Pens' 1-2 punch packs equally devastating wallop

Malkin's Emergence Changed Everything

By Mike Prisuta
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 9, 2008



The argument revolving around the "best player in the world" may be impossible to accurately define, but this much is undeniable:

Of the three most-often referenced presumptive nominees -- Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin -- two play for the Penguins.

That's the Flyers' problem in the Eastern Conference final.

Eventually, it'll be the Red Wings' or Stars' dilemma.

The emergence of Malkin, particularly since the high-ankle sprain Crosby suffered on Jan. 18, changed everything.

It's elevated the Penguins' game and accelerated their expectations.

It's altered the balance of power in the Eastern Conference and, perhaps, the NHL.

Malkin blossoming as rapidly as he has and coexisting as wonderfully as he does with Crosby has transformed the Penguins from the team of the future into a team on the cusp of a Cup.

It's not that Crosby's injury afforded Malkin a chance to step out from Crosby's massive shadow, Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar said.

From Gonchar's unique perspective as a fellow Russian and as Malkin's landlord, a second year in the NHL and in North America for Malkin have meant everything.

"He's comfortable off the ice, and it's paying off on the ice," Gonchar said.

Deferring to Crosby out of reverence or respect or because even a non-English speaking Russian teenager could recognize the Penguins were Crosby's team was never a part of this equation.

From where Malkin was coming from, Crosby being The Face of the Franchise apparently didn't translate.

"Since Day One (Malkin) said he was just going to out there and play his game," Gonchar said. "We speak Russian, obviously, and he can say to me whatever he wants. He never said he was going to be second, or, 'I want to be first.' Sid is a friend and a teammate, they're good buddies, they're spending time together.

"It's not about being No. 1 or No. 2 between them."

Crosby remains The Face of the Franchise from a media and marketing standpoint.

Malkin is content to slip anonymously back to Gonchar's house to chat with friends back in Russia on the computer or listen to Russian music.

In many respects, they're polar opposites.

But the way they go about their business is indistinguishable to those paying close attention.

"Geno is just (as driven) as Sid," Pens defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "(Malkin) just goes about it a lot quieter."

The 14 points registered by both this postseason and the ability of each to dominate playoff games suggests Crosby and Malkin are No. 1 and No. 1A among the Penguins.

There's no need to differentiate because the designations fluctuate.

"It doesn't matter," Gonchar said. "One game one guy is playing better, and the next game it's another guy. The good thing about two guys is you have two of them.

"If you look at Mario (Lemieux), when they were winning he had (Jaromir) Jagr. If you look at (Steve) Yzerman, he had (Sergei) Fedorov. If you look at (Joe) Sakic, he has (Peter) Forsberg. Even Edmonton, you look at (Wayne) Gretzky, there was (Mark) Messier.

"If you want to win you have to have two guys. We're lucky to have them."

Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at mprisuta@tribweb.com or 412-320-7923.

Crosby leads his Penguins by example

By Rob Rossi
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 9, 2008



Forgive forward Tyler Kennedy if Sidney Crosby's stature as the NHL's brightest star is not obvious during his conversations with the Penguins' first-year captain.

"I just don't think about him that way anymore, and I haven't for a while," Kennedy said Thursday from inside the Penguins dressing room at Mellon Arena, where Crosby rules as perhaps no other 20-year-old should or could. "Maybe it's because we're always goofing around?"

"When I first got here, there was so much talk about him. I saw him on the ice and right away I knew all the talk was right on. He is so strong, so fast and so good. He steps off the ice and everything he does - you kind of forget about it.

"He was the first guy that talked to me at training camp. I got an impression he was a good guy. Having been around him most of the season, I can tell you he's more than just a good guy.

"He's a great captain."

Crosby has read the sentence enough times to lose count: The Penguins are his team.

They are, of course, but mostly because he never allows teammates to feel that way.

"I think all our guys are what make our team so special," Crosby said. "I try to lead by example, but it takes everyone."

Crosby has won over everyone that occupies a locker-room stall - from Kennedy, a rookie, to left wing Gary Roberts, a veteran of 20 NHL seasons. He has done it by doing little things that often go unnoticed to those not paying attention.

The Crosby only the Penguins know is not the so-called kid who sits on a stage in a media room after playoff practices to answer questions. He does so only after a carefree chat with No. 3 goaltender Dany Sabourin, who has not played since Feb. 21.

He will answer every question, perhaps in cliches.

First, though, he must discuss faceoff strategy with Adam Hall. Then he will trade barbs with defenseman Ryan Whitney. Finally, Crosby is sure to toss a Gatorade bottle in the direction of forward Jeff Taffe, who has yet to dress in the playoffs but is always made to feel as though he is a key component to the Penguins' success.

"I don't know if it was surprising, but it was interesting to come to this team and see how he handled everything," said Hall, who had not met Crosby prior to earning a roster spot in training camp. "He is one of those guys with a presence. As most great players do, he carries a lot of weight.

"It was refreshing, though, to see - and you see it pretty quick - that he is a normal guy. Not just that; he's a great guy. He wants to hang out with his teammates, talk about everything that's going on. He makes everybody feel comfortable, and he doesn't have to.

"Maybe it's something he works really hard at, but I don't think so. That's just Sid."

Crosby's preferred brand of leadership-by-example combines Steve Yzerman's stoicism and Mark Messier's intensity. It has nothing to do with his ability to pile points at a rate few can match. His 1.38 points-per-game average is tops among all players over the past three seasons.

He has actually bettered that rate with 14 points in nine playoff games - a fact that debunks claims his 2008 postseason performance is disappointing.

"That's so stupid," forward Max Talbot said. "People keep saying he's not playing well. He's at (1.55) points-per-game, and there are people saying, 'Sid needs to step up.'

"People don't get it. He's the captain of a team that is eight wins from the Stanley Cup, something he's talked about winning since he was at least 14. He's 20. He's the best player in the world. He's the most talked about hockey player. He needs to step up?

"Does anybody think we've come this far because he hasn't stepped up?"

No, but Crosby has never concerned himself with what anybody thinks - at least not anybody outside his dressing room.

"His personality... it's pretty contagious," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "It's not him saying anything, just his approach. It's every single day. He's constantly being watched by guys on his own team, and guys learn so much from how he reacts to situations.

"It starts with Sid. We've come a long way, but it starts with Sid."

Rob Rossi can be reached at rrossi@tribweb.com or 412-380-5635.

Malkin's personality starts to show through

By Shelly Anderson
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Thursday, May 08, 2008



Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Evgeni Malkin gets caught up under Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist late in deciding game Sunday at Mellon Arena.

Perhaps the Penguins long ago should have called in the best archeologists. Even as methodical as they are, maybe they could have unearthed Evgeni Malkin's personality a little faster than it has emerged on its own in a new language.

Twenty-one months after he arrived in Pittsburgh to sign his NHL rookie contract, the enigmatic center's off-ice nature remains nearly buried to all but his teammates, even while his hockey skills have jetted him to the forefront of his sport as he and the team prepare to play Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference final starting tomorrow.

There are, though, starting to be some clues about the lanky Russian. Brush away a little dust, and an edge of Malkin's funny bone emerges.

After the Penguins' 3-2, overtime win Sunday that eliminated the New York Rangers -- and featured a spectacular, turnaround backhand goal by Malkin -- he was reminded of something he said earlier this season about Philadelphia.

After he had a goal and three assists in a 4-3 win Feb. 10 that broke a four-game losing streak to the Penguins' cross-state rivals, Malkin said he didn't like the Flyers, playing against them or playing in Wachovia Center, where, he said, fans pelt the Penguins' bench with popcorn.

Despite gaining that insight on the rivalry, he wasn't quite willing to repeat that with the playoff matchup looming.

"I don't like anybody," Malkin, 21, said in what would have been a snappier retort if it hadn't had to be cycled through interpreter George Birman.

"If I like them or not, we have to play them."

