My first trip to Pittsburgh...and it was AMAZING!!!!

I can't believe I have been cheering for the Pittsburgh Penguins for almost 10 years now!! I’ll admit I didn’t become a fan until 2005 when they drafted Sidney Crosby, and, at the time, Mario Lemieux was probably the only other player I could name from the team, but, by the time they won the Stanley Cup four seasons later, I was hooked. I couldn’t watch very many regular seasons games since I didn’t have Centre Ice, but I made sure to watch every playoff game that year, and I celebrated the game 7 victory over Detroit by naming my cat, who I had adopted earlier that day, Crosby. My love for the team evolved further while watching the 24/7 HBO series that documented the Winter Classic between the Penguins and the Washington Capitals and I think I can now officially be classified as a diehard fan. I have had the pleasure of watching the team live twice, both times in Ottawa, and while it was an amazing experience, nothing can compare to my first ever trip to Pittsburgh earlier this week!

The city of Pittsburgh was exactly the way I had imagined it, bridges everywhere, skyscrapers downtown, good diners, great shops and sports fans as far as the eye could see. I grew up near Toronto so I understand sports culture and have seen what it looks when an entire city gets together to cheer for their team, but I’ve never seen anything quite like Pittsburgh. Our first full day in the city was St. Patrick's Day and almost every person was wearing a green sports jersey. On our way to breakfast that morning, we passed about 5 independent sports stores and each one was busy. In Pittsburgh, they definitely love their sports teams.

We spent most of the first day shopping and crossing things off my to-do list. After an amazing breakfast at Pamela P&G Diner, my aunt and I headed over Dick's Sporting Goods so I could add to my collection of Penguins merchandise. Two t-shirts and a Penguins sweater later we headed to South Side for more shopping, this time at shop 412 for a one of a kind sweater only available in Pittsburgh.

With the souvenirs purchased, we headed back to the hotel to drop off the loot before lunch at Blue Line Grill, a restaurant owned by former Penguins stars Phil Bourque and Bill Guerin. The most exciting part of the day was when we passed through the lobby on our way out and ran into none other than two time Stanley Cup Champion and fourth liner Craig Adams. He was gracious enough to take a picture with me and I left for lunch with the biggest smile on my face.

After lunch there was only one item left on my to-do list, a trip through Fort Pitt Tunnel. Anyone who has seen The Perks of Being a Wallflower will recognize this as the tunnel where Emma Watson's character stands in the truck bed of her brother's car with her arms out. My aunt was a good sport about the trip, we essentially drove just outside the city to turn around and drive back in through the tunnel, during rush hour, after getting lost, but I think it was all worth it, it was a great view entering the city.

Tuesday March 18 was my first time entering the Consol Energy Centre. I've seen the arena so many times on TV, watched footage of fans and players entering the building, seen the benches and penalty boxes, and watched as the camera panned to the ice to show the Penguins logo, and I've got to say, it was so much more exciting in person. We started the day with a tour of the CEC, unfortunately we couldn't tour the locker rooms because it was game day, but we were able to walk around the arena, see the executive boxes, take pictures with the various attractions and of course shop at the team store before the game that night when everything would be busy.

Between the tour and the game, we took the Inclines up to Mount Washington to take in the view of downtown Pittsburgh from across the river. It was a breathtaking view on a beautiful sunny day. Since it was warm out, we decided relax with some delicious ice cream and people watch for our last afternoon in Pittsburgh.

After a nice afternoon, it was finally time to head over to Consol and watch the Penguins take on the Dallas Stars. After entering the arena and getting our complimentary flags, we grabbed some food and headed to our seats to watch the warm ups. We of course took a #hockeyselfie before the game, which was pretty much the last time I was seated for an extended period of time the rest of the night. I was pretty emotional when they announced the starting lineup, I screamed and cheered with everyone else when they announced that two time Stanley Cup Champion and recent Olympic Gold Medalist Chris Kunitz was back after missing two games the previous weekend. Before we knew it warm ups were over and the game was set to begin.

The Penguins took a quick 1-0 lead over the Dallas Stars and the first goal of my first ever home game for the Pittsburgh Penguins was scored by none other than the Captain, number 87, Sidney Crosby! The arena, which up until that time had been relatively quiet, exploded with noise and celebration.

The lead wouldn't last and Tyler Seguin would tie things up on the power play. I don't think I have ever heard an arena so quiet when the opposing team scored, I doubt there were any Stars fans in attendance. The Penguins would ultimately finish the period on the with the lead when Chris Kunitz got a rebound past Kari Lehtonen. This is the last video I took during the game because I was way too busy screaming and jumping around with the rest of the fans.

