My visit with Lord Stanley

So today, the Stanley Cup made its way to Wilkes-Barre, PA...home of the Penguins' AHL affiliate. As a Baby Penguins season ticket holder, I had the privilege of getting to see the Cup in person today at our arena. It was part of the festivities for the first annual Black and Gold game, a scrimmage between members of the Pittsburgh Penguins who were still on the training camp roster.

When we went into the arena, the Cup was at the west entrance and the line started near one of the seating areas when you walked almost all the way around the arena. While in line we could also view displays from the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Art Ross, Conn Smythe, and Prince of Wales trophies were also on hand...you could photograph any of the other displays while in line. The displays from the HHOF featured among other things...Crosby's game worn skates, Ty Conklin's mask from the Winter Classic in 2008, and vintage Penguins jerseys.

My friend and I waited about an hour to have our pictures taken. We gave our cameras to people who work for the team and they took the picture. Once done, we could step back and take pics of the Cup by itself. However, I waited until the Black and Gold game to take a picture of it on top of a military truck.

This is me with the Stanley Cup. My jersey of choice is a Chris Kunitz Penguins home replica jersey with the 2009 SCF patch attached. For the game, I acted as any good jersey addict would and put on a different jersey...a WBS Penguins John Curry road replica.

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This is the Cup on top of a military truck outside the arena prior to the game. Some people were even giving their cameras to the army personnel to take photos of the Cup. It was neat to see! I am really pleased with how this photo turned out!

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Oh, and the game itself was great. Crosby and Malkin were on separate teams and got to take faceoffs against each other. Marc Andre Fleury, Brent Johnson, Curry, and rookie Brad Theissen all got time in net. Kris Letang, Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin, Pascal Dupuis, Eric Godard, Chris Kunitz, and Craig Adams were also in attendance and playing. It was awesome to see all these guys in AHL Penguins jerseys. In fact, most of last year's Pittsburgh team was playing as long as they weren't hurt. Unfortunately Max Talbot is healing from shoulder surgery and didn't play New addition Mike Rupp also took part. We also got to see some great propsects such as Theissen, Robert Bortuzzo, Ben Lovejoy, and Alex Goligoski.

Hope you guys enjoy the pics. I can post more upon request!