Pens v Sens (L 2-3)

The Pens face the Ottawa Senators for an afternoon matchup, but since I have a date with my 4 year old Goddaughter at 3:00pm, there will be no recap today. But here are some quick things before the start of the game...

Sid is getting tons of votes for the All Star Games - enough to surpass the JavaScript cheaters' picks. Puck Daddy wonders out loud if it is the legions of loyal Pens fans doing the voting or if something funny is going on here, too. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it's not too far fetched to believe that the most popular player in the NHL could inspire enough people to register multiple screennames and vote multiple times, but whatever. After this farce, no matter what happens, the top vote getters will be looked at with a twinge of suspicion. (On a sidenote, I still can't believe a multi-million dollar company like the NHL can't hire better web programmers. Pathetic.) Thanks to Friends of The Show Allison Y. and Lauren H. for the link.

IFHSA™ had a meeting to determine an end date for his "indefinite suspension" for running his stupid mouth. Turns out being a douchebag will get you suspended for six games in the NHL. He's been ordered to attend anger management classes, too. (Ha! What he really needs is a long stint in a good charm school.) Even if you've already heard about this, you have to click on that link to see the getup that Avery wore to his hearing. Those sunglasses make me want to punch my monitor.

Friend of The Show Ali W. sent in pictures of a very special adventure for Roamer Brooks Penguin:

Last [month] my hometown got some exciting news when a family from my hometown got chosen to be on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, produced by ABC. I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't be able to make it back to volunteer and see the build so Brooks Penguin went back to PA without me (courtesy of the USPS) ... Today he had a great time checking out the build, and learning about the family that Extreme Makeover and ABC were helping out.... (the one boy in the family is in my younger brother's class at school)...Enjoy.

#1 - Last night [November 11^th], before he went to see the build, Brooks checked out our local Dick's Sporting Goods -- some employees there were watching the game, so Brooks Penguin cheered with them, and got to see their exciting comeback vs. the Wings.


#2 - Brooks found his very own volunteer badge and famous volunteer blue shirt


#3 - Brooks with the house that is being built -- it's only been since Sunday that they've been building -- WOW!


#4 - The Drumm family that the house belongs to...


#6 - My cousin (and fellow Pens fan) got to go and volunteer, and took Brooks along for the ride!


#7 - Along the way, Brooks snagged a coveted pass to the VIP area. :)


#8 - While in the VIP area, before going to check out the house, Brooks had to get himself one of the hard hats -- just in case. :)


**This episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be airing on ABC sometime in January... :)


I made this birthday card for my friend who's from the Pittsburgh area (she's not a big Pen's fan, but I always tell her she should be... haha)... I was really excited about how it turned out (since I'm not much of an artist, and I had to do it free hand), and since Brooks Penguin got his picture taken with it, I thought I'd send it along to you over at The Show. Enjoy:

That's so awesome! I hope the Drumm family loved their beautiful new home. And great job on the card! :) Many thanks go out to Ali and her cousin for sending the pictures and story.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"It's not the biggest city, but it's a city I really like."

I've got a lot of Sid-tastic links for you today! Well, actually they came from several Friends of The Show...

• Michelle B. - Sidney Crosby: This no Pitt stop (Today's title comes from this article.)
• Stagerat & Lauren H. - Penguins' Crosby not pulling a LeBron (This is nearly the same article as the previous one, but this one is written for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.)
• Carlie D. - Vote for the Greatest NHL Captain of the New Millenium (Siddo is in second place. You can vote once per day.)
• Stagerat & Jan M. - Crosby Answering All Questions (Take that, Semin!)
• Michelle - Penguins Shop for Project Bundle-Up
• Michelle sent in a video of the Project Bundle up article:

• Stagerat - Crosby, Ovechkin Receive NHL Honours
• Michelle - Penguins Crosby named NHL player of week (Post Gazette)
• Stagerat - Crosby named first star of the NHL's 'Three Stars' (Tribune Review)
• Stagerat & Kellie D. found this video tribute to Sid honoring his First Star Status on the Pens' website:

I got an update from Friend of The Show Jan about the Mario Lemieux Foundation auctions for her drawings:

Just wanted to report that the bidding is over for my two drawings and I am so pleased that one brought in $200 for the foundation and the other brought in $210 for The MLF. How cool is that? Again, thank you for letting me be a part of the family of Friends of the Show! I think it's cool that the first drawing I ever did of our Captain that was featured on YOUR site went for the top price of the two.