And whether the Flyers like it or not, they have to play against Malkin, a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP.

"He's emerged as a world-class player and he's continued to play well right through the playoffs," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said.

Malkin finished second in the NHL in the regular season with 106 points, and his 14 playoff points in nine games have him tied with four others for first among scorers whose teams are still alive.

One of the others with 14 points is teammate Sidney Crosby, whose road to possibly repeating as the NHL scoring champion and MVP was derailed by an ankle injury, one that forced him to miss 28 games in the regular season and opened the door for Malkin to shine.

"Malkin, he reminds me of [former Flyer] Peter Forsberg in his prime, protecting the puck, making plays," said Philadelphia defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who is likely to be on the ice when Malkin is.

Crosby has two goals to Malkin's six this postseason and -- based on the way Malkin has dazzled, dipsy-doodled and dominated several games this postseason -- might have slipped to a spot alongside Malkin or even a skate blade's width behind him at the top of a short list of the world's best players.

"Geno's flying out there," Crosby said, using Malkin's American nickname.

That's far different from the end of last season, when Malkin had 85 points and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year but was spent and a little lost at playoff time. He had four assists but was hardly dominant, or even noticeable, in the Penguins' five-game loss to Ottawa in the first round.

This time, he knew what to expect.

"I figured that out last year when I had my first playoff experience," Malkin said through Birman. "It's a completely different game, different hockey."

He also realized how to condition and pace himself after playing more games than he ever had in a season and after a tumultuous summer 2006 when he broke away from his Russian Super League team to come to North America. "I feel great," Malkin said, also through Birman.

Great enough that more and more he will attempt some English interaction with those outside the team, especially if there are no cameras or microphones nearby.

He was asked one-on-one in English after a practice this week about faceoffs, perhaps the only component of his game that is not world class (39.3 percent winning clip in the regular season, 40.9 percent in the playoffs). He first shrugged and, in his deep voice and very understandable English answered, "Not good."

Thinking about it a couple seconds longer, he decided to offer an explanation.

"My arms are skinny," Malkin said, looking down at the portions not covered by his T-shirt sleeves.

Then, with a grin, he dipped his shoulder and slipped through a door to an area -- and a world -- accessible only to the players.


Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.
First published on May 8, 2008 at 12:00 am

Duke, LaRoche finally break out

By Bob Smizik
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Wednesday, May 07, 2008



John Heller/Post-Gazette
Zach Duke's performance was a big part of a heartening night for the Pirates.

With the prospect of going 12-20 and putting themselves on a pace to lose 101 games, the Pirates did not flinch last night at PNC Park. They battered the San Francisco Giants something awful -- 14 hits and three home runs -- on their way to a 12-6 win. With this victory, the Pirates are on pace to lose only 96 times this season.

There were highlights galore, but none so astonishing as these two:

• A stellar performance from a starting pitcher.

• A home run from Adam LaRoche.

Who'd ever believe it?

Zach Duke, who was batting practice for National League hitters for much of 2006 and all of '07, won his first game of the season with a strong performance in front of another sparse crowd. There were 12,030 tickets sold for the game.

LaRoche, fresh off another awful April, not only homered in his second game in a row, but also hit this one off a left-handed pitcher, against whom he was batting .125.

Oh, yes, Nate McLouth homered twice, giving him nine for the season, and Xavier Nady drove in two runs, giving him 32 and, at least temporarily, the National League lead.

But from McLouth and Nady such exploits have become almost commonplace. They have been two of the best players in the National League this season. McLouth went into the game among the top 10 in the National League in doubles (first), runs (fifth), hits (eighth), RBIs (seventh), total bases (sixth), slugging percentage (seventh), batting average with runners in scoring position (sixth) and extra-base hits (third). Nady was in the top 10 in batting (eighth), doubles (sixth), hits (eighth), RBIs (second), multi-hit games (fifth) and batting average with runners in scoring position (eighth).

Too bad no other teammates remotely approached such accomplishments.

So it was about time others stepped up. It was particularly heartening, for those who have any hopes for the Pirates, that Duke and LaRoche were two to do so.

The Pirates' starting pitching has been monumentally ineffective. Remember the talk in spring training about them having the best rotation in the NL Central? Ha!. More like the worst. No, actually, the worst.

Pirates starters had the worst earned run average in the National League at a whopping 5.93, which explains why they were last in wins with six. Opponents were batting .312 against Pirates starters, worst in the league. Those same starters had allowed the most runs, the second-most hits and struck out the fewest.

Pirates starters have been so bad that they're making the relievers look good. The bullpen, considered a team strength by some, was 13th in the National League in ERA at 4.38 and 11th in batting average against at .257.

Enter Duke, 0-2 and being pummeled by NL hitting to the tune of a .320 batting average. On this night he was more reminiscent of the Duke of 2005, the pitcher who was 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA after a July call-up. He's not going to return to that form on a consistent basis. But since this was his second consecutive strong start -- two runs and five hits in seven innings in his last outing -- there is a glimmer of hope that Duke can become an effective starter.

"I do have a good rhythm going," he said. "Hopefully, I can stay at this level I'm at right now."

Duke left with one on and two out in the eighth. He allowed 8 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks and struck out 3. Sean Burnett, in his first major league appearance since 2004, only added to the bullpen's bad numbers by giving up a run-scoring single and a two-run homer.



John Heller/Post-Gazette
Adam LaRoche eludes the tag of Giants catcher Bengie Molina to extend the Pirates' lead to 10-1 in the seventh inning last night at PNC Park.

LaRoche's maddeningly ineffective Aprils are well known. He just doesn't hit in the first month. His career average for April was .179. His career average for May is .279.

In his past three games, LaRoche is 6 for 12 with two homers and five RBIs.

It's about time.

"He's been swinging the bat well," said manager John Russell. "It's been a process. The last couple of weeks he's starting to lock in. He's not chasing pitches the way he was. He can really pick up our offense."

PNC Park remains the jewel along the Allegheny, but what's happening inside is becoming a bit of a sick joke.

For example, in the San Francisco ninth, with one out, the fans wildly applauded a throw from short left field by Nyjer Morgan that prevented a runner on third from tagging up. The fact the runner had no intention of trying to score was lost on the crowd. So was the fact the throw was about 10 feet off target.

But 15 years of losing will do that to a fan base.

Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com
First published on May 7, 2008 at 12:00 am

Worth the wait: Inside the McLouth breakout

Gifted with patience at the plate and all through his career, the Pirates' 'Mighty Mouse' is baseball's most productive center fielder

By Dejan Kovacevic
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tuesday, May 06, 2008



Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Nate McLouth

WASHINGTON -- Remember those fat, orange bats from childhood?

Nate McLouth had one at age 4 and, as his parents recall, was blessed with the coordination to whack his father's overhand offerings onto the roof of their single-story home in Whitehall, Mich.

But that was not the part Rick McLouth found most impressive.

"Nate would take pitches," the elder McLouth said. "Honestly, if he didn't like what I threw, he wouldn't even budge."

This might best explain why nobody, not Nate McLouth's family, not his high school coach, not any of his professional instructors, including those currently with the Pirates, can lay claim to that patient, sweet-swinging style that has made him one of the more compelling story lines early in this Major League Baseball season.

As Pirates hitting coach Don Long put it, "That approach he has, that's not something you teach."

Leading off

Nor is it something anyone would want to diminish, but that is precisely what the team's previous management did, almost universally, from the time McLouth was drafted in 2000: He was labeled too small at 5 feet 11 to hit for power, not fast enough to be a center fielder.

"Fourth outfielder, at best," they would say, again and again.

And yet ...

In his first week of pro ball in 2001, he batted .423 with a home run.

In 2002, he struck out once every 9.44 plate appearances in Class A and walked nearly as often, establishing uncommon command of the zone, an element never stressed by previous management.

In 2003, he was a Class A All-Star.

In 2004, he led the Class AA Eastern League in hits and runs.

