Today's Sidney Crosby's 21st birthday.  While the kid may officially be an adult now that US bars will serve him, I'm sure there aren't many people out there who would refute the fact that Crosby has been an adult since he was drafted. 

Sure, he lived with Mario (and still does), but you've hardly heard announcers and analysts say Sid "has a lot of growing up to do" in terms of professionalism.  He's carried himself in a positive light since draft day, knows and understands his role in the league and doesn't disappoint the upper echelons of power when it comes to staying out of bad press write-ups.

So it's Sid's birthday, and a happy birthday to em.  The Pittsburgh Trib-Review writes: "Here's to Sid the Adult", but I think he's grown up much faster than his current age reflects. 

Continue reading for some fun and interesting Penguins related drink recipes.

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Special thanks to Pensburgh's newest member BabyPens16 for the link contribution. 

According to BP16 this thing was kept a secret as a matter of defense for Fleury.  The main concern was Albany's urge to want to shoot for MAF's head.  The final product is what you see in the video.

For a deeper look into the technology behind Marc-Andre Fleury's goalie cam in the video posted late last week, read up on the inner workings here.

Apparently Fleury leads the league in number of times in which a goalie has worn the camera.  It's not exactly an official stat, but the guy behind the production of the camera said so himself and frankly I'll take his word on it.  I can't imagine many goalies being comfortable with this sort of thing.  We've seen how Sid will often toss the mic off on the bench if he feels it's annoying him.  I can't imagine goalies would have much liberty to do so until after a period of play.  To think Fleury signed up for this sort of thing kind of amazes me, but I guess it was just a way of entertaining and conditioning during the lockout.

Here's how the whole thing works.  If you look close enough at the picture you can actually see the camera between the '2' and the '9' down by the chin.  For the actual tech talk stuff, I'll let the site do the explaining:

The new and improved goalie cam uses the Sony XC-555 mini camera. Silverman's first step was to "deconstruct" the 7-ounce cigar-shaped SD camera, which is four inches long and 7/8-inch wide. The lens was mounted behind a pencil-sized hole drilled below the chin of the goalie mask then connected by a ribbon cable to rest of the camera inside a waterproof housing at the back of the helmet.

Source

Photo courtesy of tvtechnology.com

ESPN compiled their list of coaches and where they rank, broken into such aptly named categories as "The Elite", "The Proven", "The Jury's Still Out" (?), "The Suspect" and the "How Do We Know Yet?" (for the new coaches).  Michel Therrien seems to have taken a slight beating from ESPN's Terry Frei, especially when you consider how quickly he turned this team around...

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Two articles to look at today from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 

The first comes to us two days late but still holds relevance.  The Trib performed a Q&A session with Sidney Crosby.  Aside from relating to the 21-year-old lifestyle, the interview also touches upon subjects such as Marian Hossa (give it up already), next year's expectations and how a loss in the Finals can motivate a team more than ever.

Our second article today is on the minor league level.  Dan Bylsma, formerly the assistant coach for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins received a promotion to the head coaching role per the nomination from general manager Ray Shero and assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher. 

This is no doubt a big move in the minors, as both the Pittsburgh and WBS squads made it to the finals in their respective leagues this season.  Unfortunately both lost in the Finals as well, but that's neither here nor there.

Todd Richards, the former head coach of the Baby Penguins will make his time well spent in the NHL this season as an assistant coach for the San Jose Sharks.

Hockey, as a sport, hardly shuns away from helping the fans.  Some of the most personable players in any league play for the NHL.  Guys like Mario Lemieux, Phil Kessel and Saku Koivu have battled back from cancer and raised money for their respected charities.  So when I read about Katie's Fight on BehindTheJersey.com, I felt obligated as a team blogger for a sport that is so generous to its fans to, in turn, spread the word about an auction for a good cause.

Here's the Ebay page.

There's some good stuff up there too.  Keep in mind the following prices are subject to change, but you already know that.  Take for example, the $20 Evgeni Malkin autographed hat.  Or, should you wish to spend your stimulus check (for our American readers), you can opt for the $399 autographed Mario Lemieux jersey.

If you're worried about authenticity, then look no further than the item itself.  The NHL donated these specific items to the charity and certified via label on the product that the autograph is genuine.

If you plan on bidding away, let me know how you do.  I'd love to see a Pensburgh member take home some goodies for a good cause.  There's less than two days remaining on these items, so get busy buyin.

He started his career in Pittsburgh, and some would even say his best years came in Steel Town.  After a short and unproductive stint in Washington, Jagr shipped out to NYC and posed as a volatile threat in the first year after the lockout.  More recently, Jagr was rumored to be weighing out some options to return to Pittsburgh.  Of course, those rumors proved to be false and Jagr went to Omsk, Russia, where he will play out at least the next two years.  Today we'll look back on #68 Jaromir Jagr and his days in the black and gold.

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• Pittsburgh is spawning hockey talent in droves, while we remember just how close Ovechkin and Crosby came to nearly being teammates. 
• We'll take a look at NHL 2009 and perhaps discuss how badly you will be beaten by "some guy" with the username Pensburgh.
• Afterwards we'll stroll down Crosby St. and look at one guy who got out of Detroit following the Cup win.

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That's what one blogger/writer/pundit is asking.  And frankly, with a response like this...

Are the Pens as good as the team that went to the finals last year? On paper, they are not. The departures were significant enough to be damaging to any team. However, do the Pens have the capability to get back to that level this season? Absolutely. Any team with two elite players like Malkin and Crosby will always have some success.

Hockey Trade Rumors

...he doesn't exactly give a definitive answer.  So let's do what we do best when the offseason strikes; over-analyze everything. 

Be warned...it's a long post.  I may even keep it up till Sunday-ish unless we have some news breaking.

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But first we have to get through another two or three weeks before prospect camp.

Once I get wind of the prospects expected to line up in camp we can start taking polls on who will be upped to the black and gold before the year is over.  Last season I went 1-for-2 by picking Letang and Filewich.  We'll see how we all do this year...

For the time being though it's officially the first day of the last month of summer.  Now don't get me wrong; I like me some nice sunny days.  But by the middle of August you kinda get to a point where enough is enough and you want to get on with the season already.  Then again, it was about 90 degrees for the home opener against the Ducks last season.  So who knows?

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These guys would be Midget League Enforcers if they skated instead of...danced/jumped/whatever they do.

It's obvious there is nothing going on around the Pens.  The least I can do is entertain you...