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The rarely updated blog of Joel Dixon

Viewing blogs tagged Pittsburgh Penguins

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Pens lose in shootout thriller

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 28/10/2007 12:52:01

We come back from 3 goals down to tie it up with two minutes to play, then we lose it in an eight round shootout.

Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions (with the upping and the downing and the floiven)!

At least we got a point out of it. Unsure

# Posted in the Hockey section and tagged as: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Thursday, October 18, 2007

Mad Max getting it done

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 18/10/2007 16:04:50

Pittsburgh lost against the New Jersey Devils 4-5 tonight, the refs having way too much influence on the game (not that I'm blaming them for the loss). Fleury was dolling out huge rebounds again, and the Penguins defense were allowing too many scoring chances through.

But Maxime Talbot is still the leading goal scorer for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tapping in a great pass by Whitney, Talbot scored his fourth goal of the season, obviously assisted by his awesome facial hair. Apparently Maxime's been rooming with Evgeni Malkin, and is trying to convince Gino to go with the chopper style beard. I assume Malkin's resisted which is fair enough (he's leading the team in points and assists - picking up a point in each game so far), but who knows what happens if he hits a slump!

Although both natural centers, Therrien had Malkin and Talbot on the same line for a brief stint in the third period - and I liked what I saw from them. I don't want it to happen often - Talbot's getting it done on a killer checking line with Colby Armstrong and Gary Roberts - but it's a Therrien line tinker that I like the look of.

I still think Crosby's on the verge of a huge night - as he was pressing all over the ice (and picked up two assists). Once again - at this time last year (after 5 games) we were 2-3-0 - so I'm still expecting 105 points Tongue

# Posted in the Hockey section and tagged as: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Sunday, October 14, 2007

Four out of Five times

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 14/10/2007 11:47:18
Updated by Joel Dixon at 14/10/2007 12:35:43 - typo

Pittsburgh just beat the Maple Leafs 6-4, just two days after Toronto beat the Islanders 8-1. This win, combined with Pittsburgh's 3-1 record against the Leafs last year, means Pittsburgh has won the last 4 out of 5 games. While it's not quite 9 out of 10 times - it's pretty close ROFL

Crosby finally lit the lamp with his first and second of the short season. Crosby was pressuring all over the ice against Montreal last Wednesday and he kept up the intensity this game. But Crosby's offensive dominance is overshadowed by the team's leading goal scorer - Maxime "Mad Max" Talbot. Still sporting Chopper-esque facial hair, Talbot's leading the team in goals as well as killer French accents (followed closely by Fleury).

In response to Talbot's offensive leadership for the Penguins, Crosby seems to be working on getting his first fighting major of his career - giving Antropov a few face washes against the boards (he might have thought it was Armstrong). Nothing came of it - but you've gotta love the fire in Captain Cros.

Two wins and two losses is the same record Pittsburgh had at this time last year - so now I'm just waiting for the next 45 wins for our estimated 105 points Smile

Tonight's post was brought to you by Mountain Crest Gold Lager. Not as enjoyable as Molson Canadian - but not too shabby.

Yes, I know this post has very little redeeming value - but I do hope Zelks is still visiting the site!

# Posted in the Hockey section and tagged as: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Saturday, October 06, 2007

Penguins lose season opener

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 06/10/2007 14:48:17

Great setup - poor execution.

I had it all planned. I left work a half hour early and caught the bus home. On the short walk to my apartment I bought myself a six-pack of Canadian beer, and bought some takeaway Indian food.

"Molson Canadian - tastes like beer!" - I just created a slogan.

The game started at 5:00 pm - and I didn't get home until about 6 - but this is where my handy, dandy PVR came in good use. A feature well known to those that have Foxtel iQ - the PVR had been recording the hockey game for me in my absence. I sat in my couch, started playing the recording and fast-forwarded the ads until the recorded game caught up with the live TV. Fabulous feature - and if I could get 80 Penguins games a year - I'd have Foxtel iQ back home in an instant!

So I started watching the game (very excited) and the first thing I noticed was Maxime "Max Mad" Talbot's new facial hair. Perhaps the nickname should be changed to "Chop Chop" as he's got a brilliant set of Chopper Read-style handlebars.

