As most of you know the hockey season is now over. The Penguins were not able to bring the Cup back to Pittsburgh, but even though they lost in the finals you have to commend them on such a great season. Don’t forget that only 2 seasons ago the Penguins finished the season in second to last place. Seeing this team grow over the past 3 years has been amazing. Also seeing the city get behind the team is great. All you ever hear around here is something about the Steelers, it was good to see the Penguins and the sport of hockey get some attention. I’m not a bitter fan, Detroit deserved to win. They played better and really wanted to win.
Going into the playoffs I was unsure of how the Penguins would do, although they did have some experience from last year, it was not a lot. After they knocked out Ottawa it was very exciting. When we defeated the Rangers to head on to the Eastern Conference Finals it was an unreal feeling. When we defeated them to head to the Stanley Cup Finals it gave me butterflies (I was at the final game of the Philadelphia series). It would be the first time we had gone to the finals in 16 years! It was very exciting and the city was a buzz! Another funny thing was that the last time the Penguins won the Cup there was a Bush in office, a Clinton was running for office, and the Jets won the Super Bowl. Of course Hillary is not running anymore, but at the time she was. It was a weird coincidence.
Although the Penguins did not win it gives us a lot to look forward to next season. Hopefully we will be able to keep many of our key players. Malkin, Fluery, Hossa, Malone, and Orpik all need contracts, and those are just a few. Hopefully Shero can find some way to keep them all!
This hockey season was filled with so many great moments and long nights of me watching the games then listening to the post-game show on the radio. Going to the games was also a lot of fun and the atmosphere inside the arena is amazing, especially during the playoff games. The tickets were expensive, but you cannot put a price on that kind of feeling. Thanks for a great season Penguins!