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The rarely updated blog of Joel Dixon

Viewing blogs tagged Pittsburgh Penguins

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

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

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

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




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
"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.

Chop Chop
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 (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!




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!




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:

Hockey Tickets

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.

Heritage Classic

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!




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!

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!

Penguins Jersey




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
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.

NHL 94 Title Screen
Notice how small the Electronic Arts branding is

Mario
I thought so

Injury
Oops, sorry about that

Nice
Lemieux to Jagr and he scores to tie it at one

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

Stars
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!


Faceoff
The dance begins!

They Score
Belinda got to see a few Colorado goals ...

We score more
... but I got to see an extra Pittsburgh goal

We win
We winned!

Now, although the Penguin's record against the Av's was 0-9-1 in the last 10 games (we won 0, lost 9 and tied 1), the new record is 1-0-0 in the last 1 game! To Bell's credit, she did take the loss much better than I would have. Though I do admit I was a little worried about the plane ride home!


This is the 19th in the Honeymoon Travel Log series
Day 0 - Travel Log - Day 0 (Flights)Day 1 - Travel Log - Day 1 (New York, New York)Day 2 - Travel Log - Day 2 (Thanksgiving)Day 3 - Travel Log - Day 3 (I can't believe it got colder)Day 4 - Travel Log - Day 4 (What is the deal with "New" York anyway?)Day 5 - Travel Log - Day 5 (J-Dix on the six)Day 6 - Travel Log - Day 6 (Niagara Falls, eh?)Day 7 - Travel Log - Day 7 (Wet Wet Wet)Day 8 - Travel Log - Day 8 (New York, New York ... again)Day 9 - Travel Log - Day 9 (Best NHL Game Ever!)Day 10 - Travel Log - Day 10 (Pittsburgh at last!)Day 11 - Travel Log - Day 11 (Best NHL Game Ever - Mach II)Day 12 - Travel Log - Day 12 (Mr. Dixon goes to Washington)Day 13 - Travel Log - Day 13 (Mr. Dixon ... stays in Washington)Day 14 - Travel Log - Day 14 (Washington Zoo-lander)Day 15 - Travel Log - Day 15 (A Day at the Musuems)Day 16 - Travel Log - Day 16 (Worst NHL Game Ever)Day 17 - Travel Log - Day 17 (A kid in a candy-filled toy store)Day 18 - Travel Log - Day 18 (The only game that really matters)Day 19 - Travel Log - Day 19 (Fare thee well America)

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.


After the loss we went back to our hotel room a little dejected, but it did raise an interesting point. I had yet to see my favourite team win a game of hockey, and they only had one chance remaining. Against my (now) wife's favourite hockey team. Belinda had hoped that the Penguins would have won the Minnesota game so that I could get the victory out of the way, and lessen the blow of a loss against Colorado. Whatever happened - we would have a long time to talk about it, as our flight home was scheduled for the next day!


This is the 17th in the Honeymoon Travel Log series
Day 0 - Travel Log - Day 0 (Flights)Day 1 - Travel Log - Day 1 (New York, New York)Day 2 - Travel Log - Day 2 (Thanksgiving)Day 3 - Travel Log - Day 3 (I can't believe it got colder)Day 4 - Travel Log - Day 4 (What is the deal with "New" York anyway?)Day 5 - Travel Log - Day 5 (J-Dix on the six)Day 6 - Travel Log - Day 6 (Niagara Falls, eh?)Day 7 - Travel Log - Day 7 (Wet Wet Wet)Day 8 - Travel Log - Day 8 (New York, New York ... again)Day 9 - Travel Log - Day 9 (Best NHL Game Ever!)Day 10 - Travel Log - Day 10 (Pittsburgh at last!)Day 11 - Travel Log - Day 11 (Best NHL Game Ever - Mach II)Day 12 - Travel Log - Day 12 (Mr. Dixon goes to Washington)Day 13 - Travel Log - Day 13 (Mr. Dixon ... stays in Washington)Day 14 - Travel Log - Day 14 (Washington Zoo-lander)Day 15 - Travel Log - Day 15 (A Day at the Musuems)Day 16 - Travel Log - Day 16 (Worst NHL Game Ever)Day 17 - Travel Log - Day 17 (A kid in a candy-filled toy store)Day 18 - Travel Log - Day 18 (The only game that really matters)Day 19 - Travel Log - Day 19 (Fare thee well America)

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!

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




Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Travel Log - Day 11 (Best NHL Game Ever - Mach II)

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 19/07/2006 15:38:00

I was excited waking up on day 10, waking up on day 11 was twice as bad. I actually woke up quite early - a fair few hours before Bell - so I just read a book I had recently purchased.

When Bell finally woke up we decided to see a bit of the City of Pittsburgh. From the hotel room we could see that there was a fair bit of snow cover on the city, which was exciting. Even better - when we stepped outside our hotel room it was actually snowing. In Niagara Falls it was snowing - but really, that was the equivalent of a small spit. This was an actual fall - admittably not pissing down - but definately decent. I rather enjoyed holding my open hands up to the sky and collecting the snow. As a kid I always liked the idea of snow - the most we ever got in Melbourne was a very heavy hail storm - so this was great.