Uncle Chop Chop

The Penguins got a penalty early and Carolina's goal at the 7 minute mark really took away from some momentum we were building. The 'cane's goalie Cam Ward single-handedly stole some momentum too - with some strong saves. Jordan Staal could have helped out a little more as well - by asking his older brother to stay home for the night Smile

(Eric scored the first two goals)

In the end, we lost the game 4-1, with Recchi tapping in a great feed from Malkin for our only goal. I'm not too worried - being the first game of the season - but I am eager to see Crosby start his next Art Ross campaign!

# Posted in the Hockey section and tagged as: Pittsburgh Penguins

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It's a hockey night in Joel's Apartment

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 06/10/2007 01:04:34

Last night I saw my first episode of Hockey Night in Canada, and it was very enjoyable! Coming home to two NHL games on television was bliss - even though I didn't get to see a Pens game. In the past I would be classified as an unintelligent hockey fan. I've never really kept an interest in any non-Pittsburgh based team, so my knowledge of the rest of the NHL was very limited (when you get little information from Australia - you concentrate on one team). Now that I'm getting hockey games beamed into my lounge room every evening, I think I might start picking up a few things about the competition.

For example, this year's going to be a very difficult time for the Penguins in the Atlantic Division. I watched Philadelphia beat the Flames 3-2, greatly assisted by Briere scoring goals 1 and 2 for the season. Also, the Rangers were a good team last year, and the addition of Drury and Gomez in the off-season doesn't make them any worse (last night they beat Florida 5-2). Playing these teams 8 times each is going to be tough, but at least we're not going to cruise into the playoffs without being tested.

This morning I signed up to the NHL Center Ice package, to ensure I get to watch a few extra Penguins games here and there. I wasn't sure how many extra games this will give me so I just browsed the schedule, and they're playing 80 Pittsburgh games (there's 82 in a season). I don't know which two games I'm going to miss - but one thing's for sure, I'm going to be watching a lot of hockey this season! Smile

# Posted in the Hockey section and tagged as: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Saturday, September 15, 2007

It's a great day for hockey!

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 15/09/2007 08:25:01
Updated by Joel Dixon at 23/09/2007 10:10:50

Quote attributable to Badger Bob Johnson

Even though a quick look out my balcony window shows it's a lovely sunny day today, it's really starting to feel like hockey season!

Firstly, I received a very welcomed package in the mail yesterday:

This is one of the tickets for the Pittsburgh Penguins vs Edmonton Oilers hockey game in December. The Oilers are a popular team, and have been selling out tickets quite easily lately. As this is superstar Sidney Crosby's first trip to Western Canada - I am very lucky to have tickets to this game! I've also put a hold on tickets for four Penguins game at the end of December.

Secondly, Pittsburgh's training camp went underway today. It's less than a month before the season starts and I can't wait! Training camp is the first chance the public get to see how the team is progressing, and I recommend any Pens fan check out LetsGoPens.com for Netwolf's Camp Reports. I know it's only one day - but I'm glad Adam Hall chose Pittsburgh for a tryout!

Thirdly, the NHL is close to announcing that the Pittsburgh Penguins will be involved in the second ever NHL game to be played outdoors. The first outdoor game was the 2003 Heritage Classic between old stalwarts the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadians.

Now, this is pretty cool for a few reasons. Firstly, to me, it goes to show that Crosby playing for the Penguins increases the likelihood of Pittsburgh being involved in novelty games like this. This on it's own isn't that wonderful, but anything that brings me even a little bit closer to the Penguins playing a regular season game in Australia is fine by me (although they're not playing in London for this season's opener).

It's also cool because Buffalo is less than a four hour drive from Pittsburgh, and I will probably be in Pittsburgh a few days before the game. It's possible that Bell and I will take the "short" drive up there and watch the game live! The first outdoor game set a record for the most number of people watching an NHL game (around 57,000). The stadium in Buffalo that is playing host to the game has a capacity of around 74,000 - so I will hopefully be able to snab a ticket - and I may just be there for the new world record!

And it's another chance to see an NHL game live!

# Posted in the Hockey section and tagged as: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Saturday, September 08, 2007

I've got a golden ticket!

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 08/09/2007 19:32:25

Las Vegas gold, that is

My number 1 work location preference would be Pittsburgh in the US - because I'm a huge Penguin's fan. I never really put a lot of effort into getting a job in Pittsburgh though, as financially it wouldn't work out while organising it from Australia. I'm interested in visiting the rest of the US - but probably would not want to work there.

