What a refreshing lack of diversity!
Stanley Cup Playoffs
- Thread starter Don Wassall
- Start date
white lightning
Hall of Famer
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2004
- Messages
- 20,820
A picture worth a thousand words! The champs. Congrats to the Penguins.
I need to give hockey a better look. I have only watched around 4 or 5
games in my whole life. It is a joy to watch just like tennis in a sport
that we dominate. Those guys look so happy!
I need to give hockey a better look. I have only watched around 4 or 5
games in my whole life. It is a joy to watch just like tennis in a sport
that we dominate. Those guys look so happy!
Thrashen
Hall of Famer
Awesome pictures, Don!
ESPN has actually been giving the hockey playoffs a little more air time this season in terms of highlights and analysis. However, they still make every attempt to convince the masses that the NHL is a "fringe sport."
After the exciting 2009 playoffs, hockey might make a decent comeback among the DWFs who are bored with the NBA.
It is very difficult to root against the all-white teams and all-white rosters in the NHL....so it's hard for me to pick a team. There doesnt seems to be a "lesser of two evils" like in the NFL, NBA, MLB, MMA, and PGA Tour.Edited by: Thrashen
ESPN has actually been giving the hockey playoffs a little more air time this season in terms of highlights and analysis. However, they still make every attempt to convince the masses that the NHL is a "fringe sport."
After the exciting 2009 playoffs, hockey might make a decent comeback among the DWFs who are bored with the NBA.
It is very difficult to root against the all-white teams and all-white rosters in the NHL....so it's hard for me to pick a team. There doesnt seems to be a "lesser of two evils" like in the NFL, NBA, MLB, MMA, and PGA Tour.Edited by: Thrashen
foreverfree
Mentor
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2004
- Messages
- 902
Congratulations, Don! Your end of PA now has more Cups than my end! And thanks for the pics. It was a pleasure, too, seeing the Original Six play the Second Six 2 years running.
John
P.S. Having seen the Igloo up close a couple of times, I must ask, Don, what's the target date for finishing that new arena?
John
P.S. Having seen the Igloo up close a couple of times, I must ask, Don, what's the target date for finishing that new arena?
foreverfree said:
John, I think the new building is scheduled to open for the 2010-'11 season.
The Flyers are back again. Looks like the Penguins, Caps and Flyers may be the dominant teams in the Eastern Conference for a few years, though the NHL is rarely predictable from season to season. The Bruins are back, which is good to see, and Carolina has a strong team.
The best thing is that the next NHL season is only 3 1/2 months away.
Realgeorge
Mentor
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2004
- Messages
- 675
Magnificent! Hooray for the Penguins!
It was especially sweet to see Mario Lemieux walk about the ice with The Cup and give it a smooch. Mario is a great man. He unselfishly took the franchise on his back when it was in a cash crunch, and offered his own salary as a down payment. He stuck with the franchise the past eight years while Pennsylvania politicos tried to quash the new stadium.
Now he and Fred Shero can see the fruit of their labors. The Penguins were very good all through the playoffs, but the seven games against Detroit ... every one was a bitter struggle. Not a single Penguins took "a shift off" during the tournament. While the Lemieux Penguins of 1991 and 92 were dominating against everyone, and won their final series with relative ease, the 2009 Penguins really paid the price for The Cup. The bruises and welts and sprains and strains will hurt until August. But it was worth it.
I won't leave out a word of commendation for the Detroit Red Wings. They have defied the bottoms-up draft system and manage to bring in top talent year after year. It's almost irritating how the Wings can bamboozle and outdraft and out-trade the other 29 teams. But this year they were a few face-offs short.
Hooray for the Pens! Stanley Cup Champions!
It was especially sweet to see Mario Lemieux walk about the ice with The Cup and give it a smooch. Mario is a great man. He unselfishly took the franchise on his back when it was in a cash crunch, and offered his own salary as a down payment. He stuck with the franchise the past eight years while Pennsylvania politicos tried to quash the new stadium.
Now he and Fred Shero can see the fruit of their labors. The Penguins were very good all through the playoffs, but the seven games against Detroit ... every one was a bitter struggle. Not a single Penguins took "a shift off" during the tournament. While the Lemieux Penguins of 1991 and 92 were dominating against everyone, and won their final series with relative ease, the 2009 Penguins really paid the price for The Cup. The bruises and welts and sprains and strains will hurt until August. But it was worth it.
I won't leave out a word of commendation for the Detroit Red Wings. They have defied the bottoms-up draft system and manage to bring in top talent year after year. It's almost irritating how the Wings can bamboozle and outdraft and out-trade the other 29 teams. But this year they were a few face-offs short.
Hooray for the Pens! Stanley Cup Champions!
How cool would it have been to have been hanging out at Mario's Saloon on Carson Street, and in walk some Penguins -- along with the Stanley Cup!
