunders, too much incompetence, and too many errors.

Should a team who got essentially shut out through three quarters by the Tennessee Titans make the playoffs? Should a team who gave up the ball three times in the first quarter to the 8-8 Chicago Bears make the playoffs? Should a team who allowed the lowly Minnesota Vikings (led by Matt Cassel, no less!) make their defense look silly make the playoffs?

Should a team who allowed Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor to run ninety-three yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game make the playoffs?  What about a team who allowed fifty-five points to the New England Patriots?  Or the team that gave the Baltimore Ravens a free pass into the secondary, and killed their own rally by allowing Jacoby Jones to take a kickoff back for a "touchdown" (it only wasn't a touchdown because of Mike Tomlin's hijinx on the sideline)?  Maybe the team that let that Miami Dolphins receiver break three tackles (at once) and score a game winning touchdown?

That's what I thought.  There were far too many idiotic moments for this team to earn a playoff berth.  If they had won just one of the games I cited above, they would have been in the playoffs. Regardless of the Chiefs kicker.

The Dream Is Over... For Now

I'll begin this the same way I began my last post: Wow.  That's the only word that comes to mind.  When I look back on what has taken place in the Pirates organization since the end of the 2012 season, all I can say is, wow.

Pittsburgh was a baseball town before it was ever a football town.  The Pirates were playing (and winning) World Series before the Steelers existed.  Baseball used to be king around here.  During the twenty year losing streak, all of that was erased.  The Pirates became a city-wide (and nation-wide) joke.  There was one Pirates jersey worn for every thirty Steelers jerseys.  The Pirates were accomplishing nothing, and nobody cared.  That's what makes the last year so incredible for this team.  They made Pittsburgh into a baseball town once again. The fact that they were able to do that, despite being the laughingstock of Western PA for two decades, means something truly amazing must have taken place.  Let's take a look at this amazing season.

It started last winter.  The Pirates were coming off another late season collapse.  Any baseball passion that had been rekindled around here had been crushed.  Many called for the team's front office, led by GM Neal Huntington, to be fired.  Owner Bob Nutting presented an ultimatum: either the Pirates would win in 2013, or people would get fired.  Many thought the current management team was hopelessly incompetent, and were essentially hoping we would lose just so they would be fired.  Huntington had other ideas.  He would prove them all wrong.

The Pirates had what must have been (correct me if I'm wrong) the best offseason in team history.  Huntington scraped together what seemed to be spare parts from around baseball, who all turned out to be stars.  Russell Martin was a defensive prowess behind the plate, Mark Melancon was lights out out of the bullpen, Jeanmar Gomez turned out to be a stellar long-reliever, and of course Francisco Liriano rose up to be the team's ace on the mound.  We didn't know it at the time, but Huntington set the Pirates up for success long before Opening Day.

The regular season was a six month dream for fans who haven't seen winning baseball in their lives (like me).  We got off to a fast start, posting twenty wins in April.  One memory I have from PNC Park in the very early stages of the season was a comeback win vs. the Cincinnati Reds, in which we were down 5-0.  This set the stage for the rest of the season, in a way.  The Pirates made comeback wins their trademark.  Any deficit of four runs or less in a ballgame was not worrying from a fan's point of view.

The Pirates' success this year came from their pitching, as it has for each of the past three years.  Francisco Liriano was a revelation.  He was dominant from the moment he made his debut at the beginning of May, all the way up until his last playoff start five days ago.  He was especially prolific at PNC Park, posting a 1.81 ERA there.  He quickly became the team's stopper, putting an end to any losing streaks, or getting a much needed win against a division rival.  AJ Burnett came back as less of a dominant ace, and more of a scrappy, get-it-done-somehow type of pitcher.  That style suits him well, in my opinion.  Charlie Morton returned from his Tommy John recovery about midway through the season, and was very impressive.  Jeff Locke faded down the stretch, but I still appreciate his impressive stuff from the first half of the season.  Gerrit Cole exceeded all expectations that came with his billing as our top prospect.  He came up in mid June, and pitched six shutout innings.  He consistently has a fastball that sits at 98 MPH, and his curveball has improved by leaps and bounds.  Down the stretch in August, September, and October, he was especially impressive and crucial to the team's success.

This season was full of pitching gems, walkoff wins, incredible comebacks, packed PNC Parks, Greg Brown outbursts, and so many memories.  I'm not mad that we didn't win the World Series.  Yes, I wish we beat the Cardinals.  We were bested.  We went down honorably.  I'm proud of this team.

Besides, there's only optimism for the Pirates' future.  With almost all of the core players on contract, this team will only get better.  Of course, it wouldn't hurt to resign Marlon Byrd, and maybe AJ Burnett.  Besides them, all the key players on the field, in the rotation, and in the bullpen are locked up. Top prospect Jameson Taillon (starting pitcher) seems to be poised to make his MLB debut next season. If you want to know what to expect, he's been rumored to be better than Gerrit Cole.  If that's true... Wow. OF Gregory Polanco had a breakout season with AA Altoona. He will be bursting onto the scene in 2015, maybe even as a September callup in '14.  And if you want to look way ahead, pitchers Tyler Glasnow, Luis Heredia, and outfielder Austin Meadows all appear to have bright futures.

It looks like we're in for many fun summers to come at PNC Park.

Definition Of Home Field Advantage

Wow. That's the only word that comes to mind right now. Wow.  I'm writing this at 9:20 PM, on Sunday, Buctober 6th, 2013.  I just got home from PNC Park, where I witnessed the best crowd I've ever seen (having been to Steelers games at Heinz Field and Penguins playoff games at the old Civic Arena).  From 2 1/2 hours before first pitch, to long after the final out, the people of Pittsburgh were all hands on deck.

The game was scheduled for a 4:37 first pitch. Naturally, I arrived at the stadium at 2:15.  I walked across the Clemente Bridge, tipped the saxophone guy, and grabbed a free "#WeBelieve" sign.  I, along with a few hundred others, waited about 15 minutes for the stadium gates to open. At 2:30, when they finally opened, many fans sprinted inside in order to get the best standing room and bleacher spots.   The Cardinals were still out taking batting practice, and some fans went down to the front row to get some early taunting in.  As we walked in, each fan was given a black rally towel complete with "Raise The Jolly Roger".

The ballpark was packed by 4:10.  There was a mix of booing and "Let's Go Bucs" greeting the Cardinals as they were introduced.  As soon as PA Announcer Tim DeBacco said "Aaand for your Pirates" the crowd leapt to their feet, screaming and waving their towels.  Likable players like Jeff Karstens, Michael McKenry, and AJ Burnett drew loud applause, but the big noise came for the starting lineup. Few got a louder ovation than manager Clint Hurdle, who was greeted by a bowing-down Pirate Parrot.

Pirate ace Francisco Liriano cruised through the first inning, drawing cheers for each strike, and standing ovations for each out.  PNC got rocking early when Marlon Byrd hit a single with men on 2nd  and 3rd, giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead.  Liriano would play with fire throughout the day, and eventually he gave up two runs to tie the game, off of a 2 RBI single by Mr. October, Carlos Beltran.  Those runs were controversial, however, because shortly before Beltran's single, Jon Jay was called safe at third on a play where he should have actually been called out.  Liriano, along with the fans, bounced back and got out of the inning.  The fans went bananas as Liriano walked off the field, as they knew it would be his last inning.

The fans chanted the pitcher's name again (KEL-LY KEL-LY), although it didn't seem to rattle Joe Kelly like it rattled Johnny Cueto on Tuesday.  Joe Kelly did his job superbly.  The problem was,  he wasn't very efficient.  The Pirates got his pitch count up, and we won the game getting hits off of their bullpen.

In the bottom of the 7th inning, a sacrifice fly scored McCutchen to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead. That didn't last long, as Carlos Beltran led off the 8th with a home run to tie the game.  Once again, the crowd stayed in it through thick and thin.  Trust me, I've been to some tough losses. Take September 20th vs. the Reds. We blew a three run lead in the 9th.  After that, half the crowd left and the rest were dead silent. Tonight was the polar opposite.  After Mark Melancon let up that tying home run, the fans stood up and cheered louder.  And it worked.  Melancon got out of the inning with no further damage done.