The Penguins took the game from that point forward, scoring 3 more goals to finish the game 5-1. With two goals, Crosby was the first star of the night and Zatkoff stopped 31 of 32 shots he faced. All in all, it was an exciting emotional night for me, I don't think I stopped smiling for a couple days.

Sadly we left Pittsburgh after breakfast the next morning. While the trip was so much more than I could have hoped for, there are a few things on my list that I didn't get to check off, I still have to get to Primantis to try on of their amazing sandwiches, and I still haven't seen Marc Andre Fleury play live, but I figure if I did everything the first time, I would have no reason to go back. And speaking of going back, a friend and co-worker has challenged me to try to attend at least one NHL game in each of the 30 arenas. I of course immediately jumped on the challenge, so with Pittsburgh crossed off, that makes 3 arenas visited and 27 more to go....

This year's trade deadline produced only ripples for the Penguins

Last season the Pittsburgh Penguins made quite the splash at the trade deadline acquiring longtime captains Jarome Iginla and Brendan Morrow, defenceman and penalty killing specialist Douglas Murray and centre/left-winger Jussi Jokinen. This season the Penguins created only ripples, adding to their depth at forward, but left the bigger fish to other organizations. Now that I have pretty much killed that analogy, I will explain why I think the smaller moves will be more beneficial for the Penguins playoffs hopes this season, assuming of course that they can make it through the first round and Marc André Fleury plays the way all us fans know he can. 

The Penguins only made two moves at the deadline, adding right-winger Lee Stempniak from the Calgary Flames and centre Marcel Goc from the Florida Panthers, both for future draft selections.

With Pascal Dupuis expected to miss the remainder of the season because of his knee injury and Beau Bennett still sidelined with a broken wrist, Stempniak will likely start by playing alongside Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz. The main reason I like this move is that Stempniak adds experience to the line; Bylsma has been forced to rotate through a variety of wingers on his top line, including rookies Jason Megna and Brian Gibbons both called up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton this season. Stempniak has 10 years of NHL experience, so while is point production isn’t very high with only 23 points in 52 games this season with the Flames, his NHL experience may provide the stability they have been missing since December. 

Many have speculated that Marcel Goc was acquired so that he could either form part of a package the Penguins would send to Vancouver in exchange for Ryan Kesler, or so that they could trade Brandan Sutter for Kesler, while maintaining depth at centre. In the end Kesler wasn’t traded so we’ll never know whether either of these scenarios was accurate, but given the Penguins history with injuries, I like the addition of a gritty third or fourth line centre. Goc is not a high scoring elite centre, but with Malkin and Crosby in the lineup, the Penguins don’t need him to be; what he does add is a solid faceoff percentage with 52.8% success rate, and the ability to kill penalties. It is a common belief in hockey that elite players will help you succeed, but that contending teams are great because they have strong depth and talented role players who can provide secondary scoring. Going into the trade deadline the Penguins had all the talent and elite ability they needed to win, but they lacked depth and, unlike last year when they loaded up , I think this year Shero got it right.

Last year Shero went all in and added skill and prestige to the lineup at the trade deadline with some big name rental players. No one expected Brendan Morrow, Jarome Iginla or Douglas Murray to stay past the season, the Penguins were loading up for one last run at the cup before the salary cap was lowered under the new CBA. On paper the Penguins seemed almost unstoppable, and yet they floundered in the conference final losing four straight to the Boston Bruins. So what happened? Personally I think the additions at the trade deadline may have ruined the chemistry the team had worked so hard to create at the beginning of the season.

Teams go through ups and downs every season, whether it be winning streaks, losing streaks, injuries and road trips, it all builds chemistry and camaraderie. Hockey players are all about routine, they get used to playing with the same players and playing their role in the larger team dynamic, when a team adds that much talent that close to the playoffs, everything changes. New lines are formed, younger, hardworking players become healthy scratches and the team searches for a new identity. The Penguins were able to squeak through the first two rounds last year playing younger, less experienced team, but as soon as they faced the Bruins, their lack of cohesion and identity became apparent. They weren’t playing their game because this group of players hadn’t yet defined what their game was; there were too many new pairings and new players and the chemistry just never quite happened. All of a sudden the team that was favoured to win the Cup was out, losing in stunning four game sweep. 

Last year Shero went too big and got too greedy and I think it cost the team a chance at the Stanley Cup Finals, this season I think he got it just right. He didn’t make the splash he did last year, instead he evaluated the team dynamic and added key parts to help strengthen their identity and fill the holes created by injuries. The off-season is for the big moves and blockbuster signings, the trade deadline is about strengthening what you already have, and this year Shero did just that, and, barring any further injuries, I feel confident this team has what it takes to challenge for the Cup.