I have, however (and obviously), wanted to work in Canada. A combination of the status ice hockey holds and the beauty of the Canadian countryside has tempted me for a long time.

Now that I'm here, I was hoping to have the best of both worlds by visiting Pittsburgh (a short flight) at some point and catch a few games.

As Pittsburgh and Edmonton are in different NHL conferences, there is only a 1 in 3 chance that the Penguins are going to travel here for one game against the Oilers. Thankfully - I lucked out and Sidney Crosby and the boys are making the trek to Edmonton later this year.

Edmonton are very supportive of their team and season tickets are already sold out for this coming season. I didn't want to try my luck on waiting for a game day ticket, so I entered the Mini-Pack lottery program and won! Cool

I'm now the happy owner of an Oiler's "Hat-trick Pack" of three tickets, including the Pittsburgh vs Edmonton match up for the 5th of December! I'll probably only be one of very few people in the arena wearing a Penguin's jersey - but I'll wear it proud!

# Posted in the Hockey section and tagged as: Edmonton, Pittsburgh Penguins

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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Travel Log - Day 18 (The only game that really matters)

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 10/04/2007 22:09:00
Updated by Joel Dixon at 14/01/2008 12:52:14

It starts

Firstly, let me take you back. The year was 1994. I was about to start high school, and was probably thinking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or playing Altered Beast on our Sega Mega Drive. My older brother brought home a few games for the aforementioned Mega Drive with a pooled resource of our Christmas / birthday money. One of them, I do not remember and obviously didn't have a huge impact on my life. The second was Sonic the Hedgehog II, a game that I was very excited about. I had played it a fair bit of Sonic at the local video game store, and it did take up a fair amount of my time during that year. The third game was seen as a little odd to me, as Gavin was more of a basketball fan back then, and I didn't think much of it at the time. That third game was NHL 94.

Notice how small the Electronic Arts branding is

I thought so

Oops, sorry about that

Lemieux to Jagr and he scores to tie it at one

He beat him like a rented mule, Mario Lemieux with the hat-trick.

Gretzky with three pitiful goals gets the third star

With all said and done, I think that that video game has probably had the most effect on my life, more than any other video game. Before NHL 94 I had never heard much about the sport of ice hockey, and only ice skated once when I was around 8 years old. Once I got sick of Sonic and Mr. Prowler I moved on to the NHL game. Initially I played as a few of the teams, and one of my first "favourites" were the Winnipeg Jets (I will buy their jersey one day) mostly due to Teemu Selanne, a gifted scorer. I never really settled on a team until I re-met an old primary school friend who's dad was a huge Penguins fan. The transition was simple for me, as Pittsburgh was also a team I would often play as, with both Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr lighting it up, almost at will.

From then on, my love for the Pittsburgh Penguins only increased. When my parents installed pay TV I was finally able to watch some of the games in full, and allowed my friends and I to watch Mario Lemieux's first comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs at 3 am one December morning (it also introduced me to Mat Hoffman and the X Games, which kindled my love of rollerblading). Becoming a savvy interweb user helped a lot, as I was able to track my favourite team instantly and gain a lot of Penguin information quicker than I had previously encountered.

So that's why I like the Pittsburgh Penguins. Belinda, my lovely wife, on the other hand - chose her favourite NHL team (the Colorado Avalanche) because she likes the colour blue, and the Avs (with some blue on their jerseys) had recently won a Stanley Cup.

I provide this background information, so that you can understand why I deeply wished that the mighty Pens would crush my new wife's favourite team in their showdown match. This was the schedule for Day 18.

We might have done something during Day 18 that was non-hockey related. Perhaps we had a nice meal or saw some more of the town of Pittsburgh. I'm not 100% sure however, as I just thought about my last chance to see the Penguins win a regular season game. As always - dot point goodness:

