Penguins Paparazzi - Crosby, Poni, Super Duper - Practice Tidbits 3/16/10

Hello Hockey Fans!!

Just a little insider information for all my fellow die-hard Pens fanatics. After a day off, the Pens were back on the ice today. This was the first practice since their win against Tampa Bay Lightning and was the stopping point on the way back to the airport for the NJ Devils game tomorrow. This practice was a little more serious than some I have seen. Seems like the boys are strapping in, the playoffs close enough to smell... The players seemed focused and driven.

3/16/10 - Penguins Practice: My notes & thoughts:

• We were anxious to see who showed up for this morning's open practice held in Southpointe @ the Iceoplex. After Evgeni Malkin #71 went down last night and didn't return for the end of the game, I didn't expect to see him skate... and he didn't. But Geno was spotted in the passenger seat of his Porsche at the end of practice, probably there to meet up with the team for their trip to New Jersey. With Geno out, Coach Disco Dan was trying some new line combination's...
• Most notably the first line now being Ponikarovsky-Crosby-Dupuis... Which I LOVE, because I love Dupuis is on such a hot streak. He's always one of the first on the ice at practice which shows great work ethic. And he deserves all the good things that are happening right now. I see him consistently signing autographs for fans, and when I met him looked me straight in the eye and genuinely thanked ME for being there and supporting them. Truly an awesome guy, and I can't wait to see how that front line works with the new Poni Express... Second line shapes up Kunitz-Staal-Guerin and Third line is Cooke-Kennedy-Fedotenko. I like this shake-up... I think the Penguins will make lemonade from the "Geno's Out" lemons... We will see...
  
• Eric Godard #28 aka Godsy, Godzilla skated with the team today. Returning from a groin injury he got back in January. He seemed to be happy and healthy, maybe a tad bit faster than I remember. Also noted, I was looking at Godard today, with his longer, even more shaggy hair poking out from under that helmet, I couldn't stop singing to myself "On the wings of love..." Either that, or the theme song to Renegade...:) I love Godsy, he is awesome... He may not be the star of the team, or even play every game, but he seems to really be a GOOD guy. Especially considering he's not only the bruiser but he also won the award from his teammates last year honoring him as the most charitable player. Plus, most of the time he is happy to sign autographs for fans, so I respect him for several reasons. I am thinking he may play in one of the upcoming back to back games.
• The team always participates in a shoot out drill at the end of every practice. The loser, who is the one who is last to score a goal against Fleury or Johnson. Shoot out drill came down to the man on the hot streak, our own Super Duper Pascal Dupuis #9 and the face of hockey Sidney Crosby #87. After a couple of rounds, Sid scored leaving Dups to claim the title of Juice Boy, or whatever "Boy" duty was assigned to the loser. Side note: The infamous "Mustache boy" shootout is usually held at the first practice of the month.
• Another Shootout side note: We are seeing more of Jordan Leopold #4  aka Mr. Awesome's personality with every passing day. The defenseman who had previously told us "I AM Awesome!!!" scored relativaly early in the shootout and celebrated by spinning his stick and placing it in an imaginary holster on his hip... Kudos for originality.
• Of course I am happy to report Sidney Crosby seemed to be skating unscathed from that nasty wrestling move of a hit from Downie. I think we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. He was skating around in his bliss as usual, spent some time talking one on one with each of the coaches, and worked with Kris Letang #58 on some shooting drills... He is looking great. I really feel like he is about to do some more spectacular things in the coming games... You can tell his energy is high and he is ready and focused on the goal at hand...
• Also, the Penguins started freezing the pucks, today, literally. They had frost on them. Don't know why they don't refrigerate them as they do in games all the time, but today they did. That must be the Penguins mean business ;)
• Matt Cooke #24 seems to be holding back with his crazy antics at practice. Although his spirits seem high, I am still waiting on his jokester ways to come back to light since all the controversy with the hits. I guess its all well considering if he's probably just been told to lay low...
• Marc-Andre Fleury #29 spent some quality time with a tiny little goaltender. A boy about 4 named Christian was given a stick by Flower. He even took the time to take his photo with the boy right off the ice, in all his pads. After practice he stopped to sign the goalie stick for the kid. I thought it was super nice and it made the kid's day... Flower is always giving back to his fans. I have seen him stay for almost an hour signing for people and posing for photos, even with his father in the passenger seat! I can't say enough nice things about Fleury. He has signed jerseys and photos for us and is one of the players that will really have a conversation with you. Always the Smiling Flower.

Bonus - Even though the boys were all dressed up in their designer duds and on the way to the airport, Several players stopped to give us autographs!! Chris Kunitz #14, Brent Johnson #1, Marc-Andre Fleury #29, & Alex Goligoski #3!

It was a "Great Day for Hockey"!!