What the Pirates did in the bottom of the 8th inning is what made this night unforgettable. That inning along was a rollercoaster of emotions.  Andrew McCutchen led off with a double, only to be thrown out at third on a ground ball off the bat of Justin Morneau.  That was a depressing blow to the rally, but Marlon Byrd came through with a single that moved pinch runner Josh Harrison to third.  Pedro Alvarez came up to bat, so Cards manager Mike Matheny decided to play some chess.  He brought in lefty Kevin Seigrist, because Pedro tends to be worse against left handed pitchers.  Pedro took matters into his own hands.  He threw the statistics out the window, and lined a single to left, scoring Harrison to give the Pirates the lead.  Russell Martin followed that up with a single to up the lead to 5-3.   No exaggeration, I felt the floor beneath my feet shake as the crowd went wild.

When Greg Brown yelled "It's Grilled Cheese Time!" as closer Jason Grilli trotted out for the ninth, the sea of black was pulsating.  My ears may still be ringing in fact.  Grilli didn't let a leadoff single by Matt Adams get to him.  He got the next three outs in short order.  The fireworks shot off, "New Pirates Generation" was blasted over the PA, and the crowd went nuts. It's something I don't think I'll ever forget. We stayed to hear some TBS guy interview Pedro, but we couldn't hear it.  We walked the winding path down the rotunda, as a loud Lets Go Bucs chant was shared by the thousands exiting the ballpark.  The Clemente Bridge was essentially a victory parade. Everyone was in good spirits waiting in line to get their car.  Pittsburgh collectively smiled.

The Pirates Finally Made It

What a night.  What a night for the Pirates, what a night for the fans, what a night for Pittsburgh.  If there had been any doubt surrounding whether Pittsburgh was embracing its baseball team, last night cleared it up.  Sure the Pirates have had plenty of cool moments at PNC Park over the past few years. All of those paled in comparison to what occurred last night on the North Shore.  Michael McKenry had his iconic homer in 2011 (accompanied by an even more iconic call from Greg Brown).  That, however, preceded a monumental collapse which all but erased the shine from that memory.  Drew Sutton had a memorable walkoff homer in 2012, only to suffer the same fate as McKenry's blast.  Nothing compares to winning.  Nothing compares to the scene that unfolded last night.

It started hours before the first pitch.  fans flooded Federal Street and the Clemente Bridge starting around 5:00.  There were long lines at the stadium gates, which opened at 6:00.  Fans quickly filled up the standing room sections, and the entire stadium filled out shortly thereafter.  A record 40,547 showed up.  The blackout was pulled off incredibly well. In addition to that, the Pirates handed each fan a black "Raise The Jolly Roger" rally towel.  The place was ready to explode during the announcement of the starting lineups.  Chants of "Let's Go Bucs" drowned out most of the Cincinnati names, save for Brandon Phillips who drew a Baltimore Ravens level of booing.  All that was left was for Andrew McCutchen's mother to nail the National Anthem, and the game was off and running.

It started appropriately enough, with Francisco Liriano striking out Shin Soo Choo in impressive fashion.  The night continued smoothly for "Frank The Tank", who pitched seven innings giving up just one earned run.  The crowd roared with every strike, and exploded with every out made by the Reds.

When the Pirates came to bat in the second inning, you knew times had changed in Pittsburgh. Pirate killer Johnny Cueto took the mound.  Time after time, he had dominated the Bucs in Pittsburgh. This time was destined to be different.  He gave up a solo shot to Marlon Byrd to start things off in the second.  As I said before the game, "if the Pirates score first, the crowd can essentially take it from there". That they did.  They mercilessly chanted "CUEEE-TTOOO, CUEEE-TTOOO" before every pitch.  It obviously got into the Reds' ace's head, because he literally dropped the ball as he was getting ready to pitch to Russell Martin. Just dropped it. He had to walk about five steps off the mound to retrieve it.  It was an embarrassment; he had just let the 40,000+ on hand affect the game. On the very next pitch, Martin launched a towering home run into the left field bleachers.  The Buccos would chase Cueto after just 3 and 1/3 innings.

The Pirates took a 6-2 lead into the top of the ninth inning. Closer Jason Grilli enters from the bullpen. He promptly struck out the first man he faced, induced a shallow flyout on the second, and the third grounded out to the Pittsburgh Kid, Neil Walker.  The dugout, the stadium, and the city erupted after that last out.  It took a while, but the Pirates finally have a memory worth showing off.  Let's be honest, you were sick of seeing the highlight of that McKenry home run.

Note: Am I the only one who was extremely annoyed by TBS showing the clip of Sid Bream's slide in '92 before the 9th inning? Horrible timing.

It's Time

It's here. It's actually here. The Pittsburgh Pirates will play a playoff game at PNC Park tomorrow. It's a very surreal thought. Twenty years of playoff absence is about to be erased. 162 games of joy, depression, thrills, and heartbreak all comes down to this.  On Tuesday, October 1st, 2013, the Pirates will host the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Wild Card game at PNC Park.  It's all or nothing, winner take all, must-see baseball.  No players will be resting to prepare for future games. It's all hands on deck.

Pirate ace Francisco Liriano starts for the home team.  Liriano sports an amazing 1.47 earned run average when playing in Pittsburgh.  He works well against lefties, too, which is a large asset considering Cincinnati's Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and Shin Soo Choo are all left handed.  Liriano started a game against the Reds nine days ago at PNC Park, and he turned in a fantastic performance with two earned runs, nine strikeouts, and eight innings pitched.

The Reds are sending Johnny Cueto to the mound to try to spoil the Pirates' fun.  This is a daunting development, considering Cueto's history of being very, very good pitching at PNC Park.  However, there is reason for optimism.  Cueto has spent much of this season on the DL, and is only two starts removed from his last injury.  Those two starts came against the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs. In other words, he has yet to be tested by a winning lineup.  Andrew McCutchen has three home runs off of Cueto, however only bats .189 against him.  That shouldn't be too much of a concern, because, well, it's Andrew McCutchen.  One important note is that Marlon Byrd, acquired by the Pirates at the end of August, has terrific career numbers against Cueto (Cueto has not faced the Bucs since Byrd's arrival).  Cueto's health concerns, combined with a bolstered lineup for the Pirates makes me sweat a bit less over the pitching matchup.

It can not be understated how important home field advantage is in this game.  Let's remember, it's the first playoff game in nearly twenty-one years, and the first ever at PNC Park.  Tickets for the game sold out in minutes, and stubhub.com has standing room only tickets listed at over $150.  The players, led by Andrew McCutchen and Michael McKenry, launched a Twitter campaign calling for fans to wear black to the game, to create a unified atmosphere.  You can expect an excitable, Jolly Roger waving, unprecedentedly loud 40,000+ on hand tomorrow night.  You can bet the team will feed off of that.

Let's Go Bucs.

Pitching For The Playoffs

It's September 19th, and we're still watching Pirates games intently, and checking out of town scores almost as intently. That's new. The Pirates currently sit one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central Division, and two games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates and Reds will face off in a crucial three game series that kicks off Friday night at PNC Park.  How did we get to be in this position? The same way we've achieved anything in the past three years: quality pitching.

Before we dive into playoff pitching scenarios, I should mention that the Pirates can clinch a playoff berth as soon as Saturday.  In order to miss the playoffs, the Washington Nationals would need to make up a six game deficit over a nine game span. It simply won't happen. Your Pirates are going to play playoff ball.

There has been much debate about what the starting rotation should be going into the playoffs.  People have been swayed by recent performances, overall track records, and veteran experience. Here's what I think the rotation should be.

