There was a time when my favorite sport was, without hesitation, baseball. Recently, however, my interest in the game has been lost. Not because of a steroid scandal or the incompetence of Bud Selig, but mostly because the team I grew up cheering for, the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been a Major League Baseball team in name only and is currently working on its 17th consecutive losing season with no end in sight.
You might argue that makes me a fair-weather fan, but I disagree. My interest is so low that if, by some perfect storm -- like the rest of the National League halting operations and disbanding from the league -- the Pirates actually won something, I still probably wouldn't care as much as I should. I just don't care about baseball anymore, but I certainly don't begrudge those who still do. It's still a great game, even if my interest is at an all-time low.
Evgeni Malkin was listed as questionable for Tuesday's game with Atlanta because he had been a little under the weather the past couple of days. You would have never known it watching him skate in Pittsburgh's 6-2 win, while Thrashers goalie Johan Hedberg was the only one looking like he was about to hurl into his goalie mark by the end of the night.
Thanks to his five-point performance on Tuesday, Malkin became the first player in the NHL to hit the 100-point plateau this year, reaching the century mark for the second consecutive season.
A couple of weeks ago, TSN hockey analyst Gord Miller came to the conclusion that in order for the Pittsburgh Penguins to remain competitive in the NHL, they would have to deal the league's leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, for a first-line winger, a No. 2 center, and "hopefully" a pick or a prospect. It was a laughable proposal.
On Sunday night, Rob Rossi, Penguins beat writer for the Tribune-Review, appeared on a weekly Pittsburgh talk show and suggested the team would be wise to put Sidney Crosby on the trade block this offseason. I guess this is what happens when you go from being two wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup to being the No. 10 team in the Eastern Conference in a matter of one season.
In late January, Peter Forsberg inked a contract with Swedish Elite League hockey club MODO, and was scoring goals like the beauty shown above. Turns out, thanks to more injury problems, his latest comeback could be over, as well as his career.
Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like an American bank pretty much everything these days. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.
Who am I talking about? Why, I'm talking about Peter Forsberg, the erstwhile Colorado Avalanche center who once again has taken off a significant chunk of the regular season in the hopes his wonky right foot will actually heal this time, thus allowing him to return to the league and do what he does best.
According to Canada's TSN, Forsberg has started skating again in his hometown, where he's working hard to test out the right foot and ankle that have given him so much trouble over the past few seasons.
There are certainly at least two really good teams in the NHL's Western Conference. Defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit and fast-starting San Jose appear in the clear to duke it out for the right to play for the Stanley Cup later this year.
Of course, we know that anything can happen in a best-of-seven series. In addition, we still have half a season left to play. What we don't know is which team in this conference is set up to challenge either the Red Wings or Sharks. They've beaten - at least once - pretty much everyone who has stood in their way, including each other.
While the top of the conference appears to virtually locked in place at this point, there are still serious battles to be fought, especially for the last four positions in the West. Currently, eight teams are separated by just six points. St. Louis, the last-place team in the West, is just nine points out of eighth.
Everybody's favorite indecisive holdout (and no, I'm not talking about ESPN's man crush on Brett Favre) Peter Forsberg has made an announcement today. The big news? Well, it's that he may not make an announcement about his playing future until Christmas. So yes, there you have it, an announcement that he won't make an announcement about his playing future for quite a while.
Swedish newspaper Expressen reported earlier this summer that Forsberg would need several months of rehabilitation for a chance to salvage his NHL career.
The newspaper quoted Forsberg, 35, as saying he probably wouldn't be available to play before Christmas.
Ah yes, it just isn't hockey season if the Peter Forsberg Saga isn't rolling mercifully along. I'm sure going to miss all this when Peter acutally does retire. But that won't be until 2021 so at least I have some time until that happens. In the meantime I'm going to soak in all of the will he/won't he questionable goodness.
Here's another interesting item from the hive mind inside NHL FanHouse: If all of the current playoff series on tap tonight run to what seems to be their inevitable conclusions, we might very well be on the verge of seeing the most significant set of departures from the league since the lockout.
With the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche staring down the barrel of what look to be insurmountable leads in their respective three playoff series (both 3-0), tonight could see the last shifts in the careers of Jaromir Jagr, Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan, and Peter Forsberg.
For those of you scoring at home, those players occupy spots 1, 2, 4 and 17 on the NHL's active scoring list. And if you toss in the possible retirements of Mark Recchi and Jeremy Roenick, you add nos. 3 and 7 to a crowded retirement calendar.
So how likely is it that tonight will be the last time we'll see any of these four Hall of Fame locks on the ice? Let's take a look at each:
Sean Avery has a lacerated spleen and will be out the remainder of the season, sources tell TSN.
The source went on to say that the laceration was detected with a CT scan after Avery was taken to hospital following the Game 3 with the Penguins.
The New York Rangers expect Avery to make a full recovery in the off-season.
This is one heck of a frightening injury, but one where an individual can make a full recovery and return to the field of play. Back in 2001 in the midst of the Stanley Cup Finals, Colorado's Peter Forsberg suffered from a ruptured spleen during the 2001 playoffs inGame Six against the New Jersey Devils, but recovered soon enough to play in 75 games the following season.
There was a time when my favorite sport was, without hesitation, baseball. Recently, however, my interest in the game has been lost. Not because of a steroid scandal or the incompetence of Bud Selig, but mostly because the team I grew up cheering for, the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been a Major League Baseball team in name only and is currently working on its 17th consecutive losing season with no end in sight. 
A couple of weeks ago, TSN hockey analyst Gord Miller 
Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like 
He's back? Maybe.
There are certainly at least two really good teams in the NHL's Western Conference. Defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit and fast-starting San Jose appear in the clear to duke it out for the right to play for the Stanley Cup later this year.
Here's another interesting item from the hive mind inside NHL FanHouse: If all of the current playoff series on tap tonight run to what seems to be their inevitable conclusions, we might very well be on the verge of seeing the most significant set of departures from the league since the lockout.
Just about an hour ago, the news hit the wires that New York Rangers winger 
