Training Camp Starts Tomorrow

As such, that means Sidney's last season stats, the scoreboard, and the Stanley Cup graphics will be removed in preparation for all the Stanley Cup Champs '09 graphics we're going to need in nine months... ;)

Just in time for training camp, Roaming Penguins Mama Stephanie S. is ready to open up the orders for multiples. Here are all the details:

Ok, kids, it’s time……to open up penguin orders so that everyone can order as many as they want! Now, let me start by saying that I have about 24 penguins on the current list, so it’s going to be a month before I can even start on the new ones. This process will once again be a “first come, first served” basis. I know a few people expressed interest in more than one penguin from the get go, but I couldn’t think of any fair way to let some people order multiples ahead of other folks that may not have said anything. So I hope you all understand!

Anyway, the process is pretty much the same (see here for details). E-mail me at StephanieDMB22@yahoo.com and let me know which players you want. If you have ordered before, you only need to give me your full name because I will still have your address in my spreadsheet. I have not done the full research on postage (the first round was easy!), but it’s possible if you order three or more that I will have to send them Priority Postage (which is a little more). The boxes and envelopes for that are free, which is easier on me.


Odds and ends….if you are thinking you will want penguins to give as gifts for the holidays, get your orders in NOW. There will come a time (and it may come very quickly) when I cannot promise they will get there in time…especially in Canada since those penguins seem to hit a strong head wind that slows them down! Secondly, if you want to order “generic” penguins, that can be done. I don’t have to put numbers on them or even hockey sticks….just in case you know someone who likes penguins but is not a hockey fan (I know….banish the thought!)

Thanks to everyone for the very, VERY kind words through all this! I’ve gotten so many compliments and so many people telling me to “take your time, no rush, try to do other things”. I appreciate it all and seeing the pictures makes me smile BIG grins!! (and, by the way, I am now over 70 orders…..so more than $350 will make it’s way to the MLF! You guys rock!!)

That is great, but it would be sweet to hit 100 orders so we could send an even $500 to the MLF, don't you think?

Friend of The Show Imogen found this article that tells us about a chance meeting between Sid and Marian Hossa while they were both at a resort in the Bahamas in June. Evidently following their encounter, Siddo returned to the Northeast convinced that Hossa intended to stay in Pittsburgh. What a mistake.

[*Sigh*] I suppose we could look at it this way - Hossa had the world's coolest temp job.

I'm a little late on this, but CONGRATS TO GENO, who finished the 2007-08 season as the NHL leader in points on home ice - besting even 65-goals-for-the-season-scoring Alexander Ovechkin!!! :)

WOOOOOO!!! Way to go, Geno! :)

Speaking of Ovechkin, it seems there is a conspiracy to keep Pens fans out of Washington. If you're planning on heading to D.C.'s Verizon Center in order to again fill the arena with a majority of Pens fans, you're going to have a problem getting tickets. Friend of The Show Tony F. from The Confluence of The Three Rivers found out that individual tickets for both Pens games in D.C. will not be available. WTF?! Are they so tired of having the "Let's Go Pens!!!" chant dominate their own arena that they don't even care about all that revenue they get from the visiting Pens fans? I guess money really ISN'T everything...

...but you'd think the Capitals brass would appreciate the irony of using funds from selling tickets to Pens fans to pay for A.O.'s hefty salary. :P

Friend of The Show Daily Su was able to send in another shot of Sidney Penguin in Seattle's Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk. This time, he is posing in front of The Wall of Inspiration:


Apparently a three day walk wasn't enough exercise for Sidney Penguin - over the weekend, he made his way over to Colorado Springs...


...where he joined Friend of The Show Nadia C. and her pal for a hike on a trail that leads up to Pike's Peak:

The trail has an incline that goes from 6200 feet to 8400 feet at a 50 degree angle. In Nadia's words, "It kicks your butt!"

They made it!!! What a GORGEOUS view!

Haha, I love that he's waving at us in this pic! :)

Today, we turn to an icon for TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"Every day is a great day for hockey."

~ Mario Lemeiux

Indeed. :) Thanks go out to Stephanie, Imogen, Tony, Su, and Nadia for helping out with today's post!

