Some Friday Notes.....

Not a whole lot of news coming out of Penguins land right now....just rehash of what we have been talking about for the past week and a couple minor personnel moves. Here is a notes blog to hold you over until the Flightless Bird faces off against the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night....

• Karl Stewart was waived on Wednesday and claimed by the Chicago Blackhawks. Stewart didn't get much of a chance in Pittsburgh, having been acquired days before Chris Thorburn was snagged from Buffalo. It doesn't seem to be much of a loss for the Penguins, who should be getting Ronald Petroviky back from injured reserve soon. Losing him didn't seem to cause any shudders in Wilkes Barre-Scranton either, here is a quote from Jonathan Bombulie's Penguins Insider blog: (JB is the Baby Pens beat writer) "Karl Stewart being claimed on waivers by Chicago is probably for the best for everyone involved. As I understand it, he primarily plays left wing. He'd seriously probably be fourth on the WBS depth chart at that position at this point, behind Ryan Stone, Daniel Carcillo and Stephen Dixon." Fourth on the AHL depth chart = being a healthy scratch for 5 of 8 Pittsburgh games, plus lots of frequent flyer miles. Stewart has been with Atlanta, Anaheim, Pittsburgh and Chicago since June.
• After clearing the spot on the NHL roster, the Penguins activated Eric Cairns from injured reserve and sent him to Wilkes Barre-Scranton for a rehab assignment. Cairns had to be added to the NHL roster prior to his rehab assignment, or he would have had to go through waivers on the way down to WBS.
• Brooks Orpik is close to returning to the line-up. He could play as soon as Wednesday night at Los Angeles.
• Being in Pittsburgh, we get to watch the NHL's future develop before our eyes, but we don't have blinders on. There are a handful of very exciting rookies in the league again this year. Thank god for NHL Center Ice! It is great to get an opportunity to watch rookie scoring leaders: Anze Kopitar and Matt Carle on the West Coast.
• For anyone out there worrying about Marc Andre Fleury tiring out this season, don't? He is relishing the opportunity to play so many games, and actually gets better the more he is relied upon. It is great that the team has stuck with him and his confidence is growing. It is also worth noting that Fleury played 51 and 55 of Cape Breton's 70 games each of his last two seasons in the QMJHL. He should be good to start 60-65 Penguins games this season.
• Last Penguins 3 game winning streak: March 19-23, 2004.
• Don't believe the Glenn Murray hype. I was very shocked to even see it mentioned anywhere. The Penguins would be making a huge mistake to give up an asset or assets to acquire a player in the twilight of his career, especially one who gets paid the way Muzz does.

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