Episode II of 24/7 Penguins/Capitals Is Continued Excellence

I just can't say enough about HBO's epic reality series, "24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the Winter Classic". 

The first episode was almost legendary in its behind-the-scenes look at both clubs.  If you missed my take on that premier, you can read it here.  

While I'm talking about the initial 24/7 edition, I strongly recommend that, if you haven't seen it, you do so before reading on below because the second installment of the 4-part series that I'm about to share my thoughts on builds on some things that went on in the first show.

Not surprisingly, episode II picks up where episode I left off, with the Penguins looking for 13 straight wins and on the plane into Philadelphia for their showdown against the arch-rival Flyers in a nationally televised contest.

Of course, we all know how the game turned out, so there's no need to revisit that defeat, but viewers got to see a neat clip of Penguins' Captain Sidney Crosby in his hotel room the night before watching with linemate Pascal Dupuis the fight between Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Brandon Dubinsky of the New York Rangers in their game the night before.

That naturally leads to Sid talking about a similar fight he engaged in earlier this year in a game against the Dallas Stars when he dropped the mitts with Dallas blueliner Matt Niskanen with the Pens' in a 4-0 hole. 

Crosby says that he told Niskanen they were going to go, and Niskanen's response was, "Are you serious?"
Needless to say, you know how Crosby answered that question.

The episode continues with some great footage from the on-ice session that the Pens have on the afternoon of every home game for every staff member or alumni player who wants to suit up for a little casual shinny.  

With the Penguins and Capitals' alumni game scheduled the day before the upcoming Winter Classic and coming up quickly, some of the alumni skated that afternoon, and that group included some guy named Lemeiux.

Not surprisingly, the HBO cameras had a special treat capturing him on the ice, showing the same tall and smooth skating stride at 45 as he had when he was 30. 

Better still, it looked like Lemieux was enjoying himself just as much out there, with a smile from ear to ear I would expect to see again during the actual alumni game.

One of the most interesting things which followed that footage was a scene of the NHL officials in their changing area after the game the next night between the Pens' and Rangers -- a 4-1 New York victory -- patting themselves on the back for making what they continued to believe was the right call on a goal Evgeni Malkin had waved off which would have tied the game in the third period.

The call wasn't a penalty, but a reset and faceoff for Dupuis not permitting Rangers' goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to get in position to make a save.

Forgetting for a minute the fact that New York rearguard Michael Rozsival backed Dupuis into Lundqvist, I'll say that -- by the letter of the rule book, anyway -- the zebras were probably right.  My problem, however, is the fact that the type of contact Dupuis and Lundqvist had on that play goes on constantly, and that ruling is almost-never made.

Skipping past that scene, viewers of episode II then got to see something else they never get to catch a glimpse of --- a coach and GM talking with a player and telling him that he is being sent back down to the minors.

That's what happened in this instance when Pens' Head Coach Dan Bylsma and GM Ray Shero met alone with recent call-up Dustin Jeffrey in the locker room to tell him he was headed back to Wilkes-Barre of the American Hockey League.

Fascinating stuff.

Back on the Capitals' side of things, I then learned something I didn't know before --- that former San Jose Sharks' netminder Arturs Irbe is actually Washington's goalie coach.

Are you kidding me?

No wonder question marks surround their team's goaltending.

And it's also no wonder more question marks don't surround what the hell the Caps' trainer was doing to Ovechkin on the massage table in the next scene.

That was quite a flogging.

Maybe he was attracted to Ovie's tramp stamp on his lower back?

On the lighter side, we then got to see Pens' LW Matt Cooke playing a prank on former teammate Paul Bissonette, now of the Phoenix Coyotes, in advance of Pittsburgh's next game with the Yotes, which Cookie deftly pulls off by sneaking into the visiting locker room and not only cutting Bissonette's skate blades, but also putting gum in his gloves.

The world of pranks among hockey players is well-known, but what I didn't know before is that those guys actually have an opportunity to do it to a visiting player.

Viewers also finally got to see Washington win a game during this series, when they beat the Ottawa Senators to halt their 8-game losing streak.

I know .... that's a shame.

But not as much of a shame as them celebrating in their locker room afterwards like they won the Stanley Cup, which went down in plain sight of every HBO viewer.

Personally, I'd like to take their 'shovel' that they give to the team's hardest worker after every win -- which we also learned in this episode -- and use it to try and trim the waistline of their pregnant coach.

Violence aside, I'll end with the focus on the 'home' team, including one of Crosby's superstitions being a 5 PM game-day peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Of course, that goes down right before he puts on his 'lucky cup' -- a jock strap which looks like it's been used by 3 different generations within his family. 

The worst part is I bet that it's actually been sewn and put back together again like Humpty Dumpty so he can keep using it.

There were fewer one liners from the 2nd episode compared to the first, but for me, the best ones in episdoe II were Pens' forward Mike Rupp telling Crosby during practice that he was wearing a 'sick fanny pack', and Pittsburgh Hall of Fame Radio Play-By-Play Man Mike Lange with the call of "Holy Cheese and Crackers" on one of Crosby's goals.

All in all, another fantastic 60 minutes in this series.

Overall, I don't feel it was quite up to the level of the first episode, and I feel that way notwithstanding that there probably was more buzz to the premier of the entire series.  Of course, that was true, but substantively, I also feel that episode I was slightly better than the 2nd installment.

However, I have little doubt that the 3rd episode -- which premiers tomorrow night (10:00 PM EST) -- is going to raise the stakes again, since that show will cover the team's first matchup of the season, last Thursday's pre-Christmas thrilling Pens' 7-round shootout victory over Washington.

Can't wait to catch all the footage on camera from that one.

Remember, the Pens' host the Atlanta Thrashers tonight at The Bird House (7:00 PM EST), looking to get back on track after Sunday's defeat in Ottawa. 

Recap tomorrow.  Let's Go Pens!