Game 1 (or Wild Card Game) -- Francisco Liriano RHP
Liriano has been the Pirates' obvious staff ace this season.  After missing the first month of the season, Frankie has posted sixteen wins and a solid 2.92 earned run average. That ERA would be a lot lower if it weren't for a couple bad outings. Ignore those two poor starts, and we're looking at an ERA under 2. Liriano has two complete games under his belt this season, and has seemed to always be able to dominate division rival St. Louis.  Above all, Liriano has served as a stopper.  A stopper is a pitcher who steps in in the midst of a slump and, as manager Clint Hurdle would say, "puts his foot down". This season, Frankie has done this countless times. He's your obvious game one starter.

Game 2 -- Gerrit Cole  RHP
This would've seemed a bit unrealistic about six weeks ago.  Since the end of August and throughout September, Cole has been dominating opponents.  This run of success started on August 28th against the Milwaukee Brewers, and has continued through today.  That stretch has seen Cole evolve from a rookie with a blistering fastball into a true, jam-getting-out-of, can't-be-rattled, strikeout pitcher.  Last week Cole went up against Texas' Yu Darvish, and showed him up by pitching eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts (the Pirates would get the 1-0 win).  And today, in a game vs. the San Diego Padres, he turned in his best start yet.  Over six innings, he struck out a whopping twelve batters (out of 18 outs he created, 66% were K's).  He got out in front of batters, and looked completely in control.  I give the ball to him in game two.

Game 3-- Charlie Morton RHP
After returning from Tommy John's surgery in June, Morton has looked better than ever before.  He has posted a 7-4 record, and 3.35 ERA.  Those numbers aren't eye popping, but his pitching of late certainly has been.  He has continued his heavy use of the sinker to induce ground balls, and it has been working outstandingly.  He has also greatly inproved his curveball, which has increased his strikeout totals.  When healthy, Charlie is nasty.  Hard not to go to him for game #3

Game 4-- AJ Burnett RHP
After being the staff ace last year, you may have expected AJ to be higher on this list.  This season hasn't been a poor one by any means for him.  He has been playing far better than his 8-11 record suggests, and his 3.43 ERA proves it.  He is a veteran capable of getting out of the toughest jams, and there are few games I wouldn't trust him with.  I admit, it feels odd having him at #4.  However, given what the other three have been doing lately, I had no choice.

Over the next nine days the Pirates will battle.  They have their eyes set on the division title, avoiding the dreaded one game wild card playoff. Whatever happens, we have the pitching to win games. Should be a fun ride.

The Pirates Have Freed Themselves

This has been a season full of special moments for Pirates fans. There was Gerrit Cole's exciting debut in June. We saw an amazing five Pirates go to the All Star Game.  Russell Martin has four walkoff hits on the year, which has only added to his amazing season at catcher.  Who could forget that thrilling five game series against St. Louis at the end of July at PNC Park, which saw the Pirates assert themselves as a baseball superpower, taking the first four from the shellshocked Cardinals.  None of these fun moments, however, could compare to what happened last night in Milwaukee.

It wasn't so much the way we won the game that made it so special. That's not to say that Gerrit Cole's superb six IP and Travis Snider's go-ahead homer in the ninth inning weren't impressive.  The reason last night's win mean so much is that it was the Buccos' 81st win of the season. For those that don't know, that means that the win guaranteed that the Pirates will not have a losing season.  That's right, the nightmare is over. The longest losing streak in American pro sports history is over.  It started in 1992 with that slide by Sid Bream, and it was punctuated last year when Homer Bailey no-hit the Bucs in Pittsburgh to guarantee their 20th consecutive losing season.  Between those two dates, Pirate fans had to put up with a lot.

There were countless blown draft picks: Selecting reliever Daniel Moskos over Matt Weiters (Who now plays catcher for the Baltimore Orioles) is a striking example.  There were so many trades that saw star players leave the team.  The prospects that did find their way into the Pirates' farm system were woefully mismanaged.  The team was controversial in its use of Navy Seal training tactics on their players, which ultimately caused players and prospects to avoid signing with the Pirates. All of this combined for a nightmarish 20 years of losing.

But that's all over. We're free. Last year, we couldn't celebrate the progress of the team because we still had the losing streak hanging over us, casting its shadow. Now that it has been vanquished, this team can accomplish anything.  They currently sit two games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in first place in the NL Central Division.  It's September 4th, and the playoff chase is on. Fans celebrated last night's win, as they should have, but the players didn't dare.  They have one goal this year: Win the World Series. And with twenty years of losing lifted off their backs, they can fight to the end and maybe even bring it home. 

In honor of it being fun to be a Pirates fan right now, here's this:

Why The Pirates Are So Good This Year

The Blog is officially back from Summer break.  We left off at the beginning of June. The Steelers were distant memories, the Penguins were still in shock from their playoff loss to Boston, and the Pirates were holding their own in the NL Central.

Since then, the Pirates have gone from "holding their own" to being one of the best teams in baseball. As I write this, at 6:30 on August 22nd, they sit in 1st place in the NL Central, one game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals and two games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds.  The Buccos sport a record of 74-52. They need just eight more wins to ensure their first winning season since 1992.

The past twenty seasons have been filled with disappointment.  At the end of each year, naturally, the fans look for places to assign blame. At the end of each of the past four seasons, fans and media have consistently ripped on Neal Huntington, the Pirates' general manager.  People complained that he didn't do enough at the trade deadline to set the team up for success, and they ridiculed his offseason moves.  There's no telling how this season will end for the Bucs, but one thing is for sure: Neal Huntington has done all that he could.  Here's a look at how he set these 2013 Pirates up for success.

Lets start with his offseason moves.  There were two gaping holes in the roster: catcher and starting pitcher.  First, they went out and signed free agent pitcher Francisco Liriano.  Liriano was once a highly successful pitcher, although he hadn't performed well over the past couple years.  Huntington and the Pirates' staff saw potential in him, and they signed him.  This story took a weird turn, when, on Christmas Day, Liriano broke his (non-pitching) arm while playing with his kids.  They reworked the contract, and eventually settled on a new one.  The injury ended up costing Liriano the first month of the season.  He made his Pittsburgh debut on the mound in early May, and impressed early on.  Since then, he has established himself as the staff ace, and forced himself into National League Cy Young discussions, with his 14-5 record and 2.53 ERA.

Another major offseason acquisition was catcher Russell Martin.  The catcher position was one of the biggest weak spots for the Pirates in 2012, with Rod Barajas as their No. 1 catcher.  He struggled mightily offensively and defensively, recording outs on only 6% of attempted steals against him.  Martin was coming off of an off year with the New York Yankees, and expectations weren't very high.  Martin was one of the biggest surprises this year for the Bucs, posting a .248 batting average, .350 on-base percentage, and 11 home runs.  He has been no stranger to clutch hitting, racking up four walkoff hits so far this season.  Defensively, he has been one of the best catchers in the NL, throwing out 27 batters so far, causing base runners to think twice before stealing.

There was one big trade in the offseason.  When the trade was announced, many were unenthusiastic.  It looked like we would break even, if we were lucky.  Over the past 5 months, the trade proved to be one of the most important moves to ensure success in 2013. The Pirates traded their elite closer, Joel Hanrahan, and infielder Brock Holt to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for reliever Mark Melancon, and prospects Ivan de Jesus, Jerry Sands, and Stolmy Pimentel.  First of all, trading Hanrahan meant dropping his salary, which allowed the team to re-sign Jason Grilli, who would become the closer in place of Hanrahan. Grilli became the agreed-upon best closer in the NL, posting 30 saves through the end of July.  Mark Melancon moved into the setup role (pitching the 8th inning, to set up for Grilli), and quickly became one of the best relievers in all of baseball, posting a .93 ERA over 58 appearances.  Stolmy Pimentel and Jerry Sands have been progressing with AAA Indianapolis.  This trade was so instrumental to the Pirates' success this season.

You can credit the farm system, for bringing up great prospects like Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez, Gerrit Cole, and others.  You can credit manager Clint Hurdle for working his confidence magic yet again with this team.  But GM Neal Huntington deserves one heap of credit.  After last season's failure, he went out and made several moves to boost this team to an elite level.  Now buckle up, and lets watch this team finally fight for a playoff spot.

Memories: The 2013 Pittsburgh Penguins

It was a cold December evening when I decided to start writing a blog about sports.  I was on the way to Consol Energy Center, to see, not NHL Hockey, but College Hockey.  It was in the final weeks of the lockout, not that we could see the end coming at the time.  It is fitting that my last post for a few months will be about the end of a hockey season.

For the Penguins, this season was magical.  It was late December, and many thought there would be no NHL season.  People were already making plans, and even I persuaded my Dad to buy Pirates tickets instead of spending money on Hockey tickets we would never receive.  Then, suddenly, it was over.  I woke up one Saturday morning and hockey was back.  We gleefully followed updates as various Penguins arrived at the Arena for practice.  We were clamoring for Hockey; enough to fill the 18,387 seat arena for an intra-squad scrimmage.  Hockey was back.

The regular season began excitingly enough, with a 3-1 handling of, guess who, the Philadelphia Flyers.  The next night, a 4-1 defeat of the "Cup Favorites" New York Rangers meant the Pens meant business.  The Penguins had an incredible regular season.  I'm only going to share a few highlights.

We dominated the Flyers in 3 of the 4 meetings, including an overtime win thanks to this beauty by Tyler Kennedy.  The Flyers, much to any Penguins fan's joy, had a dismal season.  They finished last in the Atlantic Division.  They weren't around in the playoffs to bother the Penguins.  It's always fun when the Flyers suck.

Then came the month of March.  I'll put it simply:  In the month of March, the Pens had 15 wins, and 0 losses.  It was a fun time to be a Pens fan.  The Penguins were not only scoring like there was no tomorrow, they weren't allowing many goals either (see: 3 consecutive shutouts).  The streak included wins against powerful wins such as Montreal (2), New York (Islanders), Boston (2), and Washington.  Make no mistake, Pens captain Sidney Crosby was the man behind all of this.  This is his team.

Next on our trip down memory lane: the Trade Deadline.  We went into this always-exciting time of year not expecting anything huge.  Maybe a depth winger or a 3rd line defenseman.  General Manager Ray Shero had other ideas.  The raid of the NHL began with the acquisition of winger Brenden Morrow from Dallas.  At the time, it was common thinking that he'd be a good tough guy to play alongside Evgeni Malkin.  We would have been content if Shero had stopped there.

Then came defenseman Douglas Murray, or "crankshaft".  We hadn't seen much of him (he played in San Jose), but we would soon find out that he was one of the better hitters in the NHL.

Next came the big prize.  It was the evening of March 27th.  It was pretty much agreed upon that star winger Jarome Iginla would be traded to Boston.  There was a deal "in place".  However, Iginla had a No-Trade Clause, meaning he could approve or reject any trade offers.  So, late at night, when all the Pens fans had gone to sleep, the Pens put in an offer.  It was inferior to that of Boston, but that was beside the point.  Iginla wanted to come to Pittsburgh.  It's the benefit of having Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.  People want to play here.   It was a Christmas-Morning scenario:  Pittsburghers everywhere woke up to the news that Ray Shero had robbed Boston of Jarome Iginla.

And now, the Playoffs.  The first round was kind of a mess.  It featured a dominant win in game one, then a hard fought loss in game two.  An overtime win in game three preempted a disgustingly sloppy loss in game four, allowing the Islanders to tie the series at two.  Marc Andre Fleury played awful, and that would be his last start of the playoffs, and possibly as a Penguin.  Vokoun entered the crease for the Pens, and they blew out New York in game five, and won a thrilling game six off a Brooks Orpik overtime goal.

Round two was a fun time for all.  We solidly took a 2-0 on home ice against the Ottawa Senators.  Game three was all Pens, but Craig Anderson robbed the Pens of the W.  Game four looked to be headed the same way, until the Pens broke Anderson and put in five goals in the third period.  Game five was a blowout, dispatching the Sens quickly.

Nobody wants to talk about the third round against Boston.  We all know what went wrong.  We couldn't score.  Yes, Bruin Goaltender Tuukka Rask was great.  However, we would have had a lot more goals if Penguins simply went to the net to provide screens and collet rebounds.  They didn't do that at all.  That's why we lost game three 2-1 and game four 1-0.  That's all I have to say about that series.

Overall, it was an incredible season.  I don't think Dan Bylsma should be fired, and I don't think he will be.  I'll be right here when training camp opens in September.

Losses aren't all bad

The panic has set in.  Already.  Apparently this town didn't learn anything from the Pens' first round win over the Islanders.  Going into last night's game 3 vs. the Ottawa Senators, the Pens held a 2-0 advantage in the best of 7 series.

The game was hard fought, and, in my opinion, the highest quality game of the playoffs so far.  Basically, here's how it went:  Both teams got a ridiculous amount of scoring chances, and both goaltenders stood on their heads to keep most of them out.  The only difference was, Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson allowed one goal, and Pittsburgh's Tomas Vokoun allowed two.  Neither goaltender deserved to lose.  That being said, Anderson did deserve to win more.  He was barraged all night, especially in both of the overtime periods, by quality scoring chances from the Penguins, who have some serious firepower.  It was a sight to behold, and Anderson turned in a performance you don't see often in the playoffs.

Late in the second overtime, it looked as though both goalies were brick walls.  Thoughts turned to the possibility of a third OT, and an even later Sunday night.  But then, after a shot from the point was stopped by Vokoun, Ottawa's speedy Colin Greening got to the rebound before a Penguins defenseman could, and backhanded home the game winner.  You can't fault Vokoun.  You can only feel sorry for him that his team couldn't do more with an incredible, 47 save performance.

So, heading into Wednesday's game 4 in Ottawa, I think the Penguins, and their fans, have no reason to be worried.  After all, we have a 2-1 series lead.  Experts and fans alike picked the Pens to win the series in five, six, or maybe seven games, so it is absurd to be too upset.  Because after all, you have two lose a game or two to win in five or six.  Nobody expected a sweep.

Here is why we shouldn't be too worried.

Last night's game was probably the Penguins' best performance of the playoffs so far.  Sometimes there are those nights, where you turn in an incredible performance as a team, and the other team slips away with the win.  You have to move on.  The Penguins generated scoring chance after scoring chance, tallying 49 shots over 4+ periods of play.  The first line, of Crosby, Kunitz, and Dupuis, was absolutely flying out there.  Evgeni Malkin looked like he was from another planet.  He looked like his old self again, last seen in 2012 and 2009.  He was flying through the neutral zone, and creating chaos in the zone with his puck movement, passes, and steals.  The fourth line generated some big pressure, which is a good bonus.  Anderson was having one of those nights.  He wouldn't be beaten

I also really liked the Pens' defense.  Ottawa was able to get a reasonable amount of offensive zone time, however, the Penguins seemed to be intercepting all of the cross ice passes and blocking most of the shots from the points.  We saw almost none of the carelessness we saw in round 1.

If they play like this on Wednesday, and beyond, things will be just fine.

Here's a video of Greening's game winner in 2OT:

Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh: After Two Games

The Penguins have taken a commanding 2-0 lead in this Eastern Conference Semi Final series against the Ottawa Senators.  After several years of having home ice in the playoffs, the Penguins were finally able to take advantage by winning the first two at home.

Last night, the Penguins won 4-3.  They played a game about as close to "Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Hockey" (as Dan Bylsma would put it) as we have seen in the playoffs so far.  The win was powered by two things:  goaltending/defense, and Sidney Crosby.

We're in the third period.  The Sens have just scored to pull within one goal of the Pens, with eighteen minutes remaining.  The Pens did not go crazy and try to score eight more goals, which is usually what leads to a collapse in the third.  They played terrific shutdown hockey.  After that goal at the 2:01 mark of the third period, the Penguins allowed just five shots on goal against them.  Goaltender Tomas Vokoun was sure to stop each one of them.  In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring doesn't solve everything.  Putting up a wall on defense will be necessary every so often.  They did exactly that.

