I got downtown early so I could walk around a bit and take photos of my adopted city. It was an overcast day, which is rare for here--welcoming the Penguins to town by acting Pittsburgh'y.
A view up Kellogg towards St Paul Cathedral.
The famous Mickey's Diner.
Looking up the Mississippi towards Minneapolis.
Love these banners. And love that they say "hockey fans" not "Wild fans"
Landmark Center, the most beautiful building in St Paul.
F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Landmark Center close up.
Triumphant Herbie. Maybe my favorite part of St Paul. Tucked in a little corner, the backdoor entrance to the convention center, the opposite end from the arena. Just perfect.
We got these ridiculous hats for a giveaway. I was praying someone (on either team!) would get a hat trick so I could get rid of it (and because I've never seen a hatty!), but it was not to be.
I have been DREAMING about mini corn dogs since I was a child and they used to have them at the Monroeville Mall. I have no clue if they've always had them at Wild games--to be honest, I usually don't eat at arenas because it's expensive and not usually good, but I figured I'd treat myself this night. Plus I'm usually on the upper level where there are less food choices. ANYWAY I love this stuff! They weren't perfect, but they were pretty good. I also had some decent hot chocolate.
Then the warmups finally started. I almost started crying when the Penguins came out, I was just so happy to see them! Even though we were missing Sid and Geno and Tanger and Orpik and Jeffrey, and Fleury wasn't starting....it didn't matter. I'd love anyone in a Penguins jersey.
Jordan. I got a ton of photos of him.
Chris Kunitz. I almost named my cat Kunitz after him. Sometimes I still think she's a Kunitz.
This is Cookie, being a troll.
Cookie went over and stood in front of Fleury, who promptly punched him in the head a couple times, playfully. It made me actually giggle.
I was so glad that even with all the crap going on--the awful loss in Winnipeg the night before, a ton of games in a couple nights, missing half the team ONCE AGAIN etc--the team was goofing off and loose and light-hearted. That is one of the things that amazes me again and again about this team. They refuse to see themselves as victims and they refuse to get down about anything, and their spirit goes a long, long way.
James Neal, Fleury, and Staal stayed on the ice longer than anyone.
After the buzzer went off, when everyone else had left, they weren't even really practicing, they were just goofing off, having fun. Fleury wasn't even starting.
They reminded me of kids who need to be called in to supper. Again, I just love their attitudes.
Got to my seat, and the game started.
I had great seats!
Here's the National Anthem.
A photo from the game.
The end, celebrating. They won 4-2 and it was just an amazing game. I was so proud of them for coming out hard and playing hard and pulling out a fantastic win.
I'll have to head back to the X sometime to actually enjoy the Wild, but for this night, I was more than happy to represent as a Pittsburgher away from home.
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