It was three years ago that the Penugins won Stanley Cup number 3, June 12, 2009. To many of my younger friends, this championship defined a franchise. I however, as an old man, very fondly recall the 1990-91 Stanley Cup Champions. It was a dream come true for a hockey fan, and most unexpected. The Penguins were coming off a disappointing season in 1989-90, where they missed the playoffs by one point, and the post season for the 7th time in 8 years. In the offseason, GM Craig Patrick got serious, naming Badger Bob Johnson Head Coach, and forever making it a Great Day for Hockey in Pittsburgh. He also added the legendary Scotty Bowman as Director of Player Development. Finally, the Penguins picked up veteran center Bryan Trottier to give some leadership. The season started with Lemieux missing the beginning portions due to a lingering back injury, and after 31 games, Pittsburgh was nine points out of a playoff spot. Patrick did not stand pat, picking up future Hall of Fame Defenseman Larry Murphy and winger Scott Young in mid season deals. In Mario's absence, Mark Recchi, and Kevin Stevens carried the offense with each getting 40 goals, while Recchi had 113 points, and Stevens totalled 86. In addition, rookie Jaromir Jagr added 27 goals, and the Doctor, Paul Coffey netted 93 points from the blueline. Mario only played in 26 games in the regular season adding 19 goals and 45 points. The development of other Pens players kept them in the hunt however. Then Patrick made THE MOVE that forever made the trade deadline time of year a holiday in my world. He sent highly regarded young defenseman Zarley Zalapski, and high scoring center John Cullen along with Jeff Parker to Hartford in return for future Hall of Famer Ron Francis, nasty defenseman Ulf Samuelsson, and stay at home tough guy Grant Jennings. The formula for a champion was in place. As the season ended, this team won the Patrick Divsion, and placed third in the Wales Conference. They faced New Jersey in round one, winning in seven games, and Frank Pietrangelo immortalized himself making "The Save" in game 6. The Penguins dispatched the Capitals next in 5 games to go to the Wales Conference Finals for the first time in team history, facing red hot Boston. The Bruins won the first two games and looked like they would take the series. Kevin Stevens then guaranteed a Penguins series victory, and the team reeled off 4 straight wins to earn their first trip to the Finals against Minnesota. The Stars won Game One and Three, while the Penguins took Games Two, Four, and Five to take a 3-2 series lead. I can remember watching at my brother in law's house in disbelief as the Penguins dismantled the North Stars 8-0 in Game 6 to win their first title! I was dizzy with pride and joy for the team that I loved, who had been a league laughingstock for years! Now they were at the top of the mountain! The trip to the airport was an epic adventure in insanity, and the parade a thing of beauty. It is a run and a night I will never
forget, regardless of how long I live! Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins!
Three years ago tonight, June 12, 2009 our Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Red Wings at the Joe to win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and they brought home their third Stanley Cup. I was fortunate enough to be the host of a large party at Dave and Busters, and I got to watch the Penguins hoist the Holy Grail amongst many friends. I remember staying there until they asked us to leave watching highlight after highlight. On the way home, I stopped at the P Bar with good friends Jon and Megan Reynolds, and Megan's dad Hoppy Mitruski for a few night caps. High on the win, and drunk on beer, I went home and ordered EVERYTHING with a Stanley Cup Champions logo on it. A sober man when box after box arrived, I learned never to shop drunk again! At any rate, in honor of a great night in Penguins history, I wanted to take a walk down memory lane. We went to every playoff game at home, and had many parties inside and outside during the away games. The feeling of being part of this run is one I will never forget. I hope that you enjoy it.
Some of the above are pictures from Game 7 night at Dave and Busters!
A few more!
Have to remember the mighty midget trying to attack me in my Fartsmell jersey in RD 1, messing with the Caps fans in front of us in RD 2, Geno owning the Canes in RD 3, and pulling the plug on the Detroit TV bitch during Game 6 pre-game! Great memories!
Someone got me from across the arena before most of the fans came in.
Crosby...For The Win!: A Trip Down Penguins Memory Lane: First Note: I apologize if this page takes forever to load. If it does, just walk away and come back to it later, it’s pretty much all pic...
a great piece from a Twitter friend and passionate Pens fan.....enjoy!
