Category: Pittsburgh Penguins

It’s In The Bag

9 July, 2011 / Kat

I have a laundry list of blog posts to write up from my vacation. The handwritten list is growing by the day. The following may not be the most substantial, but I just had to share.

Every time I visit my hometown, I am on the hunt for Buffalo Bills merchandise that I wouldn’t be able to find online or even in the most overarching of Massachusetts sports stores. I found the perfect item on the last day of my vacation at In The Zone, a sports collectable store in the Mall at Greece Ridge in Rochester, NY.

Yes, that is a Buffalo Bills purse.

It’s actually one of the most practical purses I’ve ever bought. It is made from heavy duty fabric, has several pockets, and is roomy enough for me to use on the commute to and from work. It also has studs on the bottom corners to prevent the bag from getting ruined.

Not a Bills fan, or not in Rochester? Don’t worry. The purse is created by Charm 14 New York, and they have an entire line of classy and practical sports handbags available online. Look at this one for the Boston Red Sox fans among us:

And this one, which immediately made me think of my friend Sara:

Charm 14’s sport handbags are between $17.95 for a wrislet and $35.95 for the tote (though I did get my tote for less at In The Zone – pricing in stores seem to vary.) They also have wholesale packs for sale, perfect for if I ever open the SportsGirlKat gift shoppe. (And if you want to give me some kind of funding or location towards the SportsGirlKat gift shoppe, you know how to contact me.)

Dr. Pepper Makes a House Visit to the Pens

4 May, 2010 / Kat

A fountain Dr. Pepper machine. (Photo: sage.kitamorn.com)

While trying to hatch up some tough college hockey related NHL playoff trivia questions for my gig managing the Rival Films Facebook page, I noticed a press release on the Pittsburgh Penguins team page regarding the beverage contract for their new arena. The Consol Energy Center will have an exclusive beverage contract with Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, which means RC Cola, Dr. Pepper, A&W Ro

ot Beer, and 7Up will be flowing out of the concession stand fountain machines, and Snapple and Fiji water bottles will be available along side them. This is the first beverage deal for the Penguins in quite a while, and is one of the first I’ve ever heard where the exclusive beverage rights were given to someone who isn’t Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

Dr. Pepper? Fountain soda Dr. Pepper? Alongside hockey? Well, wrap me up and ship me UPS to Pittsburgh.

If there is a weakness I have in life, fountain soda/pop is undeniably it. Don’t even begin to tell me how awful it is for me – I am more than fully aware. Even a year working in the Campus Center Dining Hall at Ithaca College, where I was often made to change the disgusting looking syrups for the fountain soda machines, could not dissuade me. Before I became addicted to coffee, the rare occasion I had fountain soda was my vice. Continue reading

The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch: Riding a Taxi Without Paying a Dime

8 June, 2009 / Kat

033108_curry It’s been a while since we checked on Everyone’s Favorite Goalie – well, I mean, Everyone’s Favorite Goalie before Terrier fans were introduced to the John Curry clone that is Kieran Milan. (Thanks to blog commenter “Ogre” for jogging my memory to cover this topic.)

When we left last BU’s former starting goalie, Curry had returned to the AHL after impressing in his NHL debut around Thanksgiving. He then went on to set the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team record for number of wins in a season in March, ending the season with 37 (33 in the regular season, 4 in the playoffs.) Curry earned those 4 playoff wins by leading the Baby Penguins team through the first round of the playoffs against the Bridgeport SoundTigers, but not without suffering a knee injury in Game 5 of that series. (Of course, the SoundTigers are the team in which Curry participated in the now famous “goalie fight” last year. Can I just tell you that still, a year later, we play that video in the office when we’re having a particularly rough day? Or maybe it’s just me.)

Due to Curry’s injury, backup Adam Berkhoel received most of the starts in the Baby Pens series against the pesky Hershey Bears, which the Bears won on their way to the Calder Cup finals (in which they currently have a 3-1 series lead over the Cory Schneider led Manitoba Moose.)

But why is it then that a detail-oriented hockey fan might find Curry’s name on the active roster for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals? Because despite his knee injury, Curry was called up to be the third string goalie for the remainder of the playoffs for Pittsburgh. He is on what sports fans and writers call “the taxi squad.”

The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch: Groundhog Day

11 December, 2008 / Kat

According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Empty Netters blog, John Curry will get the start for the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. Isn’t this a case of deja vu? Curry’s first NHL start and win happened on November 24th against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.

It is hard to gather from the blogosphere if this start is more because of the two games in two nights schedule, or more because Dany Sabourin has been in net for three straight losses. While many (like The Pensblog and others) mention that while Sabourin hasn’t been awful, he hasn’t been awesome, and that him sitting a game might not be the worst idea. The general sense I’ve gotten from all that I’ve read is that the Penguins defense hasn’t been making plays when they need to, and that has been what has hurt them most, not necessarily goaltending.

Now, off to find a bar with NHL Center Ice that won’t break my holiday budget…

The Sports Funk

3 December, 2008 / Kat

I am in the midst of a heavy duty, foggy, cloudy, “I don’t know why I even pay attention to sports” sports funk. In the span of 48 hours this weekend, the following things happened:

-Everyone’s Favorite Goalie (aka John Curry) lost his first NHL start for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres. Despite the Pittsburgh announcers practically blowing out their microphones with the calls of his crazy contortionist saves in the third period, the Penguins defense neglected to play, and he was defenseless against four goals. I was able to view the FSN Pittsburgh coverage online, and on the bright side, the announcers and commentators did seem quite fond of Curry, and very pleased with his performance. It just would have been nicer if Sidney Crosby’s hat trick from Saturday had occurred one day earlier to help Curry out. Continue reading