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Hello loyal readers (at least I think I have a few).

Two items:

First - I've been writing this Blog for about 6 months now and have really enjoyed doing so. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments that they think can help make these pages better? If so please feel free to email me at jimjar@gmail.com or leave a comment at the link provided below. I welcome any feedback that is received. On a side note to this - please sign the guestbook provided in the right side frame. I would eventually like to start an email newsletter about the Pens and this is a good place to get a collection of addresses started to make that a reality

Second - With the 2007 - 2008 season looming, I've decided that I would like to open up this forum for a few other individuals to post and opine. If anyone would like to do this please email me at the above address and let me know. I would very much like to write something about every game in the upcoming season but am not sure I will be able to undertake this task on my own. Anyone that would like to join in would be appreciated!

Thanks to everyone that does manage to stop by on a regular basis. I hope each of you are looking forward to the upcoming season as much as I am.

GO PENS!

Ice Bowl 2008 - Cold Reception Here in the 'Burgh

Many Pens fans are quite upset over the NHL's handling of the ticket sales for the Ice Bowl on 1/1/08. It has been widely reported that the game sold out in less than 30 minutes (I can attest to that after trying to purchase tickets online at 10:30 am yesterday) mostly due to the fact that there was a 50 ticket limit on each sale. Given that fact, since there were only approximately 43,000 tickets available for the game after Buffalo and Toronto fans were given their shares, that would only allow several thousand individuals access to the tickets. Tickets are in abundance on online auction sites suggesting most of them were purchased by the unscrupulous ticket brokers.

And while Buffalo's entire season ticket base was given the option to buy tickets, the Pens have stated that they only received about 1,000 to sell directly to their season ticket holders. In order for Penguins ticket holders to order the tickets they were sent a special code and password to enter on Ticketmaster. To add insult to injury, this code and password were leaked on the internet, allowing virtually anyone to purchase on of these tickets.

All in all I give this a BAD rating for the NHL. This could have been handled in a much different way that would satisfy fans of both teams as well as give many more people in the Pittsburgh area the opportunity to purchase tickets for this once in a lifetime event.

UPDATE - I've also heard talk and seen reported in print that Ticketmaster outlets in the Pittsburgh region were not even able to sell tickets for the Ice Bowl. ONLY outlets in the Buffalo, Erie region had them available. So the only way they could even be purchased here was online and by telephone!

Rematch...WIN!

Pittsburgh won their rematch with the Canadiens last night by the score of 5-2. Stone, Taffe, Sykora, Malkin and Kennedy all scored for the Pens. All were even strength goals except Malkins, which was short-handed. The win bring the Penguins to 1-1 for the pre-season. Next game is Friday night at Detroit.

On a side note I will be attending a portion of the training camp session tomorrow at Mellon Arena. Make sure to check back for opinion and pictures!

Ice Bowl 2008

Less than 30 minutes after tickets went on sale for the 1/1/2008 Pens vs. Sabres game went on sale, Ticketmaster has reported that the event is sold out. 43,000 tickets went on sale while the rest of the 73,000 seats were reserved for Sabres season ticket holders, Bills Club ticket holders and players of both teams.

I was unable to get tickets myself so I feel the pain out there. Hopefully many of the remaining tickets that were sold this morning did go to Penguins fans!!

Pens Drop Exhibition Opener

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost their first pre-season game last night to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2.

Crosby and Malone each notched their first tallies of the pre-season but a Kovalev goal with 30 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Canadiens their first exhibition win.

Pens Sign Assistant Coaches to Contracts

Looks like the entire coaching staff that enabled the Penguins to reach the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season will return for the next two years. Assistant coaches Andre Savard and Mike Yeo (YO!) signed an extension to keep their services behind the bench through the 2008-2009 season and Gilles Meloche signed a new 2 year contact that guarantees his services coaching between the pipes for the next 2 season. Michel Therrien signed a one year extension earlier this summer. Congrats to all 4 for a job well done! Keep up the great work!

Training Camp!

Finally the day has arrived!! The Pens are opening training camp today. Today's agenda includes meetings, physicals and testing. Tomorrow will be the first day on the ice. Camp opens at the Iceoplex at Southpointe and then will move to Mellon Arena on 9/19. All practices are open to the public.

