Penguin Power

A few weeks ago the Bishop approached me after Ward Council. He had been given 24 sky box tickets to a Penguins game and wanted to use those tics for a father/daughter and father/son activity. My initial excitement soon turned into a dilemma when the date he mentioned happened to be the YW General Broadcast. We considered several different scenarios. What a relief when a few weeks later one of the fathers pointed out that we must have the wrong date, because the Penguins didn't have a game on that Saturday night. The game was actually on Friday night, the night prior to the broadcast. After a trial of your faith come the blessings. The YW could do both.

As word spread about the tickets, so did the desire of many people to attend that game. I kept teasing the bishop about flying my dad in so I could attend. I was extremely excited when I received a last minute call telling me to bring Hannah over to his house and be ready just in case one particular father and daughter pair didn't show up. A few minutes before 6pm we got the call. Yeah, we were in. As much as the bishop wanted to attend, he gave the youth and their fathers the fullest opportunity and did his best to encourage them to attend. He was also a last minute attendee. Impressive.

I am now a hockey fan. What an exciting game. I'd only been to one hockey game before and that was a minor league game I attended on Omaha with my brother Danny.

The fact that we had the VIP treatment and the best seats in the house might have helped my new found enthusiasm. We were in the Consol sky box in the Consol Energy Center. Our seats were on the center line of the ice. We had free parking in the center itself. We were provided unlimited pizza, subs, chips, cookies and drinks. Our tickets had a face value of $200. What an incredible opportunity for the youth and their fathers. We did have a few fathers that I've never seen attend anything before.

Our box was next to the Penguins owner's box, Mario Lemiuex. Mario himself was right there. If you blow up the group photo he is sitting in the box next to us and can be seen behind Allie. Before coming to Pittburgh I only knew two names from hockey - Wayne Gretsky and Mario Lemiuex and Mario was right there. I admit I had to call my brother Danny and rub it in.

Matt and I had an incredible evening.  Thanks to those who made it possible!