It was happiness built entirely on circumstance-- I freely acknowledge that-- but I was convinced on Tuesday afternoon that I was happier than I'd ever been or I'd ever be. To begin, I was nearing the end of Tom Perrotta's Little Children and I'm just insanely excited for the movie to come out. I really admire Field's In the Bedroom and I've spent some time the last few weeks conjuring a vision of what the novel (or, more precisely, the novel's themes) could look like on-screen.
A little after noon on Tuesday a co-worker stopped me in the hall and asked me if I like hockey. I said: yes. She offered me four tickets to that night's game, and I eagerly accepted. We'd never be able to take the kids to a game normally; it's too cost-prohibitive. The last time I'd taken Leah and Ruby to a hockey game was a couple of years ago when I'd gotten seats from my old firm. Gin had never been to a game, and she's just at the edge of being able to be carried in. So the five of us crammed into four seats in B15, right behind the net where the Pens shoot twice. It was a perfect night.
How perfect? Each of their first-round lottery picks from the past three years scored goals. Crosby and Malkin showed instant chemistry in being stuck together on the top line for the first extended time. Oh, I'll just repost what I wrote at the preeminent Pittsburgh sports blog, Mondesi's House:
...The crowd was smallish-- about 13,000-- but really into the game. The atmosphere is getting back to the 90s vibe, where every time you went to the Igloo there was the chance of something great happening.
We were in B15, so Malkin's goal was right in front of us. I just stood there gape-mouthed. Couldn't believe it. His deke and the backhand with his body twisted the other way is straight out of the 66 playbook. Mark Recchi made that comparison earlier, and while it's pretty heady, there are definite similarities. Plus, after seeing the way Aleksey Morozov (for his whole career) and even Markus Naslund (for the first year or so he played for the Pens) hung around on the periphery and waited for the puck to come to them, it's so different to see the way Malkin makes the play come to him, driving through the zone, seeking out contact, never giving up on a play. The guy's got all of four NHL games under his belt and plays with crazy poise.
Speaking of poise, I've seen Sid take penalties in both the games I've attended, and I think he's matured. He whines less, makes less of a huff and just goes to the box. It's still early, but that's a great sign that he's doing the things that a de facto captain has to do to get ice cred.
It's early, and there's no reason to get ahead of ourselves. It's probably more 88-89 than 90-91 or 91-92, but this team IS going to contend for a playoff spot. They work hard most of the time and are going to hover at least at .500...
Just how great was Malkin's goal? See for yourself.
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Today's Post-Gazette quotes Mark Cuban, who was in town a night early before the Cavs-Mavs preseason game, gushing over Malkin's handiwork:
After watching Malkin and Crosby last night, oh my God!" he said about 90 minutes before tipoff. "No wonder the Russians are coming after that kid. He should have been a state secret. Even if you'd have scored that fourth goal with a basketball, people would still be talking about it. There aren't many times, aren't many things anymore that you're watching and your jaw just drops.
Here's where I'm at with this. We moved into our present house in February of '05 and have been sans cable since then in the latest twist to our on-again, off-again relationship with the Devil's Wire. It's been easy to hold the line when the Penguins have been abysmal, but things have changed. Now it's down to this: if they go into Philly and beat a just-shaken-up Flyers team on Saturday night, I'm signing on the line that is dotted.
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