Hearken back… Stanley Cup Finals (2008)… The Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves like Cinderella at the ball, in the Stanley Cup Finals facing the storied and formidable Detroit Red Wings. For me, it might as well have been USA versus USSR in the 1980 Olympics, it was that gut-wrenching. We all felt the overwhelming crush of…
Monthly Archives: May 2009
Manhandled!! Pens Sweep Series 4-0
They got it done. The Pittsburgh Penguins did it differently this year in many ways, including allowing themselves to touch the Prince of Wales Cup. So did Mario Lemieux all those years ago–twice–and they went on to win the big one–Lord Stanley’s Cup. The Penguins bought into a system and a new coach’s philosophy and…
Git ‘er Done
By all accounts, no matter what Pittsburgh Penguin is interviewed, the message is the same: focus on the game at hand, play the right way, and get it done tonight. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Pens and the Carolina Hurricanes, the Penguins know that the ‘Canes have battled adversity and…
Forecast: Hurricane Season Over!!
On an exceptionally warm Saturday night in Raleigh, NC, hockey fans from both near and far descended upon the RBC center to have some fun and to watch Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Making the 4+ hour trip down from northern Virginia, I was pleased to…
The Russian Nightmare: Pens 7 – ‘Canes 4
In the eye of a white-out Game 2 storm, a flurry of towels and tinfoiled knuckles on a pseudo-Hanson brother with the real Dave Hanson in attendance, there was truly something in the air at Mellon Arena on Thursday night. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes shed the Game 1 pleasantries, and with the honeymoon…
One in the Can: Pens 3 – ‘Canes 2
Game 1 in a playoff series is always a little surreal. Both teams come out sizing each other up, testing the waters, getting a feel for how they will set the tempo they want to set and executing. Given the hellfire and brimstone of Pittsburgh’s first two series versus the Flyers and Capitals respectively, Monday…
A Tale of Two Teams – The Series Ahead
A Tale of Two Teams The Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes will face off against each other on Monday night when the puck drops for game one of the Eastern Conference Finals at Mellon Arena. Seemingly implausible just two months ago, both teams recovered from mediocre performance earlier in the season and found momentum to…
The Hockey Gods Must Be Crazy
Like gambling junkies sitting at the one-armed bandits in Vegas, the Hockey Gods simply had to go just one more time. They were unable to let the arguably frenetic series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals end in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. If Game 5 had been weird enough as Tom…
Get One for the Sarge
On a high-intesity drama scale, the Eastern Conference Semifinals series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals continues to thrill. Game 4 saw a determined Penguins team once again at the mercy of the cruel humor of the Hockey Gods as another weird development put a Caps goal in the net only :36 into the…
Band of Brothers: Pens 3-Caps 2 OT
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;/For he to-day that sheds his blood with me,/Shall be my brother…”–King Henry before the battle of Agincourt, Henry V by William Shakespeare. While many hockey fans might not be familiar with this quote from one of William Shakespeare’s plays, it marks a great speech made by a…
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