Penguins - Week 15

The Penguins played at home Monday and then hit the road Thursday and Saturday. I don’t work Mondays, so it was a quiet week on the ice for me last week.

I also wrapped up my time at the Globe with our last night of layout Monday and our last issue hitting newsstands Wednesday.

The Penguins have been on a tear as of late, winning five straight games to start December.

My bigger focus right now is on the Three Rivers Classic. I’ve reached out to each of the four teams playing in the tournament (Boston College, Robert Morris, Ferris State, and Quinnipiac) to try and interview their coaches or players for my game stories that will appear on penguins.nhl.com in the days before the tournament.

I’ve also been preparing game note ideas for our notes packet that we’ll create for the tournament. I went into the office last week to meet with our graduate assistant, Morgan, to brainstorm some ideas. I’m writing all of the notes for RMU and BC who are both having successful seasons so far.

I’m going back to the office Tuesday to finalize our game notes so the graphics intern can compile them into fancy-looking packets for the tournament.

The rest of the week was spent basically checking our Penguins PR email account several times per day to keep up with credential requests.

The Penguins begin a four-game homestand Monday against Arizona. I’m working Point Park basketball Monday and will not work that game. I’ll then work as the only intern on Wednesday’s nationally televised game against Boston and Friday’s game against Los Angeles. Pittsburgh hosts the New York Rangers next Tuesday to wrap up the homestand.

Then the team has four games until the end of the season, and with every passing week, it becomes more realistic that this incredible internship has to come to an end. 

Penguins - Week 14

What a busy and involved week with the Penguins after a few quiet ones.

It started Wednesday on my birthday when I went into the office briefly to create the credentials for the Dallas game. Nothing crazy, just a couple hours on my birthday working for the Stanley Cup Champions.

Thursday and Saturday's games both put me and my game notes to the test when the Penguins scored three and four third-period goals, respectively. We write the notes as the game progresses, and when the team scores a lot in the third, it creates a challenging task to get caught up on all of the pieces of information we research at once.

The Penguins continued their streak of seven games without losing two in a row Thursday to defeat Dallas 6-2. After Saturday, the Penguins improved to 10-2-1 at PPG Paints Arena (I'm still getting used to the name) and have been really fun to watch on home ice.

It really has been fun to see this team improve and evolve this season. I really feel like I'm contributing, even if it's just a little bit, to the organization.

Saturday looked like it was going to be another loss for the Pens, who trailed 3-1 heading into the third period. We were prepared for a short post game.

Well the Penguins did what they had done four times before Saturday - complete a third-period comeback. They scored four goals in the period to win 5-3. It was amazing to watch. And while It's stressful trying to compile several stats and notes on the fly, I love the rush.

I've learned to study the notes as much as possible before the game and during the first period so I can be prepared for whenever something happens during the game to make a note of it. It reminds me of preparing to go on the air for a broadcast. I'll maybe only use 10 percent of the material I prepared or researched, but that 10 percent pays off.

Overall, we did some solid work last week. Friday morning, we were rewarded with an intern breakfast with VPs and executives of the Penguins, including Assistant General Manager Bill Guerin and CEO David Morehouse. We had an enjoyable breakfast and got to meet several of the team's executives and have a nice Q&A session.

We also received further instructions for the upcoming Three Rivers Classic. The team is sending out its request for credentials Monday afternoon and the interns have to start checking the Pens PR email account for questions and credential requests.

My main assignment is to research and write stories and game notes for each team and the general tournament. The stories will get published on the Penguins website and the game notes will be distributed to the media members. This is our big final project that comes the last handful of days in December. It's coming up quickly.

This week and next will be focused on researching and preparing my story ideas to recap the teams' seasons moving forward.

So it will be a couple hours per day now as we wind down and get closer to the tournament working on preparation for the big week.

It's a great day for hockey! 

Penguins - Week 13

The Penguins had two home games last week - one Monday and one Saturday - and I had the chance to work Saturday's game against New Jersey. What a game.

Pittsburgh pulled its goalie with one minute remaining trailing 3-2. We were in the office getting ready for a quick postgame following a tough loss.

Then, Sidney Crosby pulled a loose puck out of a scrum of players and flipped it over the goalie's left shoulder for the tying goal. So, we went to overtime and braced for a long night just seconds after prepping for a short night.

