The Penguins made a couple signings during the morning hours of July 1, 2008. One thrilled the masses, while the other was greeted with mocks and jeers.

Ray Shero inked Evgeni Malkin to a long term extension, but also signed winger Pascal Dupuis to a three year deal that would pay him $1.4 million per season. To say that Penguins nation was not pleased with the Dupuis news would be an understatement.

It made no matter that Shero had locked up a versatile winger who could play just about any forward position, kill penalties and fill in on the top two lines as needed. All that people seemed to remember was a streaking number nine flying down the wing and missing the net with his slap shot -- or maybe putting that puck in the gut of the goaltender.

The signing actually made a ton of sense, as Shero has always loved to flesh his roster out with swing men -- players who are affordable and can do a ton of different things for his team.

Dupuis has used this season to say one thing to his naysayers, "How you like me now??"

The native of Laval, Quebec has been one of the Penguins best players this year and especially since the league reconvened following the Olympics. He is oozing confidence on a nightly basis, which has him crashing the front of the net with regularity, keeping his stick on the ice and best of all finishing.

His goal yesterday gives him 17 for the season, which is only three off of his previous career high, set during the 2002-03 season in Minnesota.

"Especially since the break, I feel like I'm on top of my game," Dupuis said after a recent game at Mellon Arena. "I definitely feel great."

Feeling great has Dupuis playing some of the best hockey of his nine year NHL career.

"I am pretty happy with the way things are going right now, knock on wood," said Dupuis. "I just want to keep it going. ... We all talked about the last 20 games of the season being big for us creating a team identity and showing both other teams and ourselves how good we can be. As a team we have done it."

The success cannot be coming to a better guy either. Having spent some time around him over the past few seasons, I can vouch for the fact that he is a gregarious as they come, the first to pull a prank on a teammate and an all around good guy.

It is a rare scrum with Dupuis that doesn't illicit laughter from the gathered media, sort of like his session following last week's game against Boston. Dupuis had just picked up another big goal in the game, but he had to work extra hard for this one - chopping at Tim Thomas's leg like a jack rabbit before pushing the goaltender and puck into the net.

"As many as it took," Dupuis answered, laughing, when asked how many whacks it took. "I think I even got one in after the referee blew the whistle and signaled for the goal."

Dupuis has proven to be a very valuable commodity for the Penguins and is as big a reason as any for their recent successes -- which allows him to continue singing his new theme song "How you like me now??"

More later...

Read more from Brian Metzer at  From the Point

As many of you might have heard by now, I am no longer with Hockey Buzz. The transition from HB to new my site From the Point was a big process and it kept me from posting here as regularly as I would have liked. I have since gotten up and running in my new Internet home and am ready to move forward. The below piece is one that I wrote for FTP. I will be cross linking with my site moving forward, as well as posting some special things that you will only be able to get here at Network Pittsburgh. Hope you all enjoy!

* * * * * *

Many times when a young player is traded by the team who drafted him, there is some disappointment. Probably some second guessing and a whole lot of wondering what he might have done differently during his time with the organization. That wasn't the case for Luca Caputi, who was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs last week in exchange for left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky. Sure he was leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins, the only team he had known during his young professional career, but he was going home.

Caputi was headed to Toronto to play for the Maple Leafs, the team he spent his childhood rooting for.

The Maple, Ontario native often dreamed of pulling on a Maple Leafs sweater and almost unbelievably, he was about to. Caputi was taking in some wrestling matches in Wilkes Barre-Scranton with some Penguins teammates when news began to make the rounds in the rumor mill about the trade.

"All of a sudden I started getting text messages from family and friends," Caputi told the Toronto Sun. "They were telling me TSN was reporting I was going to be traded to the Leafs."

It was a special moment for Caputi, but if he believed it to be the best moment of his life, he was sorely mistaken. That would come six days later when he would skate in his first home game in Toronto.

Coming into tonight's game in Toronto, head coach Ron Wilson knew that Caputi had plenty of family and friends in the stands and threw him a bone. He allowed Caputi to line up at left wing for the opening face-off providing an amazing moment for the player and upwards of 40 family and friends.

"The fans gave me a pretty loud cheer there," Caputi said to TSN post game. "I can't really describe it right now. I think in the next couple days, hopefully it will sink in. I'm still in la-la land right now."

That wouldn't be the only special moment for Caputi on the night. He would also score the game tying goal against the Bruins with 12:47 remaining in the third period, which allowed his team to win it in overtime.

