Embarking on a Coaching Journey

If there's one thing I've always been passionate about, it's giving back to the community. I particularly like helping children. With the many problems kids are facing today such as drugs, violence, and domestic/sexual abuse just to name a few, I think it's really important to give kids a reason to do well not only in school and on the ice, but in society as well. I find it critically important to reach out to our youth and demonstrate the importance of self-discipline, giving, and citizenship, especially in these kinds of times. Since starting pharmacy school I haven't been doing nearly as much community service as I should be but I think I've found the perfect way.

Morgantown Ice Arena

Starting later this season, I will hopefully be starting to help out with one of the local youth hockey teams. Being relatively new to hockey myself, this is definitely going to be a learning experience for me as well. I'm hoping that I can be that younger guy that the kids can look up to and provide them with more than just hockey knowledge. Thankfully, I won't be coming up with the practices, but helping out the head coaches in doing drills and what not. Not sure what team I'm going to be working with, but I'm definitely looking forward to the experience.



When I know more, you'll know more.

As always -

LETS GO PENS.

The Penguins Student Rush

Penguins tickets for college students in 3 words: expensive, expensive, and expensive. Especially if you want to take a friend (or two). The recent success that Bylsma and friends have had over the last few years haven't helped the prices any, but hey - supply and demand is a part of life. But the Penguins organization has the Student Rush, which is an absolutely phenomenal program that allows students to purchase tickets for $25 a ticket, which is much less than you can find on TicketMaster.  To get these tickets though, you're pretty much required to stand outside in line for several hours since it's on a first come, first serve basis. They could tell me to stand outside in just my boxers in 20 degree weather - for a $25 for a Pens ticket - DEAL.

On October 20, 2011, I decided spur of the moment that I wanted to try to get to the game and see what the student rush was all about. I was lucky enough to round up a great friend of mine from Clarksburg and we headed up to the Consol Energy Center for a pretty eventful day and night.

I never thought that a 1.5 drive and a 4 hour wait could be so eventful... And cold.

So my friend Kody got here at around 1:00 PM and we promptly got the HELL out of Morgantown and after a quick pit-stop at sheets, headed up to the CEC. It was a nice, rainy drive and we even managed to get stuck in the awesome traffic getting on towards Washington, PA. Great fun.

We arrive in Pittsburgh around 2:45 PM, about 4 hours away from game-time. After parking the car, I realize that I forgot one of the most important things next to my student ID... Under Armour. Sweet.



Pictured above is the godsend app that my friend and I relied on to get us through the wait time, the cold and to keep our minds off of the fact that we had to visit the men's room and that we required food... and soon. I'd like to include here that I went 3-0, with the final game being a decisive 87-24 victory. Anyhow, if you ever have a lot of time to kill, get this app. It's great fun, even if you don't have a partner to play with, not to mention that it's pretty nostalgic, remembering back to all of the attention I didn't pay in elementary and middle school with real paper football.

Midway through one of our games, we started realizing that there were reporters....reporters everywhere. The couple standing in front of us were interviewed and the young woman asked if they knew about the "big surprise" coming our way in a while. The guy replied that he didn't, but the girl he was with seemed pretty sure she knew what it was. I didn't know. I didn't have a clue in the world. And I'm glad I didn't, because it was one heck of a surprise.

No more than 15 minutes later, I hear a wave of cheers heading back to where we were standing next to TGI Fridays and I stop playing paper football, look up... and what do I see?

Dan Bylsma and the other Pittsburgh Penguins handing out pizza to everyone standing in line. Needless to say, I didn't  have to use the bathroom anymore. My legs weren't cold anymore either. In my excitement, all I could do was stare and think to myself, "holy crap... it's Dan! It's Staal! It's Dupis!" Meanwhile, while basking in the moment like a kid in a candy store, coach is yelling at me to take some pizza so he can keep moving down the line. Following Coach B down the road were Dupuis, Engelland, and Staal.
Honestly one of the coolest moments of my life. There's really nothing like seeing the guys you look up to, up close and on such an impersonal and friendly environment. I snagged a couple good pictures of the guys handing out pizza and talking with fans. Really, such a neat experience.


I know this picture is a little bit blurry, but keep in mind that I'm rushing to get the picture...and free food. Also, this was a completely random picture. I wasn't planning on him stopping for too long, and I'm not 100% sold on the idea that he was ready for the picture. He just looks so happy. From head coach to pizza delivery guy - he had a good attitude about it.

Coach Bylsma cheesin' it up!
(See what I did there?)

I heard that earlier in the day that a few people had come out and brought the students who had been there since the very early hours of the morning hot chocolate as well.

Staal handing out some food and some woman tryin' to cop a feel. 