In 2005, he was batting .297 in Class AAA.

This most assuredly was not someone sneaking up the ladder.

It was not until McLouth was summoned to Pittsburgh late that season, actually, that any difficulty was encountered. And there would be plenty of it: He batted .257 with little pop for the rest of 2005, then .233 the following year as a reserve.

What went wrong?

The answer seems clear: Jim Tracy, upon taking over as manager in 2006, was set on Chris Duffy as his center fielder and would start McLouth -- "a nice piece to have," Tracy would call him -- only when the Pirates faced a tough left-hander, essentially taking the bullets for a sagging Duffy. It was a tall order for a veteran, much less a rookie.

McLouth's role changed little under Tracy to start last season, and it was not until Duffy was injured and Rajai Davis was traded that he finally got his chance in August.

"This is what I've been waiting for," McLouth would say at the time.

All he did was club seven home runs with 17 RBIs that month.

Only to go right back to the bench.

Nyjer Morgan, a September call-up, quickly captivated Tracy by making highlight-reel catches in center. Tracy not only benched McLouth but also wondered publicly how much better the Pirates might have been all season if Morgan had been promoted sooner.

McLouth, never one to complain publicly, did seek counsel back home.

"It wasn't easy for him, and we talked about it," Rick McLouth said. "We were all pulling for Nyjer, and we still do. But for Nate to go right back to the bench there just didn't seem fair. It made him wonder what he had to do."

The key, as it played out, was turned by owner Bob Nutting in firing the Pirates' entire management team, Tracy included, by year's end.

New general manager Neal Huntington, as part of an exhaustive evaluation of all players over the winter, assigned a video assistant to splice together footage of every defensive play McLouth and Morgan made in 2007. And not just fly balls.

The determination, one that might have surprised more observers than Tracy a few months ago, was that McLouth was, in the words of one team official, "just as good, maybe better."

Huntington also analyzed all players' hitting tendencies, particularly at PNC Park, where the Pirates never had taken strides toward building a home-field advantage. The result: Three of McLouth's five home runs at PNC Park in 2007 landed above the nearby Clemente Wall in right field, and many that he hit in other stadiums went in the same direction.

McLouth heard about that over the offseason.

"It meant so much to me," he said. "All I've ever asked is that someone pays attention to what I do for you on a daily basis. I'm never going to look all that flashy. But I'll get the job done."

The Pirates entered spring training officially declaring center field open to a duel, guarding against a McLouth injury, but it soon became obvious he was their choice.

The patience, and not just what McLouth was showing at the plate, had paid off.

"This is it," McLouth said, shortly before the team headed for Atlanta to open the season. "This is my chance."



Washington Nationals second baseman Cristian Guzman, right, fields the ball as Pittsburgh Pirates' Nate McLouth is safe at second after hitting a double during the third inning of a baseball game, Friday, May 2, 2008, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Second coming

McLouth is the oldest of three boys, growing up in a tight family in quiet, quaint Whitehall, population 2,800. And, being the first, he always was the explorer.

"Nate loved everything outdoors, anywhere he could be where he was running around," his mother, Pam, recalled. "And he never walked. He always ran. Sometimes, you didn't know where he was, and you'd find him down by the creek chasing frogs."

Those feet kept moving as he grew, too. He dabbled in football and basketball, having grown up in a community that reveres both so long as they are played in a University of Michigan uniform. But his first passion, hobby and everything else was baseball, for no special reason, really, other than that he always excelled at it.

"It's not that I didn't like the other things," he said. "But I wasn't fast enough for football and was too short for basketball. Besides, I just loved baseball."

Still, so much of McLouth's career has been about being the second choice.

He batted .514 as a senior and went 51 for 51 in steals, but still was not a consensus top choice as Michigan's best amateur: He shared the state's Mr. Baseball honors and was honorable mention on USA Today's All-America list.

"The thing that struck you about Nate wasn't just his talent," said Warren Zweigle, his coach at Whitehall High School. "It was the way he applied himself, how hard he worked to learn and get better at everything."

And yet ...

"I can't tell you how many scouts, dozens of them, would come to his games and say, 'Nice player. Not big enough.' I actually started to question that myself."

Soon after, McLouth committed to Michigan, fulfilling his and his parents' dream scenario.

"We wanted to be one of those families that drove around to all the Big Ten cities to watch our boy play ball," Rick McLouth said.

That in mind, he advised major-league teams that, if they thought about drafting his son when he became eligible in 2000, it would take the equivalent of a third-round bonus to keep him from college. Most teams took that seriously, and 24 rounds went by without his name being called.

The Pirates, in the midst of their best -- and most aggressive -- drafting period of the past decade under former scouting director Mickey White, took McLouth in the 25th, even though they knew they lacked the general pool of money to sign him.

They offered $100,000, and it was flatly rejected despite it being miles above 25th-round money.

"We knew it was going to be tough," White recalled this spring. "But we wanted this player and, then, we got a little lucky."

The Pirates learned they would not be able to sign a fourth-round pick, so that money could be shifted to McLouth. Duane Gustavson, the scout handling the signing, met with the McLouths for five hours at their home and offered $500,000, plus full college tuition if he attends someday.

The deal was done.

Being second choice, this one time, was just fine.

"But you know what? It was going to take something like that," Nate said. "I wasn't bluffing about college."

Neither were his parents. Pam McLouth left the room in tears.

"I felt like we were sending Nate to the wolves," she said. "We come from a small, pretty conservative town, and we didn't know where this was going. I saw a Michigan professor at a convenience store a couple days later, and I turned away so he didn't see me."

As it turns out, the parents are living that aspect of their dream now, too: Younger sons Jake, 21, and Christopher, 22, are at Michigan.



Pittsburgh Pirates' Nate McLouth rounds second base on a solo home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday April 27, 2008 in Pittsburgh. The Pirates won 5-1.
(AP Photo/Don Wright)

Triple threat

In addition to justifying new management's video study with exemplary defense, McLouth, 26, has the best offensive numbers in the majors among center fielders: His average is .323, his on-base percentage .411, his home runs at seven -- same as that one month Tracy let him play last season -- and his RBIs at 25.

The latter figure floors his teammates, coming out of the leadoff spot.

"Amazing," left fielder Jason Bay said.

The rest, though, has surprised no one associated with the Pirates, save, perhaps, those in management no longer employed by the team. The weekend before the season, a clubhouse poll revealed a strong sentiment that McLouth would be their breakout player this summer.

"You watch," shortstop Jack Wilson said then. "It's going to be all about Nate."

Wilson took to calling him, "Mighty Mouse McLouth," and it has managed to stick.

The main reason for such confidence, apart from a widely held respect for McLouth's work ethic and all-baseball intensity, is what many teammates see as a slump-proof swing.

"Everything is very compact, very consistent," Long said. "Because of that, because he can keep the bat back that extra second, then get it through the zone in a hurry and maintain his power."

The key, as was the case with that orange bat, is the patience. McLouth is seeing a team-high 4.5 pitches per plate appearance.

"Still the same approach," Zweigle said. "And with those quick hands, he still can turn on anybody's fastball."

That is not all that remains unchanged.

McLouth behaves no differently now, when surrounded by cameras as happened April 14 in Los Angeles after that ninth-inning, three-run winning blast, than he did as a baby-faced prospect. He is in a state of near-anxiety about his status and is perpetually fidgety about finding ways to improve.

He also remains engaged in numerous charitable functions, having worked with Pirates president Frank Coonelly to form the new "Lucky 13" club based on his uniform. And he still helps the Whitehall program, having recently sent Zweigle 200 autographed baseball cards for the team to sell.

"First-class kid," Zweigle said.

Above all, even now, McLouth focuses on the group and not the individual, no matter the topic at hand.

"I called Nate the morning after that homer in L.A.," his agent, Mike Nicotera said. "He was on ESPN's 'Cold Pizza' that day and got all these headlines, and I ask him how that feels. He says back to me, 'Mike, we've won four in a row!' That's Nate."

"Between how Nate is at the plate and how patient he's been in waiting for his chance ... I really don't know where he got that from," Rick McLouth said. "No one else in the family is really like that. He just stays at such an even keel."

The larger question might be whether McLouth's level of performance will change. And, when it comes to center fielders in Pittsburgh, that subject always is fair game: As most locals can cite ruefully, the list of those to play the position since Andy Van Slyke's departure include Jermaine Allensworth, Tike Redman, Adrian Brown, and Duffy, all of whom had promising spurts.

Some call it a curse.

But not in Whitehall, apparently.

"A curse?" Pam McLouth said. "There's something way bigger than that curse that we believe in. That's our son out there. We've always known what he can do, and everyone else is just finding out."

Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@post-gazette.com.
First published on May 6, 2008 at 12:00 am

Pens' Malkin makes special conversion

By Mike Prisuta
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, May 5, 2008



The Penguins' Evgeni Malkin celebrates his second-period goal against the New York Rangers at Mellon Arena in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal, May 4, 2008. The Penguins won, 3-2, in overtime.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review

The buzz entering Game 5 of a competitive-again Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Penguins and New York Rangers suggested Sidney Crosby was likely to translate his frustration from Game 4 into a dominating performance.

In retrospect, it should have been about how disappointed Evgeni Malkin was in himself, and justifiably so, and about how determined the young Russian was to make amends.

The scoresheet decreed that the series-winning goal for the Penguins was scored by Marian Hossa at 7:10 of overtime, off assists from Crosby and Pascal Dupuis.

It was Hossa's second goal of the game and Crosby's second assist.

Still, the individual that delivered the Penguins to the NHL's Final Four more than any other was Malkin.

He had just one point Sunday afternoon and emerged even in plus/minus.

But those numbers don't begin to characterize the impact Malkin had on the Penguins, once and for all putting the Rangers away and avoiding what would have been a most uncomfortable Game 6 tonight at Madison Square Garden.

Malkin scored a ridiculous goal to put the Penguins ahead, 2-0, at 12:40 of the second period, regaining possession after being poke-checked by Rangers defenseman Paul Mara and then unleashing a backhand that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist still hasn't seen.

Malkin had nine other shots on goal, missed the net on four occasions and had one attempt blocked.

He was responsible enough defensively to hustle back and help thwart a potential two-on-one for the Rangers while the Penguins were skating with a man-advantage in overtime.

He played 24 minutes, 43 seconds, more than any forward on either side.



Penguins Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Malone celebrate Marian Hossa's second-period goal in front of New York Rangers goaltender Hendrik Lundqvist at Mellon Arena in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal, May 4, 2008. The Penguins won, 3-2, in overtime.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review

Malkin won six of eight faceoffs, an aspect of his game which is sometimes as inept as Malkin was on Game 4's regretfully-passive penalty shot.

His failure to beat Lundqvist in that instance was understandable, as were the frustrations Malkin experienced while trying unsuccessfully throughout to put a dent in what became a 3-0 Lundqvist shutout that dragged the series back to Mellon Arena.

But Malkin's slew-foot of Mara in Game 4's closing moments was unacceptable, particularly for a player of Malkin's stature.

"I was pretty frustrated, upset," Malkin said through interpreter George Birman. "Absolutely, it was my fault."

Malkin was the best player on the ice in Game 5, a game in which the Penguins needed someone wearing black to be that.

He had some help, of course.

Crosby was persistent throughout and avoided succumbing to the frustrations he had experienced in Game 4.

Hossa was as timely as he was tenacious; his afternoon included a brilliant dive and sweep to keep the puck in the Rangers' end on the power play Hossa ultimately converted into the game's first goal.

And defenseman Hal Gill absolutely suffocated Rangers' captain Jaromir Jagr, whose last shot of the series turned out to be into an empty net in New York.

But Malkin tilted the ice.

He was as relentless as necessary from the first period until the last handshake.

Hossa had called Malkin the "best player in the world" following Game 3.

Malkin was that again yesterday.

"I learn every day something different," he said.

The buzz following Game 5 is that Malkin has learned to bounce back.

The Penguins are that much more dangerous as a result.


Mike Prisuta can be reached at mprisuta@tribweb.com or 412-320-7923.

Hard work? It's in the Penguins' stars

By Ron Cook
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Monday, May 05, 2008



Pittsburgh Penguins' Marian Hossa, left, of Slovakia celebrates his second period goal against the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinal NHL playoff hockey series in Pittsburgh Sunday, May 4, 2008. Hossa had a second goal, a game winner in overtime, as the Penguins won the game 3-2, and the series four games to one.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

When it finally ended late yesterday afternoon, after 67 minutes, 10 seconds of tough, physical, tense playoff hockey, Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik showed remarkable stamina by making it from his locker to the team refrigerator and a precious energy drink.

Hey, it was all the way across the room.

"It's not supposed to be easy," someone said to Orpik after the Penguins needed overtime to close down the New York Rangers for the summer, winning Game 5 of their playoff hostilities, 3-2.

"It isn't?" asked grinning team owner Mario Lemieux as he passed by on his way to shake a few more hands.

"Maybe for you it was easy. Not for the rest of us," Orpik told the great Lemieux.

Amen.

This throbbing win, which set off a raucous Mellon Arena celebration and nudged the Penguins into the Eastern Conference final later this week against the hated Philadelphia Flyers, will go down in team lore as the overtime thriller that ended in a New York instant when sniper Marian Hossa's dead-on shot found the back of the Rangers' net behind fabulous goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. But there was so much more to it than that goal and an earlier one by Hossa and even another out-of-this-world goal by Evgeni Malkin, your Conn Smythe Trophy favorite at the halfway point of these Stanley Cup playoffs.

Mostly, there was hard work.

From the Penguins' role players, sure.

But -- and this is really important, so write it down -- from the team's stars.

"It's not so much about skill in the playoffs," wise winger Pascal Dupuis said. "It's about effort. When your franchise players are working as hard or even harder than the role players, you're going to win."

So it was for this bunch of flightless birds.



PITTSBURGH - MAY 04: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins is named the second star of the game against the New York Rangers in game five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 4, 2008 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Much of the extraordinary effort came from the Penguins' penalty-killers, every bit the heroes against the Rangers that Malkin, Hossa, Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury were. Take a bow, Ryan Malone, Jordan Staal, Adam Hall and Mr. Dupuis. Step right on up onto the stage with them, Hal Gill, Rob Scuderi, Sergei Gonchar and Mr. Orpik. Those fellas never gave the Rangers a chance. The New York power play went 0 for 4 with one shot in this game, a dull 3 for 25 in the series.

Hard work?

We're talking off the charts.

"Guys are paying the price because they want to win so bad," Dupuis said. "They're blocking shots. They're getting in the shooting lanes. And when the puck does get through to the net, we've got a wall in front of it. Marc-Andre is playing unbelievably right now."

Penguins general manager Ray Shero's deal for Hossa at the February trade deadline was celebrated long into the night all over the city, but how about picking up Dupuis in the package? And what about the trade for Gill? "His stick is everywhere," Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney said of Gill. "He just breaks up play after play."

Killing penalties -- actually, playing defense in general -- is largely about want to. These Penguins clearly want to. It was no accident that the Rangers had four shots in the first minute yesterday, then just three the rest of the first period. Or that they had a total of four -- count 'em, four -- in the second period, none in the final 14 minutes, 50 seconds. Or that they didn't have a single shot in overtime.

"It's pretty good to know we can clamp down like that," Whitney said. "People don't think of us as a defensive team. We're proving we are one."

Don't underestimate the stars' impact in that.

Hossa is the best two-way player on the team right now, just as reliable in the defensive zone as he is when he has the puck trying to torture goalies. "He's a special player," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said with obvious appreciation. "He doesn't cheat out there."

Throw in Crosby, the team's hardest worker on the ice, in practice, in the weight room, on the stationary bike ...

