AGRI Biz

Marc-Andre Fleury would be the first to tell you that he has had a less than inspiring start to the 2010 NHL playoffs.   He, along with his teammates, had an extremely poor showing last Wednesday night in Pittsburgh’s 5-4 Game One loss to Ottawa at Mellon Arena.   Looking to rebound on Friday night during game two, Fleury was beaten eighteen seconds into the contest on a seemingly harmless wrist shot by the ...

The Pittsburgh Penguin’s defense of the Stanley Cup will officially begin on Wednesday night as the fourth seeded Pens battle the fifth seeded Ottawa Senators in the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Looking to become the first franchise to repeat as champions since the Detroit Red Wings, who pulled off the feat in 1997 and 1998, Pittsburgh will begin its trek with a formidable and familiar foe. The Penguins ...

During the NHL’s second season, pressure filters through arena corridors, locker rooms, and onto the ice throughout the two-and-a-half month chase to be champion of the hockey world. Every player who suits up for one of the 16 teams that have earned their way into the annual spring tournament internally feels the change in intensity and meaning as the games transform from competitive contests into immensely intense battles. It takes everyone on ...

In the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, at 66 Mario Lemieux Place Sits the Steel City’s iconic Igloo, inconspicuous to the locals, but filled with a hometown charm and unwavering grace. Constructed with steel, stone, and an abundance of concrete; still the soul of this building lies inside on the ice, that one simple sheet. On that ice, hockey players have skated to live out their childhood dreams; ...

Very often in professional sports it is the iconic athletes that are adored the most by fans around the globe. However, these same superstars are usually the most hated members of their respective league as well. Being a life-long and hardcore Pittsburgh Penguins fan, one of my favorite players in the NHL today is Sidney Crosby. Why wouldn’t he be? He is a terrific all-around player who is often entrancing to ...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have locked up another piece of what Ray Shero likes to call “their core” for the next four seasons.   Yesterday, Kris Letang inked a four-year fourteen million dollar deal to remain with the club that drafted him in the third round (62nd overall) in the 2005 NHL entry draft.   This signing now guarantees that the Pittsburgh Penguins will have all of their top young players locked up for at ...

The Hart Memorial Trophy is handed out annually at the conclusion of each NHL season. The award, which is voted on by members of The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, is given to the player who has been deemed to be the most valuable to his team during the regular season. Since this honor is only bestowed upon one player at the NHL’s award ceremonies I wanted to take the time ...

With eight games remaining in the 2009-2010 regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins are staggering towards the Stanley Cup playoffs like a punch-drunk prize fighter. This is, of course, a direct contrast to the 2008-2009 team that not only charged into the spring tourney, but kicked in the proverbial postseason door with a vengeance. The club’s 6-3-3 record since the end of the Olympic break is not overwhelmingly alarming, on paper or ...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have charged out of the Olympic break with four straight victories and are looking to continue their winning ways tonight as they head to Carolina for the first game of a five game road trip.   A win against the surprisingly resurgent Hurricanes (8-1-1 in their last 10 games) would be a terrific way to start off their five game swing, but the two games that I have my ...