Welcome to the Girard-Letang teething process.

Is there a scenario in which Kyle Dubas hedges his bets in the absence of Crosby and moves out some veterans at the deadline…perhaps vets he wouldn’t move if Sid was fully armed and operational? If anything it frees up space for younger guys, and we see what they have to offer in March.

Welp, there’s a bright side either way to Crosby’s absence. Either the team rises to the occasion, surges into the playoffs, and Sid comes back rested… …or the team plummets without Crosby and they get the benefit of a higher draft pick for the massive talent infusion this offseason.

Hey, I just met you And there’s a white whale But here’s my story So call me Ishmael. — Moby Dick, by Carly Rae Jepsen.

I’m happy for Crosby’s large adult son Jake Guentzel winning a gold medal. He’s all grown up now and out on his own. I hope he remembers his silver haired old dad and calls home sometimes.

For those not familiar with the lore, Ultra Magnus spent the rest of the movie retreating, “can’t deal with that now”, got cornered, tried to do it all himself, was blown to bits, and ended up losing leadership to someone who actually had an ounce of charisma. Add a hockey stick and it’s McDavid.

There was a time not that long ago when I was starting to develop some sympathy for Connor McDavid’s plight as a hockey player who couldn’t quite get over the hump as a winner. Not anymore. McDavid can go pound sand. The only way he rises to an occasion is if you fill him with helium.

I’m flashing back to 2002 when Mario Lemieux played in the Olympics, came back, played one game, and was suddenly out for the year with a hip injury. All this is to say that I’m cynically expecting Sid to fly home with his knee in his carryon bag, play one game, and then they stick a fork in him.

When this is all over, I never want to hear the words “Edzo” and “Bouch” ever again.

Thanks Bob. I have an indelible memory of a Sandstrom-Lemieux-Dave McIlwain line in 96 once Naslund was gone. This sticks with me because of the intense “why in the world is this guy on Mario’s line” feeling it caused. It’s a young fan rite of passage to realize your team isn’t infallible.

I’m not sure there are many players where “win it for [that guy]” would really actually mean something, but “win it for Sid” carries some weight. Do you want to be the guy who half-asses it when compensating for the loss of 87? I didn’t think so.

I know this scene from The Transformers: The Movie. Crosby removes the Matrix from his chest and goes to hand it to McDavid (Ultra Magnus), but it falls from his grasp. Celebrini (Hot Rod) rushes forward and grabs it, followed by a tremendous glow of foreshadowing. 2 hours later:

I know that Crosby will work like a madman to recover from any injury short of decapitation. That said…if there’s one part that a 38 year old NHL center needs to be reasonably intact, it’s the knees. He’s not going to be any faster. Ask Evgeni Malkin.

Crosby’s knee died so his team could live.

Nothing will turn this season from a retool to a rebuild faster than a significant Crosby injury.

In all seriousness, there’s been a point in every game when the underdog pushes back harder than expected, and you can see the favorite go “uh oh, we’d better get our shit in gear”. It makes for astonishingly entertaining hockey.

Now we have to root for the underdog goalie’s groin to not explode after 46 saves.

The easiest person in the world to root for is the goaltender for the underdog country in just about any Olympic hockey matchup.

I love this jersey color on color ITA/SWE matchup in Olympic hockey. We need more colorful matchups.

I think I’m officially over “Boosh” and “Edzo”. Isn’t that right, Boosh? Sure is, Edzo.

To be fair, he’s a biathlete, so playing two at once is pretty much his entire thing.

DS9 fans watching episode 5 of Starfleet Academy.

Just watched episode 5 of Starfleet Academy. 🥺 Find someone who loves you just as much as Tawny Newsome loves Star Trek. That love permeates every moment of this episode. It opens old wounds but helps you to heal them too. I’m out of words.

We’ve gone from “Tank for McKenna” to “Bail McKenna out of the tank”.

He was snorting Defensive Decision Making And Smart Passing…and everyone knows those are forbidden in Pittsburgh.

