Look, Ravin' Staal

In less than 12 hours Ray Shero will let us in on Pittsburgh's worst-kept-secret: He's voting for Jordon Staal to stay.

He'll worry about the 40-game window when it approaches.

It's not what Shero wants. He knows in his heart that he should be prudent in planning for restricted free agency in three years and unrestricted free agency in seven. He'll have to worry about that then, too.

He knows that keeping Staal is the popular thing to do...especially in the front office.
Face it, in sports you don't take points off the board; You don't mess with mojo, chemistry or a winning combination.
The Penguins have all of that, and the front office hopes to parlay that into success in the campaign for a new building.

Student rush tickets will dry up as students are starting to buy season tickets and split them amongst themselves to get a ticket in the building ... ANYWHERE in the building. (Goodbye $20 seats along the glass.)

We're about to dip our toe into sacrilegious waters here: The Steeler's season is now insignificant. When you see the highlights from Raiders / Steelers, watch Big Ben's reaction when he STOPPED AT THE 20-yard line while chasing Chris Carr on his 100-yard interception return.

Last year in the playoffs, Ben dove in Indy, but in Oakland he pulled-up and quit. That moment said Ben knows that it is over and his body language verified it. Not two commercials into a break into WTAE sports' McDonald's Action Sports Sunday the new Penguins' spot aired. Yes, the 30-second spot had been booked by the Thursday before the Steelers' "sure win" in Oakland, but the airing of the new Pens commercial seemed like pure brilliance in timing and good fortune.

The Penguins aren't waiting for the body to get cold. They know they have a captive audience. Two wins on the West Coast and November 8 and 10th games could be the first standing-room-only matches of the season. The team is hot and four highlights on ESPN's PLAYS OF THE NIGHT this past week is a good barometer for how much buzz is being created by a franchise in North America's fifth most popular sport.

Now that coaches and trainers have that new-fangled internet thing in Igloo offices, they are keenly aware of the buzz on bulletin boards and chat rooms like LetsGoPens.com (nice work, R.J.), the Pens can't afford to loose a campaign weapon like Staal.

The only bad timing the Pens might have here was not getting Staal registered to vote on October 7 so that he could vote against Ed Rendell. Suddenly, Stall will be returning to Pittsburgh from Anaheim on Tuesday, November 7 (Election Day).

The local elected, including Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, will notice the buzz too as Crosby, Malkin, Fleury and Staal will continue to campaign on the ice for a new multi-purpose facility that the Pens could call home. Let's just hope it's in Pittsburgh.

Writing with Pens

Tales From the Pittsburgh Penguins by Joe Starkey - Just saw an advance copy of this book. A great read with tons of pictures through the years. It will be available at all the popular spots, but our friends at PittsburghHockey.net have pre-order access in the MARKETPLACE. Nice work, Joe!

Letang's For the Memory

Kris Letang will return to his junior team after Saturday's Flyers game - maybe sooner. His name is not on the current flight list for the West Coast trip to LA, SJ and Anaheim. Today's recall of Noah Welch clinches the deal. This arrangement is the right thing to do. He has played a solid minus-3 for a d-man, but he's only 18! When Letang returns he'll be bigger and stronger. He needs to play enough so that he dominates, an opportunity that he would not get in the NHL.

We'll go back to being one of three teams without a right-handed shooting defenseman.

So, what about Jordan Staal? Shero says he's still not sure. Neither is the travel coordinator.

Staal's name is on the Los Angeles charter flight list, just in case.

Penguins Become Lame Ducks

The promotional calendar has an omission. April 7 is billed as Fan Appreciation Night, but it is also the FINAL NHL GAME IN PITTSBURGH. Thought you might want to mark down, or start to hoard tickets.

The Penguins are expected to announce the sale of the team today to Jim Balsillie for $175 million. It's not a letter of intent, it's an agreement pending the NHL's approval.

Basille, the CEO of Research in Motion, has said he intends to keep the team in Pittsburgh. Basille has also said in the past that he'd like to place an NHL team in Hamilton, Ontario.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review quotes NHL commish Gary Bettman: "Why would we want to leave a hockey hotbed like Pittsburgh?...The only thing that could drive us out of town would be the inability of those in charge of government entities to provide a new building, as was provided for the Steelers and the Pirates."

