The Eastern Conference race is a mess:

The Pens (73 points) are two points behind Atlantic Division leading New Jersey, but have a game at hand.

Pittsburgh is currently in 5th place in the East, but a win tonight against Montreal would put them in a four way tie for 1st, without taking tie breakers into account.

How about the Rangers blowing a five goal lead to the Habs on Tuesday?

Montreal would be a shitty first round draw. I’d rather have a rematch with Ottawa, but that’s debatable, and hopefully irrelevant.

It’s a shame the Southeast has to send a team to the playoffs. I’d like to see Pittsburgh’s traditional playoff whipping boy, the Washington Capitál, make it.

The Penguins could end playing anyone in the first round, hopefully it’s the Rangers, Bruins, or a team from the Southeast.

I would love nothing more than the Penguins to beat the Flyers in the playoffs, what round this hypothetical sweep occurs in is irrelevant. That 5 OT game in 2000 took several years off my life.

Speaking of the free market, the trade deadline is just over the horizon.

The “Get Crosby A Wing”, broken record has been spinning faster than Ryan Miller. I’m thinking someone like TB’s Prospal, or maybe Havlat from Chicago will fit nicely next to Crosby at a reasonable price.

I may sound like a lunatic, but with Fleury returning if the Pens could deal Conklin for the right guy I’d be OK with it, they will never be able to get a bigger return for Ty, who will be a free agent at the end of the season. Of course I’d much rather see something along the lines of; Sabourin, Christensen, and a draft pick for another guy like Marian Hossa and Chris Pronger. Then Hossa decides to take a pay cut of $5 mil. per season and sign an extension to play with Sid for the next five years, while Pronger agrees to finish his career in Pittsburgh in return for a lifetime supply of Primanti’s sandwiches, and O-fries.

Even if the Penguins stand pat, Roberts and Crosby are coming back for nothing.

The Goalie Controversy is brewing.

Check out thepensblog for the trial of the century:

http://thepensblog.blogspot.com/1981/02/trial.html

the pens blog guys are on point, and frankly put me to shame with their humorous and concise bloggery. I’ve given up on leaving long, narrative replies on their comment page.

Wait, broken records don’t spin they skip, if they spun they wouldn’t be broken. Damn.

There’s no way Therrien can play Sid and Malkin together after the way Geno has performed in the last 14 games. The Pens have gone 8-4-2, since the Injury Walrus got Sid. Malkin has been on a Lemieux-esque 27 point rampage in those 14 games, and his 79 points this season leads the league.

Malkin is unreal.

Rich’s blog about a Jagr-Pens reunion and the ever-present hopes of #66 returning for the stretch run, ignited grandiose visions of a power play that would look like this: Lemieux-Crosby-Jagr, with Malkin and Gonchar as point-men. I mean if we’re gonna dream…