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.