Sid and Mario Go to the US Open

Holy frick, if you believe in omens and signs, have I got a good one for you right now...


I'm short on time, but when I saw this, I knew I had to post it ASAP. Friend of The Show Lauren H. sent in this article that tells us that Sid and Mario decided to take in a tennis game:

The NHL was well represented on the red carpet. Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux showed up with current hockey sensation Sidney Crosby. New York Ranger Marcus Naslund gave his match prediction and seemed quite confident that Roger Federer would prevail. Naslund said, “Murry’s played really well but I’m a huge Federer fan so I think he’ll pull it off.”

So after reading the article, I saved the picture of Mario (who is looking fit and fantastic, BTW) and then went to save the picture of the Saint (also looking fab and ready for training camp) when I noticed something - Sid's picture file was named "Stanley-Crosby"!!!

I think it's a sign! :)

Sneak peek: I'll have some Roaming Penguin pics, a quote, and more for you tomorrow! :) Big thanks to Lauren for the link!

Back From Being AWOL

Well, I hope all of you had as wonderful a holiday as I did! :) I honestly didn't intend to go missing for so long, but I had a very full extended weekend of friends, family, and last minute fun to close out the summer. Now I'm relaxed, rested, refreshed, and READY FOR OCTOBER!!!

It looks like I didn't miss too much in the way of Pens news, but you can bet your life I've got tons of stuff from all over to share with you to pass another day until training camp kicks off. First up, Friend of The Show Paula H. found the video of the commercial where Wayne Gretzky counsels Canadian golfer Mike Weir about the playoff beard:


Friend of The Show MichelleInNovaScotia found this item that claims Tim Horton's co-founder Ron Joyce took Le Magnifique and the Saint for a boat ride, during which Mario had to put the kibosh on the daredevil in our Siddo (from The Times & Transcript):

Sleuth is skating all over the place this week, this item relating a tale from a recent sailing trip Mr. Tim Horton's, a.k.a. Ron Joyce took aboard his mutli-million dollar yacht from his Fox Harb'r complex in Nova Scotia to Charlottetown, P.E.I. That trip's already been reported. Now Sleuth's sources tell him that among guests aboard the boat for that jaunt were none other than Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux and his star player and Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby.

Keep the risk-taking to a minimum, Kid!

But the story only begins there: it seems that some other young and adventurous passengers were having fun by diving off the yacht into the waters of the Northumberland Strait, and Crosby was makin' to do the same when his boss, Lemieux, stepped in and laid down the law: it seems when you have a multi-million dollar investment in a player, you get a little antsy about what many would consider risky behaviour. . . And so young Crosby stayed safe. . . and dry!

Awww, Super Mario's no fun! ;) Although, after the events that occurred between 01-18-08 and 03-27-08, I can TOTALLY understand why Mario's so protective of our young captain.

New Friend of The Show Debra S. sent in some pictures she snapped at the NHL Store in NYC. (Check out Hossa's new number...)




A while ago, Friend of The Show Ali W. mentioned in the comments section of a previous post that she has a Penguins 2008-09 Season Countdown posted on her dormroom door. She sent in some photos of that and her dorm's other Pens adornments for us (her captions tell us all about them):

"Here is the sweet countdown on our door. People who know absolutely nothing about hockey stop in all the time and ask about it. They wonder what the Penguins are... It's really quite sad."

"The 'WALL OF FAME'!!! That's really all I need to say about this one. :)"

"My awesome garbage can. :)"

Sidney Penguin must like the northern New York/Canadian border area. His most recent stop was in Welland, Ontario, Canada...

Click for a closeup view of Welland.

...where he spent a busy couple of days with Friend of The Show Stephanie B. taking road trips to Niagara and Toronto. Once again, I'll let her captions explain each photo:

"This is Sidney P. sitting on a dock of the Welland Recreational Waterway. Until 1970 when the new canal was built, the Recreational Waterway was a main 'highway' between lake Erie and lake Ontario for large ships. Referred to as 'the old canal' by most residents, it is an important part of the city's history, and hence an important place for Sidney P. to visit. (He went in the paddle boat while he was there!)"