Once again - congratulations, Jan! $410 for the MLF! I'm so proud of you! :)

Finally today, I received this e-mail from Friend of The Show Lauren a few days ago:

It was snowing at my house yesterday before I left to drive back to Ohio for class, and I should've been working on a paper, but instead I took a break to take my dog Emma and Sidney Penguin outside for a couple of pictures! :) Enjoy!

Look at how sweet Emma is:







What a pretty puppy!!! Big thanks go out to Michelle, Carlie, Stagerat, Kellie, Jan, and Lauren for their contributions to today's post. Tomorrow I'll have some amazing game day pics for you.

Luxury Boxes Are Sweet

I know this from experience because the company my husband works for has one at the Mellon Arena, and we've gotten the tickets for it about a half dozen times in the twelve years he has worked for them. The view is almost like an overhead view from a blimp (though not quite that far away, haha!). The TVs in the suites are tuned to the broadcast of the game, so you just have to turn your head for an instant replay if something spectacular happens. There is so much leg and elbow room, and the box we occasionally have the privilege of using even has a couch!

The best part is that there is a very real chance to bump into a legend in the hallway or one of the injured players from the current roster, who often watch the game from Mario's box. In the few times we've been blessed to watch a game from the box, we saw the likes of Mario himself and Joe Mullen. Once, ex-Pen Robert Lang (who at the time was nursing a hurt wrist) was trucking down the hallway and put his hands on my shoulders to gently guide me out of the way and said, "Pardon me, ma'am." and winked at me.

The reason I bring the suites up is because Friend of The Show Lauren H. got to have her own experience of a lifetime in one of these luxury suites. Here is her recap of her incredible day - oh, and she took along a very special little guest:

I had the opportunity to attend Saturday’s game against Vancouver, and even better, I got to enjoy the game from a luxury box! I had never sat in a luxury box at the Igloo before, and it had been a dream of mine since I was a little girl!





My dad’s company insurance is through Highmark (a major sponsor of the Penguins) and his Highmark rep was the one who invited us to sit in their box! It was definitely an experience I will never forget!

Sitting in the box was surreal – I’d always dreamed of what it would be like, and it pretty much met all my expectations! At one point, Ryan Whitney walked right by our box on his way upstairs to the press box, but we were all had our attention directed towards the ice and the person who did see him go by couldn’t remember his name (!!!!) and he was gone by the time we all ran out into the hall (by we, I mean my siblings and I). My sister is a huge Mario fan, so we had our eyes open looking for him the whole game. We *think* me *might* have spotted him a box directly across the ice from ours, but then we also heard that his box was located on the same side as ours, so we’re not sure if it was really him, and our camera wouldn’t zoom in any more to confirm it.




One of the highlights of the day was meeting Iceburgh! I’ve been to tons of Penguins games over the years, but today was actually the first time I got to meet and get my picture with Iceburgh!

[snoop: Look closely to see who's between Lauren and Iceburgh!! Thank goodness this mascot encounter wasn't as risky as the last one! ;)]

We were trying to figure out why he would be up wandering around among the luxury boxes, but then after the game as people were leaving, I noticed a big group of kids walking toward the elevator at one point, and I immediately thought of the luxury box that Sid purchased for kids and I thought that *maybe* those kids had been Sid’s special guests and that Iceburgh had paid them a visit! :) I don’t know if that’s really the case or not, but I like to think it is!