The other reason they won last night is that Sidney Crosby did what he does best.  He scored a hat trick (three goals in one game).  The first goal coming less than two minutes into the first period, the third came less than two minutes into the second period.  It wasn't just the number of goals he scored, it was the way he scored them.  He beat the other team both skillfully and intellectually.

On the first goal, he found himself with the puck in the neutral zone, skating towards the Senators' blue line.  He had plenty of options; he could have dumped it into the offensive zone, and he had passes available.  But he saw something he liked.  He saw Erik Karlsson.  The Senators' star defenseman, clearly not 100% healthy after returning from injury.  Karlsson has stunk defensively this series.  So Crosby went at Karlsson, who stepped up on Sid, who would promptly slide the puck across the defenseman, and speed around him.  He had an open lane to the net, and slipped it through the 5-hole of goaltender Craig Anderson.

The second goal is my personal favorite.  It looked like a bad goal for Anderson to give up, but you have to look closer.  It was a work of art.  Sid had the puck, streaking down the left wing boards.  He had linemate Pascal Dupuis going to the net.  Anderson guessed that Crosby would send a brilliant pass over to Dupuis for the easy goal (as he does very often).  Anderson cheated off the post, and moved to his right ever so slightly, preparing for the pass.  Crosby noticed this, and fired the puck into the space that Anderson vacated.  Brilliant.

The third goal was a thing of beauty, too.  Sid took a pass at the top of the left circle.  He waited for defenseman Phillips to try to block his shot, and in the process, screen his own goaltender.  Now that Anderson couldn't see, Crosby easily blew a slapshot by him for the HT.

Here's some highlights from last night's game, including all three of 87's goals:

Note: Sens' star center Jason Spezza has returned to full practice. Details on when he will return are unknown.  Remember the last time the Pens faced the Sens in the playoffs in 2010?  Crosby enjoys matching up against Spezza, as you can see here:

Have a nice day.

One Down, Three To Go

The Penguins will advance to the second round of the playoffs.  The will advance past the first round for the first time since 2010, which is a ridiculous slump when you consider the talent this team has had.  But, that's all behind us.  The Penguins took care of business against the Islanders, who were trying to force a game 7 on Sunday in Pittsburgh.  Nobody wanted that.  Not even the lucky fans who bought tickets for it.  Nobody wants to see a game 7.  It's too unpredictable.  If there were a game 7 today, the fear would be real.  But that's behind us.  Let's forget about that, and celebrate the Pens' 4-3 overtime win, and 4-2 series win.

Now, let's take a look forward at the next challenge.  The Pens will face the Ottawa Senators.

I don't think the next series will be as frustrating as this one was.  I don't think we will come out of games wondering "how in the world did we play that poorly?".  I think we will see a better team performance by the Pens.

I think the pressure got the them in the first round.  After a series of trades by GM Ray Shero, the Penguins were the mega-favorite to win the Stanley Cup.  That, combined with the fact that they hadn't won a playoff series since 2010, combined for some serious pressure.  That's why the Islanders were able to give the Pens a run for their money.

Another thing is that the Islanders, over the past few years, have had a knack for giving the Pens trouble.  Every so often, the Isles would deal the Pens a disturbing loss on home ice, or something of that nature.  Even when the Islanders were at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, they would find ways to beat the Penguins.  That's why I'm not surprised that this series went six games.  I had a feeling in the back of my mind that they would give us trouble.

The Senators, I think, won't be as worrying.  Over the past several years, the Penguins have gotten them figured out.  Since 2008, we've met them in the Playoffs twice.  In the first one, the Pens coasted to a sweep.  Then, in 2010, the Pens won in 6.  Since then, the Pens have owned them in the regular season.

I think that the fact that the Pens have vanquished all those pressures of the first round, and the fact that we could write a book on how to beat the Senators combine to make an easier ride for round two.  It won't be an easy series, by any means.  But you won't be seeing any of the total nonsense we saw against the Isles.  There'll be fewer sloppy plays.  Tighter defense.  And the Pens getting back to their style of dumping the puck into the offensive zone, skating in, forechecking the opponent into the ground.  If they can do that well, and play some defense, they will take the series.

Why The Pens Will Pull It Out

Penguins 2, Islanders 2.  In the aftermath of a disappointing game 4, I sit here writing this.  A game 4 that saw the Penguins take a 3-2 lead, and later a 4-3 lead.  The final score was 6-4, Islanders.  What happened?

First, the Pens continued to play stupid.  The Islanders tied it at 4 in the third period off of a silly turnover by Evgeni Malkin.  The game was filled with other similar mistakes.  But in this one, all eyes are on Marc Andre Fleury.  I am somebody who is usually the biggest Fleury defender.

Not tonight.

Three of the Islanders' six goals were inexcusable.  One was scored from behind the net, banking off of Fleury's leg.  Another was scored in the final two minutes of play, sliding past him so slow you could read the label on the puck.

So, the series is tied at two, with the Pens heading home to play game 5 on Thursday at Consol Energy Center.  I seriously think that the Pens pull this one out.  And not because I'm a homer, or a fan (I am both of those things, but they didn't have any influence over this post).  Here's why.

The Pens are a flat out better team.  When they play smart, they kill the Islanders.  The problem so far is that they haven't been playing smart.  I feel that the Penguins are better equipped to lock in for an impressive game 5/6 than the Islanders.  This is because the Islanders are so inexperienced.  Their star players, John Tavares, Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo, have never been in the playoffs before.  They don't know the intensity of a game 5, or game 6.  The Penguins have people like Crosby, Malkin, and Letang who have been in deep playoff runs.  They know what it's like, they know what it takes.

That's why I think the Pens will take this one.  If, AND ONLY IF, the Pens can reach down, and focus.  If they can go into a mindset of 2008 or 2009.  If they can regain their Cup winning mentality, they can take two of the next three.  The Pens are by far the better team.  It's all mental.

The same goes for Marc Andre Fleury.  If he can't do that, I'm all for giving Tomas Vokoun the start for game 5.

Clean It Up, Pens

The first three games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in the books.  On paper, the Penguins appear to be in good shape.  You see a 5-0 blowout win in game one, a tight 4-3 loss in game two, and a 5-4 overtime win in the third game.  On paper, it appears that we not only took a series lead, but demoralized the Islanders.  They fought back so hard towards the end of the game to force overtime.  After all that, Crosby set up Kunitz for the winner in OT, making it look easy.  All in front of a wild crowd at the ancient Nassau Coliseum, a building that hadn't seen a playoff game in six years.

Sure, the Penguins are in a good position going forward in the series.  But if they hope to get close to a Stanley Cup, or even to get out of this series, things need to change.  The Pens are stocked with talent, we all know that.  The trouble is putting it to good use.  The Penguins need to play smart.  In Sunday's 5-4 win, there were two players who played smart:  Sidney Crosby and Douglas Murray.  Everybody else astounded with their dumb decisions.  Matt Niskanen had two turnovers, both of them costing the Pens a goal. Letang turned the puck over uncharacteristically.  Countless others did the same.  The bottom line is that none of the players need to play as well as Crosby, but they all need to play as smart is him.

They need to stop making blind passes.  They need to stop forcing passes to star players.  They need to stop slinging the puck 80 feet up ice, hoping it will connect with someone (this almost always ends up being a turnover).  They need to stop trying to outskill the Islanders' defense.  Instead of trying to walk right into the offensive zone, try dumping it in and using that fore-checking thing that worked so well in game one.

The Pens had a 15 game win streak this season.  They didn't accomplish that by speeding up the ice, beating the entire team and scoring 10 goals per game.  The played a tough, defensively sound game.  They hit their opponents hard, and lock it down in front of Marc Andre Fleury.  They waited for the other team to give them opportunities to score.  What they are doing now is essentially trying to force goals, and in the process, giving the Islanders opportunities to score.

This needs to stop.

Are You Ready For The Playoffs

It's finally here.  After a brutal four month lockout, and an exciting three month season, it's finally time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  I'm planning on writing in the future about why the SCP are so special, because that would take way too long to do right now.

