The Penguins new banners are now above the ice at the Mellon Arena and they look very impressive. The NHL MVP and Art Ross banners are a nice touch too.
Our only complaint? Where is the banner for the Pittsburgh Hornets three championships? They hung one in February 2001, but it has mysteriously disappeared.
“There is such a feeling of optimism around Pittsburgh Penguins hockey these days, from our tremendous young talent on the ice, to the phenomenal support of our fans, to the extensive community outreach by our players – and it all adds up to a growing bond between our team and the Pittsburgh region,” said David Morehouse, the Penguins’ president.
The video - featuring Scott Blasey (The Clarks) on vocals - speaks for itself. Wow.
24 hours until the until the Bridgestone NHL Premiere 2008 Stockholm showdown between the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Here are a few dates to circle on the 2008-09 calendar:
October 11 - The Penguins will raise a banner to the top of the dome. It's not the banner we were hoping for, but it is still significant to be the Eastern Conference Champions. The team will not be on the ice when the banner is introduced and they'll be adding banners to celebrate the team's MVP and Hart Trophy winners.
October 14 - First match-up against the Flyers, without R.J. Umberger – of course he wasn't there in the conference finals, either.
October 16 - Forget the Crosby v. Ovechkin matchup. It's all about Malkin v. Ovechkin.
November 11 - The Pens visit Marian Hossa and the Detroit Red Wings for first game after losing to them in the Stanley Cup final. Maybe he saw this article: History doesn't bode well for Penguins
November 15 - Pens will wear their "throwback" blue jerseys in a remake of the Winter Classic against the Buffalo Sabres.
December 23 - Pittsburgh native and Tampa Bay Lightning's Ryan Malone comes home for Christmas. He's bringing some familiar buddies: Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi, and Adam Hall, and oh yea, this year's first overall pick Steve Stamkos.
December 27 - John Barbaro announces: "Montreal penalty, #17, George Laraque - Pittsburgh penalty to #28, Eric Godard, five minutes each for fighting. Time of the penalties. :54 seconds."
The National Hockey League is going green, and team media guides are going, too.
In an effort to "reduce paper waste" the NHL has mandated that all teams stop the annual publication of media guides. The league will also end it's publication of the yearly record book.
The media guides will still be produced, but will only be distributed electronically in pdf form on the exclusive NHL media site, and in some cases, on each team's website.
This bums out the hardcore stats geeks and media guide collectors, but we'll have to live with the tree-saving mandate.
We'll cherish all 40 Penguins guides and hope that the trees that will be saved might find new life in the form of wooden hockey sticks. Remember those?
Ban the composite sticks for the sake of old time hockey!
Click the link below to visit an online museum dedicated to Pittsburgh Hockey History.
We feature the history of Pittsburgh Penguins, Hornets, Pirates, Phantoms, Forge, and Shamrocks. Inside you will find an assortment of artifacts and information from many contributors. We hope that one day this collection could be the inspiration for a museum inside the city's newest hockey arena.
