Full version of ‘Playing to Lose,’ the 1983-84 Penguins story, is available online

So did the Pittsburgh Penguins really tank it in 1984 so they’d land Mario Lemieux and the first pick of the ’84 draft? The team’s former head coach says “yes,” but you can decide for yourself.

Recall, back then, the NHL’s draft order was simply the reverse order of finish in the regular season -- so teams knew how they’d draft pretty certainly by the end of the regular season.

Click here to watch the full video from TSN up in Canada. (Previously, we only had a six-minute excerpt. Sorry -- TSN doesn’t allow embedding).

What are your thoughts? Comment here, on Google+ or on our Facebook Group.

PREVIEW: TSN’s ‘Playing to Lose’ (Video)

June 24 at 8 p.m. ET on TSN Canada: How the Penguins tanked it to score Mario Lemieux and keep him from NJ

Lemieux

A remarkable documentary will air at 8 p.m. June 24 on TSN Canada where former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Lou Agnotti admits the Penguins “tanked it” in the 1983-84 season to land Mario Lemieux and the first pick of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft.

Former Penguins GM Eddie Johnston denies the allegations.

But the sheer moves the team made -- on and off the ice -- sort of confirm what Agnotti admits and most have known for the last 30 years.

Muller

(Keep in mind the draft order used to simply be determined by reverse order of finish in the previous regular season).

Picking second, the Devils chose Kirk Muller. And the course of NHL history was forever changed.

I cannot embed it, but here is a link to a six-minute preview of the documentary, which includes former Devils head coach Tom McVie.

Once this airs, I will try my best to embed the entire documentary

NYR fans: Want to see a playoff game? Head to Pitt Friday night

Seems to be quite a few tickets available at face value. As of 11:40 a.m., Thursday, May 1.

Available tickets for Penguins-Rangers Game 1 in Pittsburgh Friday night. Each blue dot represents an available seat. If you're a Rangers fan and want to see a playoff game, this might be your best bet. 

Sid the Kid out indefinitely with broken jaw; hope remains in East

Crosby

PITTSBURGH —

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby underwent surgery Saturday night for a broken jaw and will be out indefinitely, the team announced today.

The Penguins will have an update on the time frame later this week.

Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer, was struck in the face with a puck during the Penguins' 2-0 victory over the New York Islanders Saturday at CONSOL Energy Center. He also underwent major dental work and will have additional dental work later in the week.

Dr. Bernard Costello of UPMC performed the surgery.

Every other Eastern Conference team rejoiced.

This could be a telling few days for our Devils with 2 games coming up this weekend against red-hot Penguins

So the Devils have won three in a row. 

And now, a huge character test is upon them.

The next two games will be against Pittsburgh — at home Saturday (1 p.m. — weather permitting) and on the road Sunday (7:30 p.m. on NBCSN).

The Devs' first trip to Pittsburgh last week was ugly, but they've bounced back nicely since. A split would be nice — but a two-game sweep would speak volumes about this team, a team that has already shut up every critic who picked them to finish anywhere from 9th to 13th in the Eastern Conference.

Also coming up in the next few weeks is something very rare.

The Devils will play two-straight games in Washington —Thursday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 23. I honestly cannot remember a time in the regular season when the Devils played the same team in the same building for two in a row. I understand it's not unprecedented — happened in San Jose a few years back (thanks to Vin Witel for the tip on that one).

The Devils will also play the Islanders for the fourth time on Feb. 16, before they've played Ottawa, Jets, Sabres, Leafs or Panthers for the first time.

Sunday's game at Pens could be flexed to 12:30 p.m. on NBC

Sunday's game in Pittsburgh, originally slated for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop on NBCSN could be flexed to 12:30 p,m. on NBC, according to numerous reports.

It was originally believed NBC's flexing wouldn't start until April, but that's not the case.

As of now, Los Angeles at Detroit is the Sunday afternoon game.

We'll let you know as soon as we know for sure.

Could the Devils ACTUALLY sell out the entire season? Steak to hit 14 tonight — and it could continue past that

NEWARK —

The Devils sellout streak is likely to hit 14 Friday when the Washington Capitals come to town for a 7 p.m. ET matchup at the Prudential Center.

The team sold out its final home game last regular season, and all 11 home playoff/Finals games. Opening night was also a sellout.

The Prudential Center will likely be sold out for a Devils game for the 14th-consecutive game on Friday night.  The Rock can be an extremely loud and daunting place to play for opponents when it's filled. And, it looks like the streak could go well beyond 14 games, based on ticket availability on Ticketmaster.

Much to my surprise, I now believe this streak could go well beyond 14 games — and it appears possible the Devils could, for the first time in franchise history, sell out the entire regular season. (The Devils' best year in attendance was 1997-98, when they averaged 17,296 a game — 709,160 total fans — for 7th-best in the entire league).

Why?

I took a look at Ticketmaster's pick your seats for the first half of the regular season. And save for one game against the Islanders — which will probably still do well — there are only limited seats available. Most games against the Rangers, Flyers and Penguins are close to sold out already.

This is absolutely remarkable given the lockout. But it's also an indication as to how far this franchise has come — finally — and a lot of it has to be attributed to last year's amazing run.

We'll update this periodically. But for now, it looks very good, attendance-wise.

Finally.

'Get Back the Fans': Pittsburgh offers free food vouchers, 15-consecutive giveaways

The Penguins seem to get it, like the Panthers, that there's a need to work hard to win back the fans after the lockout. The Pens' first 15 home games are promotional nights — and the first few home games feature free concessions, where all fans attending will get three vouchers for any food/drink items. (Not sure if alcoholic beverages are included there). Well done, Pittsburgh. Other than the Pens and Panthers, not much else has been announced that is worth mentioning. (Side note: If you missed the earlier post, Gary Bettman says NHL Center Ice and Gamecenter Live will be heavily discounted — not free. It can't be, he says, because of the partnerships involved in distributing the games).