The game went to a shootout, where Kris Letang scored the game-deciding goal and lifted the Penguins to a 4-3 victory.

We watched from our office that is across from the Penguins locker room and directly behind the Penguins' bench in the arena and proofed our post game graphics and game notes. For the first time, I took the game notes all to myself and wrote the entirety of them. One of the game night staffers proofed them.

I went to the locker room for sound after the three stars were announced. I've figured out clever ways to sneak around the media scrums to get as close to the players as possible to get the best sound possible. They like to go right in front of them, and so I sneak around them and just stand beside the player.

Saturday, I did just that and was right beside Crosby, Letang and goalie Matt Murray.

I went to coach's press conference afterwards as usual and then we went back to the office to wrap up. My boss always goes over our work after the game and had several compliments for the game notes, which made me really happy.

Before the game, I sat in my boss's office with all three of my supervisors and had my midterm evaluation, a few weeks past the midterm. They all told me I've been doing a great job and we went over my plans for the near future. It was a productive meeting, to say the least.

I have some photos below that give an inside look to the press box that I took Saturday.

My birthday is on Wednesday next week when I go in for pre game prep. I work Thursday's game and then might have to go back Friday to help prep for the Three Rivers Classic.

The long hallway in the press box. The game is just on the other side of the wall to the left. 

We post rosters, seating charts, and stats in between periods on these boards.

Our booth in the press box

A shot of my seat where I write game notes 

Our lovely printer

Penguins - Week 12

The Penguins were on the road for the entire week once again, but I still had to go in on Thursday for a couple hours. They didn’t tell me ahead of time what I was needed for.

I arrived at the office Thursday and was asked by my boss to have something to write on.

“There’s going to be a lot of information,” he said.

There was a lot of information.

We went into my other boss’s office and got straight to business. He had multiple copies of press releases he’s written in the past for different player moves the Penguins have made (trades, signings, recalls, etc.) and said we were going to have press release writing drills.

He is going to give us different scenarios over the next few weeks and we will have to write a press release about the situation he describes to us.

We went over a few examples and the general format he’s looking for. We’re not looking for anything fancy, just the details. Our first assignment is to write a release announcing the Penguins have recalled top prospect Jake Guentzel.

After we finished going over press releases, the focus shifted to our biggest assignment of the year: the Three Rivers Classic. I’m really excited to dive in and give this my all.

Each of the three interns and our grad assistant are essentially in charge of the entire event. The Penguins play a home game the day before and the day after the tournament, making for a long four days – the last four days in December.

I’m going to be doing a lot of heavy lifting for the Three Rivers Classic and have been given a lot of important responsibilities.

Of the four schools attending the tournament, Boston College is the most prestigious and notable. We are each assigned a team to be the main media relations coordinator for, and I was assigned Boston College.

“We can’t mess up BC,” my boss said.

I’ll work closely with Boston College’s sports information director to coordinate player interviews and handle media credentials.

Along with being the main contact for Boston College, I’ll also write team preview stories for the Penguins website that will be published in the days leading up to the tournament. That stuff is great for my portfolio and will be a great experience.

Another important job we’re tasked with completing is selecting the All-Tournament team and the MVP of the tournament. These are honors that will stay with the players for the rest of the careers and go into their bios.

There was a lot of information to digest Thursday, but boy am I excited for the opportunity to grab this by the horns and give it my all. It should be a great time!

Just a quiet day at the office Thursday, as the team was on the road.
December is a loaded month and will be our busiest.

Penguins - Week 11

What a week.

The Penguins began a three-game homestand Tuesday against Edmonton, but I was tied up with Point Park’s Election Night coverage and was unable to attend the game Tuesday. Election Night was incredible. We were on the air for 5 ½ hours and produced one heckuva program. Watch the full show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vieYXeQc4k and the behind the scenes here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwDnaA2ypKM&feature=youtu.be

I went into the office Wednesday only a few hours after going off the air to work on the credentials and media folders for Thursday’s game.

I then experienced my first regular season loss Thursday with the Penguins when they fell to the Minnesota Wild 4-2. I unsurprisingly learned that when the team looses, post game duties fly by. The coach doesn’t talk as much, the player interviews are short, and there are far fewer game notes to go over following the game.

