Happy Birthday Mario Lemieux

Today is October 5th, 2011, marking Mario Lemieux's 46th birthday. For those that do not know me personally, I grew up a huge Pittsburgh Penguins fan and a huge fan of #66, Mario Lemieux.

I collected every Lemieux card I could find, had posters of him, video taped games, and bought every magazine that he was on the cover of. Lemieux was my hero, my idol.

I was awed by his magnificence. There's no doubt that Wayne Gretzky had the best hockey career of all-time. Gretzky has more assists than anyone else has points.

However, it's proven that had Lemieux not faced cancer and all of his other major injuries and played in as many games as Gretzky, he would have been close to breaking all of Gretzky's records.

Gretzky didn't play through cancer (Hodkin's Lymphoma) or any of the other serious injuries that Lemieux suffered. Not only did Lemieux get diagnosed with Hodgkin's diseases, it was right smack dab in the middle of the prime of his career.

Gretzky was great in the 1980's when he played for the Edmonton Oilers but he was surrounded by all-stars. The Oilers had Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Mark Messier all of whom are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lemieux scored 199 points with Rob Brown on his line.

Lemieux was just more physically gifted and talented than Lemieux. Not to mention that the NHL dictated the game in Gretzky's favor. The other NHL players respected Gretzky way more than Lemieux and Gretzky got favorable treatment by his opponents and the league.

Lemieux would get slashed by all 5 players on the other team and still score a goal. Watch this goal he scored against the Quebec Nordiques for example.

It's a shame that a player of Lemieux's stature had his career tainted with such serious injuries and illness's. We will always say what if about most of Lemieux's career.

To me he's the greatest hockey player of all-time.

Not only was Lemieux the most talented player of all-time, he is perhaps one of the classiest guys of all-time. I've met him once and he looked me in the eyes, shook my hand, and had a quick conversation with me. Not many athletes of his stature would do that.

I'm not ashamed to say that I cried when Lemieux played his last game. It was emotional as hell. Watch the highlights and listen to the fans chanting "Mario...Mario....Mario..", it still gives me goosebumps.

To this day Lemieux's comeback during the 2000-2001 season remains my greatest sporst memory and probably always will. Lemieux came back after being out of the league for 3 full seasons. Lemieux came back and registered a point on his first shift. For those of you that don't know, Lemieux scored a goal on his first career shift in the league and as Penguin.

Lemieux, being out of the game for three seasons registered 76 points in just half a season and helped the Penguins reach the Eastern Conference Finals.

Lemieux has done so much for the Penguins and the city of Pittsburgh. He's saved the Penguins from leaving Pittsburgh more than once, has helped them get a brand new state of the art arena and has helped the Penguins build a team and franchise that is committed to winning.

Lemieux was my childhood hero and remains a guy that I look to for motivation throughout my life. He's an inspiration. I can't speak for everyone, but I know Lemieux was one of the main reasons I got involved in hockey, as well as most other kids in Western Pennsylvania.

His talent, the way he conducts himself, and what he's done for the team I love and the city I was born in, I'll be forever thankful for number 66. Happy birthday big guy!

Watch this last video at the bottom, if doesn't give you goosebumps you've got some serious problems.

2011-2012 NHL Predictions

I really don't take predictions too seroiously anymore. Just my opinions and if I'm right about them I'll brag about it. If I'm wrong then this post might get magically deleted....I'm kidding.

Anyways I"m really amped  up for the 2011-2012 NHL regular season. Last year was an up and down year for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They opened their new beautiful home, Consol Energy Center and hosted the Winter Classic at Heinz Field. They also had two players make the All-Star team other than Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, in Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang.

The Pens finished the season with the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference and lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. They also played the second half of the season and the playoffs without Malkin and Crosby.

The Boston Bruins went on to win the Stanley Cup defeating the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Fianls. Jesus won the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoffs mvp wearing a Tim Thomas jersey.

Daniel Sedin won the Art Ross trophy, succeeding his freakish looking twin brother Henrik as the scoring champion.

Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks came out of nowhere to win the Hart Trophy.

And HBO produced some of the finest television ever in 24/7.

Big questions entering the season:

Pittsburgh Steelers: Old and Slow

Warren Sapp and every other NFL analyst out there has come out and said that the Pittsburgh Steelers are too old and too slow anymore. After the first quarter of the season I'm starting to think that they're on to something.

The Steelers can't block well, they can't tackle well, they can't defend the run well, and they aren't making any big plays with the exception of Troy Polamalu, Ben Roethlisberger, and Mike Wallace.

The defense has been very underwhelming considering that the majority of the big money and draft picks have gone to that side of the ball. This year alone they drafted defensive end Cameron Heyward in the first round, and re-signed Ike Taylor, Polamalu, Lawrence Timmons, and LaMarr Woodley to big deals.

They also decided to bring back 35 year-old Aaron Smith at a whopping $6.5 million for one year.

The Steelers have won two Super Bowls and have been to a third in the last six years. That's a lot of great success. That being said, the Steelers have been guilty of being way too loyal to aging players.