Something that I was entirely unprepared for was the amount of support the town gave to the Steelers. I had read on message boards that Pittsburgh was "Stillers Town" - but I was very surprised. Pretty much 1 out of every 3 or 4 people had some article of Steelers clothing on. Everyone from grandmothers to children was proudly displaying the Steelers name. There was also a lot of Penguin clothing (much more than I'd ever see in Australia) - but it was a little bit of a letdown.

We walked around the city - the first stop was the (now retired) Kaufmann's department store. The first thing I noticed was that half of the store staff were wearing Steelers jerseys as their uniforms (none of them were wearing Penguins jerseys though). We bought me two pairs of shoes (very cheap - and Pittsburgh has no sales tax on clothing) and two extra suitcases to store all of the crap we bought at the Penguins store. There was also a nice cafe in the middle of the store and I filled up on soda spiders. We just had a great day out.

At the end of the trip Belinda and I both agreed that Pittsburgh was one of the nicest cities we'd visited on the trip. The people were great, food was nice and (though it's probably got a lot to do with the snow) the place just looked beautiful. Whenever I list the honeymoon destinations (New York, Niagara Falls, Washington, Pittsburgh) I get a "Why Pittsburgh?". Originally the answer would just be "hawkey" - but now I could honestly say it was a great place to visit. We didn't even end up seeing much more of Pittsburgh than downtown - but it was great fun. I'm looking forward to returning (and Bell is too - which is wonderful)!

Anyway - the most important part of day 11 was the chance to watch the Penguins play at home. About a half-hour before the game's start time we walked around the corner to Mellon Arena. The atmosphere was incredible, and every second person had a Pens jersey on (with about a quarter of those having Crosby's number 87). Afterwards Bell and I both agreed that the Pittsburgh game was so much more of a show, and much more enjoyable (even though it was great in New York). Cheerleaders, free T-Shirts and a mini radio controlled blimp were some of the things that anyone could enjoy - not just fans of hockey.

Matchup
Not as fancy as the Madison Square Garden display (a few extra dead pixels) but it was a great sight!

Banners
How cool are these! And note the Pen's credit card in the background

Me
A few warmups going on behind me

Cheerleaders
The Penguin's cheerleaders shooting t-shirts from a slingshot. Iceburgh was also firing t-shits from a bazooka contraption

Blimp
The Verizon blimp was dropping some kind of vouchars. One dropped right in front of me - but kids snatched it up before I got a chance (and then ran back to their seats on the other side of the stand - bastards!)

Zamboni
"My dad drives the zamboni"

Scoreboard
Go you big skating penguin!

Anyway - another dot-point summary of the game:

  • I saw a few people wearing Steelers jerseys to the game - poor form!
  • I was happy to see Fleury starting in net again, and he played a great game again.
  • The Penguins were robbed early, and I was pissed off. Marcus Nilson's shot hit the crossbar and lay on the goal line - but didn't cross it. Many players on the ice could clearly see that the puck didn't go in - and quickly protested. The referee called the goal and they didn't even go to the video referees for clarrification. 1-0 Calgary.
  • Pittsburgh then tied it up with a spectacular backhander goal by Sidney Crosby. I was extremely happy that I got to witness Crosby scoring - and it was a plus that Mario Lemieux had the second assist on the goal.
  • Langkow scored two early third period goals to put Calgary ahead 3-1 both from great assists from Huselius.
  • Midway through the 3rd I saw Ryan VandenBussche's first NHL goal to bring it up to 3-2.
  • We pulled the goalie towards the end of the game to attempt to score a tying goal - but alas, it was not to be. Made the first non-goal so much more difficult to stomache!


Faceoff
Opening faceoff - people were still only just getting to their seats. What a waste!

Iceburgh
Iceburgh stood up right in front of us. I didn't have the heart to yell "down in front" to him! (so I just pushed him)

More Iceburgh
I'm not 100% - but I think Iceburgh is trying to score here

Again, watching a Penguins game was awesome - it was just a bitch that we lost. Once we left Mellon Arena, we saw that it had been snowing all through the game, and the ground was just covered! Most of the Pens fans were huddled together, head down, running towards their cars. Bell and I were running around playing in the snow, it was quite fun. We even made snow angels!


