In chatting with Hooks last night over twitter, and him mentioning that he and his sister are going to be in town for the Pens/Thrashers game tomorrow night, I got to thinking - I'm sure a few of you guys might either be coming in to see the game, or coming out of your own igloos (see what I did there?) to drive down to Phiips to catch it.

Me being the overly nice Thrashers fan that I am (and, I admit, I've had a thing for the Pens since I was a kid), I figured that I would direct those of you who are out of towners (or those of you who live in ATL and just don't know) to the cheap and actual safe parking.

The $10 lots are way away from Philips, and with the Atlanta PD being a little strained right now, I'm afraid I wouldn't trust the walk.  CNN and Centennial decks are right across the street, but they're $15.  The very *bottom* most level of the CNN deck, where the media, arena staff, and ice girls park, though, is $8.  It's just tricky to get to.

If you're coming from north of the city, get off at the Howell Mill/Northside Drive exit, and hop onto Northside (not the first part of the exit, but the 2nd).  Drive down Northside (stay in the right most lane, because the left one turns into a turn lane), and take a left onto Marietta Street.  When you get to Park Avenue West, take a right (if you hit Centennial Olympic Park Drive, you've gone too far).  Follow the road down over the train tracks and keep following it.  The media entrance to the arena is on the right - go straight a little ways and you will see 2 lots.  They're both $8, but I prefer the covered one.  It's easier to hop the elevator or go up the steps to the street level, and after the game if you leave out of the CNN Deck exit, you can walk right to the deck over a walkway and straight down - it's pretty safe.  The uncovered lot requires you to walk around the corner right under the arena, find the back gate to the MARTA station, and head up through that way, putting you on the whole other side of the arena away from the CNN Center.  If you're wanting $6 32oz beers before the game, you probably want to wind up on the street level closest to the center.

If you're coming from the south of the city, or in the city itself, take Centennial Olympic Park Drive until you hit Marietta Street, turn right, and then at the 2nd light, turn left and just follow the instructions above.

Hopefully this saves you guys a few bucks - I always enjoy the games against the Pens, because it's pleasant to have a nice fanbase invade en masse.  I've never had a Pens fan heckle us or the team.  Thank you for being classier than Sabres and Flyers fans... not like that takes a bunch of effort, but it's appreciated.

Good luck tomorrow night!

Hey everyone, I wanted a little clarification on what exactly boarding is?

I know that you cannot hit someone into the boards when they are like three or four feet out because they might hit their heads or whatever, but are there other calls for boarding too?

If you remember when the Pens played in Anaheim with like five seconds left in the entire game, one of the Ducks got called for boarding Orpik, but he was up against the boards, only his head was down, as in bent over.

If someone could clear this up that would be cool, all of the sites I've looked up said it's just the three to four foot rule and nothing else.

I'm still doing a cocktail for each Penguins player. I was going to give it a rest (you know, for about 2-3 weeks), since we're entering do or die time for American home cooks this week. However, this one was just inevitable, and tonight's as good a time as any to post it. Eric Godard's fight late in the 11/19 game against the Senators managed to overshadow the returns of both Max Talbot and Sergei Gonchar. It's time to celebrate him.

I hate Bloody Marys and certainly didn't drink this during the game. While I'm being honest, I may as well admit that I initially put wasabi into a Bloody Mary that a friend of mine had made for himself to punish him for a joke that cut too deep. He liked it. We tinkered with the recipe and came up with this, which I renamed for my fellow and sister Pens fans.

Bloody Eric

1 1/2 oz. vodka

1 can V8 juice

1 dash ginger

2 dashes wasabi

2 dashes liquid smoke

Fill a highball glass with ice. Build liquid ingredients in glass, starting with vodka, then adding V8 juice until the glass is full. Add spices and liquid smoke to taste. Stir until spices are blended in.  Drink up.

Some one needs to tell him to pull his head out of his ass and start acting like the HOF goalie everyone says he's supposed to be.

And if it's the injuries and you're down because your buddies are out, start acting like the veteran and leader you should be and lift a struggling team on your shoulders. This is re-God damn- diculous.

This goes for everyone. Sure we have 6 guys out, but that just means other guys need to start waking up and realizing they need to contribute a little more, that this is their shot to prove why they're around.

And can we please trade Bourque for like a hot tub or something that actually is useful?

Frustrated,

Al

This is a link great interview with Garry Bettman by macleans.ca 

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/17/the-interview-gary-bettman/

I wanted to ask you all one question about an assumption Bettman has.

When his recent public opinion polls are pointed out to him he replied,

"That’s based on the coverage, not necessarily the reality".

Is this true?

I do not live in Pittsburgh and do not wish to assume how you think and feel.  So Im stopping by to present this poll and find out your thoughts on this matter

I have it in my head to create a cocktail for each Penguins player by the end of the season, unless somebody begs me to stop.  (No way can I do it every game.)   I created one for Chris Bourque last night.  This one's better by far, of course.  It is the one I actually drank.