The fight 25 seconds into the game was great!!! I hadn’t seen any good fights lately (I was still at class when the Gronk dropped the gloves a few nights ago) and this one was definitely one for the books! Too bad it cost the Cookie Monster a game misconduct. :( Hearing John Barbaro list off all the penalties was kind of amusing.

[snoop: What a photo!!!]

I was very sad that I wouldn’t get to see Fleury play, but I was slightly consoled by the fact that I was going to get the rare opportunity to see Roberto Luongo play in person – I’ve heard so much about him and the Pens don’t play them often. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury early in the game and had to be helped off the ice by his teammates. We had FSN on the TV in the box, but it was muted, and the best we could figure is that he suffered some type of groin injury. After he left the ice and Sanford came out to replace him, my brother-in-law and brother and I got into a conversation about backup goalies. We were explaining to my brother that since Fleury is out right now, Dany, our backup goalie is playing, and they called up John Curry from WB-S to backup Dany. Since Vancouver’s backup goalie was now playing, he asked what would happen if something happened to him, something I was curious about too. My brother-in-law informed us there would be a brief pause in the game to give another player (most likely a defenseman) time to suit up in goalie pads and come out to tend goal! The thought of this was really amusing and as much as I hate to see players get hurt, I would love to see something like this happen in a game!


The game itself was just weird. That’s the only way I can describe it. The Penguins didn’t seem to have too much desperation and the Canucks’ playing didn’t really blow me away either. None of the goals were too impressive – the whole game was just weird. And where the heck did this rivalry come from?! The Boys of Winter were definitely playing more on the physical side today, and the scrums were all pretty fun to watch.


The Highmark rep who invited us said he loved watching the game with all of us, and we would have to do this again sometime! Of course, we all agreed whole-heartedly! So, with any luck, this won’t be the last game I get to enjoy from the box!






Also, they showed a video clip that I really hope they decide to post on PensTV for everyone to enjoy. It was Dupuis, Max, and Sid sitting in the locker room and it went like this:

Max: Hi! I’m Max Talbot!

Sid: And I’m Sidney Crosby and we’d just like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

Max: Don’t eat too much turkey.

(Dupuis doesn’t say anything, but has this big goofy grin on his face the whole time. Sid was smiling too – a nice change from his usual serious self!)

So many childhood dreams came true today and the whole experience was quite surreal!

Thank you SO MUCH, Lauren, for taking these pictures and sharing the memories of your amazing day with us!! I'm glad you had such a good time. I hope you get to take more pics like these from that box again sometime, too! ;)

Pens v Thrashers (W 3-2)

Colby in the house!!!

Evidently Army took Siddo and some of the other guys out to dinner last night. But as they say, there are no friends on the ice. It's going to be a bittersweet game, for sure. Also, Marc-Andre Fleury is still out.

Until then, enjoy these pictures from Nikoe in Saskatoon, who watches the games with Jordan Penguin:




WOOOOOOOOO! A WIN IN THREE PERIODS FOR ONCE!!!! ;) Due to the fact that there are only 3 photos of the game are available right now in formats that I can easily save, I am filling in the gaps with pictures of my own Roamers tonight. I came home from work after doing the interview with Brian Engblom (which went really well - I'll give you the complete scoop on that experience once Versus has the audio of the conference call ready) to find two new arrivals...

FIRST PERIOD

Early in the game, Philippe Boucher was called for hooking. On the ensuing Thrashers power play, Bryan Little blocked a slap shot by his own teammate, Ilya Kovalchuk - with his foot. He made his way to the bench in obvious pain. Just as Hal Gill was called for a delayed penalty (also for hooking), Vyacheslav Kozlov scored the first goal of the night. [Pens 0, Thrashers 1]

All I need is two d-men and I'd have myself a whole shift of Roamers!