This is the 12th in the Honeymoon Travel Log series
Day 0 - Travel Log - Day 0 (Flights)Day 1 - Travel Log - Day 1 (New York, New York)Day 2 - Travel Log - Day 2 (Thanksgiving)Day 3 - Travel Log - Day 3 (I can't believe it got colder)Day 4 - Travel Log - Day 4 (What is the deal with "New" York anyway?)Day 5 - Travel Log - Day 5 (J-Dix on the six)Day 6 - Travel Log - Day 6 (Niagara Falls, eh?)Day 7 - Travel Log - Day 7 (Wet Wet Wet)Day 8 - Travel Log - Day 8 (New York, New York ... again)Day 9 - Travel Log - Day 9 (Best NHL Game Ever!)Day 10 - Travel Log - Day 10 (Pittsburgh at last!)Day 11 - Travel Log - Day 11 (Best NHL Game Ever - Mach II)Day 12 - Travel Log - Day 12 (Mr. Dixon goes to Washington)Day 13 - Travel Log - Day 13 (Mr. Dixon ... stays in Washington)Day 14 - Travel Log - Day 14 (Washington Zoo-lander)Day 15 - Travel Log - Day 15 (A Day at the Musuems)Day 16 - Travel Log - Day 16 (Worst NHL Game Ever)Day 17 - Travel Log - Day 17 (A kid in a candy-filled toy store)Day 18 - Travel Log - Day 18 (The only game that really matters)Day 19 - Travel Log - Day 19 (Fare thee well America)

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Travel Log - Day 10 (Pittsburgh at last!)

# Posted by Joel Dixon at 02/07/2006 16:45:00

I woke up on day 10 with a real excited feeling - as this was the day we were finally going to Pittsburgh. We woke up early and left straight away to La Guardia Airport. The flight from New York to Pittsburgh was quite enjoyable, it only took an hour and a half and it was much less packed than the Red Eye we took earlier.

The first thing I did after touching down in Pittsburgh was purchase a Post-Gazette newspaper from the airport. At first it was great to actually buy the paper I had been reading online for many years - but then I realised it was a bit of a waste as I only read three articles from the sports section.

We took a Shuttle bus downtown, and checked into our hotel. Most hotels have a mint on your pillow to welcome you - the one we stayed at handed out cookies (which was muchly appreciated). Anyway, after dropping off our bags and scoping out the hotel room (much nicer compared to the one we just left) we set off to pick up the hockey tickets.

Our Room
I really liked the Pittsburgh room - no neo-romantic Ostro-Goths here

Once we left the hotel and started looking for the building to pick up our tickets we saw that Mellon Arena was literally across the road from us. Being this close to The Igloo was another dream come true, and the hockey flags around the place just topped it off.

Mellon Arena
Mellon Arena - Terror goes into over-time

Crosby Sign
One of the flags around the 'Burgh

The place we picked our hockey tickets up was pretty cool in itself - as it was Mario Lemieux's actual office. The decorations around the room were very nice too - especially the next-game countdown.

Jerseys
A little display outside the ticket office

Countdown
Time until the next Pen's home game. I would be lying if I didn't think of ripping it off the wall and running!

Mario Returns
I'm sure this paper sold a few copies

Hall of Fame
Fleury's distinctive pads can be seen in the foreground

After picking up the tickets we went straight to the Arena to see if the memorabilia store was open, fortunately (unfortunately for my wallet) it was. I had another "WOW! This is awesome" moments when we stepped inside - looking at a sea of Black and Gold. All the Penguins stuff was cool and we bought lots of it!

Jersey Front
The first thing I bought - a Crosby Pens home jersey

Jersey Back
Wearing this in Melbourne - I'm sure some people are wondering when Bing played Ice Hockey

Grey Top

Black Top
A couple of sweet hoodies, for the casual man about the town

Jacket Front

Jacket Back
Don't get me wrong - I'm not the kind of guy that normally wears leather jackets. But this jacket is just awesome - and will be treasured for years

Pens Shelf
The only things I got from the Pens store here is the shot glass and cool tiny replica of a goalies mask. The plastic cup was filled with sprite at one of the Pens games

Pens Bin
My final purchase seen in action - next to my computer desk


This is the 11th in the Honeymoon Travel Log series
Day 0 - Travel Log - Day 0 (Flights)Day 1 - Travel Log - Day 1 (New York, New York)Day 2 - Travel Log - Day 2 (Thanksgiving)Day 3 - Travel Log - Day 3 (I can't believe it got colder)Day 4 - Travel Log - Day 4 (What is the deal with "New" York anyway?)Day 5 - Travel Log - Day 5 (J-Dix on the six)Day 6 - Travel Log - Day 6 (Niagara Falls, eh?)Day 7 - Travel Log - Day 7 (Wet Wet Wet)Day 8 - Travel Log - Day 8 (New York, New York ... again)Day 9 - Travel Log - Day 9 (Best NHL Game Ever!)Day 10 - Travel Log - Day 10 (Pittsburgh at last!)Day 11 - Travel Log - Day 11 (Best NHL Game Ever - Mach II)Day 12 - Travel Log - Day 12 (Mr. Dixon goes to Washington)Day 13 - Travel Log - Day 13 (Mr. Dixon ... stays in Washington)Day 14 - Travel Log - Day 14 (Washington Zoo-lander)Day 15 - Travel Log - Day 15 (A Day at the Musuems)Day 16 - Travel Log - Day 16 (Worst NHL Game Ever)Day 17 - Travel Log - Day 17 (A kid in a candy-filled toy store)Day 18 - Travel Log - Day 18 (The only game that really matters)Day 19 - Travel Log - Day 19 (Fare thee well America)


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