got puck?

I don't recall when I fell in love with the greatest game on ice; sports were not exactly big in my house growing up, and Colorado didn't have a pro team at the time, but some where along the line I became CRAZY for Gretzky, that little black puck, and the sound of two grown men bashing each other into the boards.

Due to limited hockey viewing access, I boxed up my little winter sport passion and tucked it away. Until... May 13, 2009; I was in DC for my work conference. While out and about one evening I walked past the Verizon Center, where a critical hockey game was going on between the Penguins and the Capitals (it in fact was the deciding game in the Penguins moving on to the final series and winning the Stanley Cup). I came back to my hotel room and called Michael.

me: "Um... Pittsburgh has a professional hockey team..."
him: "Yeah? [sarcastically] the Penguins, they're owned by Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby is their cap't... blah, blah, blah"me: "I guess I wasn't really aware of that. "him: "Are you really into hockey?"
me: "YES, pretty much the best spectator sport ever"
anyways, you get the idea. I think that had one of us not loved hockey, this past 7 months would have been even more challenging. There are a lot of games, and we are both dedicated watchers. I would even go so far as to call it date night for us. We take our place on the couch, the surround sound is turned up, the reminder is set to FSN Pittsburgh for Hockey Night. To be honest, I would go so far as to say that hockey is probably, if not the #1, at least the top three, common interests we have with the same intensity [maybe because he is a guy, and has just that much more testosterone, he likes it a little more].

So we love hockey, and in Pittsburgh the only kinda hockey there is = Penguins' hockey & and Penguins hockey is some seriously AWESOME hockey. The history of hockey in this town goes back to the late 19th century; that vein runs deep. It is a story rich with rewards and wrought with regrets, ups and downs, fall behinds and come backs... a story I can certainly relate to. A story that is now interwoven with my story.Though one thing that might not be in Pittsburgh much longer is the Igloo, the home of the Penguins for the last 40 some odd years. (Once upon a time it opened up, I can only imagine how heavenly that would have been... I digress). I didn't really imagine that we might get to see a game in the Igloo, since this was the last season the Penguins would be playing there... but after some serious persistence and sacrifice, I convinced a coworker to sell me two tickets for one of the last home games.... needless to say, that was at the top of the best moments we've had since moving to Pittsburgh, hands down. I actually giggled for the first 1/2 hour we were there. I will even go so far as to say it was up there with seeing Madonna at the Pepsi Center in Denver (and those of you who know me, know how big a deal that is). Some of the reasons for the amazing-ness of it all:

• We had fantastic seats (despite the height we were at) right behind the visiting team's goal.
• The game ended in a shoot out, more bang for your buck.
• Michael and I experienced a timeless Pittsburgh "thing" together.
• The team we were watching are at the top of their game and just might pull off the ultimate and keep the cup one more year.

I will be sad to see the season end, but the timing couldn't be more perfect... summer has arrived: there are lots of parks to walk, trails to explore, camping spots to find, BBQs to attend and have, and outside fun... and when it's raining outside, I will always have the photos:

UPDATE: April 2014, it appears embedded slideshow is broken, 

here is a link to the photo set: http://bit.ly/1jdNnLV