First, here's what I think the Pens' lines should be/ probably will be for game 1 on Wednesday

F1 Iginla-Crosby-Dupuis
F2 Kunitz-Malkin-Neal
F3 Cooke-Sutter-Morrow
F4 Glass-Jokinen-Adams

D1 Letang-Despres
D2 Orpik-Martin
D3 Niskanen-Murray

F1 Iginla and Crosby seem perfect to play alongside each other, as we saw in the 2010 Olympics.  Dupuis is also very productive alongside Crosby, with whom he has played for much of his career in Pittsburgh
F2 Another benefit of bumping Iginla up to F1 is that it enables the Pens to reunite the 14-71-18 line, which dominated the NHL last year
F3 This figures to be a terrific checking line, with Cooke and Morrow who have tough reputations, and also contains Sutter who can score clutch goals.
F4 Jokinen deserves to be a top-9 player.  That just shows how deep this team is.

D1 Simon Despres hasn't played every game this year, thanks to what I think is a foolish thought by Dan Bylsma.  When he has played, he played alongside Letang.  And played well.  Let's see what he can do in the playoffs
D2 Orpik is a playoff hit machine, terrorizing opposing forwards (look out John Tavares). Martin has had a terrific year defensively
D3 I'm excited for this line.  The defensively sound Niskanen with the wrecking ball Murray.

Prediction:  I know, I know, this won't be an easy series.  But that doesn't mean the Pens can't dominate it.  The Islanders' key players have no playoff experience.  Their defense is questionable. That, combined with the Penguins ridiculous talent at forward, leads me to predict a 5 game series win for Pittsburgh.

The Good and Bad of the Pirates' Pitching

The Pirates currently sit at 11-9, one game back from the lead of the NL Central.  Not a bad position to be in, nearly a month into the season.  Almost all of the wins were due to a pitcher, starter or reliever, coming up with an amazing performance.  Similarly, a fair amount of the losses can be traced back to a pitcher not doing his job.  Here's a look at how some of the pitchers have been doing this year, and how things could look in the future.



AJ Burnett-  AJ has, as expected been the Pirates' best starter so far.  In his first two starts, he allowed three runs and recorded sixteen strikeouts.  Both were spoiled by the fact that the Bucs' offense was struggling mightily at the time.  He has continued to put up solid numbers, and has improved to 2-2 on the season (the Pirates' 6-5 win over the Reds went down as a no-decision for AJ).  Burnett seems to be the Bucs' most reliable pitcher for the duration of this season.

Wandy Rodriguez-  Wandy has been sensational so far in 2013.  In his first start, he shut down the Cubs through six innings, which would turn out to be the Pirates' first win of 2013.  In his next start, he injured his hamstring in only the second inning, and was forced to leave the game.  He missed his next start (Phil Irwin got the spot start, which turned out to be a thrilling comeback win over Cincinnati), and returned on the 19th vs. Atlanta.  He pitched a 2-hit shutout through 7 innings.  The Pirates closed out the game having faced the minimum 27 batters for the first time in decades.  As terrific as he has been, it is a very small sample size, plus the hamstring could come back to bother him.  Things look cautiously optimistic for Wandy.

James McDonald-  JMac, JMac, JMac.... Truly an impossible puzzle to solve.  Lights-out one day, lit-up the next.  Shut down the Cubs in his first start of the season, gets lit up for 10 runs in the 2nd inning against the Cardinals.  His most recent start against Atlanta was the epitome of inconsistency.  He struck out the first three batters he faced.  In the second inning, he loaded the bases, and proceeded to walk home the leading run.  Directly thereafter, he struck out three batters to end the inning.  Frustrating for fans.  I'm not going to venture a guess on JMac.  The potential for success is certainly there.

Jeff Locke-  Jeff Locke has been quietly mediocre.  He was unimpressive in his first few outings.  He had a good start on Tuesday vs. Philadelphia.  Personally, I don't think he will remain in the rotation very long.  Charlie Morton and Francisco Liriano are returning soon.  Later on, Jeff Karstens will be ready.  Gerrit Cole will be called up.  No space for Locke.

Jonathan Sanchez-  Similar story for Sanchez.  He's been remarkably mediocre thus far, including a 10 run torching by the Arizona Diamondbacks.  I would be shocked if he is in the rotation in June.

Buccos Report: The First 13

We're 13 games into the 2013 season, and its not really clear what we should think of these Pirates.  They've had highs and lows, to say the least.  Plenty of strengths, and plenty of weaknesses.  It featured being swept by the Dodgers without a fight, a strange series win in Arizona, and an impressive sweep of the rival Cincinnati Reds, including the comeback from being down 5-0 last Sunday.

Positives so far:

Starling Marte-  In his first full season in the Major Leagues, Starling Marte has been tearing it up.  With a .370 batting average so far, a .404 On Base Percentage, 3 doubles, 1 triple, and one home run, he has easily been the Pirates' best player.  He is one of the fastest guys on the team (second possibly to Andrew McCutchen), and can do it all in Right Field.  Its full speed ahead for what looks to be like an excellent season.

The Bullpen-  Some of the Pirates' starting pitchers have gotten it done.  Wandy Rodriguez, and AJ Burnett have done their jobs.  None of the Pirates' other three starters have made it deep into a game, some of them not getting through five innings.  When you don't get many quality starts, you need a strong bullpen to pick up the slack, and they've done just that.  Jeanmar Gomez and Justin Wilson have looked very good in long-relief.  Tony Watson and Jared Hughes have been good, save for a bad outing each (Watson on the 12th vs. CIN, Hughes on the 14th vs. CIN).  Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli have been locking it down at set-up and closer, respectively.

Disappointments so far:

Pedro Alvarez-  Pedro has had a typical Pedro slump so far this year.  He is weighed down by his .073 Average, and zero homers or extra-bases.  We've seen this before.  It could drag on for who knows how long.  When it ends, it could end in dramatic fashion, with Pedro ripping off homer after homer for a while.  Who knows.

Looking ahead

The Pirates have the toughest opening six weeks in all of baseball.  they have come out of the first two weeks within one game of that coveted .500.  This schedule stays tough, but that sweep of Cincinnati is encouraging.  Nothing gets a team rolling like some wins vs. a divisional rival.

Don't Panic... yet

It's April 7th, and the panic is already on.  We're only one week into the six month journey that is baseball season, and people have already written off the Pirates.  I'm not saying there's no reason to do so.

This has been a very disappointing start.  One win, five losses to start the year.  The total inability to get hits, let alone runs.  A series loss to the divisional rival Chicago Cubs, and a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  It wasn't pretty.  The Bucs wasted two beautiful pitching performances by AJ Burnett.  They wasted a surprisingly decent showing by Jonathan Sanchez.  Today's loss to the Dodgers marked the first time this year where the pitching staff did not give them a legitimate chance to win.  The offense took a step forward, with Andrew McCutchen crushing the team's first home run of 2013.  Hits weren't quite as scarce as before.  People seemed to be getting better quality contact.  But still, there's not much good to take out of the first six games of the season.

But amid all of the widespread depression among the Pirates community, I'm about to say why it is absurd to panic just yet.  Here's why:

Pitching is the foundation for success.  It is absolutely the most important thing for a winning baseball team to have.  The Pirates have it.  AJ Burnett has turned in two top-notch starts.  Wandy Rodriguez delivered a handling of the Cubs' lineup.  Even Jonathan Sanchez turned in a quality start, pitching through six innings allowing three earned runs.  The bullpen has performed well, with Jared Hughes succeeding in both of his outings, Tony Watson getting out of a bases-loaded situation unscathed.  The pitching is certainly there.

The obvious, glaring issue with this team is the hitting.  The team collectively has hit below .200.  Until today, there were zero home runs, and only two doubles.  The only player to have two hits in one game was Starling Marte, and they were both singles.  Alvarez isn't looking good, if you know what I mean.  However, you should wait before hitting the panic button.  Look at last year's season.  We started in a very similar fashion, with excellent pitching and extremely bad offense.  But they pulled through.  Eventually (May 25th to be exact) the offense lit up.  And don't be fooled, the Pirates have some serious weapons.  Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Garrett Jones, Neil Walker, and Starling Marte make for a formidable core.  If something, anything, can spark this offense, it could easily light on fire once again. It's not a lack of talent, at least I don't think so.  It's something intangible.

