NFL/NHL: Pens could help de-rail Stealers play-off hopes

Posted: March 29th, 2010 | Author: Zim | Filed under: Hockey, NFL, NHL | No Comments »

Sid the Kid could be part of a bigger plan in thwarting Stealers play in January.

• Rumors are heating up that Pittsburgh could be the next host for the NHL’s Winter Classic…
• One problem there, if the Squealer were to advance in the play-offs, it may cause a scheduling conflict…
• Then again, I expect Ben Rapelisburger and company will be having a first round bye after running rough shod over a poor AFC North next year.

by Mike Zimmer, Falcons/Thrashers fan

How great would it be if the Pittsburgh Penguins made it so the Steelers would have to play else where the first weekend in January?  To me, well, it would be just great and some kind of Karma or cosmic justice.  After all, the most deserving of the professional franchises in the city, the Pens didn’t get a new arena when both the Squealers and the horrible Pirates got new stadiums in the last decade.

Scuttle butt says that the NHL wants to hold this year’s Winter Classic in Pittsburgh January 1st at Heinz Field.  http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/28/end-of-steelers-2010-season-could-be-affected-by-hockey-plans/ The game, which has become the NHL’s marquee event hosts a game outside in the open winter air instead of an arena on New Year’s Day.  Yes, the NHL is that out of tune and that desperate for such an entity to exist by the way.

There’s only one problem with the plan right now though.  The Stealers are set to host their home finale on Thursday Dec. 23rd and the preparation for such an event takes about a week and would then take some time to dismantle there after.  In recent hosting venues, the ice had remained up for civic uses for a matter of week in each of the cities it was erected.  However, if as expected the Stealers make the NFL play-offs this coming season, it would be a logistical and tight timing nightmare, perhaps too much for the NFL’s liking, maybe shipping the Stealers to a road destination due to the scheduling conflict.(Wasn’t this one of the best things to see in the mall this January or what???)

The Steelers however, if they were to host a play-off game would probably get a first round bye this next season.

If as expected, Ben Rapelisburgher is cleared from his latest sexual assault on a woman, the Squealers have a soft schedule in which they host their toughest games at home and don’t have to face toughies Indianapolis or San Diego on their schedule.  Playing a 3rd place slate on top of the Bungles eventual sucking in 2010, Pittsburgh should breeze to a (12-4) mark and host a play-off game after a bye.

As for the Penguins, wouldn’t it be ironic that they finally get their due and it just so happened to come at the expense of the Squealers???  That to me would be the absolute best thing ever in my mind.  After all, the verdict is in on Heinz Field and it isn’t all that great.  For those that are familiar with the home of the Pitt Panthers and Squealers, the stadium doesn’t hold any special value or some kind of exceptional love affair for the fans.  While PNC Park does, the Pirates are awful, Karma is a bitch that way.  But the Pens have been left begging for an arena befitting a team that is now a legitimate Stanley Cup challenger every year Sidney Crosby is breathing.

Stay tuned for another report on venues that would be more fitting or should at least be under consideration by the NHL for their out-door Winter Classic. 

 

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