Game 10 of 122

Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Arena (vs Carolina Hurricane):

The new home of the Penguins (Consol Energy Arena) is an incredible facility.  The game I attended was only the 11th game ever played there as the arena is brand new. 

This was the kickoff event of a long Pittsburgh sports weekend with some of my fraternity brothers (Aaron Depew, Matt Boyle and Chris Petersen - from right to left in photo below)….Pen’s game on Friday and Steelers’ game on Sunday (link to Steelers' blog).  It was a great time to catch up with some old friends and see two great Pittsburgh wins.

Unfortunate background, but too funny not to post.

A special thanks to Aaron for managing to get us tickets to both events (even better that that Steeler tickets were free).  Thanks as well to Matt and Chris for coordinating all of the logistics for food, transportation and parking. 

The arena itself is state-of-the-art and I can’t imagine what they spent on flat screen TVs alone as they are everywhere.  Walking up to the new arena is a bit odd because there is an old church directly in front of the facility…it just seemed a bit out of place. 

I specially like the fact that you can get into the facility and visit many of the attractions, including the gift shop, without having a ticket.  We of course had tickets, and although they were in the upper deck, the view of the action was perfect.

View of shoot out that Pens won 2-0.

As for the game, the Pens started off slow and the game was close throughout.  With about 1 minute left, it looked as of the Pens had the victory in hand, but the Hurricanes pulled their goalie and scored the tying goal with 0:52 left.  Overtime was uneventful, but the Pens showed them who was boss by outscoring the Hurricane 2-0 in the shootout.  Final score:  5-4 victory for the Pens.

One item that does deserve mentioning; although the facility is beautiful, well designed and a great place to watch a hockey game, the noise is incredible.  It is extremely loud and my ears and head are still ringing the next day…and it is not from the beer.

These games complete the city of Pittsburgh on my quest of 122 games because I saw the Pirates earlier this summer (Link to Pirate Game); however, I’m sure I will be back at some point for some bonus games….they are my favorite teams after all and with the exception of the Pirates are usually great teams in the middle of the playoff hunt year after year.

Record:  5-5.  Great job Pens!

Official Box Score of the Game

To learn about my fund-raising efforts, visit:  http://www.firstgiving.com/christopherapel