I should be able to make my way to one of the Mellon Arena practices next week and will provide some in depth analysis of how everyone looks. Please check back for an update on that and any other training camp news.

Only 23 days until the opener against Carolina!

Some Strange Happenings Around Town part 2...

As heard on the DVE Morning Show on Friday 9/7/07:

"Yes, that's right, it's the Friday before the Steelers opening game against the Cleveland Browns and we are talking about the Penguins"

Once again the Pens have done a masterful job at keeping themselves in the news despite the fact that this weekend is the opening of the NFL season and most eyes in the 'Burgh would normally be looking that way.

Penguins management came up with the idea of randomly selecting 24 season ticket holders and having team players hand delivering season tickets to those ticket holders. What a terrific surprise that would be to open your door and see Sidney Crosby standing outside with your season tickets!

Pens Unveil New Jersey

The Penguins showed of their new Reebok uniforms last night at a local mall in front of about 1000 fans. This is what they look like:



I am not a fan of them. They are plain and generic looking.

I've added a poll below to see what everyone else thinks. Please vote!

New Arena Schetches

The Penguins have recently released some artist schetches of the new arena to the public. Here are two of them:

HOK Sport is designing the building and the official groundbreaking is scheduled for next spring.

As is evident from the second picture above the design is meant to showcase the city skyline, much like PNC Park.

The Penguins have also posted a fan survey to gather feedback and input concerning the construction of the new building. Please take some time and complete it here:

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=336361

I will continue posting any new information about the arena as it becomes available so keep checking back!

New Arena News

The Penguins have released some photos and a bit of information about the new arena. I will give an update on this tomorrow morning, however here's something really cool I found on the Penguins website:

http://penguins.nhl.com/fanzone/arena_cam.htm

It is a web cam of the new arena construction site.

I will post this in a more permanent place on the right pane in the near future. Check it out!

Pens vs. Sabres 1/1/08

Looks like it is now official, according the the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. The Buffalo Sabres will host the Pittsburgh Penguins on New Years Day 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium. This will be a noon game to be played outdoors in front of a national TV audience on NBC. What a tremendous idea for the league and NBC. With the Penguins crop of young stars it will get some good ratings.
I would like to get as many Pens fans to this game as possible since it is only a few hours north of the 'Burgh. Please check back for updates and ticket prices. Tickets for individual Sabres games go on sale 9/15/07:

http://sabres.nhl.com/tickets/individual.htm

At this time there is no information available as to when and if the 1/1/08 game will be on sale.

UPDATE:

Greg has some good info on his blog for hotels and stadium facts.

see: http://2008icebowl.blogspot.com

Some Strange Happenings Around Town...

I've been witness this summer to some very strange occurrances. During the normal stretch of June, July and August most eyes in this city are turned to the Steelers (this is a football city, after all). But this year it has been increasingly upbeat with news and information about the Pittsburgh Penguins.



First - the Pens have been very wise about releasing information since the free agency period began. Not sure if this was planned or not but it seemed as if, at least until football training camp started up, that the team was timing the press releases so that there was some sort of good news every few days. In the space of several weeks we witnessed the signing of several free agents, Michel Therrien's contract extension, Ryan Whitney's contract extension, Sidney Crosby's contract extension and then, to me at least, the biggest news of all that the team has stopped selling season ticket packages, and for the first time in the history of the franchise, has had to start a waiting list for additional season ticket subscribers. All of the events kept the team in the news for more than a month and a half and excited a growing fan base for the upcoming season.



Second - as mentioned above, the Penguins capped season ticket sales and started a waiting list for any additional folks that wanted to get a ticket package. This is the first time that such an event has occurred since the inception of the franchise in 1967. Even during the Cup years in the early 90's there was no problem for a fan to be able to purchase a ticket package. While this does not mean that there won't be individual game tickets available, as there will, but it does mean that the fan base is growing and is energized for the upcoming season and beyond. Another factor in this is surely the belief that a new arena is coming soon and securing season tickets now is the best way to insure that seats will be available for the first season in the new building.



Third - while the usual media blitz is alive and well with 24/7 coverage of Steeler's training camp, there has still been plenty of coverage for the Pens. I've seen recent stories about how the team is making sure to include the Hill district in it's plans for the new arena as well as a lot of coverage about brisk ticket sales when the mini plans went on sale last week. Don't get me wrong on this, I am a football fan as well as a hockey fan. I am not trying to take anything away from the Steelers at all...