I wanted to make something blue to match the blue jerseys.  Plus, Matt Cooke deserves to be celebrated for his two goals!  The blue color and Cooke's name came together when I named this drink.  It looks a bit fussy, but essentially, it's a Sonic Ocean Water with rum, something I often enjoyed when I lived close to a Sonic.   I added a lower-calorie option because most hockey fans don't have the metabolisms of professional hockey players.

Cookie Monster:

1 shot light rum
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar or Splenda blend
1 teaspoon imitation coconut extract
3 drops blue food coloring, give or take
1 12-ounce can cold lemon-lime soda
ice

Mix water and sugar in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add coconut extract and food coloring to the syrup. Stir well.

Combine blue syrup with lemon-lime soda. Add rum. Stir. Pour over ice into tumbler.

(Promoted from Fanposts - FrankD)

Well, after the Cussing Penguin, Hooks said he hoped I'd be able to post a celebratory drink. I fixed this for myself during a commercial in the second period. I don't normally name the drinks I invent--as with most of the food I make, I just throw things together based on the season, what is in my kitchen, and "eyeballing." But I want to make this again, and last night's game deserves to be immortalized!

This is a good deal stronger than the Cussing Penguin. I named it after Bill Guerin, even though he would probably consider it too girly, because I've been crazy about him since last year's playoffs that was one hell of a time for him to snap his goal-less streak, and luck doesn't get much better than that.

The Lucky 13

1 shot bourbon

1 1/2 ounces pomegranate liqueur

About 5-6 ounces apple cider

Dash allspice

Shake bourbon and pomegranate liqueur with 2-3 ice cubes in cocktail shaker. Pour it, ice cubes and all, into a tumbler (plastic's fine). Pour in apple cider until the glass is about full. Add allspice. Stir, then sip.

Since it isn't my objective to kill myself or anyone else, I should probably note that I mean non-alcoholic/sweet apple cider, not hard cider. If I were trying to impress you with my bartending skills, I'd strain out the ice, serve it in a chilled glass tumbler, and garnish it with a few pomegranate seeds. But hey, it's just game night.

With the Pens struggling to find scoring in the last few games I thought it's a good idea to see how are the WBS Penguins doing and what is there "to offer"...

So I watched my first WBS Penguins game ever (not as easy as it may sound...:) - a game @ Albany River Rats ("Baby" 'Canes) which we won 3:1

And decided to share my observations...

Caputi is already a more confident professional player and could easily be on the 3rd line in Pittsburgh from next season.

Tangradi and Veilleux are both bringing big bodies and some skills... I was actually more impressed with Veilleux...

My pre-game "next winger called-up" favorite Bayda made some Bourque-like misses, although he did get an ENG

Chris Lee and Brian Strait were the 2 best Dmen... but with Lee being a life-long AHL-er Strait is the one to keep an eye on. Guenin didn't impress me at all... too one-dimensional 

Brad Thiessen was in goal... and was absolutely stellar... almost singlehandedly kept the W in the 3rd

Letestu was not dressed which makes me think he is either being called-up tomorrow or he's injured... but I hope the first of those...

My girlfriend recently dropped some hints that she would love a Max Talbot jersey for Christmas.

Unfortunately, not being in Pittsburgh anymore has taken the black and gold out of my every day life and I'm trying to find the best place to get her a women's cut Talbot jersey.

NHL.com sells the Penguins women's cut premier jerseys starting for $79.99 without customization.  With the name and number customization, that price jumps to $129.99.  I noticed that some online retailers sell the pre-customized Crosby and Malkin women's cut jerseys for $104.99.  But, no superstar!

Having the current income of a graduate student, I'm just wondering if any of you know where I might be able to find what I'm looking for at a more reasonable price.

On a related note, I've always wondered why football jerseys were so much more expensive than hockey jerseys.  I went through the same struggle last Christmas.  But, eventually came through with a women's cut Heath Miller jersey for a pretty reasonable price.

Tonight, November 12, I planned to make classic cognac-based French 75 cocktails in my penguin-shaped cocktail shaker if the boys underperformed.  Unfortunately, I had the opportunity.  However, I didn't feel right about wasting champagne, not even the cheap and cheerful kind, on a cocktail on a weeknight.  Also, um, I have to work tomorrow.  So I substituted Lorina sparkling lemonade.  Chris Kunitz gave my tasty new cocktail its name.  It's bitter, like defeat, but with a slight edge of sweetness, like the knowledge that Evgeni Malkin will be back soon and Martin Brodeur didn't get to set a record for shutouts with our guys.

Cussing Penguin

1 1/2 ounce cognac
1 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
6 ounces sparkling lemonade

Mix cognac, lemon juice, and sugar in a cocktail shaker. Add crushed ice; shake until liquid is chilled. Pour cognac mixture in champagne flute. Pour in sparkling lemonade up to the top.