Pens v Devils

I got a few more photos from the All Star Game. This first set comes from Friend of The Show Lorie P. who said, "I'm from Montreal, and I got to go to the all Star Game. It was amazing to be at! I met Guy Carboneau Thursday night at the Jamboree, but I didn't have a camera with me, no sight of Crosby though." Enjoy Lorie's pics (click all the following pics to enlarge):


Lorie also sent in two short videos of the massive crowds gathered around as the players emerged from their bus:





Next, we'll hear from Friend of The Show Jamie M.:

I was just reading your post on the All Star game. I was also at the red carpet ceremony and was located outside at the front of the gate. I was extremely lucky enough to be located at the very front where as the players came off the bus I was one of the first people they seen. (If anyone has video of them getting off the bus I am the one wearing the yellow winter jacket and blue Winter hat; I was shown on the large screen during the skills competition when they showed a clip.) The players were released off the bus in pairs and each was provided with a Sharpie for autographing. I brought my father to the game and skills competition for his 50^th birthday, and we had the time our lives.

I am a HUGE Crosby fan and collector. The only piece I brought hoping to get signed was Crosby’s 2003 Shattuck St. Mary’s High School yearbook. I was very excited when Crosby came off the bus and soon as he stepped off I asked him to sign the book. I told him I was one of his biggest fans and he smiled and nodded.(I am sure he hears that all the time.) He was very rushed but did take a second to sign and it is now one of the nicest Crosby pieces I own.


I was also lucky enough to get an All Star hat signed. The first person to sign it was Roberto Luongo which is on the bottom right in the right side view picture. Ovechkin's is at the right side almost on top of the hat of the right view pic Mark Messier's is on the middle back and is the long one that you can pick out the M. I was surprised to see Mark but told him it was great to see him there. Carey Price's is the one on the back in the silver pen. Vincent Lecavalier is the silver one on the front bib of the hat. Jay Bouwmeester is the one on the hat you can barely pick out the number 3. In the top left hand corner of the left side view pic is Shea Weber.

There were a couple I was unsure of but the signatures on the hat I am aware of for sure are:

Vincent Lecavalier
Carey Price
Mark Messier
Roberto Luongo
Shea Weber
Keith Tkachuk
Mark Streit
Alex Kovalev
Jay Bouwmeester
Sheldon Souray
Alex Ovechkin
Keith Tkachuk

Are you kidding me?! What I wouldn't give for a hat like that! Check it out:



Thank you so much to Lorie and Jamie for sharing these great pictures and videos with us! :)

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fan Photos - From The All Star Game!!!

Have I got a treat for you!

Friend of The Show Dave S. was lucky enough to attend the All Star Game!! He was kind enough to give me an all access pass to his game day photos and passed along a few details in his e-mail:

I've got a bunch of pics to share with all of you from the All Star Weekend. Some are out of order because we had two cameras in play all weekend, but the pics comprise of the All Star Practice on Saturday morning, the Red Carpet ceremony and Jamboree, the Skills Competition, and the game itself.

At the Red Carpet ceremony, both Malkin and Crosby were the nicest guys I noticed in that they actually talked and responded to people.

I think we waited about 3.5 hours up front at the gate before Geno and Sid made their way down the red carpet. I worked out a deal with the Habs fans in front of me: they let me up front for the Penguins, and I make sure nobody pushes them out of the way the entire night. We each made good on our deal and I was furthermore lucky enough to have both of them come my way and not pass me over. The odds were pretty low considering the amount of time they were allotted to do their walk and signings, and everyone was trying to shove jerseys, pictures, cards, ticket stubs, etc. up front for receival.

Geno signed my Stanley Cup Finals puck and asked me if I'd like him to sign my jersey too. It was a Crosby jersey but I had him sign the crest anyway. I told him he ruled and he said thank you. Sid signed the puck but not the jersey. I asked him to and he said something in length to me but was simultaneously turned around by security (they were rushing the players down and off the carpet all night) and didn't turn back around before heading off.

The only other signatures I got were Scott Neidermeyer, and Mike Babcock on the other side of my Cup Finals puck.