This bodes well for the Pirates because it means things could turn around at any moment.  Today we could hit this horribly, but as soon as tomorrow we could have a big day at the plate.  I'm not saying it will turn around tomorrow.  I'm saying that it could turn around tomorrow.  And there's no reason to say it won't be tomorrow.  They face the Arizona Diamondbacks, who play in a very hitter-friendly ballpark, which could be just the thing to get this offense going.

I'm not pretending that this first week hasn't been bad.  All I mean to say is that the potential is there to pick things up any day now.

Equipped for Success

Last year, the Penguins were a favorite to win the Cup for much of the year, especially after Sidney Crosby made his second return in March.  As the the trade deadline approached and passed, the Pens' GM Ray Shero did something out of character: nothing.  He made no moves to strengthen the team in any way.  This proved to be a mistake, as Philadelphia would eliminate the Penguins from the playoffs in the first round, embarrassing them defensively.

This year was obviously different.  Shero did a lot to strengthen the team.  In fact, he did far more than any other NHL GM.  Here's a look at the Pens' 5 acquisitions (In chronological order), and how they can help them to a Stanley Cup win.

1. Tomas Vokoun One of the glaring problems in the Pens' playoff loss to Philadelphia was the goaltending.  Marc-Andre Fleury played very poorly (an understatement).  This was in part because of fatigue.  Backup goalie Brent Johnson played so poorly in 2011-12 that he couldn't be trusted to win a game, forcing Fleury to play over 20 games in a row.  He had nothing left by the time the playoffs came around.  So, Shero went out and got a reliable backup who could relieve some of the load.  Enter Vokoun.  While he won't see the ice during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he will give Fleury the rest he needs to play well.

2.  Brenden Morrow Before this season started, in my New Year's Resolutions blog, I pointed out that the Penguins needed to regain their toughness.  The toughness they had in their 2009 Cup win, but totally lacked in 2011-2012.  The bottom line:  The Playoffs are not a scoring-fest, they are a defensive, hard-hitting battle.  The Pens got some of the toughness back with the veteran winger Morrow.  He will play on the third line instead of Tyler Kennedy, making that line more of a traditional third line (hard-hitting, good defensively, hard to play against in general).

3.  Douglas Murray In 2009, as the Penguins were gearing up to eventually win the Stanley Cup, Shero acquired defenseman Hal Gill.  Gill was a great shutdown defenseman, something infinitely valuable in the Playoffs.  Gill left for Montreal after that year.  The Penguins have lacked that solid, veteran presence ever since, especially after Sergei Gonchar left town.  The Pens regained some of that when they got Doug Murray.  He is probably the most underrated hitters in the league.  He adds to the Penguins' toughness and defense, which (not to sound like a broken record) is incredibly important to win a Stanley Cup.

4. Jarome Iginla  This is the one we're all excited about.  Last Wednesday, we all went to bed thinking Iginla went to the Bruins.  To the delight of Pens fans everywhere, Ray Shero swooped in at the last minute and grabbed him.  This is an obviously great addition to this team.  Iginla has a scoring touch which is always a plus, and he can also hit and even fight.  Another player in the "tough to play against" list.

5.  Jussi Jokinen Jokinen is a 3rd-line-at-best center.  He was acquired mainly because Crosby is injured for the time being, and we need depth at center.  Tyler Kennedy wasn't exactly cutting it as a No. 1 center, so Shero pulled the trigger (Jokinen came with a very, very low price tag).  Once Crosby returns, he will be slotted into the fourth line, which desperately needs a spark.  He is a whiz at faceoffs, which the Penguins have lacked this year, even during the 15 game win streak.

Happy Easter... I mean Opening Day-Eve

Finally.  The most mind numbingly boring thing in sports, MLB Spring Training, is over.  The team is finally at PNC Park, preparing for Opening Day against the Chicago Cubs tomorrow.  After an entire month of speculation of what will happen this season, in particular the 20 year old question of "Will the Bucs make .500?".  Well, after a month of thinking, one thing has become clear: Nothing is certain, there are too many variables.

So, on this Opening Day-Eve, I'm taking one last stab at a preview to the 2013 season.

Four players you can expect big things from in 2013

Andrew McCutchen, CF-- This one is so obvious, I considered not even writing it.  Last year, Cutch established himself as a true superpower in the MLB.  He had a bit of a drop-off in the final 1/3 of the season, which coincided with the team's collapse.  He is hungry to put up big numbers the whole way through, and more importantly, he is hungry to carry this team into the playoffs.

Starling Marte, RF-- Marte was called up from the minors in late July of 2012.  He famously crushed a home run on his first pitch of his first at-bat, which happened to be the first pitch of the game.  A big statement indeed.  The next 2.5 months were so-so for Marte.  He didn't meet the unfair expectations that come with such a statement, however he wasn't all that bad.  He is very young, and has lots of potential.  Look for him to try to establish himself as a quality MLB hitter in 2013.

Clint Barmes-- In this case, you need to thing of "big things" in a relative way.  Barmes was terrible for most of 2012.  He showed signs of life in parts of August and September, but that was it.  I see him making a comeback this year, posting something like a .250-.260 batting average.

Wandy Rodriguez-- Wandy was acquired by the Bucs at last year's trade deadline.  As a starting pitcher, he turned in solid outings in nearly every start.  He had been doing that for a long time with Houston, but couldn't be seen behind all that failure by the Astros.

Two players NOT to expect big things from in 2013

Neil Walker-- Walker entered the Big Leagues in 2010.  He has been a fairly good player his whole career.  Last year he hit very few home runs and showed very little power.  Also, he was injured for most of August and September.  This is just one person's opinion, but I don't thing Walker will have a good 2013.

Jeff Locke-- Jeff was called up from the minors in August of 2012, and never really put together an impressive performance.  While he is young with good potential, I see him having a poor start to 2013 and being replaced by a healed Jeff Karstens or Charlie Morton.

Final prediction for 2013

Record: 88-74

Wild Card appearance

5 Starters, .500

I could write a list a mile long of things that need to happen for the Pirates to have a winning season.  Their first winning season in twenty years, the longest such streak in North American Professional Sports.  The most important thing to a team's success, by far, is strong starting pitching.  The Bucs' rotation of SP's this year is hard to gauge, due to some injuries and player inconsistency.  Here's what it looks like to start the season(Opening Day is monday!).

1. AJ Burnett  AJ was one of the Pirates' biggest bright spots last year.  In his second start of the year, he allowed a baseball record nine runs through four innings.  After that, he played like a true ace for pretty much the entire season, including a one hit masterpiece in which he came within four outs of a no-hitter.  He also served as a veteran leader for the team.  Look for the same strong play this year, but don't be too surprised if he slows down a little.  He is 37 after all.

2. Wandy Rodriguez The Pirates made three trades at the trade-deadline last year, and one of them could be considered a success.  That one success would be the trade that brought SP Wandy Rodriguez from Houston.  Rodriguez played excellent ball, although it was a small sample size starting at the mid-august trade-deadline.  All signs point to him having another solid year this year.

3. James McDonald JMac is probably the hardest pitcher to gauge of them all.  In the first half of the 2012 season, he played like an ace, an all-star.  After the all-star break (the midway point of the season) things went south in a hurry.  From the midpoint on, he posted an Earned Runs Average (ERA) above eight.  Eventually, in mid-August, he was pulled from the starting rotation and demoted to the bullpen.  So the question for this year is "which JMac will we see this year?  The ace, or the 8+ ERA JMac?  A lot of the Pirates' success this year depends on that.

Veterans Jeff Karstens and Charlie Morton will both start the season injured, and the following guys will fill in for them:

4. Jonathan Sanchez Sanchez, signed in the offseason by the Bucs, is one of the more bizarre stories on the team this year.  Four years ago, he threw a no-hitter.  Last year, he had an ERA above nine. NINE.  What is more disturbing is that the Pirates' front office somehow thought he would be a good addition this year, and signed him to a minor league contract.  The most disturbing is that they promoted him to the Majors, and gave him a spot as a starting pitcher.  Buckle your seatbelts.  Let's hope he proves me wrong.