The goal was the kind that Brian Burke, Ron Wilson and company had in mind when he brought the local kid into the fold. Caputi went to the net and was pretty much standing at the edge of the crease when the puck bounced into an area that allowed him to backhand it home.

"I thought he played pretty well considering he was a little bit anxious before the game with all his family here," Wilson said to TSN. "To be getting the tying goal the way he did, that's something I'm sure we'll see a lot of, around the goal crease, bumping, scuffling with the goaltender and stuff like that. Good for him."

Good for him is right.

It isn't often that you see a trade that works out so perfectly for all involved, but this one seems to fit the mold.

More later...

When the Pittsburgh Penguins were campaigning for a new multi-functional facility in Pittsburgh they often talked about how the new building would attract events that would normally pass on our fine city. Many thought that it was just pillow talk in hopes of swaying the politicos who were in charge of making the decision. It turns out that the Penguins were spot on...

News broke back on September 21, 2009, that the NCAA selection committee had chosen the Consol Energy Center and Duquesne University to host first and second round games for the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The selection is actually the third time that Duquesne and the City of Pittsburgh have been selected to host NCAA Championship games, however the new facility was instrumental in securing this future event.

That's right, the Consol Energy Center made the decision an easy one for the NCAA, who according to sources close to the situation, made it known that the men's tournament would likely pass on Pittsburgh until an upgraded building was available.

"Pittsburgh developed a great tradition of support for the men's NCAA Championship with two previous appearances at Mellon Arena, and now we think the level of excitement will be even greater in the new Consol Energy Center," said Jay Roberts, general manger of SMG. "The new arena will enable us to provide a level of service to fans, players, teams, officials, sponsors and media that will be second to none. We look forward to working with Duquesne University and the NCAA to make the Consol Energy Center a frequent destination for such events."

Penguins management realized that Duquesne's selection was also a win for them, as it proved that this new facility was indeed going to bring bigger and better events into the city.

"We are excited that the new Consol Energy Center has been selected as a host site," said David Morehouse, president of the Pittsburgh Penguins. "The new arena will give us tremendous opportunities to host unique events for the people of Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. This is an outstanding start, and we're looking forward to seeing some of the best teams and players in college basketball in 2012."

If Mr. Morehouse was excited back in September, then he was even more so today, as the Penguins made the first of what is hoped to be many big announcements regarding possible events in the new building... they have submitted a bid to bring the 2011 NHL All-Star celebration and game to Pittsburgh. The team has not hosted an All-Star Game since 1990 when team owner Mario Lemieux won the MVP and put on an amazing show for his home crowd.

"We're excited by the opportunity to bid for the 2010-11 NHL All-Star weekend and believe we have made a strong proposal to the NHL," Morehouse said.

But wait... there's more.... (I felt it was a great opportunity for an infomercial segueway...)

VisitPittsburgh and Robert Morris University will be submitting a bid on Monday to host the 2013 or 2014 NCAA Frozen Four Men's College Hockey Championships. Robert Morris has one of the top up and coming hockey programs in the country and it would be a great feat to have the Frozen Four tourney here in Pittsburgh, something that would have been impossible without the new facility.

The Consol Energy Center is nearing completion in the City's uptown area and has already gone a long way towards proving the Penguins and Kevin Costner's old adage... "If you build it, they will come..."

More next week... 




  

First of all, I wanted to apologize for the long delay between posts here at Network Pittsburgh...it has been a bit hectic here in Metzerland, as I am sure you can all relate too at this time of year. It just seems that this holiday season snuck up on me like Dexter Morgan with syringe in hand...There has just been a lot going on professionally and I have been unable to devote the same amount of time that I normally do to shopping and making holiday preparations. Though I will have a couple of sleepless nights between now and Thursday, I will make it...I always do.

Part of what has been keeping me busy is Penguins hockey...there has been an awful lot of it happening based on the NHL's condensed schedule. You see, the league had to streamline its schedule to make room for the two week Olympic break that will be coming up in February. Some of the finest players in the world will be representing their respective countries and the league will be closing its doors. In the meantime we have all been running around like chickens without heads in hopes of taking it all in!

There are many things to get too this afternoon, Penguins related and other, and when the topics are flowing I tend to pay homage to one of my favorite bloggers, Matthew Berry over at www.espn.com. Though Berry is a great source for news and information regarding fantasy sports, he is an all around great read with the way he incorporates pop culture into his pieces. He pokes fun at himself and others, shares his dating exploits, professional successes and failures.

