Hey yinz. The all-star break is over for both football and hockey, and for the latter that means teams are gearing up for the playoffs. The Penguins seem to be taking that very seriously. It’s no secret that they’ve been in a bit of a struggle during the first part of the season, hanging around the .500 line and lying low in the division. I knock on wood when I say that may be behind them.

The Pens have seemed to have turned themselves around. With a win over San Jose last night they have won seven of their last ten games. Since my previous blog post only last week, the pens have shot from 5^th place in the metropolitan division to 2^nd right behind Washington, passing New Jersey, Columbus, and Philly in one week. I may be taking the optimistic approach, but things are really looking up.

Remember last week when I said the young guys were keeping the team afloat? And that if the stars starting producing as well they would be nearly unstoppable? Well, I think that is starting to happen.

Evgeni Malkin Scores Against San Jose

Most prominently last night against the sharks when Evgeni Malkin released some of his magic for a hat-trick. The veteran looks to be back to full production, and he is a real difference maker when he is. The young guys continue to be productive as well. Brian Rust contributed the other two goals of the night as him and Geno ran the show. Let’s hope this production level is contagious for the whole team and the Pens will see big success again.

Another huge contribution to their success would be if the power play continues to be as lethal as its been. Currently, the Pen’s power play is 1^st in the league at 27.1 percent success. Power play goals can really swing the momentum in a game and they must continue to use it’s effectiveness to their advantage. With Murray back in net and the superstars back on track, the power play can only get better and the team will be back on track for another successful playoff year.

Now, this wouldn’t be much of a sports blog if I didn’t at least mention the upcoming Super Bowl, even if the Steelers aren’t involved. The Eagles will face off against the Patriots in Minneapolis this Sunday in Super Bowl LII. Let’s just say I do not like the Patriots. Mostly because they’re just too good and the Steelers are never able to beat them. Also, Patriot’s fans are some of the cockiest people around. Thus, I have to say I’ll be rooting for the Eagles this weekend, hoping they teach the Patriots and their fans some humility. Never thought I would say this but Go Birds!

But most importantly…

LET’S GO PENS!!

Well yinz, last weekend our greatest fear came true as the Steeler’s season came to an abrupt end in a heartbreaking 42-45 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Steelers seemed unprepared for the matchup as they were simply outplayed by the Jags. Maybe they got too ahead of themselves by thinking about their Patriot rivals rather than focusing on the matchup in front.

Much of the fault lies in the weakness of the Steeler’s defense, a rare problem for this season as they were consistently ranked a top defense in the league. Throughout the game they continually let the Jaguars take the momentum away and the offense was playing catchup all afternoon. Although Ben topped Blake Bortles in the air game with 469 passing yards, the defense let star rookie Leonard Fournette run for 109 yards and 3 touchdowns, leading to their demise.

However, the offense is still responsible for some of the damage. As with the first matchup against Jacksonville, the Steelers shot themselves in the foot with turnovers. An interception and a fumble both led to Jacksonville touchdowns. Also, our star running back Le’Veon Bell stayed rather silent with only 67 rushing yards and a last-minute touchdown.

With all the bad stuff out of the way, let’s look on the bright side. We didn’t get the Super Bowl ending that we were hoping for, but a lot of good things came out of the season. Our rookie draft picks turned into standout players, the young defense proved to be extremely capable, and the offense continues to be a growing threat to multiple pro-bowl players on the roster.

Looking into next season there is more good news as Ben Roethlisberger announced that he plans to continue playing in 2018. We can now breathe a sigh of relief as most feared that this was his last season due to expressed interest in retirement after last season. This also buys the Steeler’s coaching staff some extra time in developing Laundry Jones or finding a more suitable replacement for the aging, hall of fame worthy quarterback.

One offseason issue remains with Le’Veon Bell, as it looks like they are going to have more contract complications. Last offseason, Bell did not reunite with the team until week one because he was not happy with his contract and being franchised tagged. Now this time around the Steelers announced they plan on tagging him again, and Bell has already expressed much distaste for this idea.

I’ll end this rather somber post with a glimmer of good news: The Penguins finally seem to be heating up. They have won 5 of their last 6 games, giving them a record of 24-19-3 and placing them 4^th in the metropolitan. They still have a lot of work to do to climb back to Cup-winning caliber, but always seem to have a knack for turning it up in the second half of the season. Let’s hope that’s the case and we will see a three-peat!

LET’S GO PENS!!!

What’s up yinz. Once again, the past two weekends were a wash for our Pittsburgh Steelers, with an embarrassing loss followed by a triumphant victory. The home game against Jacksonville was just plain awful (especially for those as myself who drove to Pittsburgh for it). Ben threw 5 interceptions and our prized running game amassed a whopping 47 yards. No wonder we lost 30-9.

After a performance like that, Mike Tomlin must have lit a fire under those guys because they came out hot against the Chiefs last Sunday. We turned around and gave Kansas City their first loss of the season in a 19-13 match, an impressive turnaround from Jacksonville. Let’s just hope we can stay consistent for once.

Now, we all know that fall is for football, but when your city is home to the reigning two-time Stanley Cup champions some room can be made for hockey. The only team I love as much (if not more at times) than the Pittsburgh Steelers are the Penguins and now that hockey season is in full swing as well, I think it’s appropriate to shift focus for the week.

For those who live under a rock and don’t know, the Pens are the hottest team in the NHL. Winning three Stanley cups in the last decade and being the only team in the post cap era to win back to back. But can they keep it going and be the first team in modern history to win three in a row? (Yes, it has been done but that was when there were few teams in the NHL and no salary cap).

Let’s face it, the odds are against us, but that’s not to say it can’t be done. The reason for the Pens success from 2016-2017 was simply the lack of change. The only major changes between the two seasons were trading away injury plagued Beau Bennett and acquiring defenseman Justin Shultz, which both benefitted us greatly. Other than that, the difference makers came up from Wilkes-Barre (Jake Gentzel, Conner Sheary, etc.). This consistency within the franchise is what led to the second cup, if you don’t change the best team in hockey, then they are still the best team in hockey.

Ryan Reaves

Greg McKegg

This season, however, things were shaken up a bit and I’m not sure for better or worse yet. The most prominent was the loss of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the Vegas expansion team. Having two top quality goaltenders was a massive advantage for the Pens and Fleury will be missed. Other losses include Nick Bonino and Matt Cullen. However, the acquisitions of players such as forwards Greg McKegg and Ryan Reaves and goalie Antti Niemi could provide adequate replacements and keep the pens on top.

So far the Pens are off to an okay start, with a record of 4-3 in the first few weeks of the season. This mediocre start is nothing to worry about because the Penguins are notorious for turning it on mid-season and keeping it on throughout playoffs. I think we have a good shot at a three-peat.

Almost forgot, Steelers play the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday at 4:25 pm. My prediction for the week…

Steelers: 20  Bengals: 13

HERE WE GO STEELERS (and Pens)!!!!