Revelers swarm, block Carson Street
Pittsburgh police this morning closed at least four blocks of Carson Street on the South Side while attempting to disperse a boisterous crowd of at least 500 revelers who swarmed into the neighborhood after learning several members of the championship-winning Pittsburgh Penguins were there.
Police were calling for canine units and additional officers to control the crowd, which formed in and around Mario's South Side Saloon in the 1500 block of Carson at about 12:45 a.m. Police said members of the NHL hockey team were in the bar, along with the Stanley Cup championship trophy won by the team Friday night in a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
The crowd had spilled from bars and restaurants into the street between 14th and 18th streets. It was not clear which team members had been in the area. Nor was it clear if anyone had been arrested but at least one woman was treated by paramedics after she reportedly fell and broke her arm.
Police also were seeking to shield windows in bars, saying fans were entering and leaving through them. Officers were attempting to reopen the street at 1:30 a.m.
Edited by: Don Wassall
Revelers swarm, block Carson Street
Pittsburgh police this morning closed at least four blocks of Carson Street on the South Side while attempting to disperse a boisterous crowd of at least 500 revelers who swarmed into the neighborhood after learning several members of the championship-winning Pittsburgh Penguins were there.
Police were calling for canine units and additional officers to control the crowd, which formed in and around Mario's South Side Saloon in the 1500 block of Carson at about 12:45 a.m. Police said members of the NHL hockey team were in the bar, along with the Stanley Cup championship trophy won by the team Friday night in a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
The crowd had spilled from bars and restaurants into the street between 14th and 18th streets. It was not clear which team members had been in the area. Nor was it clear if anyone had been arrested but at least one woman was treated by paramedics after she reportedly fell and broke her arm.
Police also were seeking to shield windows in bars, saying fans were entering and leaving through them. Officers were attempting to reopen the street at 1:30 a.m.
Edited by: Don Wassall
And the Champswere honored before the Pirates game today.
The Penguins felt like sharing, and the Pirates clearly were honored to oblige.
The Stanley Cup champions called their North Shore neighbors late Saturday night to ask if Sidney Crosby and a few of his teammates could bring the Cup to PNC Park this afternoon, prompting the baseball team's officials to hastily -- and delightedly -- arrange a pregame ceremony that became a vocal, emotional prequel to the parade that will flood Downtown streets tomorrow.
One by one, head coach Dan Bylsma and 16 players were introduced to the crowd of 25,000-plus, including Game 7 hero Max Talbot, Bill Guerin, Jordan Staal, Hal Gill, Kris Letang, Mark Eaton, Philippe Boucher, Matt Cooke, Chris Kunitz, Craig Adams, Eric Godard, Jeff Taffe, Chris Minard and Mathieu Garon.
Crosby came last, with the Cup, and drew the loudest ovation when he hoisted it high over his head, just as he did Friday in Detroit.
To signify being the first professional sports team since the 1979 Pirates to win a championship Game 7 on the road, most of the Penguins' players wore Pirates jerseys, with Talbot and Staal donning Matt Capps No. 55 models, and Godard being given Morgan's No. 3 because those two once were teammates in the Western Hockey League.
"The whole thing gave me the willies," Morgan said.
It showed. Morgan, who did not switch from baseball to hockey until he was 20, was the most animated of the Pirates' players during the ceremony, at one point igniting a "Let's Go Pens" chant. He also caught Guerin's ceremonial first pitch.
That offering was low and outside, one of his few misfires in recent weeks.
"Don't you know, a split-fingered fastball is supposed to drop like that?" Guerin joked. "I was imagining a left-handed batter I had to brush back."
In reality ...
"Nyjer was trying to coach me through it: He said, 'Just throw it. Throw it hard.' I tried. I think I need some Absorbine Junior."
Guerin estimated that he had gotten two hours of sleep -- "A nap between 5 and 7 a.m. just now" -- since Crosby first handed him the Cup Friday, and that he has no plan to rest anytime soon.
"It's been an amazing couple of days, doing all this," he said. "This city is just crazy about it right now, and it's just awesome. Pittsburgh is such a great sports town, and they love all their teams. The fans are ... it's just been incredible. And I'm enjoying every minute of it. I don't want to sleep."
He was asked if he could imagine what the parade will be like.
"No. It's going to be pretty nuts, I think. But a good nuts. People love their teams here, and it's going to be awesome."http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09165/977433-100.stm
The Penguins felt like sharing, and the Pirates clearly were honored to oblige.
The Stanley Cup champions called their North Shore neighbors late Saturday night to ask if Sidney Crosby and a few of his teammates could bring the Cup to PNC Park this afternoon, prompting the baseball team's officials to hastily -- and delightedly -- arrange a pregame ceremony that became a vocal, emotional prequel to the parade that will flood Downtown streets tomorrow.