Fourth and probably most important - the fan base is energized and ready for the start of the season. It has been many years since I've witnessed such a high level of confidence and eagerness of hockey fans to see their team on the ice. Last years group exceeded all expectations despite a very early exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs and this years roster looks to be even more experienced and skilled than the group that last took the ice in Ottawa in April.

Only 3 weeks until training camp opens! LET'S GO PENS!

NHL Schedule

The NHL has released it's schedule for next season. See Pittsburgh's schedule here:



http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=TeamSchedule&team=PIT&season=20072008



Who's joining me for the New Years Day game in Buffalo? It could be an outdoor game being played in Ralph Wilson Stadium...

Cha-Ching

Sidney Crosby put ink on a brand new 5 year contract extension this morning. The deal takes effect following the upcoming season and runs through the 2012 - 2013 season. Speculation abounds that the contract is worth about $43 million. The Penguins have made Sid a very rich man just days before his 20th birthday.

See complete story here: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_516584.html

I believe it will be worth every penny. Please vote in the poll below in the right side pane:

THE PARROT - FINAL EPISODE

Not really hockey but this is a terrific spoof on the Soprano's final episode...

A Lot Has Been Happening...

...with the Penguins recently. Since I've been away on business for the past few weeks now is the time to get everything caught up:

Crosby wins the Hart Trophy - Sid was voted the NHL's MVP

Crosby wins the Pearson Trophy - Sid was voted best player by his peers...some would say this is more of an honor than the Hart Trophy (I've added a web poll for Sid below...please vote!)

Malkin wins Rookie of the Year - and deservedly so

Roberts and Recchi sign one year contracts with the Pens - ensuring the team their space on the Stanley Cup next season

At a very low #20 the Penguins select Angelo Esposito in the NHL Entry Draft - Esposito was projected as going in the top 3 or 4 in the very recent past. What a steal!

Sid The Kid Gets The "C" For The Upcoming Season

Sidney Crosby has become the youngest NHL player to be designated as his teams captain, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Thursday, May 31. Crosby was 19 years and 297 days old when the honor was bestowed upon him. The previous record was held by Vincent Lecavalier who was granted the C at the age of 19 years, 324 days.

See whole story here:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-captaincrosby&prov=ap&type=lgns

This is a terrific move in my opinion. Sid has led the team on the ice for the past 2 seasons as is, and now formally having the title, will garner him additional respect from one of the sources that he has not had much respect from - the referees. By having the referees on his side some of the calls that were not made in the past season may now be called.

Sid has the maturity needed as well as the respect from his teammates to be a good leader. He always gives 100% to the team and is often the first on the ice for practices, and the last to leave it.

Congrats to Crosby!

New Arena Update

The first building has been demolished to make room for the new arena. Here is a picture from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review of an unusal contruction mishap that occured while the building was being knocked down:

Crane 1, Silly Little Car 0

Finally Back

I've been unable to write for the last few weeks due to circumstance beyond my control...so here is a late analysis of the Pens/Sens playoff series:

Blah.

Enough said...

But seriously - Pittsburgh was outplayed from the very first drop of the puck. They looked dazed and confused for much of the series. This could have been due to the fact that they were being hit at every opportunity Ottawa had, lack of playoff experience, Therrien being badly outcoached or, most likely, a nasty combination of all three. Crosby played the last month on a broken foot. Whitney had surgery on his wrist from an injury the occured before the playoffs. That explains a couple of other issues...

As they always say, there is next season...

Ray Shero better get on the phone and find a couple of defensemen that are able to clear the puck out of the defensive zone and get it onto the stick of a forward. Oh, and where was Georges Laraque? There's been rumors flying around town that he was injured. His back may have been bothering him from mid March. All I know is that the Sens hit. And they hit hard. And they were not worried about any retribuion.

Ottawa is keeping up the same tempo in the New Jersey series too. This is a different team then the one that dropped out of the playoffs early in the past few years. Sens and Sabres in the Conference Finals is where my money is.

I will keep up with any news and ideas over the off season. Only 4 months until training camp opens!!