You get the idea.

And add Malkin, whose energy seems boundless. Was he all over the ice yesterday or what?

Stars aren't stars merely because they have terrific talent.

These stars are stars because they work for what they get.

Two examples from yesterday:

Hossa scored the Penguins' first goal, but that was the easy part after a wonderful pass from Malone. The hard part was keeping the puck in the Rangers' zone, which Hossa did with an all-out dive a few moments earlier. "You don't see superstars diving for the puck like that very often," Whitney marveled.

Malkin scored the second goal because he refused to quit on the puck. After he tried to split Rangers defensemen Paul Mara and Marc Staal in front of Lundqvist, the puck was nudged slowly back up ice. Malkin stopped on a dime, changed direction and pounced on the puck before firing a backhander by the stunned Lundqvist.

It's no wonder Lemieux was grinning so much on his handshake tour.

The boys are giving him his money's worth this spring.

"We deserved to win that game," Therrien said. "We deserved to win this series."

It's worth saying again.

Amen.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.
First published on May 5, 2008 at 12:00 am

Shero's deal for Hossa proving to be a real winner

By Gene Collier
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Monday, May 05, 2008



Pittsburgh Penguins' Marian Hossa (18) of Slovakia celebrates after scoring the game winning goal against the New York Rangers in overtime of the Eastern Conference semi-final NHL playoff hockey game at Pittsburgh Sunday, May 4, 2008. The Penguins won the game 3-2, and won the series four games to one. The Penguins advance to face the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

When the puck slid into Marian Hossa's kitchen seven minutes into overtime yesterday, the physical and emotional enormity of what had happened in these five memorable games between the Penguins and New York Rangers flashed into crystal.

Bones cracked in this series, blood fell on the pond, spleens lacerated, and hearts broke and exalted, relative to vantage point.

Playoff hockey churns drama by the gallon, not by the script.

No script, no matter how demonically non-rhythmic, would produce the following stage direction at this point, but here it is.

Cue the Flyers.

Really, if these past 10 days with the Rangers left you with smoldering neurosystems, what soul-draining menace awaits against Philadelphia in two weeks and 300 miles of unpitying turnpike?

Don't bother looking for that EZPass Lane.

"The Flyers are playing very strong," said Jarkko Ruutu, asked to light the stove in the minutes after Hossa banged a pinballing puck to the other side of Henrik Lundqvist and dismiss the Rangers at happy hour yesterday. "They barely got into the playoffs, and then they beat the hottest team in hockey [the Washington Capitals] in the first round, and now they've dominated the No. 1 seed in the East [your Montreal Canadiens], winning, 4-1. We're getting a real good team here."

Ruutu surely wasn't suggesting the Flyers look like a team to be avoided.

I mean let's not start that nonsense again.

As it happens, there's no admission to the Stanley Cup final that doesn't include a long, violent encounter with Broad Street's best. Well, I suppose there could be a short, violent encounter, but I wouldn't count on it.

When Philadelphia pulls its video together in the next day or two, its coaching staff will have to spend a long time looking at Hossa, who is doing things at every expanse and in every corner of the ice that are turning these Penguins from a popular curiosity into suitable guardians of the Stanley Cup.

But then, that was the point, wasn't it?

Hossa and Pascal Dupuis and Hal Gill got here at the trade deadline because Penguins general manager Ray Shero thought these Penguins were close enough to royalty to acquire the kind of carriage the club might or might not be able to afford. But like everyone else in throbbing Mellon Arena yesterday, he'll jump off that bridge when he comes to it.



PITTSBURGH - MAY 04: Marian Hossa #18 of the Pittsburgh Penguins slows down Jaromir Jagr #68 of the New York Rangers during game five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 4, 2008 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Hossa scored the biggest goals of this Rangers series before the overtime in Game 5, but he had a certain fondness for this final one.

"I don't think I've ever scored a playoff goal in overtime," Hossa said. "So this was big, yeah. Sid was driving hard to the net, and I don't know what happened but the puck just came to me. It was a lucky one."

Crosby didn't have a much better explanation, probably because Hossa's fifth goal of the playoffs and second of the game was the result of typically manic playoff traffic in the offensive zone.

"It seemed like forever before it actually went in," Sid said.

Probably because this whole Sid & Marian deal has taken forever to establish its choreography. Shero delivered Hossa to Crosby's right hand when The Kid was convalescing, then Hossa immediately got hurt himself.

"You have to remember they didn't play much together late in the season," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said in one of the Arena's darker corridors. "But their chemistry is fully developed now. Sid's being checked really well, and still they're working together."

The news cycle in progress will emphasize Hossa's winner, but prettier and grittier was his first goal yesterday, the one that broke a scoreless tie in the second period, the one that ended 106 minutes and 15 seconds of goalless Penguins hockey.

That was a power-play goal as well, but the advantage started badly when Crosby's stick was broken. Thirty seconds later, with a deflected clearing pass leaking toward the blue line, Hossa lunged headlong to his right, swiping it to Ryan Malone in the right faceoff circle. Malone got it to Crosby on the left wing and headed for the slot, where Sid delivered it in virtually the same motion. Hossa, who got off the deck and headed to the spot Malone had vacated, accepted Malone's pass and buried it behind the sliding Lundqvist for a 1-0 lead and a ton of psychic relief for a young team whose scoring touch mysteriously had vanished.

Hossa's teammates somehow found a way to give a 2-0 third-period lead away to Wolf Pack and the Butler. That would be Lauri Korpikoski, whose previous known goal was for the Hartford Wolf Pack, and Nigel Dawes, who for all his evident hockey skills, has a name better suited to butlery.

"We had a breakdown on the one goal," Therrien offered, but apologized for nothing. "I really believe we deserved to win. Marian Hossa got rewarded; he had an outstanding game. He's dangerous every time he goes on the ice, and it's not only from a goal-scoring standpoint. He's outstanding on both ends of the ice."

So before this goes any further, Shero's gambit worked. That discussion needs no more oxygen.

Dupuis has been an additional offensive catalyst, Gill an outstanding penalty-killer and still the best Jaromir Jagr dissolvent in the NHL. Add Hossa, and you've got most of the reason this team that managed but a single playoff victory a year ago now finds itself in the conference final.

Shero's father, Fred, was the only man ever to coach the Flyers to a Stanley Cup championship. Thirty-three years later, the son stands in their way, and he has equipped himself very well.

Might be an angle, huh?

First published on May 5, 2008 at 12:00 am

Steelers Minicamp: Ward finds incentive in second-round choice

By Ed Bouchette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sunday, May 04, 2008



Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Steelers second-round draft choice Limas Sweed receives a few pointers from Hines Ward.

Hines Ward owns all the Steelers' receiving records worth having: Career and season highs for receptions, yards and touchdown catches. His four Pro Bowls are more than any Steelers receiver. He earned a Super Bowl MVP. He even has the most career rushing yards for a Steelers receiver.

Yet Ward relentlessly looks for incentive, a slight that might motivate him, something to put the chip back where it belongs because those chips drive him, and he forever finds at least one.

"I'm always going to be that guy who played with a chip on his shoulder," Ward said at this weekend's minicamp. "I want to prove to everybody -- I don't even know what I have to prove, but I want to prove somebody something."

Like, another rookie wide receiver drafted in a high round?

The Steelers issued Ward a chip on a silver platter when they selected wide receiver Limas Sweed on the second round last week, then said they had him rated among the top 25 players in the draft. He's 6 feet 4, by the way, which fulfills quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's January wish for a tall receiver.

"Even though we drafted a guy, there's no hard feelings," Ward said without prompting. "I'm not mad at the organization or anything. They felt this guy could help us get to the next level and win a championship. If that can happen, why would I be mad at that?

"At the end of the day, Sweed is not going to change how Hines Ward plays. It doesn't bother me who they bring in. If he helps bring depth to our receiving corps and we go out there with a solid four wides, if he helps us that way to bring a championship here, hey I'm going to teach him all I can because I want him to go out and make plays."

