It was quite a week for the Pittsburgh Penguins and everyone associated with the organization. I have two friends who have worked for the Pens for more than four decades. Each of these great ladies will soon receive their fifth championship ring. They, along with many others, will attend parties all summer long. Good for them.
• Pittsburgh sure knows how to throw a heck of a party. The parade in downtown Pittsburgh was terrific. The players really got into it as well, which was fun to see. Kudos to the fans, not only for showing up, but also for behaving. There weren’t any reports of violence or arrests around the parade. Way to go, Pittsburgh.
• I often laugh about the lack of transparency when it comes to hockey injuries. The player either has an upper or lower body injury. Only after the Pens won the Stanley Cup did we find out how badly injured several of the players actually were. Several guys played with broken bones and other serious injuries. But that’s hockey players. They’re the toughest guys on the planet, and for my money the best guys too.
• It was tough to watch Marc Andre Fleury address the media for what will probably be the last time at the Pens’ locker clean out day. Fleury could hardly keep it together when he talked about his time in Pittsburgh. He said he’ll miss “everything” about the city. The Flower was a fan favorite, and will also go down as one of the greatest players in franchise history. Some day he might even make it to the Hall of Fame. I was hoping that Fleury’s career would not only end with another Cup, but that he would be the guy in the nets to propel the Pens to their fifth title. Fleury was the winning goaltender in nine of the Pens’ sixteen wins on the way to the Cup, but didn’t play in the Finals. Still, there’s no question that he was a valuable member of the team’s championship run. Marc Andre Fleury was a great Penguin, and is also regarded as a terrific person. He will be missed.
• Las Vegas holds all the cards for this week’s expansion draft. There are many big names to choose from all around the league when the NHL’s newest team gets to select one player from each of the NHL’s 30 teams. Chances are the Knights will select Marc Andre Fleury from the Penguins. But they could also take Bryan Rust, Ian Cole or Carl Hagelin, who were left exposed. We’ll know soon. My money is on Fleury heading to the desert.
• The Pirates gave away another game over the weekend when the bullpen imploded in the ninth inning when it looked like the Buccos would have another win. That’s happened a few times this season and it’s got to stop. Pirates’ GM Neal Huntington said over the weekend that the Pirates need someone other than Felipe Rivero who can get three outs for the team when they need it. Amen to that.
• The Pirates gambled and it paid off in last week’s draft. They knew that high school pitcher Shane Baz could easily turn them down and go to college at TCU, yet they drafted him anyway. They also found a way to sign him, which is good news for everyone. The Pirates need young pitchers in their system, and Baz has the tools to be a good one. Drafting high school players is always a risk. Some make it, many don’t. Baz could be a great one. The Pirates sure hope so.
• I found it hard to get into the US Open Golf tournament over the weekend. The big names weren’t on the leaderboard, plus the scores were extremely low. Used to be that even par was a good score at the Open, where the conditions are usually brutal and the scores are high. I’ve got to hand it to Brooks Koepka, who tied a US Open record with a final score of sixteen under par. Koepka was money, sinking a few birdie putts on the back nine when the tournament was up for grabs. He deserved to win it, even though most people never heard of him until this past weekend.
• The Golden State Warriors are the heavy favorites to win another NBA title next year, and that makes a lot of sense. When you look at their roster I can see the Warriors winning several more over the next few seasons. They remind me of the Miami Heat “super team”. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad for the NBA. What I do know is that fans of the NBA should expect to see Golden State in the Finals several more times.
