(c) OnFrozenBlog - http://www.onfrozenblog.com/ - I write today in praise of a Penguin. It’s true. Penguins’ right wing Ryan Malone redefined courage in these just completed Stanley Cup Finals - even by hockey’s heightened standards of beaten up bravado. He had his nose already broken and swollen before he absorbed a further face-disfiguring trauma to it via a slapshot from ...

From David Shoalts at the Globe & Mail, “Anyone else in this room would be doing the same thing,” [Ryan] Malone said. “I’m definitely thankful. A broken nose, swollen lip and some chipped teeth are a pretty good scenario for a puck in the face. I look at it as you never know when you’re going to be back in the Stanley Cup final, so you have to do ...

Over the past couple weeks, several athletes have taken hard objects off the face. Aside from being good for business, all this brain-jarring got me wondering which would be more painful: being hit in the face with a puck via a slapshot, or a baseball via a line drive? Exhibit A: During last night’s Penguins-Red Wings game, Ryan Malone takes a slapper right in the nasal region:  ...

Yes, last night's Pens/Wings game was super exciting. But it was also super painful, at least for Ryan Malone. Malone took a puck straight to the cheek and went down in a heap, as you can see in the video above. But because he's a hockey player, and made of indestructible high grade steel alloy, he eventually came back into the game and actually played well. Sergei Gonchar also ...

MAF played completely out of his mind, my boy Ryan Malone took one in the face from his own player, and Richard Sykora called his shot in triple OT. One for the ages, indeed.

The fact that Ryan Malone was a bloody mess, Sergei Gonchar looked like he belonged in a full body cast, and yet they both came back to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins will undoubtedly tie into some larger themes of destiny and fate for some fans. Strip away their returns, which some consider the Penguins' "Rocky" moment, and you're left with two absolutely determined hockey ...