The Thrashers still had two minutes with a man advantage, but they failed to score. A long shot of the ice revealed that about a third of the seats in the arena weren't filled!!! O_o Paul Steigerwald later commented that the Thrashers have been selling some of their weekend games out but their weekday games are suffering. Siddo told Steigy and Bob Errey that it was just like old times at dinner with Colby last night. He was making everyone laugh and teasing everyone (as usual). Errey then said that Army had been asked to wear the microphone for the evening, but he declined saying that he'd do it for any other game except this one. :(


Sid was behind the net working his puck-protecting magic when Army headed straight for him. Sid saw him at the last second and made a spinning move to quickly get out of the way. Later on a different shift, Sid, former Thrasher Pascal Dupuis, and Miroslav Satan went to the net with speed. Sid had control and passed the puck to Dupuis, who sent a hard pass towards Satan. The puck hit his skate, so he kicked it to his stick and promptly scored. [Pens 1, Thrashers 1]


Matt Cooke blocked a shot from Ron Hainsey with his foot. But since he's not a football player (LOL - that still cracks me up), he didn't let it keep him off the ice for long. Kris Letang lined up the puck in mid-stride for a beautiful shot on goal, but Jordan Staal's deflection was just slightly too wide. Then Army hit Sid behind Dany Sabourin. Sid quite obviously didn't like it and gave Colby a quick shove to let him know it. Steigy said that it was great because the two would be fine again for dinner again tonight as Errey laughed and said, "Maybe, maybe not!" In the last seconds of the period, Geno Malkin refused to concede the puck over to the Thrashers, and it led to a great chance for Petr Sykora that Ondrej Pavelec was able to stop.

SECOND PERIOD

Alex Goligoski was the lone man back when Kovalchuk and former Penguin Erik Christensen got control and headed towards Sabou. Gogo didn't sweat it though. He forced Kovalchuk to make an awkward pass on which Christensen couldn't get a shot. Sabou made a stunning pad save when he shut the door on Marty Reasoner, who had taken a sweet centering pass from Army. Superstar Max Talbot took one for his team by taking a stick to his already bruised face. Mathieu Schneider was the guilty man, but the Pens didn't score on their advantage. Sid made a beautiful inside/outside move to get to the net, but it didn't result in a goal.


Cookie Monster was like a bull seeing red. He started hitting anything in blue. One hit in particular was a pretty brutal (legal!) hit on Koslov that sent him down to the ice. Of course, the Thrashers started gunning for the agitating Cookie. Predictably, Cookie ended up drawing an interference on Nathan Oystrick. Forty-one seconds later, the Pens would get a 2 man advantage when Marty Reasoner was called for hooking. Geno hit the goalpost, but the Penguins inexplicably did not score on the 5-on-3, nor did they score on the remaining 5-on-4. (Well, it wasn't completely inexplicable - Pavelec did make a good save or two.)


Right as the power play ended, Boucher was called for tripping. The Thrashers had an extended period of possession in the Pens' zone, but they again did not score on their advantage. A few minutes later, Tyler Kennedy swooped in behind the net and basically ran over Hainsey. Shown from two different angles on the replay, it was difficult to tell whether or not TK got away with a trip. Either way, TK sent the puck to Siddo at the front of the net. As he rushed in, Sid started to fall down. He still managed to fire a forehand shot that went top shelf off the crossbar, then the goalpost, then over the goal line as the Saint fell to his arse. [Pens 2, Thrashers 1] I was hoping Sid would stand up and point at Kovalchuk afterwards, but he didn't. :P


The crowd booed as Sid's name was announced. (Puck Daddy Greg Wyshyski has a good theory why other teams' fans hate our Siddo so much. Also mentioned is an article by good Friend of The Show Tony F. of The Confluence on Kukla's Korner in which he asks if Siddo is a liability on the shootout...) Just under a minute and ½ later, Jim Slater swung out from behind the net to wrap one around and right through Sabou's 5-hole. [Pens 2, Thrashers 2] The period ended at a draw.