There's the rub. If the PA State Gaming Control Board does not select the Isle of Capri to win the city's sole slots parlor license - a plan that promises to build a $290 million arena - there's no commitment to buy into the Plan B proposal.

Plan B is not a safety net to keep a team from moving.

A wise prostitute will tell you that business is tough when the girls across the town are giving it away for free. In Pittsburgh, the IOC plan includes a free arena, the same for Hamilton and Kansas City.

On the surface, Hamilton doesn't make sense because of the proximity to Buffalo and Toronto. What folks don't understand is that the NHL could really market this idea.

Building new rivalries and selling Sidney Crosby in Canada is a license to print money. Don't forget, the Air Canada Center is packed with fans more loyal than Steelers' fans. Tickets are at a premium. Adding a team with Crosby and Malkin two hours away gives viability to adding another Canadian team. This could turn into a battle pitting a city against national pride. When a Canadian team gets bounced from the playoffs, a remaining Canadian team gets adopted.

The only insurance available to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh is the Isle of Capri plan.

The IOC plan is not going to happen. Everyone knows it. Former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy knew it too when he said "the fix was in." It was the only time in his 12 years he had a set of balls to speak candidly, yet he withdrew his comments after getting pressure for Gov. Ed Rendelphia.

Election day is exactly five weeks from today. Ed Rendell couldn't be happier the gaming control board's decision isn't expected for two more months. Lynn Swann is not savvy enough to think tonight's battle between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh is only on the ice and not for Harrisburg.

The team's lease at the Mellon Arena expires at the end of this season. April 7th will be the Pens last game (unfortunately no playoffs this year). It will not be a Great Day for Hockey.

Brokes Orpik

Brooks Orpik has a broken right hand and will miss tomorrow's opener and much more. Try one month.

Hoping to join the team on a West Coast road trip at the beginning of November.

Noah Welch might be the obvious choice for call-up, but don't dismiss the possibility of Alain Nasreddine showing up in Pittsburgh for five games.

Oh, Dany Boy, The Pipes, the Pipes are Clanging

Netminder Dany Sabourin was waived by the Pens yesterday when the team cut their roster to the league limit of 23.

Sabourin only played one game with the Penguins, but was the at the top of his game in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre.

Shero lost the gamble on this one. He would have been better off exposing Jocelyn Thibault to the waivers wire - no team would have taken him as a backup with his large contract.

No chance of this turning into another Canuck blunder like the Markus Naslund trade, but in time Sabourin would have made an excellent backup in the short term.

Good thing the Pens kept J.S. Aubin and Sebastien Caron. Oh yeah, they're gone already.

Thibault has exactly SIX wins since October 2003, only ONE with Pittsburgh. By subtracting $12,500 (Sabourin's pro-rated, entry-level contract) Craig Patrick spent about $1.4 million for Thibault's ONE victory.

T-boned again.

Pens' employ Staal tactic, Welch squeezed

The Pens will keep Jordon Staal & Kristopher Letang (provided they can sign him by 5 p.m.) for the start of the season. Noah Welch, Libor Pivko, Ryan Stone and Daniel Carcillo will be sent to Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

Sabourin, who would have had to clear waivers to be returned to WBS, stayed on with the parent club.

Malkin was not listed on the injured reserve list.

Here's the opening night roster...
Center
Sidney Crosby
Evgeni MalkinDominic Moore
Karl Stewart

Right Wing
Colby Armstrong
Ryan Malone
Michel Oullet
Ronald Petrovicky (IR)
Mark Recchi
Andre Roy

Left Wing
Nils Ekman
John LeClair
Jarkko Ruuto

Defensemen
Eric Cairns (IR)
Mark Eaton
Sergei Gonchar
Josef Melichar
Brooks Orpik
Rob Scuderi
Ryan Whitney
Kristopher Letang

Goaltenders
Marc Andre Fleury
Jocelyn Thibault
Danny Sabourin