One of my favorite Berry blogs involves him going through a ton of information in a "just saying..." format and I have been doing the same from time to time for a couple of years now. You may have seen one of my "just saying..." blogs that ran on www.hockeybuzz.com in the past...if not, you will get a chance to enjoy one here! (at least I think you will enjoy it... just saying...)

So without further adieu... "I'm just saying..."

...that we would be remiss if we didn't congratulate Martin Brodeur for breaking the all-time shut out record last night at Mellon Arena. He has long been considered one of, if not the best goaltender in the league and this record all but solidifies his spot at the top. His shut out last night was the sixth of his career against the Penguins, coming in his 66 start against them. It isn't often that your team gets shut out 4-0 and you find yourself enjoying the atmosphere. It was great to be a part of history and to chat with Brodeur post game. He was a very humble about the whole thing...almost teetering on the edge of nervous.

...that starting with last year's playoffs, Sidney Crosby has developed into an elite goalscorer. His shot looks much stronger than it has ever been before...more accurate too. He is still scoring the tough goals in and around the goalmouth, but he is now scoring from the perimeter a lot more. Don't be surprised if he hits 40 for the first time in his career this season...in fact 45 isn't out of the question for him.

...that Crosby has now scored 37 goals in his last 60 games. Just saying...

...that Evgeni Malkin is showing his edgier side this season. The Russian forward has now taken penalties in six straight games and has put up 50 penalty minutes through 29 games. That is a staggering number when you consider that his career average is something like 79 minutes through 82 games after posting seasons of 80, 78 and 80. I still say that this is a league wide conspiracy to keep him out of the Lady Byng Trophy race...the league's award for most gentlemanly player. Ok, maybe not.

...that it might be surprising, but Malkin isn't all that far off of his regular scoring pace for the amount of games he has played this season. He really could shoot the puck a bit more from prime scoring positions on the ice though. Sure, his shot total grows almost nightly, but he is passing the puck off when he is one on one on far too many occasions. Someone needs to help him regain his confidence in that howitzer of a shot that he possesses.

...that Marc Andre Fleury should not only make the Olympic team, but compete for the back-up role. I say back-up role because it is all but determined that Brodeur will be the team's starter. I would just hate to Marc make the trip only to be relegated to third string. His play through the first half of the season shows that he is ready to take on a prominant role with the national team.

...that Pascal Dupuis is one player that takes a beating from Penguins fans, but he has been one of their best players over the past month. Dupuis can do just about anything that he is asked to contribute. He can play a checking role, fill in on one of your top two lines and chip in minutes on special teams. Yes his price tag is a bit higher than we would all like it too be, but costs have risen across the board...I will gladly take one platoon player at $3 million dollars who will probably net 15 goals this season and be a huge contributor in all facets of the game. Let's give this guy a break...

...that Ruslan Fedotenko is the guy who should be under Penguins fans microscopes. He is paid to be a top six forward, plays most of his games alongside Malkin and is chipping in a goal once every 6.5 games. That just isn't acceptable. An anchor like that is another reason why Malkin's totals appear to be down...

...that you should all keep your eyes on the Penguins-Devils remaining three games. Those games are going to play a huge role in not only the division, but the conference. The three games will essentially produce a 12 point swing in the standings...a huge number to consider when you look at it as a whole. The Devils have taken the first three games from the Penguins at Mellon Arena by a combined score of 12-2... Aaaaaaach! (That is ouch for those who don't speak yinzer)

...that the people who were trying to make a case for Alex Goligoski to make the US Olympic team are delirious. Yes he was having a great season...at least prior to his injury, but he is not good enough defensively yet to play a majoy role for the national team. Brooks Orpik will most likely be the Penguins lone representative on team USA.

...that if you insist on looking for a Penguins dark horse for the Olympics, look no further than Jordan Staal. I have heard a ton of talk about him being selected as a role player who will kill penalties etc. Hockey Canada has been very impressed with the Thunder Bay native and he is deserves a look.

...that you haven't seen horror until you see Jordan's Frankenstein look from last night... what a boo boo.

...that Mike Rupp and Jay McKee could go down as two of the best off-season acquisitions in the league. Each was given a role upon being brought into the fold and each is executing it amazingly well! In Ray we trust, as the old saying goes.

...that you should savor every single chance to enjoy a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks before it goes away for the year. Personally, I don't know what I am going to do once it moves on this time. I have grown far too attached...