Which is why I’m not on the “this team is something special, these games are crucial” bandwagon. They’ve put together a nice turnaround overall, but bad habits and poor/overconfident decisions are still ingrained in their DNA, and their talent is Detroit level…ok, but not good enough.

The Pens have always struck me as a team that gets high on its own supply. They string together some wins and start thinking “hey, we’re something special”. Then they forget the effort required to make them special. They need the occasional loss like tonight to keep their effort honest.

Maybe the Pens could try not turning the puck over at every opportunity.

I’m sad that Barry Trotz is moving on to the next phase in his life. That’s mostly because the last phase involved the Penguins using his team as a pipeline for useful trades based on Trotz’s lack of judgement on talent.

Egor “I’m literally Alexei Kovalev” Chinakhov.

Question: Is the crushing weight of outsized expectations a real thing in TOR? Look at the Pens circa 2012-2015. They were Cup contenders through most of that time, but would faceplant in spectacular fashion. Reports from the time were that the Cup Or Bust mentality was eating them alive.

I get the Klingons clinging to their ideals here. They're basically the Bajorans now. The entire race has gone to shit thanks to an enemy, and normally it would be time to battle. Thing is, the enemy is exploding dilithium. Like Praxis, they can't battle this enemy so their beliefs don't help them.

Two things that bothered me about today's Starfleet Academy: 1) The Klingon pronunciations seemed off, but with further investigation that appears to be the intended way to speak that 's' sound at the ends of words. Plus, who is to say that words will be said the same way after 900 years? 1/

Wow. Serious lore drop/world building for the Klingons in this week’s Starfleet Academy. I like when a species can be something other than a planet of hats. People forget that Worf was not a typical/ideal Klingon. He’s his own idea of ideal Klingonhood as a contrast to many others.

TSN is doing "Face Of The Franchise" for NHL teams. Imagine having Sidney Crosby in your franchise...and he's not the face of it. Think about what that says about the sheer star power in your team's history. Heck...once you get past Mario and Sid you still have Jagr and Malkin. Preposterous.

Ben Kindel when he gets 192 friends and family in the building.

It’s a good thing that the Penguins don’t play again until Thursday. You could feel their engine sputtering towards the end of the game.

If you think about it, this has been the winning recipe for years. A 1st line with Sid. A 2nd line with Geno that’s basically a 1st line. A 3rd line with an anchor center that’s essentially a 2nd line. A fourth line that’s an actual asset. Adequate defense. A goalie who can fix mistakes.

A crowd of Jem’Hadar gathers. “Founder Odo? We have a request. We require…junk.” “*annoyed grunt* The replicators are over there.” “No, Founder. We need…tools.” “Replicators. That way.” The J’H mutter, looking for the correct phrase. “We need…a twig and berries”. “You want an arboretum?”

I'm still getting used to Starfleet Academy's "We're totally Hogwarts but with Trek" thing, but I acknowledge that me from about 30 years ago would have gone Kool-Aid Man through a wall for one of those Starfleet Academy letterman jackets.

It’s the moooost wonderful tiiiiime…of the year. Penguins Charity Bag day is February 26th. www.pittsburghpenguinsfoundation.org/charity-game...

Valtteri Puustinen always had the strange imbalance between actual results and fan-perceived potential that was a feature of a lot of Penguin "prospects" since about 2018. "They just didn't give him a chaaance".

That is just ridiculous.

Both the pass and the shot had no business happening from that angle for Sid and Rakell.

My family has decided that the Seattle Kraken goal horn is the “hockey cow”. Moooooooooooooooooooooo

I feel like every single shot the Kraken have had today has been a high danger chance.

Today’s theme: “I’m gonna do everything in my power to lose this game. I dare you to try and stop me.”

Stroud and the football need couples counseling. The ball spent the entire game trying to get away from him.

How does that Texans/Patriots game go if Stroud plays even slightly competently?