Turkey Day

10 Things I'm Thankful For

1. The bed of Pierrette and Jean Lemieux- Where young Mario was created sometime in early 1965. This was the moment of creation for essentially everything good that has happened to Pittsburgh hockey since 1990, and something every Pens fan should be thankful for.

2. Mohegan Sun Arena- Was nearly a lost cause little more than a decade ago had it not been for the hard work of some determined folks. Without this arena, hockey probably wouldn't hold the place in my life that it does and Northeast PA would be an area controlled by Flyers fans. (Scary thought)

3. Ed Rendell- Not often I thank him, but I will say that had he not funded the Consol Energy Center back in 2007, I would probably be doing my Pens blogging on some KC Royals/Chiefs blog somewhere distant on the interwebs. (Also a scary thought)

4. 2005 NHL Draft Lottery Ping Pong Ball- Had the ball that said Penguins not shown up on the top of the barrel, Sid would probably be in Buffalo or Columbus and the Pens would've ended up with either Bobby Ryan or Benoit Pouliot. (Maybe the scariest thought yet)

5. Gary Bettman- Ok, settle down jobbers. I say this because there is no denying how much better the NHL has gotten since the lockout. (NO MORE TIES) Plus the popularity of not only the Pens but the entire league has soared since then. Ok, yes the lockout was sort of his fault, but everything turned out ok in the long run.

6. Andy Chiodo- I firmly believe to this day that it was partially Chiodo's solid play that has made Fleury the goalie he is today. A little known fact about Mr Fleury is that for a while down in WBS, the fans completely rejected him in favor of Chiodo. Andy had the hot glove in '04, and Fleury had to commit himself to win his starts.

7. Bob Murray- (Ducks GM) Chris Kunitz AND Eric Tangradi for Ryan Whitney. HA, HA, and HA.

8. Dan Carcillo- Because fighting with a 3 goal lead is what all the cool kids do. Shhh........

9. Rob Scuderi- His SCF Game 6 play still remains one of the greatest things I've ever seen and possibly a Cup saver. (We'll never know for sure, but sudden death OT facing elimination is never a favorable situation.)

10. Patrick Kane- All the Chicago cabbies may feel differently, but the entire NHL thanks him for his GWG last June vs the Flyers. Did me a huge personal favor not to have to listen to chirping Flyers fans all summer.