...that I cannot stand the Hines Ward/Max Talbot City of Champions Crunch cereal commercial...holy bad Batman! I mean, yes, I get it...the point was to emulate one of those classic beer commercials, but the audience who is seeing the commercial is barely old enough to remember taste great/less filling. Hopefully it isn't long for this world. Just saying...

...that I can't wait to see what Ray Shero has up his sleeve at the trade deadline this season. Yes the team is rolling along, but they are far from perfect at this point. I am sure that Shero will look the way of another winger and maybe another depth defensemen. Nothing like Hossa...probably more akin to the type of deal that brought Hal Gill in a couple of years back.

...that Martin Skoula is also proving to be a very shrewd signing for Shero. Not many teams have a veteran of over 700 NHL games waiting in the wings to fill in for any injury that may pop up along the way. Plus he is playing the game at a high level...there isn't much of a drop off from the guys he is filling it for.

...that the Kiss Alive 35 tour was awesome! See my facebook page for pics from the show... Even as they head happily into their 60's Gene and Paul still rock the hell out of most everyone else!

...that you should be following me on Twitter if you are not... @Brian_Metzer. Also, please nominate me here at Network Pittsburgh as someone that should be followed in 2010! I appreciate it!

...that I am listening to The Script right now. A great band that you should check out.

...that I love the show Scrubs...but the jury is still out on the new Medical School version. Sure it is great seeing JD, Turk and Dr. Cox back in action, but it just feels forced. Though I hated to see one of my all time favorite shows go away, I would have been perfectly content with "My Finale" at the end of season 8. They let you think that JD and company just lived happily ever after and had a real life together...which is something that we all want anyway. Right??

...that if you like this blog, you can find more of me at www.hockeybuzz.com, XM Home Ice 204, www.versus.com and hopefully my podcast "the Penguins Hockey Buzzcast" if I can ever get it going again! Also, my new show "In the Room" will be launching soon, with clips from the Penguins locker room, interviews and more.

...that I wish all of you and your families a happy and safe holiday season!

...that I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.

Good day everyone...sorry if you have read the below blog in the past, but I felt the need to repost it today. I originally wrote this over at www.hockeybuzz.com a couple of years ago regarding the relationship I had with my father throughout the years. Though the relationship was strained at times, many of the good moments we had revolved around hockey and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I felt compelled to bring this blog back today since it marks the two year anniversary of my father's passing. I still can't believe it has already been two years, it really seems as if the moments mentioned below happened yesterday.

I appreciate you all humoring me by giving this a second or even third read. For any of you who haven't seen it, I hope that you enjoy and take something from it.

With that, I give you... "A Gift From My Father..."

My father and I didn't have the greatest relationship over the years; however I did build one with him during his fight with cancer throughout 2007. In doing so I did a lot of forgiving and forgetting...I also came to one conclusion... My father gave me one of the greatest gifts I had ever received...the game of hockey.

That is right...something that has been so important to me since I was 9 years old was passed on by my father. Over the years, my love of the game continued to progress and I never sat back and realized that the whole reason I started to love it in the first place was my dad.

He had given me something that would become like a family member to me...a living breathing thing that I could play, watch, talk about incessantly and eventually write and pontificate about pseudo professionally.

I came to this conclusion through a lot of soul searching, praying about and questioning what the heck had happened over the last 15 months. Why did my dad have to get sick, what made him come back into my life and where the heck are we at today?

I looked back at my childhood and the times that I actually did spend with my dad. Most of them seemed to revolve around this great game that we all love so much...the game that has become such a big part of me.

It all started back in the early 1980's...1983 to be exact. My parents separated and I had to spend weekends at my dad's house. He didn't have cable television or much else to entertain an 8 year old. So I spent a lot of time going through my dad's things and stumbled across his old hockey equipment. It turns out that he used to play a lot in his younger days. He and his friends would gather on winter afternoons in Highland Park in the Pittsburgh area to skate and play on a frozen lake there. They would play hockey for hours and he shared all of his favorite stories with me.

The constant talking about his hockey hey days got him fired up about something that was a pretty big part of his teens and early 20's. That in turn made him want to spend more time teaching me the game...this also happened to coincide with the Penguins drafting Mario Lemieux. (Who readers of this blog will realize is my all time hockey idol)

During this time the Penguins games were being shown on a local television station called WPGH 53, which was thankfully one of the stations my dad could get. We spent countless hours watching the games of the 84-85 season...all the while focusing on the Penguins new superstar.

