When it was announced by the Penguins that season ticket holders would have an oportunity to have their picture taken with Lord Stanley’s Cup the questions began to swirl. How many would take advantage of the oportunity to have a picture with the trophy on Penguins ice? When would be the best time to show up; early or later to beat any potential log jams? Well, yesterday, the first of two days when the cup was available, and when season ticket holders with names in the first half of the alphabet were given tickets for, the answers were unmistakable; nearly every damn one and it did not matter.

Yes, even when we arrived at 11:45 AM (over a full four hours BEFORE our recommended time) the line was out the door of gate one, down the sidewalk to Center Avenue and then around the bend down to Washington Place. Inside the line was wrapped around the concourse from Gate one all the way back to section C5/6 the long way around. Then the line wound down the steps and out to center ice.

The impressive thing? No one seemed to care. Yes, by the time we got out of there at 4:45 (five hours later) there was not bitching or moaning from those around us in line the entire time. People talked, children played and everyone accepted the long march to the single reason why we had all shown up. Even when people who had already had their pictures taken told those standing outside that the wait was five hours the groans were light if existent at all. Everyone seemed to expect this sort of turn out.

Here some pictures from yesterday’s wait in line:

The End of the line when we arrived

Me and Charlotte waiting in line (about 30 minutes after arriving)

Charlotte and mommy taking a stroll

Charlotte gets a ride (about 60 minutes after arriving)

Just inside Gate 1 (We have to walk all the way around)

Waiting once inside

a short break from walking

Soooooo close

Finally! Mommy and Charlotte on the ice

The Grand Prize! Lord Stanley's Cup!

Oh, and just in case you thought that the line might get shorter late in the day?  Well, let’s just say we are damn glad we did not wait until 4:00 pm to show up!

The line at 5PM was still looooooooong!

I just want to thank the entire Penguins organization for this wonderful experience and if you have tickets for today to get your picture with the cup well my suggestion is get there as early as you can!

How good John Tavares, the Islander’s 2009 first round pick, will be and how much he will help a team that has struggled in recent years despite trying to build a formidable team will not be known for some time. But there is no denying that the kid has talent and his hungry to prove himself as an NHL talent. With a goal and an assist in his debut, he will have to be watched.

But even with that performance it was Sidney Crosby and the Penguins that won on Saturday night, a day after the Penguins opened their season with a win against the Rangers and on a night that was the Islanders season opener. His Sidness opened the scoring at 8:50 of the first taking a bank pass off the board from Fedotenko and the other side of the ice to get behind the defense. Crosby cut into the offensive zone, behind the defense and opened up Islander goal tender Roloson for the 1-0 lead. The first period was a sloppy period for the Penguins however as they started taking too many uncharacteristic and down right bad penalties. After Brenden Witt put a clean open ice hit on Ruslan Fedotenko McKee and Malkin both got sent to the box and McKee’s penalty for instigating, a penalty the NHL has said they would enforce this year, was extremely painful as it gave the Islanders a 5-3 on which they scored to tie the game at 1-1.

In the second Tavares (1) scored to make the game 2-1. But in the third at 7:19 of the frame Mark Eaton (1) scored to not the score at 2. Less than half a minute later however, the Islanders Trent Hunter (1) put the home team back on top. It wasn’t until less than four minutes remained at 16:11 that Fedotenko (1) scored and the Penguins played hard down the stretch to force overtime.

After a scoreless 5:00 of OT the shootout sealed the deal for the Penguins with both of the first two lslander shooters missing high glove side on Fleury (something I have regularly pointed out in the past seemed to be his weakness) and both Letang and Crosby beating Roloson on the first two shots the Pens would take.

Fleury was spectacular again stopping 25 of 28 shots and making big saves by kicking out the pads and flashing leather when needed to stop what appeared to be primo scoring chances by the Isles. With a 2-0 mark to open the season the Penguins are off until Wednesday when they return home to host the Pheonix Coyotes.