To all of you loyal Pens fans out there, I have one little question. Where is our Casino in Pittsburgh? Now maybe you are saying “who cares”, but I think it needs some discussion. Didn't Don Barden promise some money to the Pens for their new digs? Now it seems that Mr. Barden is a lacking in the funds he promised. We went from the Taj Mahal of Casinos to the Double-wide trailer trash he wants to build.

Now Barden wants to let someone else take over the project and get outta Pittsburgh. Who dropped the ball? I blame it on the politicians that created the board to award the license. We could of had a free arena if they gave the Island of Capri the license to build the casino on the South Side. Now we have Mr. Barde screwing the Pittsburgh area and the Pens. We will never see any money for the new arena. I surely hope the Penguins have a backup plan. I think they may since the city of Pittsburgh has already jerked them around so many times before.

It is up to Mario once again to save hockey in the Burgh and I am sure he will. But, what about the other three groups interested in building a casino in Pittsburgh? I say open the bidding back up and let the market determine who should build a casino. Personally I do not care if we have a House of Sin or not, but if it means that the Pens are linked to Pittsburgh for many generations to come. I say “pull those one arm bandits granny”.

Casino or not the Penguins have a very bright future. Let's just hope that the Penguins organization still has the fortitude to put up with the backwards politicians in the Commenwealth of Pennsylvania one last time.

Hockey can be really boring and dry in the summer time. Hence why I decided to create an open thread page for the weekend. I will be posting an open thread either on Friday or Saturday from now on.

Use this post to discuss whatever you want. It can be hockey-related or not. I don't care, just have fun.

I know that Mats Sundin is no Crosby, Ovechkin, or Zetterberg anymore. I think he is still a pretty good player and was wondering if anyone knows the latest news on him? I know that there was a $20 Mil, 2 year deal on the table with him at one point during free agency. Did anyone hear anything else regarding Sundin?

How would you rank your top ten favorite hockey players? This list can consist of both past and present players. It may consist of forwards, defense, and goalies. Reply to this post and have some fun.

My Rankings:

 1.  Mario Lemieux
 2.  Martin Brodeur
 3.  Sidney Crosby
 4.  Martin St. Louis
 5.  Paul Kariya
 6.  Ron Francis
 7.  Vincent Lecavalier
 8.  Peter Forsberg
 9.  Niklas Lidstrom
10.  Patrick Roy

The Chicago Blackhawks named 20 year old Jonathan Towes as their team captain on Friday, July 18, 2008. He is one of the youngest NHL team captains. Sidney Crosby still tops the list as being the youngest team captain named (at age 19) in the NHL. It looks like Towes has the skill and leadership abilities to help his team out. The Blackhawks are a growing team, and they are definitly a team watch. They have a lot of youthful talent, and they seem to be reflecting upon the Penguins growth with their young squad.