THIRD PERIOD

Letang drilled Todd White high and hard as he went after the puck in the corner. White attempted to get up but couldn't, and it became clear that he was disoriented and needed attention. All four officials were positioned in between both teams, but that didn't stop some Thrashers from trying to go after Letang. (It was like a delayed reaction or something.) Sabou made an unreal save on Kovalchuk after he was able to go 1-on-none. On Letang's next shift, he had a little company - Erik Godard. No doubt Michel Therrien put him out there with Tanger to make sure no Thrasher decided to be a hero.

Look at how good Baylee is with our Roamers! Haha, when I tell him to "STAY!" he completely freezes - he seriously won't even lift his head - until I say "Okay, buddy!" so I knew they'd be safe with him. ;)

Gogo put his hip out and clipped Army near the benches. Army took exception to it, but Godard came over and quickly put a stop to any fighting ideas Army may have had. Kovalchuk hit the post. Dupuis was called for hooking, but the Thrashers didn't score. Sabou made a series of amazing saves to preserve the tie. Satan hit Garnet Exelby, which forced a turnover to Dupuis. This led directly to Sid drawing a penalty on Chris Thorburn for interference. On the ensuing power play, Gogo turned the puck over at the blue line to Reasoner for a shorthanded breakaway. It wasn't as clean a breakaway as Reasoner had likely hoped since Siddo skated hard and backchecked him. It forced him to take an awkward shot that Sabou was able to reach out and cover. At the other end of the ice, Sid fired an unreal shot at Syko's stick to score the power play goal. [Pens 3, Thrashers 2] The shot was so hard that it broke Syko's stick!

There were still 2:20 left in the game. With just 0:42 left, Pavelec was pulled in favor of the extra attacker - who, in this case, was none other than Colby. The Thrashers' efforts failed and the Pens won the game - without needing the overtime period! Siddo himself had a hand in each of the 3 goals scored tonight. He leaves Atlanta with a goal and 2 assists. :)


Not all was good, though: during the post-game show, we were informed that Flower is not going to play on Saturday. He is nursing an undisclosed injury that he suffered at the Sabres game I attended, but I can honestly say that, during the game, we didn't even know he had gotten hurt. He hid it very well. Hopefully another couple of days off will be the cure.

After that bad news, I'm sure you need a laugh. So now you MUST check this out. (Hopefully, you all got to see the one from last year when there were multiple Penguins involved...) Thanks to Friend of The Show Carlie D. for sending that gem!! LOL

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friends, We've Hit $1,000!!! :)

An update on the Roaming Penguin sales courtesy of R.P. Mama Stephanie S.:

WE HAVE REACHED 200 PENGUINS!! I am sooooo excited (and a little freaked out seeing as I have over 100 to make). But this means over $1,000 will go to the MLF. I was just hoping to send $500....so this totally makes my day!! Jodie, you and The Friends of The Show are just incredible....how did I get so lucky??

WOW!!! $1,000 is a lot of freaking money! Thank you so much, everyone! To Stephanie: Take your time with them and don't get overwhelmed - we're all Friends here. We understand that these creations take time. :)

To get in on the fun, click here to find out how to put your name on the list.

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My husband and I were joined in our trip to Saturday's game by two VI(R)Ps. Our Roaming Penguins sleep in style - this bag keeps them safe from dirt (and dog hair!) when they're not out and about. Sidney Penguin and Mario Penguin hopped out of their shelter, got their tickets, and were ready to hit the road!


Before we left, S.P. and M.P. helped me choose my attire. It was a toss up between my Sidney Crosby Winter Classic jersey and this old school sweater. The Roamers decided that I should go with the sweater, since it is the one I wore to the Winter Classic. It was a good choice - both times I've worn it, the Pens toppled the Sabres, so I guess it worked! (Incidentally, if anyone is interested, they are selling these sweaters at the Mellon Arena again, except the new ones feature the newer scowling skating penguin. They're a bit pricey, though - $120!)


