Greater Latrobe Wins State Championship

The Greater Latrobe Ice Cats are state champions.

Latrobe skated away with the Pennsylvania Cup after being crowned state champions in the Class AA High School Hockey Championship by defeating the Conestoga Pioneers, 3-2, today at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown, PA.

The State Championship game-winning goal was scored by JeffJoe Regula. Latrobe also had goals from Alex Stahl and Zack LaDuke.  The Ice Cats had a solid goaltending effort from Nick Loyacona, who stopped 33 shots from the Pioneers. 

This was the first state championship won by the Ice Cats in their 28 year history and the second team championship in Greater Latrobe's history. 

The Ice Cats were the only Penguins Cup Champions (Western Pennsylvania) to win in the state final:

CLASS A - Quaker Valley lost to West Chester East, 3-2, in the Class A game. QV's goals came from Noah Zamagias and Colin South.

CLASS AAA - Pine-Richland lost to LaSalle, 9-1, in the last game of the Cup Series.

Goal lights, camera, action!

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that scenes involving the Penguins - Islanders game will be filmed for an upcoming movie starring Jimmy Miller.  

Should be a great thing that showcases the old gray lady.

For those that might know about the other motion pictures shot at the Mellon (Civic) Arena, two other movies featured the Igloo:  The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh, and Sudden Death.

Flower, in the springtime

Any doubt what goaltender Michel Therrien gives the nod to when they playoffs start next week?

The Pens will count on Marc-Andre Fleury.  No surprise.

Ty Conklin has been an incredible backup.  He landed the plane when the real pilot was knocked out, but it's time to take off again.

Fleury has been hot.  Red hot. 

His last four games: 4-0-0,  save percentage =.945 and a 1.5 goals against average.

Tonight he turned away all 31 New York Islanders' shots to earn his fourth shutout of the season. 

Fleury's career total is now 11 in 168 games (.065) - exactly half of the club record held by Tom Barrasso. Tommy B had 22 shutouts in 458 games (.048).  

No doubt Barrasso was a proven star in the playoffs.  Even Mario Lemieux admitted that Barrasso deserved the Conn Smythe in 1992.

In 1991 Barrasso  entered the playoffs with .896 save percentage an and in 1992 he averaged .885.  Fleury is parked around .916 heading to this post season.

Can the Flower bloom deep into Spring?

EDITED: 4-1-08; other folks have noticed this: Fleury named number two star of the NHL for March.

Pittsburgh - Philadelphia Super Series?

Here's to the most potentially super-charged rivalry.

The Flyers and Penguins play an unprecedented NINE consecutive games?

Here's the goofy - but simple - scenario that makes it a possibility:

The standings stay exactly the way they are now. The Penguins end up finishing in second and the Flyers in seventh place.  That would mean a first round match-up between, you guessed it, the Pens and Flyers.  A First/Eighth scenario is just as likely.

Here's a peak at the remaining Penguins' schedule.

It would take a seven game series to to run the total to nine in a row.  Imagine that.

Hope Lauren Hart and Jeff Jimmerson have their voices rested. 

St. Francis Hospital bites the dust

It took ten seconds to implode the former St. Francis Central Hospital.

The area is really taking shape for Pittsburgh's newest arena and the "official" groundbreaking is likely to coincide with the first home playoff game.

The Penguins plan to move into the new arena during the 2010-11 season.

Greater Latrobe wins Penguins Cup Final

Great Western Pennsylvania hockey tonight and congrats to Penguins Cup Champion Greater Latrobe Ice Cats.

The game was a tight, drama packed Class AA final between Latrobe and Franklin Regional that took overtime to crown the champion.

Congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins, too. Their dedication to youth hockey is top-notch.  Attention was paid to every detail - especially the white-gloved cup presenter.

Latrobe's Jeff Rossi, who recently returned to the line-up after an injury, scored once in regulation and the game-winner in overtime.

Rossi's goal was a clean goal; the kind you are proud to score and not embarrassed by if you give it up.  He shot on Franklin Regional's Anthony Livecchi and then collected his own rebound.

And then the coolest thing happened: Livecchi collected the puck from his goal and gave it to Rossi. 

Very sportsmanlike.  Very classy.

Click here for the Tribune-Review's slideshow from the game.

Wishing you a Happy Craig Patrick's Day

Let's pause to remember the luck of the Irish.

We can all be thankful that then Penguins' VP and General Manager Craig Patrick brought a four-leaf clover to Draft Day on July 22, 2005 to luck-out by the Pens drawing ping-pong ball #12 to win the Sidney Crosby Lottery.

Aside from Craig, the Penguins have had four other "Patricks" 

on the team: Boileau, Lalime, Lebeau, & Neaton.  Check the all-time roster page for this.

Patrick's shamrock wasn't the first one related to hockey in the Steel City...the

Pittsburgh Shamrocks played for only one season here - 1935-36 - in the International Hockey League.

New arena sold out?

One year ago today Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl joined Pittsburgh Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle and announced a deal for a new multi-purpose arena to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh for at least the next 30 years. The Mellon Arena, with a seating capacity at 16,940, has been full ever since. Every game this season has attracted a standing-room-only sellout crowd.

The Penguins will set a franchise record tonight for consecutive sellouts in one season at 35 and run the total to 48 consecutive sellouts at the Mellon Arena. The current streak surpasses the high attendance marks following the Stanley Cup wins in 1991 & 1992.

The team has more than 1,000 people on the waiting list for season tickets - most wanting a least a pair of season tickets. If the Pens don't hold any seats back, the new 18,500 seat Mellon BONY Arena will be sold out before the foundation is even poured.

Crosby returns; lifts team to first place in East

Sidney Crosby returned to the Penguins lineup and set up the game-winning goal late in the third period.

Crosby, who missed nearly seven weeks with a high-ankle sprain, set up Maxime Talbot's goal with 2:47 remaining in a scoreless tie.

Crosby showed a little rust in his first few shifts, but quickly began to dictate the pace of the game.

Marc-Andre Fleury was solid in goal, stopping all 35 shots from the Lightning to earn his third shutout of the season and the tenth of his career.

The Penguins, with 83-points, moved all alone atop the Atlantic Divsion and the Eastern Conference. 

Pittsburgh last held the top spot in the east in 1997, during the Kevin Constantine era.

The Sid is Alright

The Pittsburgh Sports Insider is the first to report that Sidney Crosby will return to the line-up tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning.