My blog n'at

When Teaspoon was born the Pens were on the outside looking in on the playoffs. Local media left the team for dead and refocused on the Super Bowl Champion Steelers offseason.

No team can come back after losing the cup finals the year before and make it past the 1st round… The Pens did

The Pens won’t beat Philadelphia, Washington or Carolina… they did.

Detroit won games 1 and 2 and the media said it was over… Pens came back to win games 3 and 4

Detroit won game 5 and the media said it was over… Pens won Game 6

No one outside of Penguin nation thought the Pens could win game 7. NHL.com’s store already had Back To Back shirts printed and Detroit planned their parade… at the end of 60 minutes the Pittsburgh Penguins were Stanley Cup Champions.

Pittsburgh is once again the CITY OF CHAMPIONS

(click here for the entire gallery on Flickr)

Thursday night’s 4-2 Penguins win over the Red Wings was hands down the most fun I have ever had at a playoff game. My night started on pre-game drinks with Jim and Jim downtown. Many pints and cheers were had by all. It was the walk TO the game where things got exciting and a hobo wasn’t involved.

As you can see from the picture above the area outside the Mellon Arena was PACKED. The lawn was already 1/2 full at lunch time when the local news stations were broadcasting live from there. We make our way to Gate 9 and who do we see but Dave Hanson from the Hanson Brothers. My night was already made right there since he’s one badass guy. We walked the red carpet inside and not 1 minute later I bump into Mark Cuban. Yes, THAT Mark Cuban. He’s a native yinzer and probably came into town to see what a winning hockey team is like since he doesn’t get much of that in Dallas Great guy.

The game was a non stop scream fest for myself and the regulars in F balcony. I’d go into details of the game but what haven’t you read or seen by now on the constant replays on NHL Network? Overall the energy was high and I was having an absolute blast. Pens rally from down 2-1 to win 4-2 (could have been 6-2). Once the game ended I took some time to absorb the night from my seat. I walked around the emptying arena a little bit and concluded with a trip to Pens Station to buy a program to add to my Ice Time, Whiteout Tshirt and Rally towel.

I started the walk back to my parking spot when who do I see next to me but Mike Emrick. What I love about Pittsburgh is that no matter what level of celeb you are, everyone treats you the same. Well unless you’re on NBC/VS and foam at the mouth to talk about Osgood’s 5-hole.

I wish I could better represent the excitement I felt that night but I can say that the only way to top this evening is to bring that cup back to Pittsburgh. I’m lookin at you Game 6.

Faceoff  for Game 5 is in 19 hours. I gotta put the foil on.

I’m going to save you A LOT of time and sum up everything leading to this point. Your media insists on berating you with the same fluff piece because honestly if you’re not a hockey fan you really don’t care. The only coverage you need to read is over at The Pens Blog.

• This is a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup. No one since the 76/77 77/78 Bruins has lost 2 in a row. If you’re old enough to remember that you probably still think Pittsburgh is filled with steel mills and smog.
• The finals schedule is apparently made by NBC and not the NHL. They fear going up against reruns during the week yet ABC has full coverage of the National Spelling Bee in prime time. Back to back games wouldn’t bother me if the league wasn’t at the mercy of a network with a joke of hockey coverage. You’ll think you’re watching a man crush porn with Mike Emrick’s love for anything red and white. Edzo, yeah we won’t go there. Drink a box of wine (Franzia Chillable red of course), snort a little horseradish and smash your head into a wall and your views of the game still wont be as skewed as Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury’s.
• Hossa played for Pittsburgh last year, lost and left for Detroit in the offseason so he can “have a better chance winning a cup.” Hossa’s return isn’t a major concern, karma is a bitch and Jesus hates him.
• One would think that Detroit, a city called “Hockey Town”, would be able to sell out a game. Well they can when it gets filled with Pens fans.
• Some random Detroit fan throws an octopus on the ice every game. That’s about as stupid a tradition as it is not to touch a trophy.
• I’ve known Stoosh since he was a wee lad. Commit to him and buy a shirt.
• Pens in 6. Stanley gets raised on home ice.

The semi finals of the 2009 NHL Playoffs have proven thus far to be the greatest round of hockey. 3 of the 4 series are going to a game 7.

Penguins vs Capitals
The Pens rallied from being down 2 games to the Capitals to go ahead 3-2 only to lose a nail biter in game 6. This series featured 3 OT games.

Bruins vs Hurricanes (not the classy malt liquor)
Carolina blew a 3 games to 1 lead over the best team in the East. excuse me, best team with Recchi on the roster. Never thought I’d see those 2 in the same sentence.

