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.

Penguins - Week 8

The Penguins played three games in four games last week, two of which were at home. I wasn’t able to work the first game on Monday, but did work the game Thursday night, where the Penguins overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third period to defeat the San Jose Sharks in a Stanley Cup Final rematch.

I went into the office Wednesday to prepare credentials, media folders and the line sheet for Thursday’s game.

The new media backdrop and podium setup for
the PPG Paints Arena media room

For credentials, I type the name and affiliation of all of the media members wanting to cover the game or the visiting staff and print them on labels. Those labels then go on different credentials that we have premade for ‘visiting team,’ ‘ scout,’ and ‘media.’ 

The folders have the same thing, but are for media members for the game. We put any game information in the folders the morning of the games. It’s a nice thing for them to have I guess. I also updated the player stats and information on the roster of our line sheet.

The pregame Thursday was pretty standard. I triple checked the line sheet for spelling and correct information and helped set up the press box as per the usual.

During the game I stayed up in our booth in the press box and tried to find any game notes, but was coming up empty because we were getting shut out 2-0. I made the game sheet for the next home game Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.

We watched most of the third period from our office across from the locker room and slowly watched the team’s comeback. Because they came back and won, we went from doing nothing post game to doing recap graphics, game notes and the whole nine yards.

I went to the locker room post game to interview Malkin, Fleury and Ian Cole, then went to run microphones for coach’s press conference.

I’m really starting to get in a rhythm now with the Penguins and really have have the work. The staff is great, we get along well and the team is doing decently well to start the season.

Here’s to more Penguins hockey!

Penguins - Week 7

Hockey is back in Pittsburgh!

We officially kicked off the regular season Thursday and raised the 2016 Stanley Cup Championship banner atop PPG Paints Arena.

The opening game didn't start until 8:20 and we had to get to the arena at 2:30. For a typical 7:00 game, we have to arrive between 3-3:30.

We got to the arena and began working on the line sheets that list where each player is positioned for the night. They used to design each player's name, height, weight and stats in Photoshop and placed those files in InDesign. I found the process tedious and unnecessary to photoshop.

Because we also had to change the team fonts, we made the collective decision to scrap our old method and just make the line sheets in InDesign.

I went ahead and started chipping away at the line sheets and polished them up for the game, improving the design, alignment and process.

I sat at the credential table as usual before the game and helped finalize the line sheets before they were printed.

We were handing out game notes and line sheets as the banner ceremony began. It gave me chills. The roar of the crowd, the lights, the videos, everything. It was incredible.

Then, I had to run to the printer for more line sheets mid ceremony.

I made it back just in time for the player introductions and got to see the whole ceremony.

I watched maybe 7 minutes of the actual game on the ice. The rest of my time was spent in the office between periods, running stats, or writing game notes. I loved it.

We did good work that first game and followed up with a better game Saturday.

We had better game notes Saturday and I made another new line sheet. We're also incorporating new and more graphics to our @pensprlady Twitter account.

The three interns all work very well together. I think we have a nice bunch this year.

It should be a great season and now that we have two games under our belts, there's only room to grow and improve now that we have the basics down.

Penguins - Week 6

The preseason is now officially over and the regular season begins Saturday for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 We had two preseason games last week along with Penguins fan fest on Sunday. The Penguins lost both of their last two preseason games, ending the preseason on a sour note.

It was much of the same routine as the previous games, with a few twists in between.

We still haven't gone over a couple of our daily game day duties due to the preseason, but for the most part, we're off and running and starting to get comfortable with each other.

I had the chance to run microphones again at the post game press conference for the Penguins coach on Wednesday. Saturday, I got sound from Columbus coach John Tortorella's post game media scrum.

I wrote a few game notes in preparation for the regular season where we'll write notes on a daily basis.

We'll also start to add more graphic elements to our daily routine to enhance our social media feeds.

 Sunday was a long day.

We arrived at Penguins fan fest at around 9 a.m. and didn't leave until 7 a.m. I worked both sessions of the Penguins fan fest that lasted six and four hours a piece.

I spent the morning running a waiver station that hundreds of fans visited in order to get clearance to play different games on the ice level of PPG Paints Arena. During the afternoon session, I manned an autograph scratch off ticket redemption station on the concourse level and had to instruct hundreds of fans on where to go and how to redeem their tickets for a wristband that would give them access to an autograph session.

We had a few left over after a couple sessions and I got to walk around the arena looking for kids or families that could use an autograph session. I made a few kids days when I told them they would get to meet one of the players and get their autograph. That was cool.

There was a lot that went into the past few days, but we made it through the preseason. Now, the regular season begins Thursday with an 8:00 start against the Washington Capitals.

Penguins - Week 5

One game to recap this week!

It was a meaningless and boring preseason game that featured very few regular Penguins in the lineup, but it was my first real game with the Pens as I continue to get a feel for what a typical game night feels like.

The Pens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 Friday night in their first home preseason game of the year and their third preseason game overall.

We got to the arena at 3:30 and continued to figure out what we do pregame, which included setting up the press box and making sure the media work rooms are all in order.

I also manned the credential table for about an hour before the game before eating dinner (press dining at the Pirates is better).

We did our normal pregame routine which is really just distributing the starting lineups for both teams to everyone in the press box, then we sat in our booth and watched the first period. During the game we are typically writing notes about the players and teams, but we are just practicing now for preseason to get a feel for it. There weren't a lot of notes after a 1-0 win.

In between periods, we have to pass out stats to both the media and the coaches in their offices. After the game, I went to the Penguins locker room and got sound from Marc-Andre Fleury's interview and went to our head coach's press conference. I was in charge of passing the microphone around to the media members asking questions.

Once we get going with the season, everything will be pretty formulaic and standard. We had the benefit of working the World Cup of Hockey to really get a feel for how games work.

My work with the Pirates is also officially done for the season. We ended Thursday with our final game that resulted in a 1-1 tie, the first tie since 2005 in MLB and our first tie since 1998. The whole night was bittersweet and I kept thinking how lucky I am to be in my position. It was a weird night considering we tied, but it was a fun way to go out. I'd rather go out with a tie than getting slaughtered in a Wild Card game like the past two years.

We have a pair of preseason games next Wednesday and Saturday for the Penguins against Detroit and Columbus before the regular season officially begins Oct. 13.