One by one, head coach Dan Bylsma and 16 players were introduced to the crowd of 25,000-plus, including Game 7 hero Max Talbot, Bill Guerin, Jordan Staal, Hal Gill, Kris Letang, Mark Eaton, Philippe Boucher, Matt Cooke, Chris Kunitz, Craig Adams, Eric Godard, Jeff Taffe, Chris Minard and Mathieu Garon.
Crosby came last, with the Cup, and drew the loudest ovation when he hoisted it high over his head, just as he did Friday in Detroit.
To signify being the first professional sports team since the 1979 Pirates to win a championship Game 7 on the road, most of the Penguins' players wore Pirates jerseys, with Talbot and Staal donning Matt Capps No. 55 models, and Godard being given Morgan's No. 3 because those two once were teammates in the Western Hockey League.
"The whole thing gave me the willies," Morgan said.
It showed. Morgan, who did not switch from baseball to hockey until he was 20, was the most animated of the Pirates' players during the ceremony, at one point igniting a "Let's Go Pens" chant. He also caught Guerin's ceremonial first pitch.
That offering was low and outside, one of his few misfires in recent weeks.
"Don't you know, a split-fingered fastball is supposed to drop like that?" Guerin joked. "I was imagining a left-handed batter I had to brush back."
In reality ...
"Nyjer was trying to coach me through it: He said, 'Just throw it. Throw it hard.' I tried. I think I need some Absorbine Junior."
Guerin estimated that he had gotten two hours of sleep -- "A nap between 5 and 7 a.m. just now" -- since Crosby first handed him the Cup Friday, and that he has no plan to rest anytime soon.
"It's been an amazing couple of days, doing all this," he said. "This city is just crazy about it right now, and it's just awesome. Pittsburgh is such a great sports town, and they love all their teams. The fans are ... it's just been incredible. And I'm enjoying every minute of it. I don't want to sleep."
He was asked if he could imagine what the parade will be like.
"No. It's going to be pretty nuts, I think. But a good nuts. People love their teams here, and it's going to be awesome."http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09165/977433-100.stm
Solomon Kane
Mentor
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2006
- Messages
- 783
The Pens are great---a triumphant remnant of the "Old" Pittsburgh! Let's hope the Pirates learn something from them!
signed
---A (mild) Caps Fan
signed
---A (mild) Caps Fan
Don Wassall said:And the Champs were honored before the Pirates game today.ÂÂÂ
The Penguins felt like sharing, and the Pirates clearly were honored to oblige. The Stanley Cup champions called their North Shore neighbors late Saturday night to ask if Sidney Crosby and a few of his teammates could bring the Cup to PNC Park this afternoon, prompting the baseball team's officials to hastily -- and delightedly -- arrange a pregame ceremony that became a vocal, emotional prequel to the parade that will flood Downtown streets tomorrow.
The Red Wings did the same thing last year at Comerica park (where the Tigers play). It's a nice touch. It seems like baseball fans and hockey fans are similar or at least have more similarities then football and basketball fans.
BTW Don thanks for the pics, I could have posted some from the Red Wings when they won several times over the last few years but I didn't think anyone would care, kinda like how I feel about the Pens. I think this may be the first time in history a city was glad their team won a championship and had a parade and celebrations.
jaxvid said:
I agree.
Pittsburgh is regarded as a football town, and there's no question the lives of many DWFs revolve around the Steelers. But anyone who still maintains that the NHL is a "minor" league ought to consider this -- after the Steelers won the most recent Super Bowl, an estimated 300,000 fans turned out for their victory parade through the city. Yesterday, the crowd to celebrate the Penguins' Stanley Cup win was estimated at 375,000 -- along the exact same parade route. That's 60,000 more than the population of Pittsburgh proper (the seven country metro area has about 2.4 million people).
foobar75
Master
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2008
- Messages
- 2,332
Don Wassall said:
Hockey needs a good commissioner who will take this year's success of the NHL playoffs and turn into something. A good TV deal with a major network, better marketing of players and just a better overall marketing plan are a must. Fans can relate to these guys far more than the thugs that populate the NBA and NFL rosters. I feel like the NHL is very close to once again returning to prime time status as a major sport, and hope they don't blow it this time.
There's a still an overall lack of respect for the game. Here in Seattle, the f!&^$%#@ local NBC affiliate decided to put game 7 on a secondary channel. Luckily, we also get CBC Canada up here, so I was able to watch a quality broadcast nevertheless. Edited by: foobar75
I read game 7 was the most watched NL game in 36 years. I was traveling during the end of the series and had to catch the game out of town, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the game was being carried on radio in the Bay area in California. ESPN radio had the Red Wings home town announcers doing the play by play which was nice to hear 2000 miles from home. There must have been some interest for that to happen.