I was on my way back from a business lunch today when I heard a radio report that the Penguins had traded a 7th round draft pick to Washington in return for the rights to netminder Tomas Vokoun for two years at 2M. I thought that was 2M total or 1M per year. I was ecstatic! I had mentioned the need to upgrade that position in a blog post from last night, and to do it with Vokoun for such a minimal increase in cost seemed almost impossible. It was. Kind of. The Penguins are paying Vokoun 2M PER YEAR not 2M total, and that annual increase of 1.4M per year in the cost of the goaltending position required more thought before I could decide how I felt. That did not take me long to figure out. I think the Penguins made a great move here. Reading my own blog post from last night underscored the need for top notch goaltending to win the Cup, and despite Fleury's prior post seasons, and recent regular seasons, his past three playoffs have been pretty poor. Many cite fatigue as an issue, particularly last season when Fleury appeared in 67 games, largely due to the poor performance from Brent Johnson who was 6-7-2 with a .883 save percentage, and a 3.11 GAA average. In a dogfight for playoff positioning, the Pens could not afford to give Fleury a rest, and many think he burned out as a result. Therefore, King Ray contacted the Capitals who have Braydon Holtby and Michael Neuvirth as young netminders, and he acquired the rights to Vokoun for next to nothing, and signed him, making sure a key position was addressed in the offseason. For 2M per season, I don't see Vokoun playing less than 25 games, and maybe as many as 30 games per year, which will give Fleury adequate rest. The good news is that Vokoun actually has better career numbers than Fleury posting a .917 save percentage and 2.55 GAA v Fleury's .909 save percentage and 2.68 GAA in the regular season. In the playoffs, Vokoun was .922 and 2.47 GAA, while Fleury posted a .904 and 2.68 GAA. I am not suggesting that Vokoun is a better player, but I am saying that at 35 years old, and with numbers such as the above, the Penguins should be able to spell Fleury whenever they see fit with Vokoun as the backup. Ray Shero mentioned today that Fleury's best post season numbers in 2007-08 came after a season in which he played his fewest games due to injury. Vokoun will give the Pens that luxury again. Since 2005-06, Vokoun's 287 victories rank him 6th among active goaltenders, and he appeared in 401 games during that span, good for 8th. Vokoun also posted 36 shutouts in that span, while Fleury has posted 22 in the same timeframe. He was named an NHL All-Star twice during that span. Over the past four seasons, Vokoun has posted a .923 save percentage! This kind of back up could give the Penguins one of the top goaltending tandems in the NHL, while providing them the comfort that will not only allow Fleury some rest, but should actually PRESS him to be his best. The Penguins will have the ability to spell Fleury should he struggle, a situation which should keep MAF sharp from start to finish. Both GM Ray Shero and Assistant Coach Tom Fitzgerald have had affiliations with Vokoun in both Nashville and Florida, and they both say he is a good guy to have in the locker room. Vokoun has posted these numbers playing for poor teams in Nashville and Florida, I can remember many nights against Florida where Vokoun single handedly kept the Panthers in the game as the Penguins peppered him. The Pens, arguably have a 1A and 1B tandem for the first time in recent memory. All in, the Penguins have put more dollars into this position, but by doing so they have not only shored up an area of concern during their recent post season struggles, but again shown their commitment to winning. Taking a wait and see approach with pending free agency, could have cost them an opportunity for such an upgrade. I hope this move is a splash to signify a productive off season for the Penguins.
