•Not only do SEC replay booths not use HD screens, but they say it's not worth making the switch. Also, that play where Patrick Peterson clearly stayed in bounds? They accidentally DVR'd The Mentalist over it.

•Want to know what makes Sidney Crosby so good? Evgeni Malkin. In the sixth game without the real MVP in the lineup, Sid The Kid extended his point-less streak to five games, and the Pens fell to Boston.

•A four-minute replay review overturned Brad Miller's buzzer-almost-beater, and Denver hung on to top Chicago. Imagine that! The length of the game was extended in order to make the right call, and no one's calling for David Stern's head! You listening, Selig? Of course you're not. You fell asleep halfway through Leno.

•What's Larry Johnson worth? Not moving to the bottom of the waiver wire. No one claimed the, um, expressive RB, and he's free to sign anywhere. Except with the Chiefs. My sources tell me they have no plans of signing him.

•If Mauer, Jeter and Teixeira were hoping their defense would set them apart in the MVP race, well...all three won Gold Gloves. Also, Placido Polanco emerges as a dark horse candidate.

•A judge has blocked North Dakota from changing their nickname from the Fighting Sioux. In these trying times, with two wars being fought, it's just insensitive to name a team the Fighting anythings.

•The Tribune's Rick Morrissey said Joakim Noah would never be a useful player, and promised to eat the column if he was proven wrong. Well...

Congrats, naturally, to the Penguins who had a shaky season, struggled to get into the playoffs, but slowly pulled it all together and ended up the best team in the league. It only took one more miracle save from Marc-Andre Fleury as time expired—much like one Chris Osgood made last year—to put the Red Wings away. Detroit made an amazing final push, and sporting events don't get much more thrilling than those final 3 minutes, but Pittsburgh was the better team and they earned their title.

A couple of final thoughts:

• Sidney Crosby is now the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup and few will remember he spent the second half of the game hunched over in pain on the bench. Or that he appeared to skip the handshake line? (Am I wrong, or were most of the Red Wings in the locker room while he was still hugging assistants? Update: I was not wrong.) Those who consider Crosby to be a spoiled, fortunate son probably won't change their mind after tonight, but that's their issue, I guess.

• Marian Hossa. Ouch.

• How many times can Gary Bettman walk on the ice—in any and every NHL city—to a chorus of merciless boos before he gets the hint? You're there to oversee the biggest moment of the year for your industry and the only thing everyone can agree on is that you are a villainous bum. What is he hanging on to?

• Seriously. Amazing finish. At least everyone still has the Pirates to beat up on.

Penguins hold off Red Wings to take third Stanley Cup [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

You know, sometimes I'm amazed when there aren't good photos in the inbox. It's very disappointing. Thankfully, the fine young lads at Styles Points (we'll say via Best Pucking Bets) discovered this picture of Penguins' star Evgeni Malkin doing that thing that slimy Russians do when they have too much to drink. I have no idea when or where this photo is from. He could be 12 in it, for all I know.

Game 7 tomorrow night...

UPDATE: Anonymously submitted origins/explanations of the make-out moment: "That picture was taken at the NHL All-Star weekend this past February in Montreal. It was at The Hockey News party on the Friday night of the weekend."

UPDATED UPDATE: The members of the angry little Pensblog are all aTwitter over this thing and state that the picture is three years old and are flexing their little Penguin muscles.

Is at least 3 years old. We get it sent to us at least once a week or so.
Who ever told you it was taken in Feb is a joke.

Go Red Wings.

The ID of the lady being choked by the tongue is still in question.

******

Good morning. Save yourselves, it's Thursday. Sorry for the late start.

The two teams already have a crap load of star power, as they feature the top three scorers in the league, but there's also some international intrigue to spice things up a bit. Former bestest buddies Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin were roommates at the 2006 Olympics, but for some reason that no one seems willing to talk about, the young Russian superstars are now the bitterest of enemies. In their last two meetings, at the end of last season and the beginning of this one, Ovechkin went out of his way to try and deliver some hard hits on Malkin, a dastardly strategy also known as "playing hockey." But this feud has allegedly moved beyond the rink to include—what else?—a nightclub brawl back in Russia between Ovechkin and Malkin's agent. Or did it?

"Ovechkin is a great player, but every time he hits me, I don't know why," Malkin said.

I like to imagine Malkin saying that quote while holding a teddy bear and sniffing back adorable tears. Why is he so mean?

Whatever the case, the league's top two offensive studs hate each other and that makes for good ratings—or it would if these games were televised. Throw in Alex Semin's old comments about Sidney Crosby's punk-like abilities ("I think that if you take any player, even if he is 'dead wood,' and start promoting him, you'll get a star.") and you've got the makings a rough, hotly-contested game. One that the Penguins desperately need to win after losing seven of their last nine. Let's see some of that Mudbug intensity!

CAPITALS, PENGUINS SET TO CARRY HOSTILITIES ON TO THE ICE [TSN]
Capitals-Penguins Preview [Yahoo]