Pens Lose Game 7
Montreal wins series
However, there is room for a tear or two for the old Arena. Somehow this loss bookends Mellon Arena’s many years. The Pens lost the first game played there and now have lost the last ever. Lots of memories over those many years. I’ll always remember going to games with my Dad, my Mom, my brothers, my sister, my daughter, my son, my son-in-law, and with all my friends, especially Karen and Pat, and all the fun we always had, win or lose. I will treasure those memories of watching #66 work his magic, #68 and his flowing locks, and of course enjoying the current crop of Penguins.
As this wacky playoff season goes on, the number eight seed advances in the east. Pittsburgh starts their offseason after powerhouse teams like New Jersey, Washington and Buffalo started theirs. Odd turn of events all the way around.
But let’s hand it to Montreal and especially to Halak. He’s proved now that he’s the real deal stopping the best players on Washington and Pittsburgh. P.K. Subban will be fun to watch for years to come and we know how good Hal Gill can be, but we prefer seeing him do what he does when he’s on our team. I agree with the announcers who said Pittsburgh didn’t lose, Montreal won. Very true as they played a team game and did what they had to do all the way through the series. How many times did I jump off the couch, thinking Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Gonchar, etc. had scored a “sure” goal, only to watch Halak gobble up the puck?
Losing possession of the Stanley Cup is hard, but makes us appreciate how lucky we were to have it for one season. The Pens will come back strong next year in their new home and will want to start with a win and a winning season – maybe another Stanley Cup season?
This may sound strange, but I am jumping on the Montreal bandwagon. I am, as Lisa will attest, a proponent of having as many Canadian teams in the playoffs as possible. After all, it’s their game, so they should be participating. Since they are the only team from Canada left, I will now be their fan. I can’t root for Boston or Philly (that would be impossible, not to mention sacrilegious), so if I want an eastern team to win the Cup, it may as well be the one that knocked out my team from the tournament. Congrats, Montreal!
And in the west – no Pens fan wants to watch Marion Hossa hoist the Cup, so we’ll be pulling for the Sharks.
The boys had a great year and gave us many more exciting memories. Watching Sid fight until the final game for the scoring championship was one. Now they can get some rest and be back in the fall, on a really fresh sheet of ice, ready to rock us again!
Thanks, Pens, it was a great run!
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