Stanley Cup reflections one and two....

 5/4

The original Penguin

Today I am wearing the original “ice blue” of the Pittsburgh Penguins in honor of their opening round win in the Stanley Cup playoffs……a triple overtime victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in one of the all time epic games. 

a fiercer Penguin

Take a look at that vintage t-shirt.  That original penguin was very cute with his smile, rounded belly and trailing  scarf. Just one year later, the scarf is gone, the belly raised to broad shoulders and a raided eyebrow shoes intensity and he’s no longer smiling. 

This marks the Penguins 16th straight trip to the playoffs…unprecedented. In the city, they’re second only to the Steelers.  Their five Stanley Cup titles are the most of any US based team since the era of the “Original Six” (decades long original NHL.)

IN 1979, after the Steelers won the Super Bowl and the Pirates the World Series, the Pens changed their colors to black and gold, in a show of city solidarity. The  "ice blue" has reappeared now and then as a throwback. 

Even though the NHL is the “whitest” of our big four sports, it is also the most accessible. Players lived in our neighborhood and the Pens practiced at our local rink. Every kid had to learn to skate. By Stanley Cup tradition, every player on the winning tram gets to take the Cup home for one day. So before making its way to Canada, Russia or the Czech Republic, it shows up in local kindergartens and Eat’n’ Park diners. 

So today’s hats off …and on…to the  Pittsburgh Penguins.

5/11

Hoping for Cup winning mojo

Today we are staying on the Penguins theme.  As we meet, the Penguins are ups 3 to 1 in the best of seven series with a chance to close tonight in game five. I’m wearing a black hat and  a t-shirt celebrating the 2017 cup victory hoping to bring extra mojo.

When the Pens went to black and gold, the Boston Bruins, an original six team, protested. But since an earlier version of the NHL included a team called the Pirates wearing black and gold, the colors were grandfathered in.

I’ve got a virtual background of a jersey celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the NHL and  25th season for the Pens. Which means I’ve had this jersey  lying around for 29 (or 30?) years.

But here’s the real story. Saturday was my youngest son’s birthday. In our family’s Pittsburgh years, the Penguins of Mario Lemieux had an amazing run. Two straight Stanley Cups heading for a third. Which is when our son was born. We waited until the Penguins had defeated the New York Islanders 3-2 before heading to the hospital.  So to honor his  birthday, I give him the jersey and an original ice blue hat. Sadly, the Isles would win the series and there would be no  Threepeat.

So remembering  the night my son was born, hat’s off …and on…to the Penguins …and Happy Birthday Dan, now let's  finish it!

birthday jersey