Game Of the Year!

Ok, maybe labeling this the game of the year already is a little extreme, but those of you who missed the Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game last night missed one of the more exciting hockey games you will see all season.

There were plenty of story lines going into last night's match up. It was the first time these two teams faced off since last year's Stanley Cup Final (won by Detroit 4 games to 2). It was also the first time that former Penguin Marian Hossa, who played a vital role in Pittsburgh's playoff run a year ago, would be playing against his former team since leaving via free agency during the off season.

The game started out just as many of last season's finals game had; the Penguins committed several early penalties and the Red Wings capitalized on their mistakes. Detroit took leads of 3-1, 5-2 and 6-4, but Pittsburgh battled back in the third period. Thanks to a hat trick by Jordan Staal the Penguins were able to tie it late in the third and force overtime. After weathering shot after shot from an early Penguins power play, it appeared that the Red Wings were going to regain the momentum in the final frame. That all changed however as an errant Pavel Datsyuk pass was picked off by Staal who thread the the needle to Ruslan Fedotenko for a beautiful goal to end the game.

It was a very gutsy win for a Penguins team that was without their top two defensemen: Sergi Gongar and Ryan Whitney. Both are expected to be out until January due to injuries. Hossa recorded a pair of assist in a losing effort against his former team. The star filled lineups did not disappoint on this night as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, among others, all scored.

The two teams will meet one more time this season on February 8th, this time in Pittsburgh. Circle that date on your calenders; its bound to be one heck of a game.

Free Tickets!

The New Jersey Nets have devised a new strategy to get people at their games: FREE TICKETS!

The following is from the Newark Star-Ledger:

In a nod to current economic conditions, the basketball team will give unemployed fans who submit their resumes to the Nets Job Bank up to four free tickets, plus access to a Nov. 22 career fair at their home arena, team president and chief executive Brett Yormark said yesterday. The team also will distribute applicants' resumes to its sponsors.

"Hopefully they'll come out and experience the Nets, and then when times get better they'll invest in us, because we invested in them," Yormark said. "No other team is doing that, and I think it's the appropriate thing to do, because times are tough."

To those who register for the program, the team will make 300 tickets available for each of five selected games at Izod Center in East Rutherford.

I like this move by the Nets. The team is struggling, the economy is struggling, why not try to help out both by doing a little something for the fans. Lets face it, a lot of people cannot afford to go to professional sporting events these days. Many times those people who cannot afford a ticket are some of the team's biggest fans. If you are not going to sell out anyway, why not give away a few tickets to people who deserve to and want to go see these games. Who knows, maybe a little extra energy at Izod Center is just what the team needs to win a few close games at home. It will be interesting to see if other teams around the sports world try to adopt this idea.

Managers of the Year Announced

When you take a team from dead last in your division one year all the way to the World Series the following year you are going to get noticed. That is just what the Baseball Writers Association did on Wednesday when they named Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon AL Manager of the Year. Maddon received 27 of a possible 28 first place votes, the lone other vote went to Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire.

Over in the National League Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella was given the same honor. Piniella edged out Phillies manager Charlie Manuel by 7 first place votes. Pineiella's Cubs were a NL best 97-64 this season before being ousted by the LA Dodgers in the NLDS.

The two great managers do have ties to each other; Maddon replaced Piniella as Rays skipper in 2006. At the time the Tampa coaching job was considered by many to be the worst job in baseball. Things have certainly taken a turn for the better since.

Division Rivals Strike a Deal

The Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals announced a trade on Tuesday that will send outfielder Josh Willingham and lefty starter Scott Olsen to Washington in exchange for three minor leaguers; second baseman Emilio Bonifacio, right-hander P.J. Dean and infielder Jake Smolinski.

The trade marks yet another cost cutting move for the Marlins who recently shipped Mike Jacobs to Kansas City for the very same reason; all are arbitration eligible, making them unfordable. The move very likely will not be the last for Florida. The addition of Bonifacio, a speedy young second basemen, makes all star second basemen Dan Uggla now expendable.

For the Nationals, the addition of Willingham creates a log jam in the outfield where they already have Austin Kearns, Elijah Dukes and Lastings Milledge. It is likely that Washington will move one of those three before the season starts. The addition of Olsen is a nice fit for a rotation that struggled mightily last season. Olsen was 8-11 with a 4.20 ERA in 33 starts in 2008. The most impressive stat is his 201 1/3 innings pitched last season, the first time in his career that he surpassed the 200 inning plateau. No Nationals pitcher recorded more that 182 inning last season.