A lot of speculation is out there with regard to what the Penguins should, could, and will do during this offseason to get back on the track of a team that is looking to put multiple Stanley Cups on their mantle with this core of young guns. A lot of people still speak of another winger (for Sid of course), and it still seems like you hear a lot about offensive firepower when people speak of the Penguins' needs. When you hear of the team having to move one of their top three centers, you hear mostly of Staal because Crosby (when healthy) key word there, is the best player in the world, and in his absence this season, Malkin filled that role, at least during the regular season. Not as much during the post season, where his awesome regular season, along with Crosby's was bested on the Penguins by the aforementioned Staal, and during our series, all players were blown away by the play of Claude Giroux. I am no GM, but I am a rabid fan, and the numbers support the fact that Pittsburgh has PLENTY of offense for today's game, but is lacking in the concept of team defense. That starts on the blue line where two notable pieces missing from that championship team are Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi. When I had the chance to ask Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma which players lost to free agency and or trades they missed the most, they both answered immediately that it was Scuderi and Gill. They did so at the same time and without hesitation. The Pens are also missing the veteran presence of Billy Guerin from the Cup run, and Gary Roberts from the run to the Finals in 2008. The maturity of either player in this locker room may have had a postive impact when the team lost its defensive presence, late in the year in favor or run and gun hockey. After a review of the numbers, the Penguins need to find a way to play more defense as a team. That may start by going a bit away from their current MO of only coveting puck moving blue liners in the pursuit of some stay at home solid defensemen such as Scuderi or Gill. Moving Martin would be a key to that kind of player coming in. They also could use a look at their bottom 6 forwards for more a bit more grit and defensive play. Finally, a solid back up who could give Fleury a rest, as the past three playoff runs have not been as kind to Fleury as the two trips to the Finals is a must. Fatigue could have been a factor this season as Fleury appeared in 67 games this year, starting in 64 of those. He did post 42 wins and a 2.36 GAA and .913 save percentage. However, in the playoffs, his numbers were the worst in the league outside of goaltenders who played one game or less. His bloated GAA was 4.63 and his save percentage was a league worst .834. Fleury was simply put, awful in these playoffs, as was the defense in front of him. Conversely, in 2007-08 Fleury had a 1.97 GAA and .933 save percentage, and in the Cup winning year of 2008-09 he had a 2.61 GAA and a .908 save percentage. These numbers were much better than those posted in this year's playoffs. If you compare Fleury's statistics to those of the Final Four goaltenders this season you have Quick at number One in GAA at 1.44 AND save percentage at .947, Brodeur at 5th in GAA at 2.00 and 7th in save percentage at .924, Lundqvuist is second in save percentage at 1.82 and 5th in save percentage at .931, with Mike Smith at 4th in GAA at 1.99, and 2nd in save percentage at .944. Goaltending statistics are a combination of the goaltender and the team in front of him, so both need to be much better if the Penguins expect to compete for another Cup.
Some other reasons I think the Penguins need to look at team defense, including the system potentially, along with an upgrade behind Fleury, include the following: First when you compare the top 5 goal scorers of Pittsburgh against the top 5 for the two teams who made the Finals, Pittsburgh's top 5 provided 166 goals, while the top 5 for NJ provided 145 goals, and for the LAK, only 108 goals. Pittsburgh's list did not inlude a full season from Crosby either. Neither the Kings or Devils had a player with 40 goals, much less 50, while Pittsburgh had Malkin with 50 goals and Neal with 40. Pittsburgh's top 5 snipers without Crosby had 21 more goals than the Devils top snipers and 58 more than the top 5 for the Kings! Yet those two play for the Cup, and the Penguins have been idle for several weeks. The lists are as follows:
Pittsburgh: Malkin (50), Neal (40),Kunitz (26), Dupuis (25), and Staal (25);
New Jersey: Kovalchuk (37),Parise (31),Clarkson (30),Elias (26),Sykora (21);
Los Angeles: Kopitar (25), Williams (22), Brown (22), Carter (21),Richards (18);
The next thing I compared was Pittsburgh's team goals against and goals for during the regular season and playoffs against those same statistics for the four teams who made the Conference Finals for both the East and the West. First in the regular season, as far as Goals Against Average, the Penguins were 15th in the league, giving up an average of 2.66 goals per game. The Kings were 2nd in the league with a 2.07 goals per game given up, while Phoenix was 5th giving up 2.37 goals per game. In the East Finals, the Rangers were 3rd during the regular season giving up an average of 2.22 goals per game, and Cup Finalist New Jersey was 10th, giving up 2.50 goals per game. If you take those same statistics for the playoffs, Pittsburgh was LAST in giving up 5 goals per game during their 6 games played. The Kings, are the best thus far, giving up only 1.50 goals per game in their 16 games played, while New Jersey was 8th, giving up 2.30 goals per game in their 20 games played. While the Conference runners up in the East, New York Rangers, were third in the post season giving up 2.05 goals per game in their 20 games played, and Western Conference runners up, Phoenix, was 6th in the post season, giving up 2.19 goals in their 16 games played! Pittsburgh gave up MORE THAN TWICE the goals per game of the worst placed team in that category who made the Final Four, that being the Devils at 2.30 goals per game. Goals against was the key factor to Pittsburgh going home, while all four of the remaining teams were at least in the top half of the playoff field, with LA first and the Rangers third!
