I tell you, I am getting a ton of mileage out of this Sidney Crosby portrait. I think he's becoming the poster boy for Playoff Beard .com as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL. Ok.... on to the good news.

Today, prior to their game against the Buffalo Sabres (which should be suhhhweeeet), the Pittsburgh Penguins will announce a deal on their new arena which will keep the Penguins in the Steel City for the next 30 years. According to reports on TSN.ca, the Penguins have reached an agreement with the city for the financing of a new $290 million dollar facility. The financial particulars of the deal can be found here.

Awesome news. It really would have been a devestating blow to Pittsburgh fans to see their young team leave and possibly pull a Quebec Nordiques / Colorado Avalanche and win a Stanley Cup just a year removed from their departure (although it may take them more than a year, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did) from their origin. Now everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.... especially goaltender Marc-Andre Fluery whose house is still being finished (I saw the fully stocked wet bar he was installing in his basement on Hockey Night in Canada last weekend .... YO Marc, when's the first party bro?) and can make his first mortgage payment rather than pack his bags.

Quick Shave:
Did my Game of the Night pick deliver or what? The St. Louis Blues battled the Calgary Flames to a shootout last night where they were eventually felled on scores by Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla and lost 5-4. The Flames win has helped to create a larger bottleneck in the West as they now sit in 8th with 84 points behind the Dallas Stars, San Jose Sharks, and the Minnesota Wild all tied with 85 points. They are also just three points shy of the Vancouver Canucks and their Northwest Division lead. The Los Angeles Kings layed a whooping on the Edmonton Oilers last night 5-1, sending them to their 8th straight loss. Everyone on the Kings scored last night. Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin responded to some recent criticism yesterday by scoring both goals for his club. Unfortunately the Atlanta Thrashers scored four to defeat them 4-2. Bobby Holik scored an Ovechkin style on the stomach goal in the game as well. Check out the highlights, it worth the view. New acquisition Keith Tkachuk scored again, and helped the Thrashers regain control of the Southeast Division and third place overall in the Eastern Conference.

NHL Center Ice Online
This juicy tidbit landed in my email box late last night (or early this morning, depending on your perspective), and I had to share it. For the less fortunate, whose cable service does not offer the NHL Center Ice package will affords the rest of the opportunity to enjoy all the fruits that the NHL has to offer, your prayers have now been answered. NHL Center Ice will now be available over the internet through NHL Center Ice Online (obvious and simple... thanks Bosh)! As an NHL Center Ice subscriber I can tell you that this is a must have (and I'm not receiving a penny for this endorsement) as a hockey fan, especially with the postseason less than a month away. To find out more information and to sign up click here. Also on a very positive note, NHL Center Ice has changed their intermission style music that permeates the air pre and post game. Another solid bonus!

Game of the Night:
Florida at Carolina 7:00 PM
Ottawa at NY Rangers 7:00 PM
NY Islanders at Montreal 7:30 PM
Buffalo at Pittsburgh 7:30 PM
Tampa Bay at Toronto 7:30 PM
Detroit at Nashville 8:00 PM
Minnesota at Vancouver 10:00 PM

Ok what a night! Seriously the remote is going to be on fire by the end of this evening. Everyone of these games is huge! HUGE! The funny thing is, that most of the games will have ramifications with the others, especially the Eastern Conference matchups. Do you realize how awesome some of the first round matchups would be if the regular season ended today? Just take a wishful thinking gander at the current layout of the league and let your mouth water in anticipation. Good stuff..... it's gonna go down smooth. Enjoy the games my fuzzy friends, and get ready to throw away those Gillette Fusion Mach 3's, 4's, and 5's!

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh