Pens Through My Lens

Game Photos: Pens vs Ducks 2/15/2012

2012-02-16T02:13:00.004-05:00

Back in December, it was then 39-year-old Jaromir Jagr scoring a huge goal against Pittsburgh. Wednesday night it was 41-year-old Teemu Selänne scoring the game winning goal in the third period. At the very least, you'd have to say the Pens are respectful of their elders.

Check out the photos from Pens-Ducks after the jump.

Also, the Pens record over the last five years or so in games that I have attended without Knitting Lady dipped to 3-4-2. Why do I keep going without her?

Enough talk, back to the photos.

Warm-up:

One sure thing was that Cy "Malkamania71" Clark was not going to miss a game that featured Bruce "Saucyface" Boudreau behind the bench.

Anthem:

LET'S GET IT ON!!!

Breaking the recent trend of falling behind 2-0 early in the game, this time it was Jordan Staal giving the Pens a 1-0 lead just a few minutes in.

Benches:

Corey Perry abused Zbynek Michalek to tie the game at 1-1 late in the second.

Teemu found himself all alone on Fleury and made it look too easy, giving the Ducks a 2-1 lead.

Teemu was like yeah, whatever. I've done this 650-some times before. No big deal.

We all figured the Pens would make a late surge like they always seem to do lately but Kunitz was the victim of what I'll assume from the crowd reaction was a garbage call in a game where not much else was being called. If they could kill the penalty, they'd have less than a minute to get the goalie pulled and mount an attack. They called timeout and gave it the old college try.

Nothing doing, the Ducks were just too strong tonight.

Bruce Boudreau continues his regular season mastery over the Pens. Tough loss but at least it wasn't against a team from the East.

The beat goes on. The Pens are headed to Philly Saturday but we'll pick them up again for the Sunday afternoon game in Buffalo. Look for more photos after that one.

Game Photos: Pens vs Lightning 2/12/2012

2012-02-14T16:09:00.005-05:00

The Tampa Bay Lightning stormed into Consol Energy Center Sunday night to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins, accompanied by plenty of bad memories. After all, the last two times we had seen the Lightning in person they beat the Pens by a combined score of 13-3. Of course things were different this time around, much different. As Tampa would soon learn....

More pics after the jump.

The Bylsmas, doing some kind of pregame photo op. Saw something on Root Sports about this but I forget what it was all about.

Johnny would be in net.

Geno could probably score from that position.

Flower getting warmed up, "just in case". (Sorry, Johnny. We have faith in you).

The villain. Hedman drew his share of boos.

Random Lightning players....

...including a couple of former Penguins.

Twins?

Anthem:

Staal took the opening faceoff.

And a penalty.

Pens killed it.

We have a Geno, and you don't.

Something happened that had the Pens bench in a tizzy.

Kunitz blew a breakaway chance.

Hopefully the ref is good at multi-tasking, otherwise Bylsma's words are falling on deaf ears.

Boucher was his usual laid back self.

Until he spotted who he thought was Sidney Crosby on the ice.

Nope, just Paul Martin.

Granato took dinner orders.

Downie scored goals 11 seconds apart.

And Flower started wondering if he'd have to make an appearance, to which Geno replied "I got this".

Stamkos took a penalty to make sure he'd show up on the scoresheet.

Geno cashed in on the ensuing power play.

2nd Period: Johnny was greeted by Zeppelin.

Orpik and Letang tightened up on D to the point of not even letting Tampa change lines.

Kunitz scored an amazing goal to tie the game at 2-2..

I smell an "Unstoppable" photoshop coming in the near future.

Letang's goal put the Pens out in front 3-2.

Stunned.

Refs took a goal away from Letang. Geno wasn't too convinced by their explanation of the call.

"Don't worry. I score soon, make up for it".

Kunitz made some unbelievable saucer pass that Geno tipped in. #HatTrickWatch was on.

3rd period action.

Downie served Tampa's too many men penalty.

Pens applied good pressure on the power play but couldn't put it past Garon.

Geno's skid mark on the ice.

More pressure from the Pens.

Neal put it wide on the empty net try. Probably missed on purpose so Geno would get a chance, which he did but his shot hit the post.

Game over. Strong showing from Beej despite the early goals allowed.

3rd Star of the Game: #14 Chris Kunitz

2nd Star of the Game: #71 Evgeni Malkin

1st Star of the Game, with a 3-point night: #58 Kris Letang

I hope you enjoyed this stylized version of the game photos. If not, or if you also want to see the originals, you can check them out here.

No rest for the weary. More photos to come after the Wednesday night game against Anaheim.

Game Photos: Pens vs Jets 2012-02-11

2012-02-12T00:51:00.006-05:00

The Pittsburgh Penguins faced the Winnepeg Jets Saturday afternoon at Consol Energy Center. We were there, with our camera, check out the photos after the jump, including some #PensToons versions.

Some of you may remember this iconic Craig Adams Gatorade photo from a playoff game against Montreal a few years back.

An updated version below:

We got our first up-close look at the new guy, Cal O'Reilly.

Later that evening we met Cal in the hotel lobby. He joined the "sock pic" club.

More warm-up pics:

Iceburgh strutting his stuff.

Anthems:

LET'S GET IT ON!!!

Winnepeg got on the board early for a 2-0 lead. An upset was brewing.

Dustin Jeffrey and James Neal responded to get the game even at 2-2 before the end of the 1st.

During the Kiss Cam segment, the couple next to us showed up on the jumbotron. Dude gets down on one knee and pulls out the ring.

Good stuff. Back to hockey.

2nd period, Kunitz was everywhere.

The hard work paid off as Kunitz made it 3-2.

Letang scored one and Winnepeg answered back. Then Geno abused Pavelec to make it 5-3 heading into the 2nd intermission.

Dustin Byfuglien had scored to cut the lead to one. 19 seconds later Richard Park had the Pens back up by 2.

Again goals were traded before Letang drove the final nail in the coffin with a late period tally on the power play.

Game over. It wasn't always pretty, but time to celebrate the win.

3rd Star of the Game: #14 Chris Kunitz

2nd Star of the Game: #58 Kris Letang

1st Star of the Game: #71 Evgeni Malkin

Fun game. Time to move on. More photos coming after the Sunday night game against Tampa.

Bring out the GIMP

2012-02-08T23:33:00.005-05:00

So long without hockey. Oh sure, the Pens just played Tuesday night, but we're going on three weeks since we've actually been to a game. Idle hands are the devil's playthings and all that, so I've had to find ways to keep busy.

First I decided I needed a few 8x10 prints to take to practices, so I set about collecting some of our best photos of the season so far (and a few from past seasons).

Then there was the Wikipedia Project. A number of the Penguins players (and coaches, broadcasters, mascots) pages in Wikipedia had photos that were really bad, leftover from their old team, or missing altogether. Not anymore!

Next I started playing around with GIMP. No, not the gimp from Pulp Fiction. I'm talking about GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It's kind of like Photoshop, except GIMP is free.

I was checking out some of the filters that they have for changing the look of photos and I came across the "cartoon" filter. As the name implies, it is intended to give images a cartoony look.

So, of course, I set out to convert all of our photos into cartoons. Some of them look pretty cool (the Letang shot above may be my favorite so far). Others, not so much.

Anyway, I included some examples below. Enjoy! Oh, and look for some more game photos from the upcoming games this weekend.

_______________________________________________________________

Engelland vs Jackman.

_______________________________________________________________

Mario.

_______________________________________________________________

Mark Letestu's 1st NHL goal.

_______________________________________________________________

Sidney Crosby's 200th NHL goal.

_______________________________________________________________

CFA vs Gatorade.

_______________________________________________________________

White Men Can Jump.

_______________________________________________________________

You're in Malkamania's house, brother.

_______________________________________________________________

The Bench.

_______________________________________________________________

Sully.

_______________________________________________________________

Good Staal vs Evil Staal.

_______________________________________________________________

The K Man.

_______________________________________________________________

Looking back at #Jagrwatch 2008.

_______________________________________________________________

AK72

_______________________________________________________________

No soup for you, Matt Hendricks.

_______________________________________________________________

Cartwheel save by Fleury.

_______________________________________________________________

Playoff overtime at Verizon Center. LOL.

_______________________________________________________________

Letang >>> Soupcan.

_______________________________________________________________

Sure, the net is wide open, but Fleury is going to make damn sure the Gomez goal drought doesn't end on his watch.

_______________________________________________________________

Taking away the five hole.

_______________________________________________________________

Attention Caps, this is how you raise a banner.

_______________________________________________________________

Forget the guys who just won the Superbowl, these are the real Giants.

_______________________________________________________________

Owning RBC.

_______________________________________________________________

Sad flower.

_______________________________________________________________

He is score.

_______________________________________________________________

Cotton Candy Forever.

_______________________________________________________________

Staalsy.

_______________________________________________________________

Professor Cooke.

_______________________________________________________________

Fleury against the Caps.

_______________________________________________________________

Man, what a talent. Pens photographer Greg Shamus, one of the best in the business.

Oh yeah, Letang's not bad either.

_______________________________________________________________

It occurred to Matt and Jordan that screening the goalie on Geno's shot might not be such a great idea.

_______________________________________________________________

Tony G.

_______________________________________________________________

The end.

_______________________________________________________________

Pens 'Magnificent Seven' Game Winning Streak

2012-01-25T17:08:00.002-05:00

The Pittsburgh Penguins extended their winning streak to seven games heading into the All-Star break with a 3-2 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues.

Game Photos: Pens vs Caps 1/22/2012

2012-01-22T22:02:00.009-05:00

Kind of strange for it to happen so early in the year, but the Pens and Caps met for the 4th and final time this season. The Pens came in hoping to even up the season series and were also looking for their first regular season win in Pittsburgh since Caps coach Dale Hunter actually played in the NHL (well, not quite, but almost). The fans were treated to a pretty entertaining game that featured big performances from the star players. Check out our photos and video after the jump.

The Caps may be having some problems this season, but they came into Pittsburgh with the swagger of a team playing in a building where they've grown accustomed to winning.

Mike Knuble, a name that still strikes fear in the heart of Pens fans.

It was nice to see all 17 Caps fans who were at the game come down to the glass to support their team during warm-up.

Ovechkin was poised for another big game in the friendly confines of Consol Energy Center.

Pens fans weren't shy about letting their feelings toward Ovechkin be known.

Fair is fair. I posted the pictures of the foolish Caps fans in DC with their customized Malkin/Crosby Sucks jerseys. Here's a fella who is obviously not a fan of Ovechkin and he's not afraid to show it in the least tasteful way.

Oh yeah, the Pens also warmed up before the game. Michalek practices his technique for running guys into the boards. Elbows up, Z!

This was the NBC Game of the Week, and Cy "Malkamania" Clark was ready for the occasion.

Anthem:

LET'S GET IT ON!!!

Washington took an early penalty and Kris Letang capitalized on the opportunity, giving the Pens a quick 1-0 lead.

A little over a minute later Evgeni Malkin assisted on Jame's Neal's goal to make it 2-0. The Pens continued to apply pressure throughout the period.

Eric Tangradi's high-sticking penalty (not pictured below) gave Washington a power play that would carry over to the 2nd period.

2nd Period:

The Caps came out looking to make a game of it in the 2nd period, and Mike Knuble very nearly lived up to his Penguin-killing reputation with this early chance that went off the post and made its way harmlessly through the crease.

"Haha, not this time f***face!" (Marc-Andre Fleury's actual comments have been edited for content)

Little bit of pressure at the other end.

Ovechkin came out with a very physical shift intended to change the momentum of the game. Below he fights his way past Orpik and lays a big hit on Z in the corner. But the results of this effort by the Caps captain were not immediately apparent.

The Caps were starting to wonder if this might not be their day.

Hold that thought. Michalek's elbowing and Orpik's holding calls gave the Caps a 5-on-3. Brooks Laich took that as a signal to relocate the #OccupyPittsburgh movement to Fleury's crease.

Michalek's penalty expired. Brouwer's cross checking made it a 4-on-4 and Dupuis' broken stick made it a virtual 4-on-3.

Laich finally cashed in, cutting the Pittsburgh lead to 2-1.

Alex Semin tied the game a few minutes later, after which the Pens decided to take the play to the other end of the ice for a while.

A missed opportunity for TK led to an altercation behind the net. Kennedy and Brouwer came out of it with the gloves dropped and fists flying. Video below.

The Pens ended up with the power play from Matt Hendricks' tripping call.

A little over a minute later Knuble went off for holding. The Pens (I think) called the timeout to rest their top power play group. It was here that we learned that Matt Cooke is now, apparently, Geno's towel boy.

Nothing materialized on the power play and Matt Hendricks found himself with a decent chance to put his team ahead late in the 2nd.

3rd Period:

Ovechkin had picked up a couple of assists and was playing well, but had been kept mostly in check by the Pens D. That ended when he and Alex Semin hooked up for the go ahead goal just a minute into the 3rd (not pictured above, but that gives you the general idea...two Alexes, no defense).

The Pens had blown a 2-goal lead. Nothing new there, right? No lead is safe, that's what the new NHL is all about. But these aren't the 2010-11 Pens, where we basically would have said game over, let's watch some football. These are the Pens who make 3rd period comebacks and win games. As far as fans were concerned, the game had finally started.

James Neal connected for his second goal of the game, again set up by Geno. The game was tied and would head to overtime.

In the extra frame, Neuvirth was under fire.

Finally Malkin ended it.

Once again, NBC was rewarded for selecting Pens-Caps as their Sunday game, even though when that decision was made these looked like the last two teams you'd want to see play. And now, through the magic of the NHL, each team can claim a winning record over the other (2-1-1) on the season and look forward to a possible meeting in the first round of the playoffs.

Our next game will be Feb 11 vs Winnepeg. We'll be back with more photos and video after that one.

Game Photos: Pens vs Habs 1/20/2012

2012-01-21T03:33:00.003-05:00

The Penguins looked to extend their winning streak to five games Friday night against an old nemesis. It didn't matter that they had already beaten the Canadiens twice this season, Montreal always seems to give Pittsburgh trouble. Check out our photos and video after the jump.

Hal Gill. What a large human.

Let's go ahead and get this out of the way. This game marked Kris Letang's first game back at CEC since missing significant time due to a concussion. It also happened to be against the team that gave him said concussion. The team, the fans and my camera have all missed Tanger very much. This post isn't so much a game photos recap as it is a Letang photos recap. Deal with it.

Meanwhile, Brooks Orpik was keeping a suspicious eye on PK Subban and his shady band of pranksters on the Habs side of the ice.

A happy Geno makes for a happy Pittsburgh.

Anthems.

Montreal wasted no time, scoring just 34 seconds into the game. Any illusions we may have had about an easy Pens victory over a slumping Habs team went right out the window. This one was going to be a dogfight.

Early deficits aside, there was some old business to attend to. Max Pacioretty would have to answer the bell for laying the hit on Letang that had him out of the lineup for 21 games.

Not sure what Geno said to Letang here but it must have been pretty good.

Tanger came out of that discussion looking fired up.

He went on to score a sweet goal that tied the game at 1-1.

Hal Gill and his troops were far from done in this one as they would reclaim the lead less than two minutes later.

The Canadiens had added another goal just over a minute into the second period. Dustin Jeffrey answered back with a shorthanded goal to cut the lead back to one goal.

Don't worry, Budaj. It's not over yet.

For now, Budaj keeps the game 3-2 with some more good saves in the second. Eventually Pacioretty's goal midway through the period would make it 4-2 heading into the third.

DJ Jazzy Jeffrey capped off the first three-point game of his career with a snipe that would make Bob Lee Swagger proud.

Fleury was having a tough game early on. In typical Pens fashion they weren't giving up very many shots. Unfortunately, the chances that they did allow were quite good and Flower paid the price. He put things in lockdown mode after the Pacioretty goal, keeping the Habs scoreless through the last 29:26 of regulation.

The Pens had seen some good third period chances go by the wayside. Time was running short and they looked to their leader to carry them to victory. Geno did not disappoint.

Malkin's BLAST tied the game. He pounded his gloves on the glass, sending an already insane CEC crowd into a total frenzy.

Time to tighten up the skate laces, we're headed for overtime.

Neither team scored in the five minute extra session. This one was going to the shootout.

What a game, particularly considering the effort from the Pens playing the second of back-to-back games. No rest for the weary, though, as they look forward to a 12:30 start Sunday against the Caps. We'll be there, so there'll be more photos and video on the way after that one.

Malkin and Neal continue Florida rampage; Pens shock Lightning 6-3.

2012-01-15T16:20:00.001-05:00

Big guns show up; Pens snap losing streak.

2012-01-13T22:53:00.002-05:00

Game Photos: Pens @ Caps 1/11/2012

2012-01-12T03:20:00.006-05:00

The Pens visited Verizon Center for the second and final time this regular season Wednesday night looking to snap a 5-game losing streak. The Caps were hoping to get things back on track after dropping a couple of games out west. The Pens gave an effort they can probably be happy with but once again it was not enough as Washington capitalized on a late first period defensive gaffe that allowed Jason Chimera to score the lone goal of the game. Tomas Vokoun's 30 saves would secure the win.

Check out our photos and video after the jump.

On the bright side, frequent Penguin killer Mike Knuble was held scoreless.

Malkin sucks 71 what? I don't get it.

Anthem:

Vokoun, in the zone as usual against the Pens.

Let's get it on!

It didn't take long for CFA and Matt Hendricks to get into it. Not much to this fight. Give Hendricks a slight edge for getting a couple of shots in while Adams was falling down.

Chimera drew first blood.

After giving up the late first period goal, Fleury settled down, took his acid and was pretty solid the rest of the way.

Ovie was mostly a non-factor in this one. Dupuis easily gets the puck away from him on the 2nd period penalty kill.

Pascal Dupuis went awkwardly into the boards and gingerly made his way off the ice. Fortunately he was able to return to the game.

Ozzy rockin' the red.

Vokoun was a wall in the closing minutes, appearing down and out here only to leap up and make a spectacular save on Geno's high wrister.

The Caps fought off the Pens late surge and held on for the 1-0 win.

Big win for the Caps as they slide up into the #8 spot in the East. Another tough loss for the Pens as they dropped their 6th straight and fall out of a playoff spot.

That's it for now. We'll be back with more photos after the Montreal game on the 20th.

Game Photos: Pens vs Devils 1/7/2012 (and Pens vs Rangers 1/6/2012)

2012-01-08T02:08:00.006-05:00

Friday's 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers met with such critical acclaim that the Pens put on an encore performance Saturday night vs the Devils. Martin Brodeur's 41-save performance capped off a back-to-back offensive nightmare that saw the Pens throw 80 shots on net and score only twice. The weekend's action left Brooks Orpik with plenty to say.

Check out our photos from the game after the jump.

Pregame, we got the Bibster to pose for a photo with @PensKnittngLady's sock.

We also got a look at Bob's snack choices for the game.

Even in the warm-up the Pens looked very much like a team playing under an injury curse and riding a 3-game losing streak.

No Jeff Jimerson in the house, but this kid belted out the anthem and brought the house down. The crowd was seriously pumped going into the game.

Just as they did in Friday's game vs the Rangers, the Pens struck first, this time on a goal by Evgeni Malkin.

Brodeur was in for a long night.

The Pens dominated the first period, forcing Devils' coach Peter DeBoer to use his timeout.

Flower didn't see much rubber in the first as New Jersey could muster only three shots on goal.

James Neal had a goal waved off shortly after the Devils' timeout, but with the way the Pens were playing he and Geno discussed how they'd divide up all the goals to be scored.

Something interesting happened on the way to victory as Martin Brodeur decided to play like...well...Martin Brodeur. This big save on a Steve Sullivan power play shot seemed to jump start his team.

The Pens failed to score on the power play. In fact, the Devils cashed in shorthanded. Doubt started to creep in.

The Devils added another goal in the second then one more early in the third. With the Pens trailing 3-1 there was little reason for many fans to stay for the closing minutes. Iceburgh took advantage of the situation and grabbed a prime seat behind Marc-Andre Fleury.

An all too familiar scene recently, Flower heads for the bench to get the extra attacker on the ice for a chance at a late comeback.

Only positive at the end was preventing the Devils from scoring in the empty net.

Geno, feeling the weight of this loss.

---------------------------------------

Rewind to Friday night and the game against the Rangers. I had already forgotten most of this game by the time the puck dropped against the Devils Saturday night, but I do remember that it marked the return of Mike Rupp to the CEC. Rupper made an impact though not on the scoresheet, but more on that later.

The Pens got the early goal.

Times were good. The tough losses to Philly and New Jersey the prior week seemed to be forgotten.

But the Rangers tightened up a bit defensively. Marc Staal had a pretty solid game.

The Rangers tied it late in the first, took the lead early in the second and added insurance early in the third.

Cy "Malkamania" Clark looks on as Jordan Staal faces off against Brad "Wet Pants" Richards.

Getting back to the impact Mike Rupp had on the game and beyond, his kneeing penalty put Jordan Staal out.

That wraps up this two-game weekend. The Pens have lost four straight. Nothing to do but look to the next game and hope for a win to get them out of it. Tough games are ahead.

More photos to come Wednesday from Verizon Center.

Game Photos: Pens vs Flyers 12/29/2011

2011-12-29T23:59:00.002-05:00

Thursday night at Consol Energy Center wasn't about the battle for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. It wasn't even the usual grudge match between two cross-state rivals. It was all about the return of two former Penguins, both legendary in their own way. And what a return it was for Max Talbot and Jaromir Jagr. While both received much different greetings from the fans (constant boos for Jagr, a smattering of boos that turned into a standing ovation for Talbot when a video tribute to him was played on the big screen), they both ended up making important contributions in Philadelphia's 4-2 victory. Check out our photos from the game after the jump.

Yes, Jagr did manage to get a pretty nice goal past Fleury. In an interesting subplot, Jagr decided to celebrate by skating right over to @PensKnittngLady and saluting her:

And she "saluted" back:

Those screen shots courtesy of the folks over at Crossing Broad.

Anyway, back to the game.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

From GIF

Why I shouldn't be the 100th person followed by the Pens on Twitter

2011-12-05T19:42:00.008-05:00

It's pretty simple.

(Update: Apparently the Pens Twitter account agreed with me).

Check my reasoning after the jump.

************************************************************

I shouldn't be the 100th person the Pens will follow on Twitter.

Oh, sure, I've got the resume for it.

There are the 103 Pens games I've attended the last 4+ seasons, despite living 250 miles from Pittsburgh in the heart of Caps Country.

There are the more than 36,000 miles I've traveled to be at those games.

There are the 9 different NHL arenas I've seen the Pens play in during that time, including hostile environments like MSG, Verizon Center, Joe Louis Arena and whatever they're calling their arena in Philly these days.

There was the crazy week in June 2009 when I drove from DC to Detroit for game 5, then back to DC, then to Pittsburgh for game 6, then back to DC, then back to Detroit for game 7.

And loved every minute of it.

There is the enormous amount of time I spend each game taking photos and then getting them posted for the enjoyment of fellow Pens fans.

There is the additional time that I spend making humorous photoshops and GIFs that have delighted and amused even the Penguins players themselves.

There is the "Geno on Twitter" GIF.

From GIF

The "Happy Gilmore" GIF when Sid was cleared for contact:

From GIF

And a few other fan favorites:

From GIF

Like I said, the reason the Pens shouldn't make me their 100th follow is simple.

It's because I couldn't have done any of this without the love and support of your true #1 fan, @PensKnittngLady.

You should definitely follow her.

Although, if you insist on picking me, that would be okay.

I won't let you or my fellow Pens fans down.

LET'S GO PENS!!!!!!!!!

Game Photos: Pens @ Canes 12/3/2011 and Morning Skate

2011-12-04T03:44:00.005-05:00

A couple of times a season we like to sit behind the bench. Sure, it's a trade-off. Obviously you aren't going to get the perfect view of the game that you'd have 20 rows higher, but it does provide a great look inside the constant flurry of activity between coaches, players, officials, trainers and equipment guys. That was particularly true in this game given the unreal nature of the closing minutes. Check out our photos from the game and the Pens morning skate after the jump.

***** Morning Skate *****

We lucked out and, by a happy accident, received passes to the season ticket holder skate along with our game tickets. New Canes coach Kirk Muller, unaware of the event, cancelled his team's practice session, but most importantly we were able to watch the Pens take the ice for their morning workout.

However, before that happened, fans were treated to a Q&A session with Chuck Kaiton, the radio voice of the Hurricanes, and legendary Pens play-by-play man Mike Lange. While the Q&A was entertaining (featuring the two broadcasters doing impersonations of each other), the best part was getting Mike to pose for a quick photo with the lucky sock.

This lucky young man was the recipient of Dan Bylsma's stick at the end of practice. Coach had skated along the glass holding up the stick and quite a few kids were pleading their case for why they should get it. Disco came up to the bench and handed the stick to knitting lady over the glass to give to the boy in the photo. This is pure speculation, but we wondered if he thought it was our son. Kid was pretty cool, but he belonged to the guy sitting behind us. In any event, it certainly made his day.

As Sid was making his way off the ice, he stopped for a little game to see if he could bat a puck into the net from outside the gate. Of course he got it. May have been a few dollars changing hands on that one.

***** The Game *****

Oh yeah, right, there was a game that night as well.

No cause for alarm. I'm sure Tony G is simply going for his line-up card.

Not sure why but each time I tried to get a good photo of the brothers Staal, Jordan's image was nice and clear while Eric was fuzzy, distorted. Maybe Eric is evil and that is blocking my camera? I don't know.

When Flower isn't playing, he becomes Johnny's biggest fan.

Engo took a tough hit and gingerly made his way off the ice.

CFA was on fire. Even Sid was asking him for pointers.

Wait, maybe Flower was Sid's biggest fan.

Arron Asham scored to put the Pens up 2-1 in the third.

The Pens played the final minutes with a packed house in the penalty box, at one time including three of their top penalty killers.

With the Canes goalie pulled, they enjoyed a 6-on-3 advantage.

The Pens were able to kill it off in the final seconds, securing the 3-2 win.

Above is just a selection of our photos from practice and the game. Check out the full albums below.

Morning skate: Pens @ Canes:

Game Photos: Pens vs Caps 12/1/2011

2011-12-02T03:10:00.004-05:00

The Pens ended a long drought with their first regular season, regulation win over the Caps in over three and a half years in a mostly dominating performance that saw them clamp down in the final minutes to hold on to the 2-1 victory.

Check out our photos and video after the jump.

Knitting Lady and I entered the game with a .500 record in Verizon Center, having seen the Pens go 4-4-2 in our 10 trips there together.

Since our seats were just a few rows behind Fleury's net, I thought it might be cool to head down to the glass to get a close-up view of the warm-up and show some support for the visiting team. As Cy (@Malkamania71) likes to say, "Let 'em know you're there". So I grabbed a couple of poster-sized photoshops and did just that.

This idea turned out to be total madness. I've watched the warm-up from the glass before, but never directly behind the net. This video doesn't fully capture the experience, but every puck shot off the glass two inches from my face is still echoing in my head several hours later. Haha, live and learn.

But I didn't let it phase me. I was down there with a job to do, and I tried to do it.

James Neal continues to lead the league in odd facial expressions.

New guy.

A "new to us" guy, as this was our first chance to get a look at Robert Bortuzzo.

Caps fans. They were who we thought they were.

Anthem. Caps fans do this weird thing. Even though they have TVs all over with the American Flag on them, the fans turn to face the one closest to them.

Craig Adams drew first blood with a tally early in the first period.

As expected, Arron Asham had to answer the bell to atone for his misdeeds following a knockout win over Jay Beagle in the October 13 game. The results met with the approval of players and fans alike. Nice moment at the end when Asham gives Erskine the old "hey, nice fight" slap on the leg.

Eight minutes in and still no shots on goal for the Caps.

First intermission. Time to get Charlie into the action.

You know how I love shots of the bench.

At some point in the second period the Caps tied the game. The Pens got it back in the third, taking the 2-1 lead on the goal by Kunitz.

Clutch timeout by Byslma on a late icing.

The Pens put it on lockdown in the final minutes. In fact, the Caps would pick up only two shots on goal in the third period. The 3 Stars selection left everyone scratching their heads a bit.

Say bye, Charlie. We'll be back in January.

We're off to Raleigh as the Pens have a Saturday night meeting with the Canes. More photos after that one.

11/25/11 Gameday Morning Skate

2011-11-27T14:41:00.006-05:00

Knitting Lady and I had such a great time meeting some of the players at the morning skate on our last trip, we headed back down to the arena Friday morning. Once again the Pens did not disappoint. Check out our photos after the jump.

We actually got a head start on things when @PensKnittngLady met Dustin Jeffrey in the hotel restaurant Thanksgiving night. He was nice enough to sign our photo book. We also ran into him Saturday morning as we were about to head home and he signed our jerseys.

We made sure to head out early Friday morning in order to catch Dan Bylsma, who is not surprisingly one of the earliest to arrive at the arena. All of the guys who have stopped to sign have been really cool, but Coach ranks right up there with Flower and Duper in the outgoing personality category. He can now add "photographed by PensAreYourDaddy while holding the Knitting Lady's lucky sock" to a resume that already includes a Jack Adams Award and Stanley Cup win.

And he signed his photo on the title page of our book.

Next to join us was Chris Kunitz. Chris had already signed our jerseys and the book on our last trip, so we got a photo with him holding the lucky sock.

It is worth noting that Kuni would go on to score a goal that night against Ottawa.

Pens defenseman/enforcer Deryk Engelland had also signed our jerseys last time out, so we got a sock photo and he signed the book.

Later that night, Engo picked up an assist on the Kunitz goal.

Matt Cooke had already run the table on our last trip (jerseys, sock photo, book), but he didn't seem to be in any hurry to get into practice so I happily got his autograph on a second photo in the book.

While Matt would not go on to score that night, lending support to the theory that the sock is luckier than the book, he did finish as a +1 with 0 PIM in a fairly solid game, so it does appear that the book is not inherently unlucky.

Over the years, everything we've seen or heard about Pascal Dupuis, whether at games, on 24/7 or from other fans, is that he is a great guy. Well, he certainly didn't disappoint us in this meeting. First we got one of the all-time great sock photos...

...then he signed the book...

and he signed our jerseys. Not surprisingly, Duper went on to score a goal in the Pens win over Ottawa that night.

There's no better way to finish up an autograph session than with Marc-Andre Fleury. I doubt you'll find a guy who looks happier in a sock photo or signing a book. When it comes to fan relations, Fleury is world class. He is usually the last guy to practice so he doesn't stop to sign on his way in, but he does stop to let everyone know that they can catch him after practice. Then he rolls up just as promised and happily signs and takes pics with everyone there. It wasn't a huge crowd so he probably got through it in no more than five minutes or so. I don't harbor any ill will toward the guys who choose not to stop, but what a difference those five minutes make to the fans who cherish a rare opportunity to get a little interaction with this team that we love so much.

Later that night, Flower went out and had a solid performance to get the win over the Senators.

The jerseys are starting to fill up nicely, getting a little bit crowded even.

Once again, we had a blast. It's a lot of fun to be out there meeting other fans and hearing their stories. The only unfortunate side to the day was courtesy of the "professional" autograph seekers, the guys who are just collecting signatures to sell on Ebay.

That group isn't all bad. Some respect the rules of the road, but there's an element that gives all of them a bad name. They show up in teams with cars and radios. In the morning session they push their way up to the front of the line with no respect for players or fans.

In the afternoon session they are even worse. When players don't stop to sign, these guys are waiting in their cars and they try to get in front of the players' cars in order to get them stopped at a red light so that their partners on the ground can run up and get the autographs. The sad part is that it works.

Strangely, there is often a police presence there in the morning to keep fans from crossing some imaginary line, but in the afternoon when the players' safety might actually be compromised, security is nowhere in sight.

I realize that everybody has to make a buck to survive, but these people should all die a slow, painful death. I considered posting some photos of them, but they don't even really deserve to be mentioned in this post much less pictured here. Whatever, one of these times these fools are going to mess with the wrong group of fans.

Alright, down off my soapbox. There are still some players' autographs and sock photos we'd like to get, so you can be sure this won't be the last of these posts. Hope you liked it! Look for more game photos coming up following the December 1 game against the Caps.

Game Photos: Pens vs Sens 11/25/2011

2011-11-26T02:43:00.003-05:00

It was a pleasure to get to see Sid back on the ice again Friday night vs the Ottawa Senators. I'm sure at some point we'll get back to where seeing Sid play is just business as usual (and for the hundreds of fans who leave games early, maybe they've already reached that point) but for now it's just incredible being able to enjoy having our captain out there after going so long without him.

Check out our photos from the game after the jump.

Fleury would be starting in net for the Pens.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

The game marked another return to Pittsburgh for former Penguin defenseman Sergei Gonchar.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

The Michaleks, Zbynek and Milan.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Anthem Town:

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Ottawa didn't take long jumping out to a 1-0 lead and the Pens took even less time to even the score. Chris Kunitz was the beneficiary of a great feed by Crosby and he put it in the back of the net.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Two seconds later Arron Asham squared off with Zenon Konopka in what turned out to be a pretty good scrap.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Less than 90 seconds later, Tyler Kennedy put the Pens up 2-1.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

A few minutes later Steve Sullivan corralled the rebound from this Evgeni Malkin slapper and, with the help of a good bounce off an Ottawa stick, he put it past Senators' starting netminder Craig Anderson. 3-1 Pens.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

The pressure on the Ottawa goaltender didn't ease up.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Before the game had even reached the ten minuted mark, Geno danced around the zone and buried this wrister for a 4-1 Pens lead.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

That would mark the end of Anderson's night as he was replaced by back-up Alex Auld.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

2nd period.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

The Pens picked up where they left off. Pascal Dupuis beat Auld for the 5-1 lead.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Z looked forward to once again carrying bragging rights into the next family reunion.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Penguins equipment manager Dana Heinze was honored before the game for overseeing his 1500th professional hockey game.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

3rd period.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Ottawa had scored late in the second to cut the lead to 5-2. Pittsburgh responded in the third when Jordan Staal took advantage of Sergei Gonchar's slashing call, scoring on the subsequent 4-on-4 and reinstating the Pens 4-goal lead.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Ottawa struck again in the final minutes to cut the lead to 6-3. Hundreds of Pens fans decided they had seen enough of the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Letang, Neal, Staal and the rest, choosing instead to head for the exits.

Now, understandably many of these fans are parents whose young children will be expected at school early the next day, or they themselves will have jobs to report to, requiring them to leave early to beat the traffic.

Wait, what? This was a Friday game, you say? Kids did not have to be in school early the next day and most of the adults would be enjoying a day off on Saturday? Hmmm, this is perplexing. Surely there must be a logical explanation for people to spend hundreds of dollars taking their family to the game to see some of the sport's biggest stars, only to sacrifice some of that excitement in exchange for saving a few minutes on the road.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Anyway, the Pens held on to win, beating Ottawa for the second straight year on Black Friday. Brent Johnson congratulates Fleury on the win. Perhaps Johnny will get the call Saturday night in Montreal. If so, it will be his 300th NHL game.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Evgeni Malkin was named 1st star of the game with the game winning goal and one assist on the night.

From 2011-11-25 Pens vs Sens

Well, it's been fun watching the Pens this week. We'll take a little break before heading down to Raleigh for a rematch with the Hurricanes Saturday, December 3.

Game Photos: Pens vs Blues 11/23/2011

2011-11-24T02:29:00.004-05:00

The Blues were in town Wednesday night and for Knitting Lady and me it was our first chance to see Sidney Crosby take the ice in live game action since January 1. Check out our photos from the game after the jump.

It was a hockey night in Pittsburgh!

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Sid looked intense heading into his second game back with the team.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Iceburgh was also all business and wasn't about to let some ticklish, overstimulated muppet come in and take over his turf.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Anthem City.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Paul*Mart left Fleury hanging out to dry and the Blues jumped out to a 1-0 lead.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Engelland tried to spark the Pens with this bout against Ryan Reaves

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Fleury had plenty of work as the Blues imposed their will on the Pens for most of the game.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Sid heads to the box for one of his three minor penalties.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

The Blues appeared to take a 2-0 lead in the second period as the referees initially award the goal to David "Bend it Like" Backes.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

The Blues celebrated like it was a real goal.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Replay overturned the call. 18,583 Pens fans in attendance celebrate as Iceburgh makes the official call of no goal.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Matt Cooke looks back regretfully, knowing that his second period holding penalty may have cost him the Lady Byng.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

The Pens continued their new trend of third period comebacks as Sully netted the tying goal.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

"Guys, I'm open"

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

The Blues regained the lead on Langenbrunner's third period tally.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

The Pens tied it on James Neal's 13th goal of the season.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Surprisingly, most Pens fans were still in the building as the overtime period got underway. Unfortunately they were rewarded by watching the Blues get the game winning goal with just over a minute left to play.

From 2011-11-23 Pens vs Blues

Time to take a break, eat a little turkey, and get back down to business Friday night against the Senators. Look forward to another game photos post after that one!

Sidney Crosby: The Long Road Back

2011-11-21T16:46:00.007-05:00

A huge welcome back to Sid and a never before seen look inside his long road to recovery after the jump.

Welcome back, Sid!!!

It wasn't easy for Sid to get to the point of being ready to return. Let's step back and take a look at Sid's long road to recovery.

It's been a long time coming. After the injury, and many times since, we had to be patient.

Sid was being seen by some of the best doctors in their field.

After a while, Sid was cleared for light workouts:

Followed by more rigorous activity:

In the meantime rumors were flying around that Sid may have to retire from hockey. We all wondered what Sid might do to stay busy without hockey:

And how would he make money?

The rumors died down a bit when Sid joined the team for the beginning of training camp. You could see how excited he was to get back in the game.

Then we found out Sid was cleared for contact.

Still there was a lot of work ahead. The challenge of getting back to game readiness was as much mental as it was physical.

Fortunately, Sid was up to that challenge. Finally, tonight he returns to Consol Energy Center:

Game Photos: Pens @ Canes 11/12/2011

2011-11-12T23:59:00.001-05:00

The Pens and Canes each played in their second of back-to-back games Saturday night and it was the Canes who ended up with a few more celebrations like the one above. The loss didn't stop us from getting some decent photos and video. Check them out after the jump.

Fleury was his usual happy self in spite of the fact that he'd have to watch the game from the entrance to the visitor's tunnel.

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

Orpik seemed equally happy during pregame the pregame warm-up.

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

We got some really good shots of Eric Tangradi, including the one below and another that will come later in the post.

