Whoooooooooo!

Do it.

Let's get this done so we can go on vacation.

Game 7. The final game.

Mike Tomlin, my colleague and one of the greatest leaders I have ever met, frequently talks about the importance of looking forward and not backward. Just yesterday, when discussing the recent Steeler workout minicamp with the media, he said, "I am not concerned about what happened in '05, '06 -- '07 or '08 for that matter," said Tomlin. "I am a singularly focused guy. My single focus is on developing a world championship-caliber team for 2009." Not to dismiss what happened last season because "it was an awesome team," Tomlin said. But, "Where we are is where we are. Where we are headed, more importantly than that, is our focus."

For the Penguins to win tonight, they must adopt the same "singularly focused" attitude. They must forget about every game that has passed and focus all of their thoughts, energy, and intensity on tonight's game. Nothing else exists. Their focus must be razor sharp. If they can do that, they will cut through their opponents like butter. The season ends tonight. The only question is which team will be the champions.

Bill Guerrin and a Chicken

The Save

In the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1991, the Pittsburgh Penguins trailed the New Jersey Devils 3 games to 2. Their #1 goaltender, Tom Barrasso, was injured in game 5, leading some to believe that the season was nearly over. Barrasso's backup was a young man from Niagra Falls, Ontario, named Frank Pietrangelo. He was drafted by the Penguins in 1988 to be used as a solid back-up, and was never viewed as a player with great potential who could make it as a starting goaltender in the NHL. However, with Barrasso injured, Pietrangelo got his chance to start games 6 and 7, both must-win games if the Penguins wanted to move on to the next round. In the first period of game 6, after a face-off in his own zone, a quick lateral pass left Pietrangelo on one side of the net and the Devil's Peter Stastny on the other side with the puck. It should have been an easy goal for Stastny, who basically only had to shoot into the empty net. Out of nowhere, Pietrangelo dove to his left and grabbed the puck out of mid-air as it came off of Stastny's stick. The career back-up saved not only a goal but the entire season, as the Penguins went on to win game 6 by a score of 4-3. The next game, he recorded a shut out as the Penguins beat the Devils 4-0 to move onto the next round, eventually winning the first of two Stanley Cups. His game 6 save became known in Pittsburgh sports lore simply as "The Save." You can see a YouTube video of it here (click for link).

In my previous post, I said that the Penguins would win game 6 if a hero emerged. That hero was Rob Scuderi, the quietly reliable defenseman who blocked multiple shots during the game, but most importantly blocked an open net goal with only seconds left in the third period to save the Penguins 1 goal lead and allow them to win the game.



These two examples from the past and present show that heroes don't always have to come from expected places. They can often be most effective when they come unexpectedly out of the blue. To win game 7, to go into hostile territory and defeat a superior opponent, everyone on that team needs to step up and be a hero. There's no other way to do it.

Yes We Can.

It all comes down to Game 7. The hardest work is still ahead.

Superbowl ring

Today, I received my Superbowl Ring from Superbowl XLIII. As I am a panda of rather small stature, the ring is too big for me to wear. Additionally, I believe in looking toward the future and not dwelling on past accomplishments. However, the ring is a nice memento, so I put it in my safety deposit box at PNC and will pull it out from time to time and think back fondly on the 2008-2009 Pittsburgh Steelers.