Ducks vs Red Wings
I hate Detroit. Hossa can suck it. Go Ducks.

Canucks vs Blackhawks
Chicago won this series 4-2. Know why they’ll probably win the cup? No one outside of Chicago remembered they had a team. They’re like Don Barden’s Pittsburgh casino bid. It would be a cold day in hell before he got the license… then the rivers froze and the city gave a collective “Who? wtf…”

Game 7 Winners: Pens, Hurricanes, Ducks.

I have my Pens/Caps rant ready for tomorrow.

Stay classy Pittsburgh

Speaking from a guy’s point of view, we’ve all been there before. There’s that hot chicka that you want to get in bed with and maybe start a long term relationship. She says she’ll leave her boyfriend but in turn you have to get rid of some of your friends. You oblige and start talking about the future. She says how great it will be to have some bling because you’re much better off than her now ex. You go to a formal, show her off, have a few drinks, whisper sweet nothings into her ear and she grabs your stick and pucks. You go back to your place for a night of sweet loving and try moves that you heard a friend tried the night before.  In the morning you wake up and find a note saying “last night was great but it’s not for me.”

Marian Hossa is that chick. He never had any intention of staying here. He packed up his bags and left you for the homecoming king. After reading todays article from Gene Collier I realized that not only is Hossa a tramp but also a whore. 4 teams in 4 season (and 5 after Det folds next season). To break it down for our old school 80′s movie geeks, what Hossa just did is like Real Genius when the middle aged chick tries to sleep with 15yr old Mitch because he’s the #1 brain in the college only to find out that closet dwelling Lazlo was the true #1. The Pens are Mitch.

Honestly, Shero knew this was a possiblity when he sent Colby, Eric, Angelo and a draft pick for Hossa and Dupuis. In the end Hossa was a great bullshitter. He had the fans and management thinking that he was a sure thing. How do we ease the pain? Have a drink and find someone better or go back to an old favorite. Worked for me

While we’re all still jaded lets look at some of Hossa’s comments shall we…
“I know it’s a short term, but we never talked about a one-year [deal] with Pittsburgh. We just talked about a long-term deal.”

Dumbass. You DO realize that the Pens are building a franchise here, not a one time sympathy date. You’d think that long term would be a great offer to any player. Thank you for leaving though because now we can bring in Naslund, Jagr or any other talented RW who isn’t pre-occupied looking at the lady in the red dress.

“I totally believe Detroit has the kind of team that can win it again.”
They can win it again someday, just not now. Last back to back was 96/97 – 97/98 and Detroit did that with Scotty Bowman running the show. You REALLY think that Mike Babcock has the testicular fortitude to repeat? HA!

Have fun with him Detroit. Marian, when you come back crawling to Pittsburgh next year with “I’m sorry baby, I made a mistake. please take me back.” don’t be surprised when the Pens tell you they’ve moved on.

Most of you know by now that the Pens lost Wednesday night 3-2 to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals 4 games to 2. Normally a fan would be depressed but not me. Yes, I would have liked to see my team win but when you look back over the last 5 years you can’t help but feel pride.

The franchise was on the verge of leaving Pittsburgh. A cash dump by then GM Craig Patrick left us with a team that couldn’t even beat the Johnstown Chiefs and those of us die hard hockey fans were on life support for a sport destined to leave and keep this struggling city a major league town. 5 years later the Penguins became Stanley Cup finalists and the promotional baby of the NHL which was revamping a sport considered dead from a full season lock out.

Hockey isn’t a sport that you can just jump into. You need to know the rules to fully appreciate it. It’s also not something that can go to and just drink unlike football where it’s usually one big kegger. Hockey fans are similar to baseball nuts in regards to the amount of information they can pull out of their rear at any given moment. They are a plethora of random sports knowledge. Come up to F balcony some game and you’ll see it first hand.

My point is that not only as hockey fans but citizens of Pittsburgh, we’re on the verge of something very special and rare. We are at the birth of a dynasty. Granted that the offseason could really screw that up if Shero can’t resign some guys but still we have a core group of guys and a fan base that is more passionate than any other professional sports franchise. We don’t set fires like the people in Montreal or get violent like the thugs in Philadelphia but we do bleed black and (las vegas)gold.

I’m upset that the team lost the Cup but I could never, on any level, be disappointed in the season. I’m proud of this team, the organization and I’m DAMN proud to be a season ticket holder and a fan.