All Penscations must come to an end…but what better way to end it than in Pittsburgh hungry for a win against division rival Blue Jackets!

Hot Dogs don’t go well with cold weather! These coupla dumb hot dogs decided to stay warm with some good food and conversation at Buford’s Kitchen across from the arena. It was a nice change of pace from the hot dog diet we had been living on while on the road!

Upon arrival to the arena, we were greeted with cheers and smiles – no matter where you go, people love a coupla all-American hot dogs.

We met a fan of the game from Seattle who is super excited to have a venue to watch hockey and cheer for the Pens occasionally, and should Seattle get a team in the near future, I know a coupla hot dogs who are excited to be there in their inaugural season!

The first period did not go to the way we would have liked with back to back goals from Columbus in the first from Sonny Milano and Boone Jenner. Several beautiful attempts by the Pens were thwarted by the experience and skill of Sergei Bobrovsky.

The highlight of the first was being interviewed by the Pens Social Media team! Look for us in an upcoming social media article from the Pens!

The second period brought us a little more action with a quick snap shot by Conor Sheary. Bobrovsky and Murray put on a clinic of saves throughout the second period, but the period ended at 3-1 CBJ after a Panarin wrist shot found its way past Murray top shelf.

We had traveled over 11,000 miles to cheer for our favorite, Phil Kessel, and we had yet to see a goal in our four-game stretch. Surely, he wouldn’t disappoint, would he? We got a caricature with him, let him stay with us in each city, and even ate hot dogs in every city. We made our sacrifices to the hot dog gods – if it was going to happen, it needed to happen in the next period.

In the second intermission, we reconnected with one of the first fans we met in Las Vegas and visited the high school hockey team jerseys including a couple from Wheeling, where one of us was born and cased.

Alas! The Hockey Gods are starting to smile upon us! Three minutes in, we were treated to a Phil Kessel Power Play Goal the likes of which a brick wall couldn’t have kept out of the net. The shot came with such force that after hitting Bobrovsky, it was fitting that Kessel seemed to will it over the line using the Force or some Jedi mind trick. We came for a Peng-win, but this made all we had done in the name of hot dogs worthwhile.

Panarin scored another goal for CBJ at the 10-minute mark, but another snap shot from Kessel with six minutes left dropped a puck at the front door for Malkin to nudge over the line! We were still in this game!

Two minutes left. Two minutes left. We can do this. BOOM! Jake and Bake Guentzel with one of the sweetest plays of the entire Penscation trip on a pass across crease from Hornqvist! Tie Game!

An exciting but scoreless OT (after a reversed Crosby goal) brought us to SHOOTOUT! Murray shined in shootout while Malkin and Crosby made their goals look effortless to sure up a victory!!!! What a cherry on top for Penscation 2017!

Special thanks to our new recruit, Eric Blend, and Luke and Paul Zyla for being seen in public with a coupla goofy hot dogs!

We were Rocky Mountain High after our win in Phoenix and ready to cheer for the Pens with a few special guests – my brother and sister-in-law. My brother calls Denver home now, but he still bleeds black and yellow like any good Yinzer.

We enjoyed some local craft brews as soon as we hit town and witnessed the ebb and flow that is the Steelers vs Patriots game. We are primarily hockey dogs, but we like a good football game as much as next hot dog.

Phil was rummaging through the refrigerator late and early the next morning complaining about the serious lack of hot dogs in this health-conscious refrigerator. We assured him we would make a wiener run after stopping for bagels. No, Phil. They don’t have a hot dog smear.

Finally, we made our way to the classiest hot dog wholesale establishment in all of the greater Denver area, Walmart.

It’s no Smith’s hot dogs, but you aren’t in Pittsburgh anymore. That’s a party-dahn-by-the-river dog, not a mountain climbing dog.

We hoped that appeasing the hot dog gods would bring us another win. We arrived at Biker Jim’s to get a taste of that Rocky Mountain cuisine, and Phil was excited! It was delicious.

We arrived early and parted ways with Phil to find our seats, and what a view! A Coupla Dumb Hot Dogs feat. Mickey and Alyssa

Ultimately, the game did not go the way we wanted, but we stay confident in a couple tweaks that will get us back on top again. The game is more than a score – it’s the people you share it with and the memories you make. We met a lot of great people in Denver. Special thanks to Mickey and Alyssa for putting up with our corny hot dog humor and being great hosts again. We love Denver so much, we did it twice!