"After Sidney visited the old canal, he made about an hour and a half journey to Toronto to the Air Canada Center for a Celine Dion concert!! He can be seen here chillaxin before the show..."

"...and then is shown with another famous Canadian in the background!"

Now it's time to close with TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

~ Wayne Gretzky

In this photo taken on January, 18 1997, Gretzky (who played with the New York Rangers at the time) congratulates Mario for a goal scored during the 47th NHL All-Star game at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California. (The Eastern Conference won.)

Many, many thanks to Friends Paula, MichelleInNovaScotia, Debra, Ali, and Stephanie B. for their contributions to today's post. :)

The Puck Drops Soon, Right?!

We've only got a little over a month left until the puck finally drops on a new season, and if we stick together, we'll make it through... ;) Until then, I've got a bunch of things for you to help pass the time for today.

Sid's on another ballot. Click here to vote for him in the AskMen.com Top 49 Men of 2008. (OMG, I nearly hurled when I saw that they included IFHSA™ in the running.)


Good Friend of The Show Frank D. needs our help. His blog, Pensburgh.com, is in a blog battle with a Senators blog called Sens Army. PENSBURGH MUST WIN!!! You can vote for Pensburgh over at the NHLArena.com. Log in and VOTE FOR PENSBURGH!!! (If you haven't already signed up, you should because it's free!)

Another good Friend of The Show, Tony F. of The Confluence of the Three Rivers, scored an interview with Penguins’ Director of Content/Publication Joe Sager. Click here to check it out.

Yesterday, I posted a picture of Sid goofing off at a party. It was mentioned that it could have been a photoshopped picture. Friend of The Show Bud located the original picture:

LOL, it's Paris, Britney, and Andy Samburg!!! (Click their names to view the source photos.)

I'm sure most of you have seen this already. Friend of The Show Lauren H. sent this link to travel packages to check out the Pens in Stockholm, Sweden. If you want to go by yourself, you'll need more than $3,000!!! But if you take a friend, the two of you only have to pony up $2,250 each. (My apologies to Lauren, who actually sent this to me a while ago - I kept forgetting to add it to a post!) Check out these pictures of the Globe Arena in which the Pens will face the Sens:



Friend of The Show Melissa G. sent in an article about a PGA FedEx Cup commercial in which Wayne Gretzky offers some advice to golfer and fellow Canadian Mike Weir. Evidently, Gretzky told Weir he should grow a playoff beard - so he did! (Neither one of us could locate the actual commercial, so if anyone finds it, please let us know!)

Friend of The Show AustinLovesCrosby sent in this article that details why Big Georges Laraque chose to accept a deal in Montreal:

Daryl Katz so wanted Georges Laraque here as the Edmonton Oilers' nightly beat cop, the new owner offered the big guy a four-year contract -- one more year than the Montreal Canadiens were pitching the right winger.

Laraque still took the Habs' $4.5-million offer -- mainly because his mother in Montreal wanted to see him play games in the flesh, not on TV.

Aww, that's really nice! I'm definitely not looking forward to seeing him on the opposite bench this season. :(

AustinLovesCrosby also sent in this article written by John Steigerwald (brother of Penguins play-by-play announcer Paul Steigerwald) telling people to get off Mario's back about that ridiculous "Lemieux's Ruse" nonsense. When we discussed it here last week, not one of the responses in the comments or emails that I got were negative towards Mario. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I think Mario could have robbed a bank to pay for the new arena and still be forgiven for it. I don't know who these naysayers are, but evidently they're not Pens fans.


We've got a new member of our Roaming Penguins team making his debut on The Show. Petr Penguin left the home of Stephanie S. in Nashville and arrived in Pittsburgh's South Side...


...where he showed up on Stephanie C.'s doorstep. Her captions tell us what Petr Penguin was up to while they visited:

photo #1: Petr and my books for grad school

photo #2: Petr and his favorite website [snoop: I LOVE IT!!! :D]

photo #3: Petr and a couple of my favorite shirts

Time for another edition of TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"We know that hockey is where we live, where we can best meet and overcome pain and wrong and death. Life is just a place where we spend time between games."