5. Jeff Locke  Jeff Locke was given his first chance as a starter during the second half of last season.  He put up poor performances, simple as that.  However, he is very young, and shows potential. We'll see.

A lot of the Pirates' hopes this year depends on these people.  The latter two tossers seem like a dreadful back-end of the rotation, but help will come when Karstens and Morton return.  Another piece of good news:  2010 first-round draft pick Gerrit Cole is ready to play at the major league level.  He probably won't be called up to Pittsburgh until at least June, which would allow the Pirates to retain him for an extra year.  

9 wins, 9 reasons

The Penguins have established themselves as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, with 44 points.  Somehow, they have just one less win than the miraculous Chicago Blackhawks (and their streak of 24 games without a loss-in-regulation).  The Pens sit atop the Atlantic Division, and to every Pens fan's delight, Philadelphia sits at the bottom.  That's right, the Flyers are below the Islanders.  Anyhow, the Penguins currently sit atop a 9 game winning streak, which could be accredited to the following 9 reasons:

1. Sidney Crosby "Sid will never be the same".  "He's one big hit away from retirement".  Those are two quotes thrown around a lot over the past year.  Amusingly enough, such rumors were entirely started and continued by fans.  Not team doctors, not team officials, not team coaches, not other players, and certainly not Sid himself.  I have no basis for saying this, but I'd be willing to bet that anybody who said that had no formal medical training whatsoever.  Sid The Kid is back to stay, and better than ever.  Teammate Brooks Orpik, who has played with Crosby for his entire career, says this is the best he's ever seen him, even better than his pre-concussion tear.  He leads the league in points by a mile.  He piles up the assists at an insane rate, and the scoring touch seems to be picking up by the day.  Its no coincidence that the Penguins are winning.

2. Goaltending The Pens goaltending was more or less a question mark for the beginning of this year.  Backup Tomas Vokoun had three or four bad performances, and Marc-Andre Fleury showed vulnerability. On this winning streak, save for a couple exceptions, the goaltending has been more than strong.

3. Penalty Kill In the first part of the season (most noticeably on the Pens' mini losing streak which preceded the winning streak) the team's penalty kill was very weak.  This was a stark contrast to the past two seasons, in which the Penguins took the 1st and 4th rankings respectively.  On this winning streak, for the most part, the PK has looked back like its old self.  They are pressuring the puck more, which forces opponents to make quick (and bad) decisions.

4. No Excuses Remember 2011, when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin sat out the final four months of the season?  Remember how the Penguins made the playoffs (with home--ice advantage) that year?  Its because they (led by coach Dan Bylsma) NEVER use injuries as excuses.  Over the course of this winning streak, the Pens have been without Evgeni Malkin for most of the time.  One could hardly notice.

5. Persistence Pays Off Many have labeled the 2013 Penguins as the "comeback kids"(similar to the '08-'09 team).  The team has made late, dramatic comebacks a bit of a habit.  Notable ones include a 2-goal comeback vs. Philly in the 3rd period, a 2-goal comeback vs. Boston in the 3rd, a 3 goal comeback @ Florida in the 2nd and 3rd periods, and a 3 goal comeback @ Philly.  The persistence has provided several empowering victories, and has given them the look of a playoff team.

6. Home Ice Another rumor thats been flying around: Consol Energy Center is too quiet.  I simply don't understand this one.  I mean, any arena would be quiet with its team down 4-1 to the Islanders.  Even in a normal circumstance, no fan base screams during play relentlessly (save for the insane MTS Centre in Winnipeg).  During big moments towards the end of the game, Consol is as loud as anywhere in the NHL.  You have to think this affects the players in a positive way.

7. Welcome to Pittsburgh, Sutter Brandon Sutter started his career with the Penguins extremely quietly.  He wasn't necessarily bad, he just wasn't scoring much.  He played terrific defensive hockey. Now, all of a sudden, he has become a source of dramatic, game-changing goals.  With a late goal to complete a huge comeback vs. the Flyers, and two goals in the final five minutes of an astonishing comeback win vs. Boston, Sutter certainly has carved a place in this team.

8. Depth The Penguins depth is unbelievable, from top to bottom.  First off, any claims that Sidney Crosby should get some better wingers are absolutely absurd.  On one side, you have Chris Kunitz, who is second in the league in points (only to Crosby.  Kunitz also has two hat tricks on the season).  Third line center Brandon Sutter is thriving, as I said above.  James Neal is continuing to be the 40-goal man of last year.  Dustin Jeffrey is ably filling in for injured Malkin.  Newbie Beau Bennett is already making waves, as a second line winger.  It even goes down to the fourth line in Joe Vitale, who leads the way in face-offs.

9. Discipline Something the Penguins lacked in a big way before this streak is discipline.  Taking too many penalties.  One way or another, they have simply stopped doing that, which obviously results in less chances for opponents to score.

Madison Square Garden: what's so special?

I recently had the chance to see a hockey game at Madison Square Garden (the home of the New York Rangers).  The Penguins were not involved in the game, so I could view the place fairly objectively.  As soon as you walk in, and until you walk out, they don't let you forget that it's the "most famous arena in the world".  My opinion:  Who cares?  Of course, history and old age make an arena special.  But it's not the only factor.

Take the Pittsburgh's (now demolished) Civic Arena.  The place was ancient, built in the late 1950's.  Up until its 2010 destruction, people loved the place.  But they didn't love it because of the history of the place.  The loved it because of its charm and familiarity.  The randomly colored orange seats.  The ancient scoreboard, complete with that little screen that could only show sliding block letters.  The way it wasn't symmetrical, like they built the place and then crammed in extra seats wherever they could (which, in fact, is exactly what happened).  The red siren lights and the flashing "YEAH" sign with the jumping penguin.  All of these things made Civic Arena a "home" for Penguins fans.

No such things are found at Madison Square Garden.  All you see is a bunch of hastily put-together videos of "Garden History" during intermissions.

Not to mention, the Civic Arena was miles louder than MSG.

MSG will always be famous because of all the stuff that has taken place there, which is totally legitimate, I have no problem with that.  But The Civic Arena was a better place to call home for a team in many ways.

Pirates Batting Order

There are 25 days until Opening Day for the Pirates.  Over two weeks into Spring Training, we already have a good idea of what the team should look like.  Here's what I (not necessarily Clint Hurdle) think the batting order should be.

1.  Jose Tabata, RF
2. Starling Marte, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5.  Pedro Alvarez, 3B
6. Neil Walker, 2B
7. Russell Martin, C
8. Clint Barmes, SS
9. A.J. Burnett, P

1. Tabata has the skills to be a good Major-League player.  As he showed last year, he lacked some of the motivation and effort.  If he gets it together, he should make the lineup.  He is in the leadoff spot over Marte because Marte is known to be more of a free-swinging type of player, which is not ideal for leadoff.
2.  Marte is speedy, and has some power, but isn't a true home run guy.  Perfect for the 2-hole.
3.  No brainer.  McCutchen played every game last year in the 3-spot, putting up a .327 average.  He got 195 hits, including 29 doubles and 31 home runs.  Don't change a thing.
4.  I have Jones batting cleanup not because he is a better power hitter than Alvarez, but because Alvarez has NEVER played well in the 4-spot.  Most of his notorious slumps can be traced back to being put there.
5.  Being in the 5-spot gives Alvarez a chance to clear the bases with his mighty power, but without some of the pressure of the cleanup spot.
6.  Not much debate here.  Walker is a solid hitter, but without very much power.  Easily better than the two below him.
7.  Martin is coming off of a poor season with the Yankees, but, hey, so was A.J. Burnett last year.  The only reason I didn't put him in the 2-hole is because the bottom of the lineup needs more stability.
8.  Not much thought here.  The worst hitter in this group of eight, although he showed signs of life at the end of last year.