Ward now has enough fuel for the 2008 season, his 11th. He has not forgotten that he was not drafted until the third round, which isn't much lower than where Sweed was picked. Nor has he forgotten that the next year, 1999, the Steelers drafted a receiver in the first round, Troy Edwards, and then the year after that, Plaxico Burress.

There have been 12 wide receivers drafted by the Steelers since 1999, three of them in the first round, including Santonio Holmes in 2006, and two in the second. It still bothers Ward that he was demoted from his starting job in training camp when Burress arrived, even though he tied for the team lead in receiving the previous season.

Still going strong at age 32, Ward will count on the double slight of age and a hot-shot new receiver for motivation.

"I don't forget those days when I was getting looked over by people," Ward said. "To this day, everybody is waiting for Hines Ward to fall off. I love that, that gives me motivation to go out and prove a lot of people wrong.

"It doesn't really matter who we bring in, I'm not going to change my game, I'm going to be Hines Ward. No. 86 is going to continue to play the way he's always been playing."

Sweed has been placed behind Holmes at split end, which is the easiest position for a rookie to learn. Rather demonstrably, Ward has been working with Sweed in minicamp this weekend.

Ward has not yet practiced. He had knee surgery after playing on torn ligaments, the PCL and MCL, that occurred in the third game against San Francisco. In the past, he said he might have been on the field in similar circumstances because he would have worried about his job.

But Steelers coach Mike Tomlin talked to him long before the spring workouts began and told Ward to take his time, that he did not have to practice, that his job was safe. Ward said that is the first time a coach ever approached him like that and he will take him at his word. It's why he remained at home in Atlanta this year to work out and rehabilitate his knee longer than he normally might have before joining his teammates.

"For so many years, I felt like I had to practice hurt, just to prove a point," Ward said. "Now I don't feel like I have to do that. When doctors clear me to go out there and do it, I'll be out there. My job is to teach the younger guys."

Some listen, some don't. After watching Ward work with Sweed in minicamp, Holmes said he benefited greatly from having Ward as a veteran tutor.

"He did the same exact thing for me when I came in," said Holmes, who led the NFL last season with an 18.1-yard average per catch. "Tell you the truth, I want Hines to play another five years with me if he can. That's going to help me become a great one. For me to take that leadership role when he leaves, for guys to follow, will keep the program going, leave a trail of great receivers here in Pittsburgh."

The trail is easily found, by following all those chips fallen from the shoulders of Hines Ward through the years.

Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com.
First published on May 4, 2008 at 12:00 am

The bottom line: Game 5 tomorrow is million-dollar baby

By Bob Smizik
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Saturday, May 03, 2008



Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

New York Rangers' Paul Mara, left, is held back by linesman Jean Morin during a scuffle with the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin after Rangers' Jaromir Jagr scored with 14 seconds left in the third period during Game 4 of an NHL Eastern Conference semifinal hockey playoff series Thursday, in New York. The Rangers won 3-0.

There was a time in the Penguins' past -- actually there were many, many times -- when the occupants of the owner's box might have been required to put on a bit of an act after a playoff game defeat. Outwardly, the owner or owners would be somber and dejected. On the inside, their hearts would be pounding wildly with joy.

There is, you see, an upside to losing in the playoffs, and the Penguins are experiencing that today. Any playoff game has the potential to be a financial bonanza. When extra ones come along, like the one the Penguins play tomorrow at Mellon Arena against the New York Rangers, well, that's sort of like finding money on the street.

If the Penguins had eliminated the Rangers in four games, which they had the chance to do Thursday in New York, there wouldn't be a fifth game. Which means close to $2 million would slip out of the team's grasp.

This isn't to suggest the team was secretly hoping for a defeat in the fourth game. This happens to be one of the few times in the Penguins checkered financial history when ownership does not have to be secretly hoping for an extension of a playoff series. Many times in the past, when bankruptcy loomed or when Howard Baldwin was spending more money than he had, these extra playoff games were vital to the team's future.

That's not the case today. The Penguins are on sound financial footing. The conventional wisdom of the day -- that money is in short supply, particularly for nonessentials -- was debunked when the team sold out every regular-season game while charging a handsome sum for tickets and sold them out again at higher prices for the playoffs. Beyond that, in billionaire Ron Burkle, the Penguins have one of the wealthiest owners in sports and by far the wealthiest in Pittsburgh.

Still, the defeat has its upside, and not just for the team.

The more than 17,000 tickets for the game tomorrow, all of which are sold, range in list price from $175 to $75. That's a bit misleading because there's a steep reduction for fans purchasing a playoff package, as most attending do. For those buyers, the prices range from $117 to $48. There's also a limited number of Igloo tickets, long sold, that can be had for as little as $180.

If the average ticket price for a second-round playoff game is, say, $90, that comes to $1.54 million in gross receipts on tickets. There's also a small fortune to be made in concessions. The Penguins don't get all of this money, but they get most of it.

That's on top of the revenue they generated in the four previous home games. Considering the ease with which the Penguins handled Ottawa in the first round, wonder if certain people weren't hoping for a couple of lucky goals for the Senators in the fourth game at Ottawa, which would have necessitated a fifth game at Mellon Arena.

And we're not talking about Burkle or team chairman Mario Lemieux. We're talking about the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County elected officials whose interest in seeing the Penguins win is exceeded only by their desire to see them play as many home games as possible.

If the Penguins are grossing $1.5 million per game on tickets -- and the prices go up for subsequent rounds -- that means the city gets 5 percent of that in amusement tax. Five percent of $1.5 million is $75,000. That means after today the city will have realized almost $400,000 from these playoff games. That's also like finding money in the street, particularly since the city, although doing better these days, is not far removed from financial insolvency.

You could see where Mayor Luke Ravenstahl might have a vested interest in seeing these series go seven games -- so long as the Penguins win. You have to think Ravenstahl was one happy guy when the Penguins lost to the Rangers.

County executive Dan Onorato is getting his share, too. He can't be upset by these extra games. Ten percent of every beer sold goes toward the recently levied drink tax -- or, as some restaurants label it on the bill, the Onorato tax.

This fifth game is a payday for everyone, not just the team.

Subsequent rounds, should the Penguins advance, promise more money. In the conference final, the wholesale ticket prices range from $57 to $215. For the Stanley Cup finals, it's $77 to $290.

Good luck Penguins! Keep on winning, but don't be afraid to throw in a loss or two.

Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.
First published on May 3, 2008 at 12:00 am

Jaromir Jagr takes a big hit and leaves it all out on the ice

By Filip Bondy
New York Daily News
Friday, May 2nd 2008, 12:11 AM



NEW YORK - MAY 01: Jaromir Jagr #68 of the New York Rangers runs into Brooks Orpik #44 and Sergei Gonchar #55 after Jagr scored a goal in the second period against Pittsburgh Penguins during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 1, 2008 in New York City. The Rangers won the game and the Penguins lead the series 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Jaromir Jagr played strong and scored the eventual game-winning goal for the Rangers in Game 4.

He came sweeping along the left side, one of the few Ranger forwards capable of doing anything special anymore. Jaromir Jagr's snap shot finally beat Marc-Andre Fleury at 12:45 of the second period, broke the scoreless tie, and then he was blind-sided from the right side by Brooks Orpik.

"Right in the head," Jagr said after the Rangers beat the Penguins, 3-0, in Game 4 Thursday night. "Like a boxer who got hit. I couldn't celebrate it. I wanted to start dancing, but just couldn't do it."

Jagr lay on the ice for a minute or so, flat on his stomach, recovering his senses. It was a borderline hit from Orpik, who arrived just too late. Jagr would pardon the Pittsburgh defenseman, calling it a clean play. "When you have the chance to shoot, you don't look who's going to hit you," Jagr said. It was just the price that a superstar pays sometimes if he wants to change a game, rescue a series for another day and extend his stay in New York.

