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Penguins faceoff with travel dilemma

by Tony on 02/06/10 at 10:18 PM ET
Comments (22)

UPDATE 10:16: Penguins have landed in Newark, approx. 5 hour drive via bus to DC. Also, per the Capitals, “As of 10 p.m. ET Saturday, the Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game scheduled for 12 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 7, at Verizon Center remains as scheduled. The Penguins are en route to Washington, D.C., and are expected to arrive tonight.”

UPDATE: From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s Rob Rossi’s Tweet,

Pens to fly into Newark, NJ tonight ... four hour drive to DC.

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Dave Molinari:

Washington is one of many cities in the East being battered by snow today, and reports this morning indicate that travel into and out of that area is treacherous, at best. That’s an issue for the Penguins, who will face Montreal today at 2:08 p.m. at the Bell Centre but are scheduled to play Washington at the Verizon Center Sunday at 12:08 p.m. Team officials still are trying to settle on the best way to get the team to Washington after the game against the Canadiens Because virtually all air traffic into that region has been stopped, one option might be to fly as close as they can, then take a train or bus the rest of the way. Of course, that assumes that the trains are running or that the highways are passable.

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Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Washington+Capitals,

Comments

No way in Hell they play tomorrow, Wash. is going to get 2 feet + of snow & a Blizzard warning this afternoon & evening

Posted by Evilpens on 02/06/10 at 11:46 AM ET

Not looking good at all… The NHL front office says not only the Pens’ ability to get there, but the safety of the fans to get to the Phone Booth, and with Metro shut down right now, I doubt they’re gonna play it....

They’re both off Monday and Tuesday, maybe they’ll just postpone it until Monday....

Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 02/06/10 at 11:56 AM ET

Just north of Washington… Have almost 3 feet of snow. I’d be amazed if they can get here. Even if they do, they’ll be dogged tired.

Posted by penguinsfan on 02/06/10 at 11:56 AM ET

As much as NBC wants this game to go on (and as much as I want to watch it on GameCenter Live), it would be extremely reckless to endanger the Pens, the Caps, or anyone who works at or goes to the game. Metro is basically shut down, so the only way to get there is to drive. It’s just a game, it can wait. I hate the Pens, but I don’t want any of them to get hurt - or worse - because of a bad decision.

Posted by Thag from Belgrade on 02/06/10 at 11:57 AM ET

Local news in Pittsburgh was just talking about how they are making backup travel plans incase they can’t fly into DC. They said they’ll try to fly into Philly or Newark and take a train to DC if the airport is still shut down. My guess is that NBC, through Bettman, is putting extreme pressure on the Penguins to get into DC and play that game.

Posted by Kstewy16 on 02/06/10 at 01:13 PM ET

The Verizon Center doesn’t have anything on its schedule for Monday or Tuesday if they needed to postpone a day or two. Don’t know what the Pens’ and Caps’ schedules are like though.

Posted by K24 from NYC on 02/06/10 at 04:34 PM ET

Heh. little gary would either make the Wings play or forfeit.

Posted by Jerrod on 02/06/10 at 06:16 PM ET

Maybe they can have the game at the airport, it works in the cell phone adverts

Posted by ChrisinA^2 from the University of Michigan on 02/06/10 at 06:20 PM ET

I have an idea. Lets save MAF the embarrassment, and just give the win to the Caps. If he can make the Candians look good, I can only imagine what tomorrows game is going to look like.

Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 02/06/10 at 06:26 PM ET

I think it’s obvious his finger is nowhere near 100%....

Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 02/06/10 at 06:26 PM ET

I think it’s obvious his finger is nowhere near 100%....

But what was his excuse for the rest of the year?

Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 02/06/10 at 06:32 PM ET

Whoa there, if you know me, I’ll never be confused with a Fleury apologist.... Check the archives…

That said, he’s good enough to have a Stanley Cup in his resume.... Will probably never be at the top of the save pct. or the GAA, but stats aren’t everything....

Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 02/06/10 at 06:35 PM ET

That said, he’s good enough to have a Stanley Cup in his resume.... Will probably never be at the top of the save pct. or the GAA, but stats aren’t everything....

Yea, the cup does give him some room for error; however, I am really getting tired of him not making the save that keeps them in the game this year. For the past three years, ever since Conklin was here, MAF has felt it necessary to come out of the net to play the wrap-around. He has never looked comfortable doing this. The risk/reward equation for him on this should prompt HCDB to instruct him to never leave his crease. Don’t get me wrong, i dont want to trade him, and this loss was not all on him (see Letang blows goats), but he needs to start playing a lot better than he has been so far this year.

Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 02/06/10 at 06:42 PM ET

Thrashers played in Washington last night. The team spent the night.

The Thrashers required the services of four snow plows to escort them via bus to Richmond Int’l Airport so they could fly out for tonight’s game against Florida here in Atlanta. From what I’ve heard, the faceoff is delayed by 50 minutes.

Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 02/06/10 at 07:31 PM ET

Hey why didn’t they move the game up by a week if they saw weather like this coming? If it’s good enough for the Stanley Cup Finals, certainly it’s good enough for these two teams, right?

Posted by Jerrod on 02/06/10 at 07:52 PM ET

Yeah, that’s why the Wings lost in the Finals last year. (obvious sarcasm)

Posted by cs6687 on 02/06/10 at 08:57 PM ET

As a Caps fan, I’m embarassed by the NHL and NBC for forcing this game to start at noon. The roads from Philly to DC are a complete mess; if the Pens make it to DC before 4 AM it’ll be amazing. I’d rather beat a Pens team that’s rested versus a Pens team that gets 3 hours of sleep.

Posted by Right Winger from Washington, DC on 02/06/10 at 09:29 PM ET

I read that the Thrashers got to Richmond with help from four snowplows to get them down I-95.... Maybe the Pens are getting some of that kind of assistance....

Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 02/06/10 at 09:33 PM ET

I feel bad for all the fans with tickets who can’t get to this game (and seriously, its not worth it, don’t try. Enough people die on the roads every day as it is). There is no better atmosphere in sports than a heated rivalry game, and instead of that, you’re going to get Pierre Mcguire.

Posted by Kstewy16 on 02/07/10 at 03:24 AM ET

One would wonder how they get to games in Edmonton when it snows.

Posted by stoneman from vegas on 02/07/10 at 08:00 AM ET

As per NHL.com:

TIME LAPSE
4:43 PM: The Penguins’ game in Montreal ends
5:52 PM: The Penguins arrive at Montreal Airport
6:47 PM: The Penguins get through customs and board the plane
7:30 PM: The Penguins’ plane takes off for Newark, New Jersey
8:52 PM: The Penguins land in Newark
9:24 PM: The Penguins bus departs from Newark for Washington
11:45 PM: The Penguins hit a rest stop for food in Maryland, 81 miles from DC
2:15 AM: The Penguins arrive at the team hotel

Posted by Greg on 02/07/10 at 09:37 AM ET

I’m guessing no morning skate!

Posted by penguinsfan on 02/07/10 at 09:45 AM ET

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Welcome to The Confluence, a Pittsburgh Penguins blog since 2006. Originally at Blogspot, then at MVN, The Confluence has over 1000 articles reporting Penguins news as well as jumping on my soapbox to opine constructive Penguins criticism. My posts are regularly linked by hockey websites such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters and Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy, and I’ve done guest blogger spots on such websites as the New York Times. I invite you to spend a little time and peruse the archives at all of the sites for some of my better work. I am a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, but don’t confuse me with my fellow Chief at A2Y.

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