As if the blow the Red Wings dealt to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals wasn't enough, the Red Wings added injury to insult today by signing Marian Hossa to a one year, $7.4 million deal, according to TSN reports. The Penguins acquired Hossa at the trade deadline last year, along with Pascal Dupuis, in an attempt to make a run at the Stanley Cup. To land the pair, the Penguins parted with Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, 2007 first round pick Angelo Esposito, and their first round pick in the 2008 draft.

Hossa now joins a Red Wings team that absolutley dominated

Following their loss in the Stanley Cup finals, the Pittsburgh Penguins are faced with some key decisions as to which players they wish to keep in order to try and get back for another shot at the Cup.  The following Penguins are free agents this off-season:

1.  Marc-Andre Fleury

2.  Marian Hossa

3.  Ryan Malone

4.  Brooks Orpik

5.  Jarko Ruutu

6.  Gary Roberts

7.  Pascal Dupuis

8.  Adam Hall

9.  Georges Laraque

10.  Jeff Taffe

11.  Kris Beech

12.  Ty Conklin

I now know how it feels to be a Yankees fan.

Not in the sense that the Penguins buy championships. Maybe in the sense that the Penguins are loaded with a ridiculous amount of talent. As a Penguins fan, the reason I know how it feels to be a Yankees fan is because I now know what it feels like to have your season start when your team makes the championship.

While it is enjoyable watching two of the best players in the game playing all season long, then dominating in the playoffs, so far there has been this feeling that nothing really matters if the Penguins don't

Since February 24th I have done a lot of things.  This would include doing my taxes, filing my taxes, and getting my tax return back from the IRS.  I moved to a new house, I set up the new house (well, my wife did a lot of it...I just set up my office and did the heavy lifting), and we got a cat in the new house.  I drafted a ton of fantasy baseball teams, made a ton of trades in those leagues, and then drafted more leagues after 25% of the baseball season passed.

I watched the Penguins acquire Marian Hossa at the trade deadline.  I watched Marc-Andre Fleury come back

When I first started getting in to sports in the late 80's/early 90's I was living in Pennsylvania, and a fan of the Penguins, Pirates, and Steelers. Back then the Penguins won the Stanley Cup two years in a row, the Pirates lost to the Braves in the ALCS three years in a row, and the Steelers made it pretty far in the playoffs a few times, almost winning a Super Bowl, despite the best efforts of Neil O'Donnell. Penn State even won a National Championship in 1994. Don't give me that "Nebraska officially won" crap. We all know the truth

It was hard to call the second round of the playoffs a surprise.  I don't want to pat myself on the back too much, but in the AccuScore predictions for the second round I correctly picked all four winners.  Was it that big of an achievement?  If you look at how dominating the final four teams were in the second round, it would be easy to say no.  That, however, is what we call hindsight.  Still, I can't really say I am surprised.

The two "upsets" came at the expense of Montreal and San Jose.  The Canadiens struggled in the first round with

There are still three series remaining in the first round of the NHL playoffs, which means that round two is far from being set.  The Eastern Conference will heavily depend on tonight's Boston/Montreal game.  The Western Conference is all set with the results of tomorrow's Calgary/San Jose game seven.  Let's take a look at the scenarios for round two.

Montreal vs Boston

The Bruins have come back to force game seven, which will take place tonight.

If Montreal wins:

The Canadiens would play the Flyers if they defeat Washington

Earlier today I was reading quotes from Alexander Ovechkin stating that Nicklas Backstrom was the best rookie this year, and would be the best center in the NHL for years to come.  With a presence in front of the net like he showed today, I can see why.  With just 27 seconds remaining in the game, Backstrom stood tall at the corner of the crease, received a pass, and stuffed the shot right past the goalie for the winning goal.

The only problem?  It was his own goalie.

Thanks to YouTube, we can relive the moment with the following clip.  If you're a Penguins

7:37 AM - The trade front has been quiet so far. Last year we saw 25 trades on deadline day, and about 7-10 the day before. There were two moves yesterday. Peter Forsberg made his return to the NHL, signing with the Avalanche. Philadelphia and Tampa Bay made a trade, with Philadelphia acquiring Vaclav Prospal. The addition of Prospal really helps a Flyers team that has lost a lot of their offensive producers to injury.

Tampa Bay has been one of the few teams that is active. Along with getting defensive prospect Alexandre Picard and a conditional draft

Recapping Yesterday's Daily Picks

Yesterday was another losing day, with the free picks going 2-3 for -0.70 units.  AccuScore didn’t have a good night either, going 5-10 in the NBA, and 49-50 in college basketball.  If you followed the advice I have been giving in this column though, you would have gone 3-4 on the NBA sides, and 10-6 on the college basketball over/unders, which is a considerably better result.

NY Islanders +139 - Win
Orlando +168 - Loss
Phoenix -3.5 - Loss
Portland State / Northern