Back To The Point Is Gearing Up For A Return

It's true.

After nearly a year absence, we are gearing up for a return. Many life-altering things happened to the authors, including myself, over the last year and now that things have calmed down we are planning to start updating this site again.

That being said, let's get right into it shall we?

The Pittsburgh Penguins are the defending Stanley Cup Champions and I couldn't be happier.

The Pens winning the Cup last season was the turning point of my year. I had just gotten laid off, bills were piling up and I had to take a job as a waiter at a Chili’s just to make ends meet.

On top of it all, my fiancée and I were planning our wedding.

The Pens were one of the only things that kept my mind of the tornado of suck that was draining me.

The longer the playoff run went, the more absorbed I became in it and the hope grew that things might turn around for me too.

After dispatching the Flyers (again), the Capitals (who didn't like seeing Alex Ovechkin cry?), and then sweeping the Canes under the rug, the rematch of the century was set.

Pens Vs. Wings Volume 2

Part of me felt all along that things would be different this time around and after the first two games, I still believed.

Games 3 and 4 went to the Pens and I was riding high.

Then, my hopes were nearly crushed when the Wings took a 3-2 lead in the series with a 5-0 drubbing.

I had to work at Chili’s during Game 6.

My shift ended right after the second period and there was no way I was driving home and missing any part of it.

I'm fairly certain there's still nail marks in the bar as I and the Pens held on for dear life in the final seconds.

Rob Scuderi made a couple saves while on his knees in the crease to preserve the 2-1 decision and to force a Game 7.

Around that time, I got a call from WBZ in Boston to come up and fill in part-time for a woman going out on maternity leave.

Why is that important?

My first day was the day of Game 7.

I left the office at 5 p.m. and got into my car in the middle of rush hour traffic in Beantown.

Of course that was probably dumb on my part, but I needed to get up to go visit my parents in Maine.

After I cleared the city limits, I floored it and made it to my parents' house with just enough time to change and turn on the game.

As stated before somewhere on this blog, my dad hates the Penguins and the rest of the family are all Bruins fans, so watching Game 7 at home was like being the road team.

Just like the Pens.

I'll never forget watching Talbot bury two goals and jumping off the couch fighting back tears after Marc-Andre Fleury robbed Nick Lidstrom as time expired.

A couple weeks later, I get a call from KDKA in Pittsburgh with a job offer.

Now I'm actually living in the same general area as the hockey team I have spent my entire life following.

It's beyond surreal to drive into the city every day and see the Igloo and know I work just blocks from the arena.

Even today, I froze my twins off outside the arena on the off-chance that Sidney Crosby would come out and sign the jersey I have been trying to get him to sign for 2 years.

He did too. Now I've got that to go along with my Marc-Andre Fleury signed jersey, also obtained outside the Igloo last year.



In any event, this season has been nuts so far and some of you may have seen me blogging on KDKA.com.

I'll still be making cameo appearances on there while I work on carving out a niche over there, but I write a majority of the previews of Pens games. Just go to www.kdka.com/penguins and look for any of the previews.

But tonight is a game-night and the Pens have a chance to get back into first place in the Atlantic Division with a win over the New York Rangers.

The Penguins have won all four previous meetings this season and have won seven straight games against the Rags overall.

Stay tuned for more on the Pens as we begin to get Back To The Point.

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CaseySheaPens