~ Former Philadelphia Flyers Coach (and father of the current Penguins General Manager) Fred Shero

Big thanks go out to Bud, Lauren, Melissa, AustinLovesCrosby, & Stephanie for helping with today's post! :)

Seriously, What Is All The Fuss About?

Here on The Show, I haven't yet brought up the recent revelations that Mario actually never intended to move the Penguins (which, by the way, has been dubbed "Lemieux's Ruse"). I've failed to mention it mostly because I didn't think it was really all that shocking. Of course business executives have to bluff to get the best deals - this is how tons of deals are made every day in Corporate America, and whether we want to admit it or not, running a professional hockey team (or any sport team) is ALL business. And occasionally, the execs have to do things or make decisions that are unpopular but are made in an attempt to ensure the future health of the business (remember the Alexei Kovalev trade?).

I was super pissed about losing this guy. I loved him. I even named my first dog after him.

Personally, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. If you really listen to what Mario was saying, what he meant was that he did everything he possibly could to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh, which included using his best poker face when taking exploratory trips to Kansas City and Las Vegas. And guess what? MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. So why should any of us fans give a damn how he got it done? If he hadn't done what he did, the Pens would not have a new arena, and he'd likely be putting the team on the market, and once the team was sold, it would be out of Mario's hands as to where the Pens would end up. My opinion of Mario has not changed since finding out that he and Ron Burkle had dinners and not meetings while out of town. If anything, I actually respect him a little bit more (← haha, I didn't realize that was possible) for using every tool in his box to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh under the Lemieux Group's ownership. For an more in depth look, Tony from The Confluence of The Three Rivers drops some knowledge on the subject here. Tell us what you think of this whole situation in the comments below.

Lie to me, I promise I'll believe.

Moving on, I've got some more stuff - WAIT. Holy crap! Did I just use a Sheryl Crow lyric?! Someone really needs to smack me... Anyhoo, I've got some goodies from our Friends of The Show to share. First, we have an email from good Friend of The Show Sooska:

PensBob and I went for a short jaunt to Canada because he had business in Toronto. Afterwards we drove east from Toronto about 2 hours along the lake to a small Ontario town near the 1000 Islands (of dressing fame) to see the beautiful islands of the St. Lawrence River.

Click to enlarge the map to see where Gananoque (A) and Crosby (B) are in relation to the city of Ottawa.

To my surprise as we were exiting 401 to Gananoque (Gan-an-ock-wee) we came upon this sign. HELLO! It is only about 20 km (~12 ½ mi) north of where we were. Next visit will be longer so we will go see what’s there. Most likely not Sid but I bet the residents are big fans!

ROAD TRIP!!!

Stephanie B. found this article about The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Shelly Anderson's trip to the Beijing Olympics. It features a greeting from Alex Ovechkin to our title man. (It's near the bottom of the article.)

Jan M. sent in another Siddo sketch. She started with this picture of the Saint:


And created this reproduction in pencil:

I think this one is my favorite so far, Jan! :)

In Roaming Penguin news, Sidney Penguin made his way to his namesake's stomping grounds...


...where Friend of The Show MichelleInNovaScotia caught up with him:

"First, here is Sidney Penguin visiting the welcome to Enfield sign. Sidney Crosby drives by this sign everyday on his way to his summer home in Enfield."

"And here's Sid Penguin sitting next to my computer and pic of his pal Sid Crosby."

And now it's time once again for TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"If it was a negotiating tactic, it was a good one. We're just pleased that the Penguins are in Pittsburgh where they belong. As to how real the possibility of their moving was, I think it is a matter of history."

~ Chuck Ardo, spokesman for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, on Mario's admission that he was bluffing

Big thanks to Friends Sooska, Stephanie B., Jan, and MichelleInNovaScotia for their help with today's post! And an enormous amount of gratitude goes out to all of the Friends too numerous to name who have left comments and/or sent me emails saying such nice things about how The Show is helping them make it through a bad day, a tough time, or a boring summer. You truly have NO IDEA how much that means to me. You guys are all SO AWESOME!!! :D

Winter Classic II: Penguins in Lion Country?