Here are Dave's incredible pictures (click to enlarge):


A hundred thousand thank yous to Dave for sharing these with us! What an amazing experience that must have been. :)

A Siddo-less All Star Game - Again

For the second consecutive year, Siddo managed to get the most votes for the All Star Games. He even broke the all-time record for number of votes this year. But, also for the second consecutive year, he will forgo the festivities in favor of a week of resting and (hopefully!) healing.

We'll have to wait yet another year to see a sight like this again.

Quite honestly, this is good news to me. I was actually kind of apprehensive because, at this time yesterday, he was still considering participating. Let's face it - while the All Star Games are entertaining to watch (particularly the skills competitions), we're all in this for one thing: another Stanley Cup. And since the All Star Games don't mean anything in the race for Lord Stanley's Mug, it's much better that our captain miss the event lest he risk aggravating his already ailing knee. I don't want to have to create another Sidney Crosby Injury Monitor for this season! A week of R & R will do him (and our collective peace of mind) well. All is not lost, however. The All Star Games will still have Penguins representation from GENO!! :)

Get well soon, Siddo!

Pens v Sens (L 2-3)

The Pens face the Ottawa Senators for an afternoon matchup, but since I have a date with my 4 year old Goddaughter at 3:00pm, there will be no recap today. But here are some quick things before the start of the game...

Sid is getting tons of votes for the All Star Games - enough to surpass the JavaScript cheaters' picks. Puck Daddy wonders out loud if it is the legions of loyal Pens fans doing the voting or if something funny is going on here, too. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it's not too far fetched to believe that the most popular player in the NHL could inspire enough people to register multiple screennames and vote multiple times, but whatever. After this farce, no matter what happens, the top vote getters will be looked at with a twinge of suspicion. (On a sidenote, I still can't believe a multi-million dollar company like the NHL can't hire better web programmers. Pathetic.) Thanks to Friends of The Show Allison Y. and Lauren H. for the link.

IFHSA™ had a meeting to determine an end date for his "indefinite suspension" for running his stupid mouth. Turns out being a douchebag will get you suspended for six games in the NHL. He's been ordered to attend anger management classes, too. (Ha! What he really needs is a long stint in a good charm school.) Even if you've already heard about this, you have to click on that link to see the getup that Avery wore to his hearing. Those sunglasses make me want to punch my monitor.

Friend of The Show Ali W. sent in pictures of a very special adventure for Roamer Brooks Penguin:

Last [month] my hometown got some exciting news when a family from my hometown got chosen to be on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, produced by ABC. I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't be able to make it back to volunteer and see the build so Brooks Penguin went back to PA without me (courtesy of the USPS) ... Today he had a great time checking out the build, and learning about the family that Extreme Makeover and ABC were helping out.... (the one boy in the family is in my younger brother's class at school)...Enjoy.

#1 - Last night [November 11^th], before he went to see the build, Brooks checked out our local Dick's Sporting Goods -- some employees there were watching the game, so Brooks Penguin cheered with them, and got to see their exciting comeback vs. the Wings.


#2 - Brooks found his very own volunteer badge and famous volunteer blue shirt


#3 - Brooks with the house that is being built -- it's only been since Sunday that they've been building -- WOW!


#4 - The Drumm family that the house belongs to...


#6 - My cousin (and fellow Pens fan) got to go and volunteer, and took Brooks along for the ride!


#7 - Along the way, Brooks snagged a coveted pass to the VIP area. :)


#8 - While in the VIP area, before going to check out the house, Brooks had to get himself one of the hard hats -- just in case. :)


**This episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be airing on ABC sometime in January... :)


I made this birthday card for my friend who's from the Pittsburgh area (she's not a big Pen's fan, but I always tell her she should be... haha)... I was really excited about how it turned out (since I'm not much of an artist, and I had to do it free hand), and since Brooks Penguin got his picture taken with it, I thought I'd send it along to you over at The Show. Enjoy:

That's so awesome! I hope the Drumm family loved their beautiful new home. And great job on the card! :) Many thanks go out to Ali and her cousin for sending the pictures and story.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!