The Penguins paid tribute to our veterans before the game and also had a moment of silence for the fallen Canonsburg police officer. A brass corps played the national anthem prior to the game and really gave me chills.

What gave me chills even more than that was the roar of the crowd following the National Anthem prior to Saturday’s game against Toronto. The crowd was pretty loud when it sang along to ‘O Canada’ and erupted after the Star Spangled Banner. Toronto scored first and it was evident that there were a lot of Maple Leafs fans in the building.

Pittsburgh wore its road white jerseys at home for the first time since game two of the 1992 Stanley Cup Final. It was a nice touch.

We were also keeping an eye on the Pitt-Clemson game, where the Panthers were about to upset the No. 2 team in the country. My boss is a huge Pitt fan, and was in a great mood after the Penguins put the final score up on the video board.

Pittsburgh scored twice in the third period, creating a tough scenario for the post game notes. It was a lot to take in and research all at once and I felt rushed with the whole job. I went back and forth between writing the notes and waiting for Leafs’ coach Mike Babcock to do his post game press conference so I could go and get his sound. I also got Babcock’s sound when he was in Pittsburgh for the World Cup of Hockey.

The Pens won 4-1 and became the fourth team in the NHL to reach the 10-win mark. I had some decent notes for post game and again contributed to our digital takeaway and note of the night graphics.

I was asked to head into the office next Thursday despite not having a home game next week. The next two weeks will be pretty slow at home, with only two games falling over Thanksgiving break (I only work Saturday, Nov. 26’s game).

We’re officially halfway done with the Penguins, as far as the games are concerned. I worked the 12th game last night between the preseason and regular season, and only have 12 more left. We also have two days to work the Three Rivers Classic at the end of December, which will be taxing, but a fun way to end the internship.

It’s been fun so far, and I hope December doesn’t fly by too quickly!

Penguins - Week 10 ... no update

There were no home games this week as the Penguins set out for a Western road trip.

The team went 3-0-1 in its last four games, one of them being in Philadelphia, the other three out west.

I didn't have to go into the office last week, instead I stayed on campus and accomplished a lot leading up to my live election show taking place Tuesday night beginning at 8:00 p.m.

In hockey-related news, the legendary broadcaster Mike "Doc" Emrick visited Point Park Thursday. I was able to do an interview and eat lunch with him around his scheduled speaking events with students. He was such a genuine man and was very down to earth.

So I didn't have to go to work, but instead got to make an incredible connection and hear great advice from a legend. Below is a photo of the two of us.

The Penguins have a busy home schedule next week, with games on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I am off Tuesday for election night.

I promise next week's update will be more interesting!

Penguins - Week 9

The Penguins keep winning as I keep working. I have yet to experience a loss with the team after a pair of wins last week.

It’s been an entertaining and a fun first few weeks of the regular season, and last week was no different. The Pens hosted a short two-game homestand last week, facing the Florida Panthers Tuesday and the New York Islanders Thursday.

The Pens found themselves down 2-0 to Florida and came back to win 3-2 Tuesday. They won a little more decisively Thursday against the Islanders by a 4-2 final.

We’re all starting to fall into the rhythm of the games and figure out each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I’ve gotten good at accurately making the line sheets each game and having them proof read and accurate I attached a sample below.  My game notes are getting more interesting with each game, pretty much because there’s more to research and more stats now that we’re almost ten games into the season.

Sidney Crosby returned to the ice Tuesday and sparked the comeback with the Pens’ first goal of the night. I got to go to the locker room and get Crosby’s post game audio, and was the closest person to him in the media scrum off his left knee.

I love watching post game video clips of the players’ interviews in the locker room and seeing my hand with the sound recorder. It gives me a nice chuckle.

Thursday was much of the same routine for the game. We started discussing our plans to work the Three Rivers Classic, our big last project of our internship. We practically run the ship for that operation.

After the victory,  I got the sound from Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel in the locker room, and then ran microphones at coach Sullivan’s press conference.

The Penguins began a four game road trip Saturday night in Philadelphia and won’t be back home until election night. I’ll head to the office some time next week to work on graphics and help prepare for our next home games.

I feel like I say it every week, but I’m really getting into a rhythm with this team and am really comfortable in my position. We get better every game and will only keep raising the bar.