The Piece.

He was once Scuds, or Scudsy. Now because of one slip up, he is "The Piece". Oh man, that is priceless.

He had an awesome... no, a nearly impossibly great game in Game 6 of the Detroit series, where he literally got down on his knees, into goalie position to stop three last ditch efforts by the Red Wings while Marc-Andre was off chasing a butterfly or something. Maybe he saw something shiny. Oh, I'm kidding. I love Marc- Andre, and Lord knows my mother would trade me in a second for him. Literally. You can see it in her eyes when she laughs at an interview, and I think she's even mused it aloud when she thought I wasn't paying attention.

But I digress. So Rob Scuderi had this awesome game, and in the interview afterwards, he said, "I am just THE piece of a puzzle." What he meant to say, of course, is that he is A piece of the puzzle. I'm sure he'll never live it down. Not if Jordan Staal has anything to do with it. Our first blog was on that video, I've reattached it below, in order to celebrate some could be great news.

Rob Scuderi became a free agent this year. Everyone was pretty much accepting the fact that he was going to be on his merry way because, basically, with so much talent on the team...they can't afford to pay him near what he could get somewhere else.This is where God sent me hope, brought me back from the funk Evgeni Malkin put me in. I thought... all was lost. That all those pro sports star stereotypes were creeping into hockey and sucking the lifeblood out of it. That's right- lifeblood. But then dear, dear Rob, or The Piece, as he is now called, gave me hope. Saved the day in a huge and unexpected way, like he did in that fateful game 6.

These are quotes from an interview with Ron Cook:
"I've never been the type to just chase the money," he said. "I've seen too many guys go for the highest contract and end up in a bad situation and be completely upset for three or four years. I don't want that happening to me. It's no fun going somewhere and losing, especially after you've been spoiled playing here. That would be just miserable."

How cool is he? Definitely deserving of his awesome nickname. Luvs.

"We'll see what happens," Scuderi said. "I told Ray (Shero, Pittsburghs GM) in our exit meeting that I'd give Pitt the last shot. I'll take him the offer I'm most comfortable with and say, 'How close can we get?'

Just like that my faith is restored in hockey. A closed door led me to an open window. Why did I ever doubt?

...yech. I just remembered why. Thank God for Scuds. The Piece. Whatever. The important part of the video is around the 40 second mark. Enjoy.
-CE