After losing Marian Hossa to Detroit, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed Evgeni Malkin to a five year extension, a five year deal for $8.7 million a year, according to TSN.  The contract is similar to Sidney Crosby's deal.

The Penguins lost out on Hossa to free agency, but retained the better player.  Hossa is a 30 year old star winger, while Malkin is a 22 year old superstar center.  Malkin was set to become a restricted free agent next year, and locking him up now gives the Penguins an idea of their finances for the next few years.  Crosby and Malkin both gave the

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

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