Pens 2, Flyers 3

Shitty way to open the new arena, but what can ya do? Let me start by saying that Consol is absolutely amazing! All I could say when I walked in was, "Wow". The first thing I noticed was how open and spacious the place was. The second thing I noticed was that it didn't smell like the Igloo. Not the the Igloo smelled bad, but it had a unique odor. The seats were incredible, and the crowd noise was unbelievable. Now for pics:



This sign will take some getting used to.




The old barn.




Love this window display!



Another pic of the Igloo.



The new guy on the block.




Pregame warm-up.



The banners.



R.I.P. Barbero. They had a really nice tribute video during one of the T.V. time-outs, followed by the biggest standing ovation I have ever seen.



Matt Cooke with some clean-up duty.



Ben Lovejoy...who I didn't get to see play. :-(




Tangradi is a beast.




This was a great idea. When they melted the ice at the Igloo for the last time, they saved a bottle of the water. Lemieux christened the new arena at center ice with it. Solid.



It's always a great day for hockey in Pittsburgh!



In case you didn't know what night it was.



Almost time for the inaugural faceoff.



Blurry faceoff.



Best license plate ever! I was actually wearing my Straka jersey, and I waited in the parking garage for this person, but they never showed up, and I was getting hungry.

Anyway, key points:

1. The Pens just seemed like they were lacking the chemistry that they had in the preseason. Hopefully they'll get back into the groove soon.

2. Everyone seemed like they were trying to get too fancy with the puck. Just put it on the net.

3. Lots of shots, but they didn't have much quality.

4. Philly's goaltending situation is just bad. Who the fuck is Bobrovsky anyway?

5. How big of a game did TK and Tangradi have? Nice to see TK back to normal. I hope he can keep it up.

6. I think Craig Adams saw more ice time in this game than he's ever seen in his life.

On a better note though:

Avs 4, Hawks 3

If you have never seen these two teams play against each other, you really should. Always fast-paced and exciting to watch. Avs win in OT. My man Galiardi was all over the place. This team is going places this year. They've matured a lot from last season, and I can't wait to see how well they do this year.

That's all for now. I'll have a recap of tonight's game against the Habs as soon as I watch it. TTFN! :-)

Predictions for 2010-11

And the countdown begins. The Pens have until 3 p.m. tomorrow to cut their roster down to 23 players. It's depressing to see Craig on waivers given his impressive play at the beginning of the preseason, if he didn't injure his groin, things may have gone differently. If he clears waivers and ends up in WBS, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get called up at some point during the season. Hutchinson didn't really do much to really impress me in what little I was able to see of him. Billy G got cut by Philly, so at least I don't have to buy an industrial-sized bottle of bleach.

Prediction time! Here's my predictions for the season (mostly Pens-related):

1. Malkin will finish the season with a career high 125 points (at least).

2. Orpik will be given the "A".

3. Comrie will have a 30 goal season.

4. Sid will score 50 goals.

5. Fleury will be so great this year that anyone still doubting his talent will finally shut the fuck up.

6. Simon Despres and Lovejoy WILL be on the starting roster Thursday night (maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part).

7. New Jersey might actually be a little less boring to watch. Brodeur will be forced to face more shots, and as a result, will have the worst GAA of his life. Lots of drama will play out in their locker room.

8. The Avs will make it to the second round of the finals, but no further. (Sorry guys, I gotta give my honest opinion.)

9. Calgary will continue to be injury-prone, and will not make it to the playoffs this year.

10. Columbus, Toronto, Florida, and the Islanders will be placed on waivers by the NHL because they perpetually suck.

11. Arron Asham will beat the ever-living shit out of Carcillo. (How fucking great would that one be!?)

Part 2 of predicions: the standings:

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic:
1. Pens
2. Devils
3. Philly
4. Rangers
5. Islanders

Northeast:
1. Sabres
2. Habs
3. Bruins
4. Sens
5. Leafs (go figure)

Southeast:
1. Caps
2. Lightning
3. Canes
4. Thrashers
5. Panthers

Western Conference:

Central:
1. Wings
2. Hawks
3. Blues
4. Preds
5. Jackets

Northwest:
1. Canucks
2. Avs
3. Flames
4. Wild
5. Oilers

Pacific:
1. Sharks
2. Coyotes
3. Kings
4. Ducks
5. Stars

We'll come back to this at the end of the season for a comparison. Here's the last commercial, a fan favorite:



You knew that had to be included. Go Pens! (And by the way, happy birthday Mario!)