When you look at Pittsburgh's goals for in comparison to the four finalists in the NHL this year during the regular season it is just as noticeable as the goals against. Pittsburgh was first in the regular season in goals for at 3.33 goals for per game. The Devils were 15th at 2.63 goals for per game, and the Kings were 29th at 2.29 goals for per game! Yet, they play for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup! The respective conference runners up were the Rangers, 11th in the league at 2.71 goals for per game, and Phoenix was 18th at 2.56 goals for per game. There was not a single Final Four team who made the top ten in goals for during the regular season! Pittsburgh scored .70 goals per game more than the 15th place Devils and 1.04 goals more per game than the Kings! Yet, the Penguins were gone in the first round, and one of these teams will hoist the Cup. The tune did not change in the post season, where Pittsburgh is again, at this point in the playoffs, first in goals for per game at 4.33 goals for per game in 6 games played. Now your two finalists are closer in terms of postioning. This starts at 3rd for the Kings with 2.81 goals for per game in 16 games played, and the Devils are 4th with 2.65 goals for per game in their 20 played games. Phoenix was 6th out of 16 with 2.31 goals for per game in their 16 games played, while the Rangers were 9th, or below the middle of the pack with 2.15 goals per game in their 20 games played. Again, Pittsburgh is home, while these teams made it to the Final Four. Another interesting item for Pittsburgh to consider is their PK, which finished 3rd in the regular season at 87.8%, while falling to 47.8% in a complete post season collapse. The situation for Pittsburgh is complicated, as they did better in the key defensive categories, PRIOR to the return of Crosby this season. This is not an indictment of Crosby, as much as it is an indictment of the mind-set and leadership of the group. The team became enamored with their run and gun offense, and with success, but they forgot all about team defense, with break down after breakdown in the defensive zone, combined with porous netminding and penalty kill. As I read this, and look at the statistics of the Penguins in comparison to the teams who made the final cut this year, it looks to me like the issues are obvious.
1. Mindset-Whether it is coaching, team concept, or leadership in the group, it is obvious that the team excelled offensively in both the regular season, and the post season at the expense down the stretch of defense. Team defense must be stressed, and if it takes bringing in a Guerin type again to complement the young guns, then let's look to see who is out there that can provide this type of leadership. It also says to me, again that Jordan Staal, a big defensive center with offensive upside is NOT somebody you move regardless of the otheworldly offensive talent the Penguins have at center.
2. Goaltending-Fleury is a young player with a trip to the Finals and a Stanley Cup ring, but his play the past three seasons in the playoffs has been less than stellar. If you think fatigue is part of the issue, then the Penguins HAVE to get a backup goaltender who can play 25 games, and win for Pittsburgh. If you are in the group who thinks Fleury cannot get the job done( I am not), then the problem is much larger!
3. Blueline-Pittsburgh has big money tied up in Paul Martin and Zybnek Michalek (9M combined annually) and neither has lived up to potential as "shutdown" players. Move Martin at all costs and bring in a shutdown player with the money freed up. The Penguins have plenty of puck movers, and are short on tough, shut down defensemen. Evaluate the tread left on Orpik's tires and see how Despres and the young guns on the blue line fit in. Michalek's shot blocking skills and lower salary make him easier to keep if you are Pittsburgh;
4. Bottom Six forwards-evaluate if you are big enough, gritty enough, and hard enough to play against in your bottom six. Do you have enough character guys ala Max Talbot and Mike Rupp there? If not, evaluate what is available, and look at players like Park, Cooke, Tangradi, Kennedy and Adams to see if a change or two is warranted.
With the cap looking like it is going up, you don't have to move Staal, especially if you move Martin. I think you try to sign Staal as soon as you can, and use the Martin money to free up cap space for other needs, and look for the cap to go up. With that Martin money, and cap growth, you add a top line backup goaltender, and a tough defenseman. You can evaluate the health of Crosby, the signability of Malkin in two years with the KHL pressure, and use the first half of the season to see where the chips fall relative to the three centers. If you move any of the three, you better get a huge return, that addresses your defensive depth up the middle, your defensive strength on the blue line, and some young talent up front still on entry level contracts., ala the Chicago and Toronto trade rumors for Staal. If you have to do it, maybe you make your dance partner take on Martin too.