When the games weren't available on television, we would be listening to them on my grandmother's small transistor radio. That is where we listened to Mario score 5 goals, 5 different ways against the New Jersey Devils on New Year's Eve 1988.

My dad let me use his hockey equipment as I started to play the game. He had old leather red and white gloves...they were pretty much identical to the ones I remember seeing Gordie Howe wearing in pictures. He also had shin guards to match...leather, with cloth bands to hold them on. I would parade around in these all the time.

I will never forget my first hockey stick; it was a horrible mylec street hockey stick with a screw on plastic blade. I only say that it was horrible, because I would never dream of using one of them today...but it did the trick. We would pass a hockey ball back and forth in his back yard which was made of cobblestone and brick. The ball would bounce all over the place, which really helped generate some great hand eye coordination!

Things progressed from there...he bought me a table hockey game that we would play for hours. I would name all of the players on the board...of course I had the all Penguins in my line-up and my dad would have some other random Patrick Division opponent. I would keep track of the statistics...even awarding assists to my wingers who would spin passes into the slot where my "Lemieuxesque" center would ram home goal after goal, since my dad hadn't master the art of working the goalie.

I don't exactly remember all of the details of my first live NHL game, but I do know that my dad and a couple others took my Cub Scout pack to see the Pens face off against the Blackhawks in or around Lemieux's first season...I don't remember a lot because we didn't get to see much of the game. I remember someone getting sick and we all had to leave because the dad's weren't exactly thrilled at the prospect of dealing with a sick child that wasn't their own.

Though that first experience didn't go so well, the Wayner, as we affectionately call him these days, did get me back to the Civic Arena for a game. He surprised the heck out of me and bought tickets to Game 1 against the New York Rangers during the 88-89 post-season. The Penguins hadn't made the playoffs in a long while and were turning into an exciting team...the city was a buzz to see their flightless water fowl take the first of many Stanley Cup Playoff steps. The Pens came out flying and blew Guy LaFleur and the boys in blue out of the Mellon Arena 3-1. The Penguins swept the Rangers in that series, but I would never forget that game and the way my dad and I cheered the "Doctor" (Paul Coffey), Tommy B and Le Magnifique that evening.

It seems that hockey was one of the only things we had to talk about. As I mentioned, it wasn't the greatest of situations, but when we were talking about or playing hockey it turned into a couple of guys bonding over a game. We went to a lot more games throughout the late 80's and early 90's until eventually hockey wasn't enough to keep us together.

I ran with it...it had become something bigger to me...something that was the "be all end all" of my day. The thing that I used to share with my dad became the thing that brought me together with friends and teammates. The thing that made me pursue writing about the game and becoming part of the great internet hockey community.

The great moments in hockey with my dad began to dry up and the last one of significance during my "childhood" was the Cup clinching game against the Chicago Blackhawks. He came to my house and watched the game with my mom, a friend and I.

From there, I didn't watch another hockey game with my dad until I reached out to him and sort of forced him to go and see Marc Andre Fleury's first NHL game. We sat in my season seats up in section E28 of the now Mellon Arena and saw the young flower bloom. Sure he lost 3-0, but he was amazing. I can still hear my dad marveling at "how fast he was" and "how we needed to stay in touch and do this more often." That was October 10, 2003.

Unfortunately I didn't have another meaningful conversation with my father until January 29, 2007. He was calling to tell me that he had been admitted to Shadyside hospital with what was either a hernia or a tumor. Unfortunately it was the latter, but I spoke to or saw my dad almost every day between then and his death on December 1, 2007. We reminisced a lot about the things I shared with you above and built a relationship that seemed to evade us like a Mario Lemieux slap shot for close to 20 years.

Ironically one of the last times that I saw my dad and got to spend some meaningful time with him where he was able to communicate and enjoy himself was watching a hockey game. I decided that I would take a night off from going down to cover the game and my girlfriend and I sat at the Wayner's bedside as the three of us watched the Penguins beat the Atlanta Thrashers 5-0 one week before he passed.

So, I guess what I am really trying to say with this blog is that for years I complained about how little my dad had done for me. How he just wasn't there when I really needed him and how he mustn't care, when the whole time, the one thing that I relished - was the one thing he had given me. He introduced me to a game that has played a bigger role in my life than any hobby, sport, book, lesson or schooling ever could have. And for that...I thank you Dad.

What a wonderful gift I have received from my father...

In Memory: Wayne Joseph Metzer 9/13/1946 - 12/01/07

My Dad is on the right in this shot...