Mr. Mcfeely brought me some awesome!

My tickets for the season opener came in the mail today, and I must say I am impressed. Section 120 Row W. I checked out Consol's site, since they have a nifty feature where you type in where your seats are, and it shows you what your view will look like. VERY awesome seats! I'll be sure to post plenty of pics. Anyway, the undefeated streak has ended tonight...it was a good run though. Unlikely goals from Goligoski and Adams. I haven't been able to watch or even listen to most of the games, which pisses me off. Oh well. That's all I have to report for now. Have a nice weekend kids! Go Pens!

I'm throwing the damned DVR out the window.

As you will notice, there is no recap of the Pens/Jackets game played on Saturday. I didn't get a chance to watch it until yesterday. As for the Pens/Hawks game, I recorded the replay so I could watch it, but my DVR had other ideas. It ate my fuckin game! I should be watching that game right now... Anyway, one thought about the game Saturday: Simon Despres is a beast. That's all. Another commercial, to celebrate the twins' recent birthday(s?)



Enjoy, while I go all "Office Space" on my DVR.

Pens 5, Jackets 4

Note the absence of a recap from the Pens/Wings game from the other night. There was no video feed available, and I just don't feel comfortable doing a recap on a radio feed. Ditto with the Avs games. Speak of the Avs, Peter Mueller is out, once again, with another concussion. Not good news at all. When Mueller was healthy last season, he was an essential part of the team. Anyway, I was able to catch periods 2 and 3 tonight on a video feed from the Jackets website. The feed was pretty slow, but at least it was something. I don't have a lot to say about the game, other than that Comrie continues to impress me, and Kunitz looked fantastic as well. Lovejoy finally got his chance to play, paired with Paul Martin, but he wasn't really noticeable, which can be a good thing. Some other thoughts: seeing Billy G in a Flyers uniform makes me want to stab my eyes out with a fork. Another thought: Is anyone else hyped up about the upcoming 24/7 Pens/Caps show on HBO? I'm seriously contemplating getting a temporary subscription just to see it. That's all for now, so I'll leave you with another commercial:



Go Pens!

I'm baaaack!

Sorry for the long hiatus, but as I said in my prior post, school is kicking my ass. I've had a lot of writing to do for classes, which has made me a little sick of writing. Any hockey news I could talk about here is now old news. We all know about Jordan Staal's wonky foot. I PROMISE I will do a better job posting when the season starts. 30 hours of my job, plus 14 credit hours at school have not been kind. Add hockey to that, and I'm going to need to start doing coke (just kidding). On another note, I am now pretty much broke. I got a refund from my loans at school, plus holiday pay and a bonus from work, which are all now gone. The Pens have a deal going where you can purchase tickets for the home opener and tickets for the Winter Classic, and you also get 2 Framesworth commemorative plaques. It was the chance of a lifetime, and I know damn well my name won't get pulled for the Winter Classic lottery. As for the home opener, I got on Ticketbastard at exactly 10:00, sat in the online "line" for about 15 minutes, only to be told that the tickets were sold out. What people are asking for tickets on ebay and through the Ticketbastard ticket exchange is insane. Oops, almost forgot the commercial:



Pre-season is almost upon us...are you ready? Have a good weekend kids, I'll be seein ya!

Math class is ruining my life...

Which is why I haven't posted for a long time. I work 30 hours a week, plus I have 14 credit hours in school on top of it. Needless to say, the 2 hours of math homework I have EVERY night has become a little excessive. All of the other classes are manageable, this one, however, is not. If I fail this class and have to retake it, I'll cry. On an actual news note, it has been rumored that Billy G could potentially sign with Philly. I really hope that this won't happen. Also, in case you haven't heard, Mike Comrie (known in non-hockey circles as "Hillary Duff's husband" is officially a Penguin. I think he'll make a good fit, and it will be interesting to see which line he ends up on. Also, it's time for another commercial. This one isn't hockey related, but I saw it when I was watching one of the Avs games, and thought it was great:



Anyway, more hockey commercials will be on their way, and it will be interesting to see how I'll be able to cram watching the games this season into my schedule. Don't worry...I'll figure something out. Have a good one kiddies!