First off the game itself............for the first time in awhile the Pens game tonite was fun to watch from start to finish and added yet another vintage moment for me, and my family. Less than a minute into the game one of my favorite players Brooks Orpik cashed in to get the Pens off and running. Yes, it was the Islanders, a team though out of the playoff race, that has played well of late, with a 5-1 record in their past six games. Watching Goligoski finally score again was a good sign for the Penguins as they play out the string this season. Secondary scoring from Tyler Kennedy and two goals from Bill Guerin also were very good signs. By the way Bill Guerin became the FIRST PLAYER IN NHL HISTORY to score 20 goals for SEVEN DIFFERENT TEAMS. Marc Andre Fleury had a solid outing tonite despite giving up 3 goals, two were off of deflections, and MAF made some great saves at key moments in the game....Malkin also looked very good as did the power play.....For me though, to watch Crosby put up another great game with 4 points (1 goal and 3 assists) was yet another Mellon Arena moment. Crosby now has 49 goals to take a one goal lead over Stamkos and Ovechkin for the Rocket Richard Trophy, and he has 104 points to close within 3 of lead leading Henrik Sedin...........Not to mention at the tender age of 22, Sid now has 501 points.....THE YOUNGEST PLAYER TO EVER REACH THAT NUMBER....Incredible!
Now for the mushy stuff..........I have had the great fortune of seeing literally hundreds of games the Igloo over the years, including mostly every playoff game of significance from 88 through 95, and then again post lockout......In fact post lockout, we have seen almost more than three quarters of the games played. Three years ago for the first time in my life I took a chance and bought season tickets for my hockey hungry family of four, with the idea that we would go to half the games, and I would sell the other half for enough of a markup to pay most of the freight for the games we saw..........well as it turns out, we have not missed more than a handful of games in any season since, and the others people in our section have become good friends of ours. We came to the game today after having to miss the last few for a variety of reasons.........I think we missed 4 of the last 5 home games, which is about as many as we miss in any given SEASON. The genuine concern and questions asked by everybody from the ushers in the section, to the beer man, to about a dozen or so section members, to the members of the Pens equipment staff was dare I say a bit heartwarming. We really have had the great luck of having our section at the Mellon Arena become very much like a second home, and a very exciting escape from the daily grind. The whole atmosphere caused me to try and think of some of the more exciting moments we have been present to witness during the history of this great building, and I will miss many, but here goes:
Mario Lemieux 5 goals in 5 ways game on New Years Eve years ago;
The Badger Bob tribute in November of 91......not a dry eye in the house;
The elimination game versus the Rangers in the second round of the 92 playoffs after Adam Graves slashed Lemieux purposely to put him out of the series....the intensity and the "1940" chants were unreal;
Lemieuxs last game and last goal, then his subsequent return;
The five OT playoff loss to Philadelphia on Primeaus goal;
Mario splitting the two North Stars Defensemen in the 90-91 Finals and burying a highlight reel goal;
The Stanley Cup Finals game 1 against the Blackhawks where the Pens came storming back from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4 on Lemieux's spectacular last minute game winner;
We have seen 3 Stanley Cup Champion teams and a Stanley Cup Finalist;
We have seen a record 13 Art Ross Trophy winners, with Lemieux gaining 6, Jaromir Jagr 5, and Crosby and Malkin each getting one thus far........Crosby is in position to potentially gain the 14th.....that is unbelievable; So in the 26 years since Lemieux was drafted, the Penguins have had the NHL scoring leader HALF of those years;With the Lemieux/Jagr period, and now the Crsoby/Malkin period the Pens have had significant stretches where they have had not one, but TWO of the top 5 players in the league offensively on the team at the same time!
We have seen 3 Conn Smythe winners in that time frame as well; Oh yeah, we also saw Le Magnifique score 199 points in the 88-89 season, with 105 points on HOME FUCKING ICE ALONE!
Some of my favorite memories during our tenure as season ticket holders includes:
Crosbys first goal;
Malking first goal;
The home victory in the last game of the 07-08 season giving the Pens the Atlantic Division title;
Gary Roberts coming out like a beast in the first game of the first series v Ottawa two years ago, which I believe set the tone for a playoff run that wound up just two games shy of the Cup;
Coming back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Rangers in game 1 of the Conference Semis two years ago;
Marian Hossa beating the Rangers in OT of Game 6 of the second round of those same playoffs to eliminate them and send the Pens to the conference Finals against the Flyers;
Crushing the Flyers to move on to the Stanley Cup Finals that season;
Scott Hartnell giving us his stick and signing my Fartsmell jersey;
Andreas Lilja trying to buy Hosebag jersey 1 and ultimately trading his stick and a puck to put that jersey in Hossas locker;
Winning the autographed Sergei Gonchar jersey between periods with the local radio personalities;
The huge crowds OUTSIDE of the Mellon Arena during the playoff runs;
Dan Carcillo losing his mind over the "bouncer at Chuck E Cheese" comments;
Tom Sestito telling the ushers he was coming up after me for suggesting that he would make a better ball boy at Ohio State than enforcer for the Columbus Blue Jackets;
Terry Murray of Ottawa reading my sign making fun of his lisp and laughing WITH ME.....it said not to PITH off Gary Roberth!
Mike Grabcock, Red Wings head coach trying hard NOT to look at my Hosebag Not This Year, Heres Your Cup jersey.......and finally commenting that it was pretty funny;
The Opening Night Ceremony this season for the Banner Raising ceremony.......ditto for both other Stanley Cup seasons.........
Bill Guerins OT goal to beat the Flyers in the first round of last years playoffs and the mighty midget chasing me down the sidewalk;
Kris Letangs OT goal to beat the Capitals in game 3 last year to avoid going down 3-0 in the series;
Malkins magical hat trick v the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals;
Game 3, 4 and 6 wins in the Finals last season, especially Scuds "The Piece" save;
Driving the Detroit media crazy by unplugging their gear during the pregame broadcast to the Motor City...........I could go on and on...............I am can only hope that there are still a few moments like these left for this years run........How about a Stanley Cup clinching win on home ice....that we have never seen........Thanks for the memories..............
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