This team has the ability to win the Stanley Cup in 2012-13 with a few tweaks and the moving of Martin, as long as they recognize the need to play a more systmatic defense in addition to their forecheck, and give Fleury the kind of back up that keeps him fresh.
After a disappointing end to the final year at the Mellon Arena, our family was eagerly awaiting the start of the 2010-2011 season. First, we were sure the Penguins would rebound from an early playoff exit to win the Cup, and it was the opening of the eagerly awaited Consol Energy Center. The CEC was touted as a state of the art building and the beginning of a new era in Penguins hockey. Our family got the surprise of a lifetime when we got a call in early September to let us know that a Penguins player would be delivering our season tickets! The family was excited to find out who it was that would come to our home, and we had so many what if sessions. What if it is Geno? What if it is Staal? How about Crosby? As it turns out it was an unsung hero of the team, Chris Kunitz who came to our home with our season tickets to open the 2010-2011 season. What a great surprise, and one heckuva nice guy. Our whole family and a couple of friends got to enjoy meeting Kunitz, along with beat writer Rob Rossi, and my ticketing agent, Amanda Gurney. We even got to give Chris the hockey jersey that represented the 10th anniversary of my company, Litigation Solutions, Inc.! Coon could not have been a nicer guy or better guest. The season itself got started on 9/22 as we got to see the unofficial opening of the CEC in preseason, as the Penguins beat Detroit 5-1. The official opening was not as kind to Pittsburgh as the Flyers came to town to open the building officially on 10/7/10, defeating the Penguins to start the new era in CEC by a score of 3-2. The Penguins would lose the next couple home games as well to Montreal and Toronto, before winning their first regular season home game at CEC on 10/15/10, a 3-2 OT win against the Islanders. What a strange year it became for our Pens. We started the year without Jordan Staal who was recovering from complications to his surgically repaired foot, and a broken hand. Staal would not make his debut until the Winter Classic on January 1st. Sidney Crosby tore up the league, scoring 66 points in the first 41 games, a 132 point pace, and adding a 25 game points scoring streak from 11/5 to 12/29. During this stretch, the red hot Crosby scored 50 points! Then came the Winter Classic, a supposedly second grand night in the inaugural season of the CEC. We rented a room right next to Heinz Field and took in all of the ambience for two straight days. Just like opening night, this big event was spoiled. First destroyed by rainy weather, then by the loss to the hated Capitals, but as it turned out, a hit by David Steckel may have changed the season for Pittsburgh. His blind side hit to Crosby, followed by a hit by Viktor Hedman on January 5th ended the season for Crosby, and put Pittsburgh behind the eight ball. Soon afte,r Evgeni Malkin had his season ended by torn ligaments in his knee, and the Penguins were without both heads of the two headed monster for the second half of the campaign. Their vaunted 3 center model had all three centers on the ice for about 5 PERIODS all year. A season of supposed highlights now looked like a lost season. But the experts who predicted the death of the Penguins were wrong. The Pens, despite all of their injuries found a way to not only stay afloat, but they remained a premiere team in the league, and Dan Bylsma added the Jack Adams Trophy as Coach of the Year to his resume! We were there for every game! Late in the season Shero moved Alex Goligoski to Dallas for James Neal and Matt Niskanen, a move that addressed the team's need for a scoring winger, and added a solid defenseman to the lineup as well. In a low risk, high possible reward move, the Pens added Alex Kovalev for a 7th round pick. Kovalev just flat out sucked, and James Neal struggled to put the puck in the net despite playing solid hockey. After a promising start to the playoffs that saw the Penguins take a 3-1 lead in the series against Tampa, they lost in 7, with another painful blow in a game 7 occurring on home ice in a 1-0 loss to the Lightning. My wife and I stood in the Consol until just about every fan had left soaking in the last minutes in our new building. Year one at CEC saw a loss on the home opener, a loss at the Winter Classic, the loss of Malkin and Crosby as major downers. It also saw the opening of a grand new building, half a season of the best hockey played in recent years by any player, the addition of James Neal, and the character of a team I have not been more proud of bringing home a Jack Adams for Dan Bylsma. In the end, the season started and ended with one goal losses on CEC ice, and the dream of a return to the Finals would have to wait at least one more year. On a positive note for us, the NHL network came out to the house and did a special on our fanatical love of the Penguins, but it was little solace.