I had mentioned to Steve Mears in a tweet during a 24/7 broadcast that overall, I thought these were both awesome gestures from the organization. When you think about it, they didn't have to do that. They bought 60 pizzas for everyone in line and while I'm sure they got quite a break on the price, they still had to fork over some money - I'd predict about $500-$600. They also handed out quality T-shirts to everyone as well, retailing in the Pens Shop about $30 a shirt. To over 600 people waiting in line, I'm sure you can do that math and figure out that again, this is a lot of money. Most organizations are looking for ways to hold on to money or to at least earn some kind of revenue on their products. The organization took the time, money, and their players and coaches and reached out to the youth who follow their team and gave incentive and reason to keep following and supporting them and I applaud them for that. I know there was a press conference, where the coaches and players were talking about the success of the student rush and each person really emphasized of getting to those who are the future ticket holders and supporters of the team. Things like this will certainly keep us coming back and draw other students in trying to get in on the fun and experiences.

After a few more games of paper football, FINALLY, it was game time. The line started moving a little quicker and we finally got up to the box office. I handed the gentleman my money and in return, got my tickets. I about fell over. Section 118. Just to make sure you read that right, I'll write it again - Section 118. For $25, I had a lower section ticket, right behind Marc Andre-Fleury. Sure, this wasn't a seat right down next to the glass, but still - I otherwise would have spent at least $200 PER TICKET for a seat like this on any other day. Glorious to say the least.

So what to do now? I met Coach Bylsma and Jordan Staal, got free pizza, an awesome T-shirt, an awesome seat for $25. It would seem like there's nothing left to get, but there was. A Lebatt Blue (or two) and a great performance from the Penguins putting it to the Canadiens with goals from Neal, Vitale, and a mid-air goal from Asham. You CANNOT ask for anything more. Seriously.

For those wondering what it's like to get to a student rush game - I hope this helped you visualize it and I hope it motivates you to get to the next one. I know I'll be there. Again, the American Eagle and Penguins organization deserve some serious praise here. It's not every day that people (especially college students) get the opportunity to experience things like this. Can't wait for the next one and as always -

LETS GO PENS.

http://www.wtae.com/video/29546287/detail.html <---- Video of WTAE news coverage of the Rush.

Game Day Vs. Islanders

So it was this time last year that I was really getting soaked into hockey. Fitting that I decided to start writing today, the anniversary of the Pens-Islanders game. While looking through pictures to add to the blog, I stumbled across this one, which is awesome, because this is my prediction for today's game. It's a little closer than I would like, but hear me out.

We've already seen this season that it doesn't matter how long it's been since a team has played.  Look at the Buffalo game. Now hurry up and look back at the Minnesota game. We can win in either instance, but I believe that since we've had a season-long TWO days off, the Penguins have had some time to collect themselves, their thoughts, their legs, and to just take a much needed breather. I think Staal, Neal, and company will be a bit more explosive tonight than we've seen in the last few games. To the players' credit, they haven't once blamed the schedule or how busy their October has been on a losing game, or using this crazy schedule as an excuse to not have their focus or legs. These aren't the qualities of a good team though.

These are the qualities of a great team and will propel them through the adversity that they're facing this season.

Anywho. With good news coming today, Geno took the trip to the Island for today's game, but Bylsma hasn't said whether he's going to play or not - probably a game time decision. He was on the ice for the morning skate, so we can only hope. Also, I just found out tonight is DAN BYSLMA's 200th CAREER NHL GAME AS A HEAD COACH! So that's definitely good news as well. Bylsma has been such a solid figure for this organization and he's already raising questions to whether he's providing the best coaching the Pens have ever seen. Huge shout-out to coach and a big congratulations.

With the not so good news, "Z" has a broken finger and will be out for at least a month. Who's surprised though? Really. REALLY? Yeah, really. The injury woes just continue to keep coming but as stated before, this Penguins team will handle it all too well.

I'm pretty sure it was Jordan Stall that said a couple of nights ago in a post-game interview that these injuries are providing ways for players to basically step out of their comfort zones and make things happen. Too true.

The big scratch on the Islanders' side of the ice is Rick DiPietro. Apparently out with a concussion, he obviously won't be in goal tonight. Evgeni Nobokov will be in between the posts tonight instead. Disappointing, because I was really hoping to see RD get embarrassed in front of his home crowd again.

For the 3-2 prediction for tonight's game.

It will hopefully be an exciting game. The islanders have one guy in Tavares where there is a lot of potential to put the puck in the cage. Tavares has 6 goals (out of a team total of 14 goals) on the season with a total of 10 points.Combined with the fact that they're in front of the home crowd and a two game losing streak, Tavares and company will surely be out to get the win.

 While those are decent stats this early in the season, we have our own James Neal who has been absolutely unstoppable with the puck. Neal has a team high 8 goals in 10 games, followed by Jordan Stall with 5 goals in 10 games, and Matt Cooke with 3 goals in 10 games. Our offensive production this season has outweighed the Islanders' and I think we'll see more of that tonight.

Nobokov is .500 on the season with a GAA of 2.54 and save percentage of .921. I feel like if the Pens can pull the trigger ESPECIALLY on power plays, it's going to be a long night for Nobokov.

Not going to count the Islanders out by any means though - they're coming off of a bad road trip and a two game losing streak. I'm sure the Islanders are going to bring their "A" game tonight to try to get a win in front of the home crowd.