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

The Pens fell behind early on a goal by Jeff Skinner, but Arron Asham's first period fight against Bryan Allen seemed to give the team a bit of a spark.

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

Does a stunned pic count if the stunned fan's team goes on to win the game?

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

The Pens trailed 3-0 after two periods. Below they celebrate a goal by Chris Kunitz that tied the game 3-3 in the third.

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

Unfortunately, the Pens just couldn't keep the Canes off the board.

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

Our friend, Gillian, pointed out the below grammatical error on Johnny's mask. Should be "who's", not "whose".

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

One misbehaving Pens fan was escorted from the arena.

From 2011-11-12 Pens @ Canes

Tough loss, but the Pens showed some good character coming back from the 3-goal deficit in the 3rd. They just looked a little tired out there after a hard fought game against Dallas the night before.

Next game photos post will be after the November 23 game against the Blues. See you then!

Game Photos: Pens vs Stars 11/11/2011

2011-11-11T23:59:00.008-05:00

In honor of Veteran's Day, the Pens wore special camouflage jerseys during the pregame warm-up. The jerseys will be auctioned off later for charity.

In honor of it being a hockey night in Pittsburgh, the Pens dominated one of the top teams from the Western Conference.

Continue below to check out our photos plus a pretty sweet video of Matt Cooke's penalty shot goal.

More looks at the camo jerseys.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

Alex Goligoski made his first return to Pittsburgh since being traded to Dallas at the deadline last season.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

Unfortunately Gogo got hurt. Sounds like he may miss some games.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

Mark Fistric also missed some time due to injury after taking a puck to the throat. Luckily he was able to return and play a key role later in the game.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

Had to get a few shots of the new guy.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

I always love a good faceoff pic, but especially when it includes the man, the myth, the legend, Pens photographer Gregory Shamus in the background.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

Anybody come up with a name for these guys yet? The Twitter Line (@malkin71_ @jneal_18 @Sullivan26)? SNM Line? Just throwing those out there for consideration.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

Letang City:

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

*******************************************************************************

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

Disallowed goals were the order of the day. This one got past Let-one-in but it was waved off when the officials determined that Kunitz had made incidental contact with the Stars' netminder.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

As promised earlier, Fistric has returned from injury in time to deflect the puck into his own net to give the Pens the lead.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

Cookie netted the penalty shot goal to put the Pens up 3-1.

Cookie surprised a lot of us with that move. Some have attributed it to his renewed dedication to playing hockey "the right way". Others will credit Jack Adams Award Winning Head Coach Dan Bylsma and the time spent in practice working on the shootout. I'm going with the fact that Cookie was photographed earlier that day holding @PensKnittngLady's lucky sock.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

A stunned Fistric looks on as his team is forced to pull the goalie for one last, desperate try.

From 2011-11-11 Pens vs Stars

No time to rest as the Pens are headed to Raleigh for a Saturday night match-up against the Hurricanes.

11/11/11 Gameday Morning Skate

2011-11-11T14:47:00.007-05:00

Last time we were in town we hit up the morning skate for a few autographs. The players were all really nice, especially Fleury, but there were a few guys we missed. So we headed back down to the arena this morning to try to catch them and we scored big time.

Check out the photos after the jump.

We showed up with a jersey apiece that we've been collecting signatures on. Also, we had the new photobook that I had recently made.

Matt Niskanen was the first to stop. He signed our jerseys.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

And our book.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Next up was Matt Cooke. He had already signed our jerseys a few weeks ago, so we took the opportunity to get a kick-ass sock photo...

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

And he signed his page in the book (tough to see, but it's there).

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Sid came by and signed for a few people, but it was a madhouse so he had to cut things short.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Chris Kunitz rolled in and signed our jerseys...

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

and his page in the book.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Arron Asham was next. You guessed it, he signed the jerseys...

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

and the book. For a minute it looked like he was going to sign for Joe Vitale, but luckily he realized it in time and signed his own page instead.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

CFA.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Geno didn't have time to stop.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Ben Lovejoy was great. Cast on his broken left wrist, he still signed like a trooper. We also chatted a bit about his appearance the day before on TribLIVE Radio.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

He seemed to really enjoy signing for everyone.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

That all happened before the morning skate. There were still a couple of big names we were hoping to get. We would not be disappointed when the morning skate was over.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Letang was awesome. He really focuses and provides the most consistently good autograph of anyone on the team that we had encountered so far.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Sid came out right behind Letang.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

He had already signed Knitting Lady's jersey last time around, so we got him to sign mine this time.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

We were going to settle for the jersey, and be very happy with that, but he got caught in a bit of a traffic jam and had a little time on his hands, so I got him to sign the book.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Our jerseys are loaded now, though there's still a little space for 11 and 71 if they decide to actually stop one of these times. Not complaining, though, as this team continues to show why they are #1 in the league in fan relations.

From 2011-12_Pittsburgh

Mark Letestu

2011-11-08T19:29:00.005-05:00

With the news that Mark Letestu has been traded to Columbus for a draft pick, here is a photographic tribute to his time with the Pens from the pages of the book that we made for him earlier this year.

From 2011 Book

From Player Photos Special

Good luck, Mark. We'll miss you.

Photos of the 2011-12 Pens

2011-10-30T03:39:00.006-04:00

I'm in the process of gathering photos for a 2011-12 Penguins Photo Book. Once it is done I'll do a larger post, but for now just wanted to post a few of my favorites so far, including the one above, a shot of the Pens bench during the October 15 game versus Buffalo.

Check out the rest after the jump.

From Player Photos Special

I probably wouldn't have put this next one in my list of top favorites, but it has found its way there since TK used it as his twitter profile pic for about a week in October.

From Player Photos Special

That's enough for now. Time to get back to work.