When the Steelers are considered old and slow, it's not fair to the whole team. Mike Wallace is both young and fast.

However here are some Steelers that are old and slow and way past their prime.

Tuesday Penstalk with Brian Peters

Tuesday Penstalk is a series written by Brian Peters, in which we take a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins upcoming action and take a look at what they have done in the past week. So let’s kick back and talk some hockey.

What’s up Yinzers, my name is Brian Peters, and you may remember me from a few guest appearances I made on this blog at or around the free agent signing period of July 1, 2011. The “management” here at 412sportstalk.net decided they wanted me to come on here once a week, maybe more, to talk some hockey with you guys. So we will get to that, but first a little about me, this way you know who I am.

I graduated from a Beaver County high school in ($1 to anyone who doesn’t already know me that can figure out which one) 2004. Went on to college to pursue a career in music/acting, what a mistake that was!! But luckily the training in acting led to an interest in news casting, so I transferred to a different school and graduated with a degree in broadcast communications.

This has led to many different jobs and positions. I’ve written about sports and theatre (see above and first majors) for various newspapers and online sources and I’ve worked at a news and sports talk radio station as a producer and an on air talent since 2009. See that, I’m not just you 30 year old dude, living in his grandma’s basement who knows how to create a blog, I’m someone who has the tools to know what is important.

When it comes to the Pittsburgh Penguins, I was born a year after Mario Lemieux was drafted, old enough to remember the first two cups. Went nuts for the Pens during the mid to late 90’s, I remember being the only kid in high school wearing Pens gear (2001-2004) and now I’ve seen everyone comeback and fall in love with the Pens. For the 2007-2008 season we decided to throw our name in the hat to get season tickets and man did we pull the trigger at the right time, we got them, and then a week later the season ticket waiting list was created. So thanks to those I have witnessed over 150 live Penguins games in the course of 4 years and I can’t wait to get this season started. I look forward to spending the Pens’ season with you and we’ll start the hockey talk next week, as for this week there is something I need to get off my chest.

As a season ticket holder for a good while now I’ve seen drastic changes both on the ice, in the locker room, to a new arena, and most noticeably in my pocket. It is well noted that the Pens organization is top in the NHL and were top in all of sports a few years back in terms of fan relations. Yes the team is very much awesome when it comes to this, and now you can see others starting to copy what the Pens do for their fans, Buffalo players delivered season ticket holders their tickets this year … meh. BUT if you haven’t been to a preseason game yet … I want you to be fair warned … you might as well bring your whole bank account.

The Consol Energy Center has jacked its prices on EVERYTHING! Those pulled pork nachos, last year were a little above $8 but you got a huuuge serving so it wasn’t that bad? Yep, $9 and the serving got …smaller?!? Beer, a staple that used to be $7.25, add .50 to it, its now $7.75. And best yet …. Because you can get to a game and not pay a dime inside, you can skip buying an $185 Pens jersey (remember in 2006 when they were $114 and everything was sewn on? Then the NHL got popular again and reebok took over?) but this charge you cant avoid. Parking, when I became a season ticket holder I used to pay $12 to park, and $17 for playoff games including the Stanley Cup Final, but for a measly PRESEASON game at the CEC this year we paid $20, FOR THE PRESEASON?!?

It really is a shame that a team known for how well it treats its fans has a home that treats them so poorly. Now there may be some of you saying those prices aren’t that bad, I’m guessing you go to one maybe no games a year. Try going to alllllll of them and let me know how you feel about the prices. Quick math $20 to park times roughly 18,000 (I know not everyone parks in their lots) equals $360,000 per game, times 41 regular season games equals …. $14,760,000

Show of hands, how many of you had to pick your jaw up off of the ground?

That being said; win or die, no matter the price, I love this team, and I absolutely cannot wait for the season to start.

LET’S GO PENS!

See you guys next week

Follow Brian on Twitter @BEPETERS
Email Brian you thoughts peters.brian24@gmail.com

So How Did That Win Feel?

I am a big fan of articles that let the readers know how a certain game felt from a perspective that they might share, the fan's perspective.  I have the privilege of being a student at Pitt and therefore attend every home game.  I sat through the Cincinnati game in 2009, when I watched the Panthers lose a BCS Bowl bid in front of my blistering cold face.  I watched Notre Dame in the same season, come in to Heinz Field boasting a fan base as vast as the home team's, the Panthers came out on top with dignity and excitement.

Basically, the privilege that I had spoken about earlier was not always necessarily what some would consider a "privilege".  Watching this team fail, year after year, last season the humiliating defeats at the hands of Miami and West Virginia on national television.  All of this leading up to this season.  New coach, new offense, new feeling of rebirth and another chance at success.  All of these things had amounted to a 2-2 record with wins against teams that most people have never heard of and losses to the teams that are recognizable.  Coming in to Thursday's game against a ranked opponent on national television, this was a must win game to re-ignite this "high-octane" offense and start Big East conference play off on the right foot.