Pittsburgh Represented Well At Memorial Cup

2011 2nd round draft pick (54th overall) Scott Harrington represented the Penguins well while playing in the Memorial Cup over the weekend.  The Ontario Hockey League champion, London Knights advanced to the championship final where they were served a heart-breaking loss to the Shawingigan Cataractes.

Knights goaltender, Michael Houser, a Wexford native, was recently named the CHL’s most outstanding goaltender.  Knights co-owner, Mark Hunter first spotted Houser at a US regional development team camp a few years ago.  This season, he tied the OHL record for single-season wins (46).  Although the 19 year went undrafted, the Pittsburgh native could hear his name called during the NHL draft at Consol in June after his impressive season.

Harrington and his D partner, Knights Captain Jarred Tinordi (Montreal Canadiens) were the top defensive pairing for London.  Harrington added three assists in four games during the Memorial Cup.

Cataractes’ Anton Zlobin scored both goals for Shawingigan in their 2-1 overtime victory.

Despite the disappointing finish, Harrington had three goals and 23 assists in 44 regular season games with a very impressive plus-minus rating of plus-26.

Fun Fact: The last time London was in the final was 2005.  It also happened to be the year when they defeated Sidney Crosby and the Rimouski Oceanic to win the CHL title.

Pittsburgh Penguins Superlatives!

Nice hair, Sid

The season has ended, so it’s time to pick the Penguins superlatives!

Note: These don’t necessarily reflect the season. I was just bored and picked ones I thought suited certain Penguins.

Without further ado, here are you 2011/2012 Pittsburgh Penguins Most Likely To’s!

The World’s Greatest

Geno with the trophy after winning gold

Congratulations are in order for Evgeni Malkin. Team Russia won the gold medal at the IIHF World Championships.

Geno, who scored once in Russia’s 6-2 win over Slovakia, was named the World Championship MVP and also walked away with the tournament scoring title. He amassed 19 points over 10 games with his dominating play. He can add that scoring title to his Art Ross trophy from the NHL for most points in the 2011-2012 season.

Malkin is only the second player after Wayne Gretzky to snag both the World Championship scoring title and the NHL scoring title.

Look, there has been some debate over the past few weeks over who the best player in the world is. But with this win to add to all his other titles, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say Evgeni Malkin is the world’s best player right now.

Congratulations to him and to all of Team Russia on their gold medal!

Brooks Orpik ‘You Can Play’ Ad Released

Many NHLers have shown their support for ‘You Can Play’ , a project started up by Patrick Burke to help rid the world of sports of homophobia. In a 30 second video, players let us know that they don’t care if you’re gay or straight. If you can play, you can play.

Defenseman Brooks Orpik is the first Penguin represented in these ads. Watch his video below

According to the Patrick Burke on Twitter, Brooks was one of the first players not on the advisory board to volunteer for the project.

As someone who has been a longtime supporter of the LGBT community, it warms my cold heart to have a player from the Pittsburgh Penguins in this great initiative and to have it be someone like Brooks is perfect. Seriously. Watch the video and tell me his stare doesn’t convince you.

VOTE FOR GENO

EA Sports is having a vote for the cover of NHL13, and Evgeni Malkin, current Art Ross winner, is in the running. He’s matched up against Scott Hartnell (ew!) and even worse? He’s LOSING!

You can vote as many times in a day as you can, so go and vote here!

Remember, a vote for Geno is a vote against Scott Hartnell. So it’s your duty as a Penguins fan to vote!

Catching Up With The Pens

Crosby being...Crosby at the Derby

So it’s been two weeks without Penguins hockey. What have our beloved Penguins been up to in the off season, besides playing endless rounds of golf?

In serious news, Zbynek Michalek had successful hip surgery, according to the Penguins site. He is expected to be ready for the pre-season.

Evgeni Malkin is playing for Team Russia at the 2012 World Championship and just like he did during the season with the Pens, he is dominating. He has 6 points, 2 goals and 4 assists, tying him with Sweden’s Loui Eriksson for first place. Team Russia has won all three of their games, and will play next on Thursday against Denmark.

Earlier, the Penguins ran a contest for kids where the winner would get to bring a Penguin to school for show and tell. The lucky winner brought Pascal Dupuis to her school, where he answered questions from the kids and read them a story. There’s a video on the Penguins site and it’s adorable. Lucky kids!

Sidney Crosby decided to try out his luck at horse racing. He was spotted at the Kentucky Derby, taking in the races and trying to shove his hands into his way too small pockets. I wonder if he won or lost money. The winner, I’ll Have Another, was a Canadian horse, so maybe he bet on it… Who would have thought Crosby was a betting man?

How To Survive The Off-Season

Is it October yet?

It’s only been a week since the Penguins were knocked out of the playoffs, but it feels much longer. How can one expect to get through the off season? I myself have been asking this all week, and have come up with a list that will hopefully help you guys too!

– Watch the IIHF World Championship
Evgeni Malkin will be playing for Team Russia, and I know that a lot of us would like to keep watching him play. The tournament starts on May 4th, and Russia’s first game is on May 5th.

– Watch the NHL Awards!
Evgeni Malkin is nominated for the Hart, the Ted Lindsay, and will receive the Art Ross trophy. And you know you want to see him make an acceptance speech in his adorable broken English.

– Follow the Twitter accounts!
Thank God for social media, and for the fact that a good number of Penguins have a Twitter account! Follow them all!

@malkin71_ is Evgeni Malkin
@jneal_18 is James Neal. Watch out for the chirrping between him and Geno. It’s hilarious!
@RevLovejoy6 is Ben Lovejoy
@ETangradi is Eric Tangradi
@BeauBennett78 is our newly signed prospect, Beau Bennett

If you want all the latest news and updates, then follow @PensInsideScoop. And of course, you must follow the mothership @pghpenguins. They’ll keep you updated on all the latest signings and happenings in the Penguins’ world

And of course, check back at Black Tie Required! We’ll try our best to keep you guys updated on all the news, plus we’ll have some fun stuff posted too!