The Steel City Sports Fan (Penguins Edition)

I've been lucky enough to stumble upon a "Pens insider" who is willing to share some stories but wishes to remain anonymous for a few obvious reasons, so I ask that you PLEASE be respectful of this (PLEASE do not email questions to me or for the anonymous source as we are unable to answer and I will not reply to such emails) - thank you for your consideration!!

Words from Washington and Quotes out of Quebec

As most people know, the Pens left for Montreal on Friday, and no one was quite sure about how the weather would affect their trip. They made it into Montreal just fine, but there was a lot of concern over how the weather would hold up.

At the Bell Centre on Saturday, the Pens faced another afternoon game which isn’t a player favorite. The game got off to an odd start, as anyone watching would know, with 2 goals scored seconds into the game. The mood was relatively solemn after the game especially going with the travel dilemma faced by the team. The guys were pretty laid back about all of the crazy-ness of the trip and they showered, packed up, and headed out to the airport. They had a little trouble taking off because of winds and such, but they got in the air okay. They landed in Newark about 9pm, and by this time, most of the guys were exhausted, but still in good moods. The bus trip started, and thanks to Gonch, none of the guys were too bored. They watched The Code, and The DaVinci Code. They did finally stop in Maryland at almost midnight for some dinner. They guys who normally eat healthily and focus on good nutrition were like kids in a candy store with the fast food options. Almost everyone had a milkshake in hand. There was a whole discussion over what kind of milkshake was better, chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. Although there was no definitive answer, everyone enjoyed their “junk food” When they got to the hotel after 2am, the players headed for bed pretty quickly. They knew they had little time to sleep before the game. The guys had a “brunch” because of the early game start. They cleaned up everything the hotel served, eggs, ham, sausage, toast, everything under the sun. They supposedly went through 15 gallons of orange juice that day.

When the Pens got to the Verizon Center later that morning, the locker room was quiet, until someone brought up about the fact that everyone was counting them out because of the long day and the road trip. Geno piped up, “We not out of game, they not drop puck. We beat them at home they did us that way.” Of course this got the guys moving.

Quotes from the trip:

“Captiol fans are loud but not like Flyer fans, they not throw things, but have loud noise”~ Geno

“Well I think that when you come into an arena like the Verizon center, there is a lot of emotion that goes into it. We just need to focus on playing our game, and do what we need to do on the ice. There is emotion that goes into the game, but we can’t let that get us off our game.” ~ Sid Crosby