I noticed during my research into this fateful game that the Colorado Avalanche had played a game the night before this one. I looked a little deeper and saw that the Avs had only played back-to-back three times prior in this season. The other three times resulted in a loss in the second game. Hesitant confidence was gained!
With Marc-Andre Fleury in net with his golden pads of goodness, I was feeling a little more confident about this match. That little nipper is just awesome to watch in goals.
I noticed that once the game started, the Penguins were playing with energy that I had yet to see. They were running around and banging bodies - it was looking like the momentum was all theirs. Maxime Talbot (one of my favourites) was one of the main proponent of the physical play, and it was fun to watch
Even more fun was watching the Penguins score the first goal of the game - the crowd was electric. I let myself get excited and started thinking about a win.
It only took 6 minutes for me to crash down into depression as the Avalanche tied the score at 1. To the Penguins credit, they kept the pressure up and went ahead again with only a minute to go in the 1st period.
After the Pens traded a goal a piece in the 2nd frame, I was still a little edgy being only 1 goal ahead to start the third period. My main man (after Crosby, Lemieux, Fleury etc) Max Talbot made me jump from my chair midway through the 3rd period with a well deserved insurance goal to put the Penguins up 4-2. It was great seeing Talbot's tough physical play rewarded with a goal in an important game.
Colorado scored another goal to make it 4-3, but the Penguins held on and I saw my first ever Pittsburgh victory. It was sweet!

The dance begins!

Belinda got to see a few Colorado goals ...

... but I got to see an extra Pittsburgh goal

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Saturday, March 17, 2007

Travel Log - Day 16 (Worst NHL Game Ever)

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 17/03/2007 19:32:00

I had originally made a huge plan for our honeymoon, the planes we would catch, hotels we would stay at, hockey games we would watch, tours we would take and the various tourist locations we would gander upon. I created it in HTML and hosted it on my website so I could make changes from work in the weeks leading up to the trip. After I added all of the staples (planes, games and tours etc that we had booked), I would add a few ideas of what we could do on our days without plans. The trips to the Bronx Zoo and the Disney Store were planned in my handy Honeymoon Itinerary before actually booking tickets. For each day we had free I would research the various things available and note down a few options. Unfortunately work got really busy leading up to the honeymoon, so I had only finished planning up to Washington. This all meant that Day 16 was essentially un-planned - and we didn't do much at all really.

But at the tail end of a very busy and exciting honeymoon, both Bell and I were ready for a bit of a change in pace. We were also a little sick of carrying a camera around everywhere we went - so this post will be lacking in photos. We've agreed that we'll have to buy Belinda a new, small camera for the next trip we take.

After waking up very late in the morning (or perhaps the afternoon) we had lunch at a very nice Chinese restaurant. It's a pity it wasn't closer to our house - because I'm sure Bell and I would eat there quite frequently if it were. Other than the very nice meal, we pretty much did nothing other than watch a hockey game - the Penguins vs Minnesota Wild. Speaking of which, here's the summary:

Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't playing in net for this game, which was my first disappointment. This was very quickly followed up by another as the Wild scored the first goal just over a minute into the game. It certainly kept the crowd quiet.
Crosby was held without a point in the game, but was definitely the best player on the ice. He seemed to be the only one trying.
I was very upset by the way the Penguins were playing, they had few shots and were down 3-0 at the end of the second. But the behaviour of the other Penguins fans was unbelievably disgusting. I just cannot imagine a situation that would cause me to boo my own home team. Some of the fans were yelling out disparaging comments about our own players, and people were leaving the game from early in the third period (when Minnesota went up 4-0). I have trouble believing that any of the people booing their own team are true Pens fans. They really don't deserve to live so close!
Even though the game was going terribly for the Pens (we were down 5-0) I was amazed with the crowd's response towards the end of the game (in a good way). There had been a minor scuffle earlier on in the game - but nothing I would call a real fight. With less than 5 minutes to go in the game, Brooks Orpik and Kyle Wanvig participated in the first NHL hockey fight that I had witnessed. The audience made the most noise I had ever heard as the Penguins defender clearly won the fight. Sure, most of the negative nellys had gone by this point, but the crowd just went wild. I guess it was a small victory considering, but it did put a slightly positive note at the end of the game.

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Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Here to Stay (Hooray)

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 13/03/2007 21:48:00

I've been following an NHL Ice Hockey team for quite a while now (don't know if I've mentioned it before). Lately there has been some uncertainty about the future of my Pittsburgh Penguins, I'll save you the incredible amount of ups and downs the Pens fans have gone through in the last 7 years. See this hilarious site for extra information.

Anyway - all's well that ends well - the Penguins are apparently going to stay in the great city of Pittsburgh. My plan to spend 8 months in Pittsburgh watching the Pens win the Stanley Cup in the 2008 / 2009 season continue!

The Penguins got the deal done!

The above comic came from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - link

# Posted in the Hockey section and tagged as: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Viewing blogs tagged Pittsburgh Penguins

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Tuesday, March 13, 2007