Pens Host Kids Day

Roughly 18,000 kids in the Pittsburgh area were invited to a special game at CONSOL Energy Center on Saturday. The Penguins sponsored their second annual Kids Free Game that day versus the Minnesota Wild. My son was fortunate enough to be among those children because of a contest held by The PensNation blog (as previously stated in my ).

The sound of the kids chanting and cheering pushed more energy through the CONSOL Energy Center than any other game I have attended, save for game one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last April and the banner-raising at the home opener after the Pens won the 2009 Stanley Cup (not many games could compare to those).

Nevertheless, the over 100 youth hockey teams in attendance brought a different type of spirited atmosphere to CONSOL. It is a rare occasion to see almost every single body in the arena dancing when music plays during timeouts and play reviews.

The Penguins do a lot for the city of Pittsburgh as far as charity and fan appreciation go. That is one of the reasons I am such a big fan. The players spend a great deal of time performing charity work, especially for organizations that deal with children. Saturday’s game was another amazing gesture to the fan base to give away tickets to just about every single seat in the arena.

It is expensive to go to a Pens game. I was lucky this week to be able to take my son to two games at no charge (well, besides the embarrassing amount of money that was spent on food and merchandise). I can only imagine the cost of parents trying to take two or three children to a game. Just finding seats together would be a challenge, never mind the price and the cost once you’re in the door just for staying hydrated.

Saturday gave some families a chance to enjoy the sport together, as well as the kids a possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the Pens play with a large group of friends. There is little else that the Penguins organization could do that would make me appreciate them more than I already do.

Some notes from the actual game, which the Penguins won, 4-1:

• Congratulations to rookie Joe Morrow on his first goal at the NHL level, albeit in a preseason game.
• The Pens have a power play. No, seriously. They have a power play. And four power play goals on Saturday to prove it. It may also have helped a bit that Mike Yeo is the Wild’s coach. They have no power play or penalty kill.
• Geno is in full-out beast mode. And he is on Twitter now. It is seriously the best thing to happen to Twitter. Ever. Check him out @Malkin71.
• It only took two games for Matt Cooke to get a boarding penalty. Expect some penalties on Cooke this year .
• Kris Letang’s penalty for diving was craptastic. He was tripped.

I hope that the Pens continue to host the Kids Free Game. It was truly an amazing experience to see so many children enjoying the sport.