First things first: You'll have to forgive me for the links to two of the following articles. CentreDaily.com archives their articles after only a short time of availability. The articles are then made available for their paid subscribers only. I am not a subscriber, and I am fairly certain most of you are not, either. So the links I've used below will direct you to Google's cached version of the articles. However, I'm not sure how long Google stores their cached pages, so make sure you check them out now if you're interested.

Siddo was in front of Geno (click to enlarge - you can only see Sid's shoulders).

Waaaaaaay back in December 2007, when all the hype for the highly anticipated Winter Classic was in full swing, I told you about reports that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell proposed holding an outdoor game between the Pens and their cross-state rivals the Flyers at Penn State University's Beaver Stadium. It may seem to some like that idea has been forgotten, but here in central PA, this rumor has grown legs:

Gov. Ed Rendell wants to see an annual outdoor hockey game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers at Beaver Stadium. He suggested the idea in a letter sent to the owners of both teams and the National Hockey League’s commissioner Gary Bettman.

Bettman discussed Rendell’s letter at a May 24 news conference, saying he didn’t “envision” a scenario where both teams would play annually outdoors, saying those events are “special and need to stay special,” according to a transcript.

“We’re not going to overdo it. The possibility of having the Penguins play the Flyers at some point in Happy Valley is intriguing and it’s on the list of possibilities that we are and will explore,” he said.

I must admit that I definitely agree with Bettman (WHAT?!) that having an annual outdoor game would definitely cheapen the experience. And if I'm being brutally honest with myself, I should also admit that I think the next outdoor game should be a few years from now and, in the interest of fairness, it should NOT include either the Buffalo Sabres or the Pittsburgh Penguins.

You have no idea how much I now wish I'd bought my new camera BEFORE the Winter Classic.

With that said, I don't think there are words in the English language to describe how excited I would be if the next outdoor game came here. But not everyone thinks it's as awesome an idea as I do. Why? In short, the region's weather and Beaver Stadium's parking (or lack thereof):

Two thoughts immediately sprang to mind on seeing Rendell’s request: Do you really think Central Pennsylvania’s weather will cooperate for you every year? And, more importantly, even for just a single game, where will everyone park?

While Penn State is certainly equipped to host a major sporting event in that stadium and in this town, where do the vast majority of football fans park? On the grass fields surrounding the stadium. Would you care to take your chances in one of those parking spots if there are a few inches of snow on the ground? Or if we’ve had several inches in December and it recently melted?

Plus, you cannot count on 30,000 students walking to the game from campus, like they do for football, because they would be on break and the dorms are closed, putting even more pressure on the parking situation.

Both of these are legitimate concerns. There's a saying here - if you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes. It's cliché, but it's true. But the argument can be made that the weather is going to be a variable in any city that is chosen to host an outdoor game. Case in point: The weather in Buffalo switched back and forth between rain and snow throughout the entire game (haha, and the looooooong, careful drive home).

Our view of the National Anthems. I still can't get over how big the flags were.

As for the parking situation, I'm pretty sure it could be worked out with a mandatory shuttle system. This town has more than a few parking garages. Local businesses might even want to get in on the act and close their stores down for the day (everyone's hungover on New Year's Day anyway, haha). Instead they could make a decent amount of money charging for parking spaces. Over the winter break, enough of the students return home for the holidays that perhaps even PSU could designate a few parking lots for ticket holders... Okay well, and maybe pigs could sprout wings and fly, but you get the point. Because of the number of students living here, there is a decent public transportation system, so shuttling fans to Beaver Stadium wouldn't be a difficult feat to accomplish at all. I can't wait to see how this all pans out. If it happens, I'm SO THERE. :)

Now I leave you with few links for tonight:

• Seth of Empty Netters drops some knowledge on the Ryan Malone situation.


• IFHSA™ gives us the nauseating quote of the day:
  

  "...and I'm rocking a straight Speedo all summer."

  Uncool. If anyone cares, he completed his Vogue internship.


• Frank D. of Pensburgh.com is using his summer break to take a look back and appreciate the Pens of the past. So, can you guess who the first entry is dedicated to? ;)

Thanks so much for your feedback on our TSCS Summer Project. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's hometown + Penguins pride!