Jagr did this in two ways last night. He managed it with his goal, then accomplished it again by rising from the ice, skating to the bench and appearing on his next shift. The Rangers are a banged-up, reeling team. Among the toll is their chief gnat, Sean Avery, who is still in the hospital with a lacerated spleen.

But Jagr kept saying he was OK, even though he would later admit he wasn't feeling very well in general. Nobody asked him how many fingers they were holding in front of his face. They probably should have done that, but it's not in the culture of the sport to probe for mild concussions with the season on the line.

Jagr played. The fans, who very nearly had been numbed into a Knick-like trance, fired up their engines. They chanted "Ja-gr," an infrequently heard mantra around these parts. They showed their love at long last to the hulking Czech, who thirsts for such affection.

The task at hand did not then grow easier for the Rangers, who were still required to hold on for dear life over 27 minutes of Penguin pressure. For this, they relied mostly on the dexterity and glovework of Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped a penalty shot from Evgeni Malkin along with 28 other shots.



New York Rangers' Jaromir Jagr is attended to by a trainer after falling to the ice after scoring a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period during Game 4 of an NHL Eastern Conference semifinal hockey playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Lundqvist did his part. Brandon Dubinsky spun around in the slot for the Rangers' second goal 44 seconds into the third period and then Jagr sealed the win with an empty-netter at 19:46. The Rangers closed within 3-1 in the conference semifinal and earned another trip to Pittsburgh in the process.

"Nobody gives us a chance," Jagr said. "The chance is still there."

It didn't look that way for much of the evening. Before the big game last night, a half-dozen Penguins of European descent circled up and headed a soccer ball among themselves in a back corridor of the Garden, laughing and carrying on as if this were just another preseason scrimmage.

The Rangers had hoped that maybe these young opponents might feel just the tiniest bit of pressure while trying to close out the semifinal series. But youth is an effective tranquilizer in situations such as these, and the Pens came out fast and relatively carefree once again.

The Rangers bent, but clearly wanted this one badly. Even with his team reeling from three straight losses, Tom Renney had promised great things from his side before Game 4.

"Play hard, play smart," Renney said. "More traffic, more rubber to the net. I don't sense despair or fear. Great things are done in the face of doubt."

The Penguins pushed and prodded, but couldn't beat Lundqvist. Hockey gets another game, at least, out of these two showcase teams.

Jagr gets to play another postseason game, his favorite thing in the world.

"Me personally, I would like to play tomorrow," he said. "I enjoy when every play means everything, when you play on an edge all the time.

"We don't have much error for mistakes," Jagr said.



New York Rangers' Jaromir Jagr is congratulated by Martin Straka, center, both of the Czech Republic, and Brandon Dubinsky after scoring against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period during Game 4 of an NHL Eastern Conference semifinal hockey playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Jagr scored two goals in the Rangers' 3-0 win.
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Not quite what he meant, but then the guy had just scored two goals, assisted on another and taken a blind-side hit to the head.

When you score five goals in nine games, when you lead the league with 15 points in the playoffs, you get to be the Czech Yogi Berra all you want.

Jagr got up off the ice last night, and then the Rangers did, too.

fjbondy@netscape.net

Jagr's play keeps Rangers afloat

By Gene Collier
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Friday, May 02, 2008



NEW YORK - MAY 01: Jaromir Jagr #68 of the New York Ranger acknowledges the crowd after being named the second star after his team defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 1, 2008 in New York City. The Penguins lead the series 3-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

NEW YORK -- You can always spot Jaromir Jagr on the ice.

He's the big galoot with his sweater tucked into his shorts, his belt cinched up high like he's awaiting the 4 o'clock buffet somewhere in Boca Raton, but if it's not really the most chic look along Fashion Avenue, the vision of 68 skating with the puck on open ice remains as compelling a hockey image today as when his mullet flowed toward the top of his Penguins jersey.

Now there is one more Pittsburgh appointment to keep in the fabulous career that extended itself last night, because Jagr extended himself, pumping home two goals and adding an assist as the cliff-dwelling Rangers snapped the Penguins' seven-game postseason win streak, 3-0.

"Even if I'm tired, I just think, 'What about the guys on the other side, they've got to be tired too,' " Jagr said to a crush of hockey media in the minutes after dragging himself and the Rangers off the deck. "I got a lucky goal. It's all good. I enjoy this hockey in the playoffs, where every play means everything, where any little mistake can cost you."

So one more time on Pittsburgh ice, Sunday afternoon.

Two more times you might find a little uncomfortable, as that would mean a Game 7 the night of May 7 in a series the Penguins still have a choke hold on at 3-1, but there's simply no quantifying from the happy gaze in Jagr's blue eyes just how much he'd enjoy exactly that.

"Nobody's giving us a chance, but the chance is still there," he said. "We know we're in a tough situation. We got one more game and that was our goal, give ourselves a chance to get one more game."

Flowing freely down the left wing with just less than 13 minutes remaining in last night's second period, Jagr wristed the biscuit between the legs of Sergei Gonchar and past Marc-Andre Fleury for a 1-0 lead, the Rangers' first since jumping out 3-0 in Game 1 a week ago tonight.

Brooks Orpik put a big check on the big Czech's big head just as Jags pulled the trigger, sending him nose first to the ice for the duration of the raucous Garden goal celebration.

"I got hit in the head, that's all," Jagr said. "It was like a boxer who gets hit in the head."

Someone asked if he knew where he was at the moment.

"No idea," he laughed.



NEW YORK - MAY 01: Jaromir Jagr #68 of the New York Rangers takes a shot to score a goal past Sergei Gonchar #55 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 1, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

But for the balance of the second period, the Rangers seemed eager to make the Jagr goal stand up, to make this be about him, even to the extent that Dan Girardi pushed Evgeni Malkin from behind on a breakaway rather than have Jagr's goal rubbed out.

Awarded a penalty shot, Malkin responded with a weak flip into Henrik Lundqvist's glove after approaching him at the school zone rate of 15 mph for no apparent reason. Ryan Malone had a breakaway earlier and approached with superior purpose, but Lundqvist disappointed him, too, on a night when the Rangers' goalie bounced back from a miserable performance in Game 3.

Lundqvist, in fact, dragged a 3.92 goals-against average in the playoffs into Game 4, but he gained a certain comfort level as his teammates quickly established a more physical tempo, outhitting the Penguins, 15-6, in the first period.

New York peppered Fleury with 39 shots just two nights earlier, yet began Game 4 as if that would have to suffice for a while.

Jagr's wrister from the left faceoff circle, the result of a Gonchar turnover in his own zone, was the first shot New York put on net, and it didn't happen until nearly six minutes had elapsed.

The Penguins appeared to be getting contributions from both Staal brothers early, as New York's Mark Staal took two first-period penalties, neither of which the Penguins converted. They bothered with only one shot on the first and got none on the second, a two-minute period in which the Penguins failed to even set up a semblance of a power play, let alone that which had been the best in the NHL through most of two rounds of playoffs.

"Because we have nothing to lose it makes us a very dangerous team," Jagr said.

Of all the mistakes the Penguins made in losing for only the second time since April 1, underestimating New York's 36-year-old forward on the alleged edge of his retirement was not one of them.

"He's still an elite player and elite players are very tough to contain," coach Michel Therrien was saying before the puck being dropped. "I think our guys have been doing a fantastic job trying to contain him. All you can do is try to keep him to the outside as much as possible."

They won't be able to keep him outside the Arena on Sunday, and another Jagr performance like last night's could well put this series at issue again.

Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1283.
First published on May 2, 2008 at 12:00 am

STAYING POWER

JAGR SURGE MAY BE MORE THAN FINAL FLING

By Larry Brooks
New York Post



NEW YORK - APRIL 29: Jaromir Jagr #68 of the New York Rangers reacts to his goal to tie the score in the second period against the Pittsburgh Penguins during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 29th, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

May 1, 2008 -- I ASKED Jaromir Jagr to tell me that I was wrong, and boy did he ever. I think.