Unfortunately, I'm out of time to write. Off to class, to study, and to watch the Pens game tonight.
If you have any comments or suggestions to better the blog, please let me know!

LET'S GO PENS!

Skating on Dreams

I've never blogged before, so this is new to me. I should probably introduce myself, too. The name is Brian D. (@DyeHardPensFan on Twitter) and I'm 21 years old. I'm a pharmacy student at WVU and play hockey and guitar in my spare time. I have aspirations to become a professor and a hockey coach for kids. Over the last couple of years I have developed an insatiable obsession with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL in general. I really want to aim this blog to discuss the Pens, but I won't just limit myself to them. So, here's to skating on dreams.
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First came track in middle school. It was the first scholastic sport of my life where I excelled, trained hard, and even broke a school record in the 400m dash. Then came high school with a year of football where I played a prominent role in keeping the benches nice and warm and acted as a body to put into the ground when the varsity guys needed someone to play defense against. I'm not mad about it - I knew my role and I'm proud to say I tried it. Combine this with two years of basketball, three years of cross country, and three years of track and you have yourself a full school year athlete who rarely did anything but run. I wasn't the best in any sport I played, but I tried like hell to be. I certainly wasn't the tough guy on any team either - I was a very passive person. Again, I knew my role, I was a support guy running and playing against the other support guys. Not to my surprise, come senior year, there were no athletic scholarship offers and it was off to WVU to pursue a career in pharmacy.

So of course, college was here. Time to start working on my career toward a doctorate degree and to really crack down and start making good decisions. That's the smart thing to do, right? Here, nobody is making me exercise anymore, no more sports, team practices - all of that is history. So it went from busy all of the time - to just schoolwork. Sure it kept me busy, but it definitely didn't keep me active, and it definitely wasn't exciting. Then I found hockey. I started watching it on TV occasionally to kill time with my suite-mates, then started developing interest in learning how to ice-skate. This is when I learned about one of my true passions.

I know it seems kind of outlandish to say - but HOCKEY has impacted me in the most unusual way in the last year or two. What started off as occasional Pittsburgh Penguin hockey nights (on what was formerly Fox Sports Network) to relax after an exam or just to take a night off, has turned into an out of control obsession where I absolutely HAVE to be paying some kind of attention to the Pens on game night. What started out as searching for local rinks just to go skate on has turned into trips to Washington D.C. to be taught by world-class coaches and former NHL pro's. It's turned into hundreds of dollars spent on gear, gas, tickets to pro games; the list is endless. What started out as being familiar with just Sidney Crosby and the bigger names has spawned into knowing not just all of the players, but trying to know all of the AHL counterparts that could possibly be called up, Badger Bob, Steve Mears, Rob Rossi, and the myriad of people covering the Penguins. I have invested more time, money, and energy to expand my knowledge and skill in the game of hockey than all of the sports I ever participated in combined. Within the last couple of years, hockey has become a distinct part of my life.

I do play rec-league hockey, where I have scored one-goal (against a team whose goalie didn't show up) and have had maybe just a few assists. Even though I am absolutely horrendous, I am soaking everything I can up about the game from line-mates and even from a fantasy camp I attended in Washington. But out of everything that I have ever done - Hockey is by far the most enjoyable and rewarding. While it's a team sport, it depends so much on individual skill and determination, personal accountability for decisions made on the ice, and discipline on and off the ice. I owe it to the mama for helping me out around Christmas time to get my gear. Still trying to get a win with her and dad in attendance.

So maybe in high school I had dreams that I would someday play D-2 college ball or run track or cross country. In hindsight, these were unrealistic dreams but got me through the days as a teenager. As a hockey player, with an astonishing record of one goal in a season, I know that I will never, ever, ever, be a professional hockey player - and I'm just fine with that. What I have found though, is that I have a new ambition; to learn as much as I can about the game, about my favorite team, and try to make hockey as appealing to other people as possible. I never understood hockey as a kid and I never had a reason to. The big sports in the small town of Clarksburg were basketball and football, plus there wasn't a rink within an hour drive of my house. So I think I've found a new goal - to write about what keeps me going from day to day.

So what am I expecting to come of this? Probably nothing. I will probably get bogged down with school work and never write a blog again. Or maybe I'll be sitting in an office or at my pharmacy someday thinking "Wow, I never thought this would grow into what it has". I mean in the back of my mind of course I'm hoping something could come of it. As the great Wayne Gretzky once said, "You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take", so here goes nothing.

Most of you are probably reading this asking yourselves why I just gave a monologue about my life and about why I like hockey. Like I said, I'm new to this, and this is something I want to take on. Look at people like Bylsma, Crosby, Malkin, Fleury,or Johnson - they were all probably equally as horrible at hockey at some point in their lives too. Look at the reporters like Lange (who is brilliant on the air), Rossi, Mears, Madden, McKenzie, Kasan, and Crechiolo. They were all probably equally...not...writing reports for the Pens or something at one point in time. Everyone has to start somewhere and I just so happen to be getting a late start. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something up for the Islanders game.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, get me the brandy!