After the disappointing loss in Las Vegas, we were definitely hungry for a win…and another hot dog. We decided to do game-time dogs this time – after all, hot dogs are hot dogs the world around. I think it’s safe to say that Gila River Arena has the best hot dogs in all of Gila River Arena adjacent areas.

 

The Chicago Dogs in Phoenix are on point!

We arrived at Gila River Arena ready to cheer on the Pens, and we enjoyed talking with Pens nation from all over the country and world before the game. It was incredible to see how many Pens fans traveled for this game: the chants of “Let’s Go Pens” was deafening!

We took pictures with adoring fans and even had a couple of people who remembered us from Vegas. Howler even made time to take a picture with us!In this leg of the trip, we met a couple more members of Hot Dog Nation, and it was apparent that we are starting to amass an army.

We got off to slow start, but we drew first blood. The game ultimately ended up tied up at 2 each until Olli Maata blew one past Raanta right in front of us with less than a minute left! As a bonus, Sid was able to net an empty netter before :00.

We had a great time in Phoenix. It was great to get that crucial win to get us out of our funk and take us on to Denver. Phil can’t wait to get to Denver and do some sightseeing!

Look for more pictures of Phil tomorrow!

When we set out on this trip, I don’t really think any of us had expected how crazy this day was going to turn out to be.  I mean, we have traveled all the way across the country with hot dog suits and Phil “American Hero/Two Time Stanley Cup Champion/NHL Nice Guy” Kessel… but yesterday was NUTS!

We started off at the Grand Bazaar Shops on the Strip.  Matt and I are not exactly “shoppers” but Marc needed to grab a new Pens hat to complete his game day wardrobe.  Met a few pens fans and they asked to take a photo….. then the photos didn’t stop 🙂 

Phil needs a bit of makeup….

Stopped to get a caricature! (Prints will be available for #penscation superfans, LOL!)

Our new friends Kristy and Cory from Maryland.. they also met Flava Flav.. We think they were more excited to see us 😛

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Our first hotdog stop of the trip was Dirt Dog. The dogs were unbelievable!!

Thank you so much to Justin and Kai for their amazing service!

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The House Wins…

We arrived at T-mobile Arena surrounded by Penguins fans from all over. Our walk to the the arena took twice as long as it would normally, but that’s what happens when you are traveling with an American Hero like Phil. We had our pictures taken with dozens of fans and we were even featured on the Penguins Snapchat Story!

The Black and Gold continued to pour into the Arena, but alas we needed to part ways with Phil and go to our seats. Special thanks to the Valet staff at the Monte Carlo for allowing us to leave our sign with them until after the game.

The game didn’t go as we were hoping, but it was great seeing Marc-Andre Fleury back in net and putting on a 2009-esque performance. We made friends with a couple from Alberta and bonded over a mutual love of Sidney Crosby and, more generally, hockey. Hockey brings people of all types together.

Despite the game not going the way we wanted, we had a great time. (2-1 VGK) We were in Las Vegas in their inaugural season! T-Mobile Arena is a great new hockey venue, and the Golden Knights are pulling out all of the stops to try to build a loyal fan base for this new franchise.  Our only gripe is that there was WAAAAYYYYY too much Carrot Top. Apparently he is the #1 comedian in Las Vegas… Pretty sure the seats we were sitting in tickled us more than Mr. Top, but then again… what do we know? We are just a coupla hot dogs from WV.

This might be hard to believe, but two hot dogs walking down the street wasn’t the most unusual thing seen in Las Vegas yesterday 😜 – we may have to turn up the heat on our hot doggin’ humor in Phoenix.

Nothing like enjoying some hot dogs in bed before the game #penscation

It’s crisp. We’ve made it. 53 stories up – the view is incredible, but we’ve come for one sight in particular – a Pens win in their first-ever game in Vegas.

We’ve seen and talked to a number of people here specifically for the game. Flights of fans from all over the country have converged to get this West Coast Swing amped up. There’s a good feeling in the air tonight. We’re here. We’re ready. Pensnation and Penscation: a winning combination.

It’s an early morning for day 1 of Penscation. 4:00 am wake up calls are never fun or easy, but it will be nice to be in Vegas before noon.

Gotta get that cup of Johann….

Soundtrack: ERRA – Impulse

More later!

MZ