Sidney P. and Mario P. had to sit in the backseat because my husband had already called shotgun. ;)


The Roamers were extremely excited to finally to see the Boys in action! Sidney and Mario were privileged enough to meet Pengylady's Sidney Penguin, but I thought it might cause a rip in the spacetime continuum if there was a photo of two Sidney Penguins. (Okay. Actually, I was so stoked to be at the Mellon and excited to finally meet Pengylady and put a face to the screen name that I completely forgot to set up a photo with our Roamers. I know - it was a great chance and I blew it. I'm sorry.) Here are S.P. and M.P. watching the Pens during the warmup:


S.P. and M.P. forgot to ask me to take their picture at the gate on the way into the game, so we snapped this one on the way out:


The Roamers really liked these spray painted messages on the sidewalk outside the arena:


It truly was...


Several Friends of The Show were at Saturday's game, so I'm not 100% sure which one of them sent me this beautiful shot of the Mellon Arena right after the rain before the game started (LATE EDIT: The sender was identified! It was Pens87Fan71/Lexie101!):


Saturday, of course, was the first game in which the Pens wore their "new" third jerseys. The Roaming group that lives with 1WingAngel and her twin sister Nicole G. got some fancy new duds for the occasion, courtesy of the twins' extremely talented mother:

snoop's Sidney P. and Mario P. are jealous!

Speaking of the twins, the one and only Marc-Andre Fleury actually remembered meeting Marc-Andre Penguin! Friend of The Show Lauren H. shares the story:

I got the chance to meet Marc-Andre today at a promotional appearance he made in Mount Nebo (Pittsburgh suburb) - it was at a phone store and the owner is the guy who my dad gets all his company cell phones from, so we got a bit of VIP access - we got to sort of skip the line and were one of the first people to see him - they kept saying "no posed pictures" but they let it slide with us!


He was so sweet - you could tell he was really overwhelmed when they told him there were a few hundred people standing outside in the cold, all waiting to see him. When he saw my Sidney Penguin, he smiled and said "Hey it's one of those little penguins!" so he definitely remembers meeting his miniature counterpart! Anyways, we couldn't hang around too long (which I was kind of sad about) because my awesome dad also had Steelers tickets for my siblings and I!


We froze our butts off and I think my toes are still thawing out now. When we were walking in, the snow was coming down so hard it looked like a whiteout, but it didn't snow too much throughout the game!


Anyways, Sidney Penguin spent most of the game hiding in the warmth of my jacket, but I was able to snap a couple pictures of him enjoying the game too!

Looks like the Roamers are branching out when it comes to professional sporting events. ;)

Finally tonight, I've got some exciting news about our Sid drawing Friend Jan M. A few weeks ago, she contacted the Mario Lemieux Foundation and offered to donate two of her amazing works for auction. The MLF accepted and Siddo himself signed the drawings! Here's what she had to say about it:

Jode, just be sure you check it out to the bottom because the very first one I did which YOU featured is also up for auction and signed by Sidney! I credit you with all the good vibes you and all of the Friends of the Show gave me. You guys gave me the courage to contact the MLFoundation and ask if they might like to have one. I'll always be grateful!

And yes, Sidney had his grubby little hands on MY drawings! Yee Ha!

Thanks again and again for what you did for me!

Oh, Jan! There's absolutely no need to thank me - YOU are the one with all the talent! You will probably recognize Jan's drawings that now bear number 87's signature (click the picture to go to its NHL auction page):



Sláinte mhaith, to you Friend! The drawings are beautiful. What an accomplishment! :)

Thanks so much to Stephanie, Pens87Fan71/Lexie101, 1WingAngel, Nicole, (their mom, too!), Lauren, and Jan for their contributions to today's post!!