I asked No. 68 if it is wrong to interpret the fire, passion and anger he's demonstrated the last two games - as exemplified by the way he twice shouted down Sidney Crosby on Sunday, then scolded Marian Hossa for diving in Game 3 before once again raging at Crosby during a third-period review - as evidence that he has made the decision to retire as an NHL player and thus sees this as a last opportunity that is irretrievably slipping away.

Jagr, who has played a public game of riddle-me-this about his intentions, used that question as an opportunity to launch a remarkable soliloquy about both his state of mind and the state of his game.

It was a passionate defense against the criticism he received during this season in which he recorded the fewest goals (25) of his 17-year career and the fewest points (71) over a complete season since his 1991-92 sophomore year. It was Jagr, a dominant force throughout the playoffs and by far the Rangers' best player, saying everything he probably wanted to say throughout the year but did not. It was Jagr, proud and defiant and thoughtful in front of a packed house of reporters.

"You have to understand, there are a million people who can criticize me for whatever reason, but if you look at hockey history, how many players stay at the same kind of level at my age for 80 games?" Jagr, who turned 36 in January, wanted to know. "It's not that you don't want to, of course I wish I could play every game like the playoffs, but it is impossible to stay at that level for 20 years.

"People remember you at that level, and even though you still produce, they are going to say you don't have it anymore. Even the greatest players - Wayne Gretzky - did he get 200 points at age 36? But you do it once and people expect the same. It's impossible."



NEW YORK - APRIL 29: Jaromir Jagr #68 shoots against Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 29th, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Gretzky, in fact, recorded 97 points while leading the NHL with 72 assists during the 1996-97 season in which he turned 36. Of course Jagr is correct. No one is what he was forever. At the same time, this time around Jagr was 25 points less than he was just last season.

"When a guy gets older, you have to pick the time that's important for you," Jagr said. "You can let people criticize you for not being great, but you know you're going to be good. Maybe I would have been able - I'm not sure - maybe I could get 100 points and 50 goals, but then nobody could guarantee I would be healthy for the playoffs. What if I hit the wall? Then it would all be for nothing.

"I know how I have to play. Maybe people won't agree with me. I understand that. But how many people have been in the same position? Not many. You have to do it night after night for such a long time and when you don't produce to the level everyone expects, you're bad, but if you do, that's [just] what you are.

"There's no [way to win]," Jagr said. "It's fine with me. I love it. I love to be on the ice. I'm not going to change. That's what drives me."

So is he coming back? Is he going to Omsk? Was he saying yes, no or maybe?



NEW YORK - APRIL 29: Jaromir Jagr #68 of the New York Rangers fights for possession of the puck against Ryan Whitney #19 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 29th, 2008 in New York City. The Penguins won the game 5-3 and lead the series 3-0. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

A few minutes after concluding his soliloquy, Jagr called me over to his stall.

"What was that question at the start you asked?" he said, obviously knowing exactly what it was. "Larry, if I knew this was the end, why would I care so much? I would pat [the Penguins] on the back and tell them, 'Good play . . . good luck.' Come on."

Yesterday, I asked Jagr to tell me that I was wrong.

He did. I think.

larry.brooks@nypost.com

Numbers add up to nothing but success for the young Penguins

By Gene Collier
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Thursday, May 01, 2008



Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Marc-Andre Fleury defends the net against Sean Avery during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. The Penguins won the game, 5-3.

NEW YORK -- Soon after the Penguins clamped onto a three-games-to-none lead in their previous playoff appointment against Ottawa, Marian Hossa issued the nonsensical little observation that he was surprised that the fellas were ahead, 3-0, so early in the series.

Since I'm guessing that particular type of stranglehold only gets established upon the completion of Game 3, the splendid Penguin forward's introduction of any relativism to the point seemed displaced, but only temporarily, it turns out.

Now that this young and gifted and perhaps singular flock of flightless waterfowl have won their first seven playoff games, manhandling the New York Rangers to within a blade's edge of elimination on their own sheet of Madison Square Garden ice the other night, Hossa's comment has begun to make sense to me. I never thought the Penguins could win seven playoff games this early in the process, particularly these past three against the richly accomplished Blue Shirts.

This, after all, was supposed to be the hard part.

Asked in the Manhattan midday if he ever dreamed the Penguins would be undefeated three weeks into the postseason, Sidney Crosby said, "No, but it doesn't really matter; we've done a good job of focusing, and we've been putting one good game after another."

That's a matter of fact, but, with this rather stunning burst of spring dominance, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh's Axis of Excellence, have driven the organ-I-zation right up against an urgent ponderable:

Are the Penguins this good, perhaps fatefully good, already?

Depends, you say, on how good is this good.

Well let's say it out loud then.

With that 5-3 skunking Tuesday of the desperate Rangers, your '07-08 Penguins became only the 11th team in the history of the contemporary playoff format to start the postseason 7-0. Of the 10 others to do so, eight became Stanley Cup champions.

All of which means, whether they like it or not, the Penguins are now at the point where anything less would constitute, to put it diplomatically, an unscheduled landing.

What must it be like to be 20, 21, 23 years old (Crosby, Malkin, Fleury) and have that kind of reality skating figure eights on the rink in your brain?

How do you keep your thoughts on the intricacies of the power play rather than on the inevitable pool party featuring Lord Stanley's Cup?

I didn't put it that way to Sidney yesterday, but he answered it indirectly after practice in the world's mostly empty arena.

"The best way is to realize how hard you work to win each game," said The Captain, who can't buy a legal drink until August. "You don't want to overlook things. When you realize how hard you work to win, you don't want to get burned by looking ahead."



Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Evgeni Malkin, middle, celebrates with Georges Laraque, left, and Petr Sykora after Laraque's goal in the first period last night at Madison Square Garden. Malkin had an assist on the goal and also scored twice to help the Penguins take a 3-0 lead in the series.

The Rangers will construct another test of the Penguins' composure and resolve tonight in Game 4, but even some shaggy loss at this point isn't likely to trigger unexpected turbulence in Michel Therrien's team.

"These are young guys who learned a lot from last year's playoffs," Therrien said yesterday, referring to a Senatorial dismissal after five games. "They've stuck to the philosophy that we're not going to get overly excited when we win and we're not going to overreact when we lose. That was a huge win the other night, a huge game, but we had dinner all together afterward, and I could see they were calm."

During late night dining at Le Parker Meridien on West 57th then, the head coach could sense among these Penguins a quality that never seems to get discussed enough in the mania of any postseason.

"They're much more mature than last year," Therrien said. "They've got way more composure. This is a team that's comfortable playing with the lead in the third period, which is really a challenge for a young team. They believe in themselves. They believe in the way they play. And when they play with a lead they're very tough to play against."

This all might be overthinking it just a bit. The Penguins are hard to play against first because they have elite talent at too many spots, just as their impeccable penalty-killing sometimes gets exalted without enough focus on the best penalty-killer on the ice, who is, unquestionably, Fleury.

But maturity is something this team flat out declared it had in abundance at the start of these playoffs, without empirical evidence that it would soon become apparent.

"I just think we always realized that we'd learned some things last year," Crosby said. "Of course, you have to apply it, too, and obviously winning helps. When you find ways to win, you can gain a lot of confidence. This is just a team that has a great attitude, and we take a lot of pride in doing the little things that help each other out."

As yesterday's Penguins availability was winding down, one seasoned Gotham journalist asked Sid the "pinch myself" question, the one that goes something like, "What's it like to wake up on Broadway when you're 20 years old and you're the face of the NHL and you're about to eliminate the New York Rangers in the world's most famous arena."

Or something.

"I don't feel any different than when I woke up in Ottawa and it was 3-0," he said.

Except that it was so early, don't forget.


Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1283.
First published on May 1, 2008 at 12:00 am