As we awaited the start of the 2011-12 season, again the fan base of Pittsburgh was filled with hope. We had James Neal with a full camp under his belt, and both Crosby and Malkin coming back for the season, right? Mostly. Nealer wasted little time in starting what would be a breakout campaign for him that ended in 40 goals and 81 points, by scoring the first goal of the campaign on 10/6/2011 in Vancouver. Geno, after a mediocre start, won the Art Ross Trophy netting 50 goals and 109 points, and will likely walk off with the Hart Trophy at league MVP as well. Chris Kunitz anchored the top line hockey doing all of the little things that go unnoticed and added 26 goals and 61 points on top of that. Duper had a career season with 25 goals and 50 points despite playing all over the lineup, and Jordan Staal in only 62 games added 25 goals and 50 points. Crosby returned on 11/21 v the Islanders on a night I will never forget, and tortured them for 4 points. The CEC was rocking like Old Lady Mellon, and gave our family an evening we would never forget. Unfortunately, his return was short lived before another injury on 12/5 put him out for most of the rest of the season. He played a total of 22 games and added 37 points for Pittsburgh. Crosby missed most of the year, and players like Letang and Staal missed 20 or more games, yet the Penguins thrived again, amassing the second most points in the conference at 108 points, good for a fourth seed. As far as our family, we again had many great nights at the CEC, and surrounding Penguins hockey. The first night was a dinner we won at Alla Famiglia on 12/14/11 where we got to take the Bylsmas and Sheros to dinner with our kids! I kid you NOT! There are more details and photos in other posts on this blog, but in short, we got to see first hand how classy these families are, and I got to ask some questions. The one that stuck out to me, and in the end proved prophetic was when I asked which players that they have lost in trades or free agency would they most love to have back, and they BOTH felt the Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill were the two players they wished they had made a different decision on based on how the salary cap worked out. One of the most memorable nights of my adult life! Disco had plenty of "life advice" for my kids. We also support Pens and Pins, having bowled with Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis in the previous two years. Both men were great to talk to, and actually remembered us year by year, as did Chris Kunitz. I also do some side things for the kids there, and this year, as a thank you to us, we were bowling on a lane with Fleury, but included in the two lane area for us were also Crosby, Malkin, and Staal! Four of the nicest kids around, and if interested, you can read about all three years with the Pens and Pins on other posts on this blog. I had the pleasure of befriending Peter Neal, before knowing who he was early in the season, and got to enjoy lots of hockey banter with the father of one of my favorite players. In an interesting moment, as I was bemoaning what I thought was a fanbase who totally undervalued GoGo, Mr. Neal asked me if I had disagreed with the trade. I answered that as much as I liked Goligoski, I loved this Neal kid and what he brought to the table. At this point, Peter Neal revealed his identity by smiling and saying good, because James is my son!! Finally, ROOT Sports filmed a spot that debuted on March 5th, and ran through the playoffs that was filmed in our basement. Pretty cool to see your family on TV as part of the promotions tied to our favorite sports team. Anyway, we went into these playoffs healthy and full of hope for a return to glory. In the end, a late season lack of attention to detail, poor goaltending, and poor defensive play led to another early exit from the playoffs for the Penguins. I found this exit to be the most disturbing as a fan, as the team was healthy, and considered a favorite to win the Stanley Cup. They did draw a tough match up, but losing in the first round again has the Penguins needing to think about how they formulate their lineup going forward. As a family, I can tell you that again from September until April, the Penguins were the focal point of our social lives as we attended almost every home game, and hosted many parties in our Penguins game room. We even had a few nights in the early season by the fire outside watching the Pens in Vancouver and Calgary! We eagerly await the start of the 2012-13 campaign, ready for the roller coaster ride that is part of being a fanatic about a sports team, and I continue my quest to gather interesting Pens memorabilia to load up our Penguins room with. Going back over the three posts, it becomes readily apparent the prominent role the Pens have played in our lives, and the lives of many of you. I hope you enjoyed this post, and that you continue to check in from time to time. We will really heat up again in September, but will post from time to time in the summer! LETS GO PENS!!
