Yes, despite my credential, I took in most of Wednesday's Penguins championship parade in the sea of sweaty humanity near the Smithfield Street corner, watching our city's freshest title team crawl past, most of the men and their families seated in the backs of pickup trucks.
Last year, the Penguins brought 400,000 fans to the city of Pittsburgh for their championship parade.
"He says, 'Hey! You guys wanna see the Cup?'" Grant Kraus, manager of Safran's Supermarket said.
The parade route streets were scheduled to close by 9 a.m. for the 11 a.m. parade.
This year's parade was different than last year's in that it ended at Point State Park, where a stage was set up so the team and coaches could address the fans. And, perhaps the best story of the playoffs was how former starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury regained that job when rookie Matt Murray was injured during warm-ups in the first game of the playoffs.
London tower block fire death toll climbs to 30
Corbyn met with members of the public and was pictured hugging tearful relatives of victims near the charred building. Anger over the causes of the fire and the government's handling of the tragedy have grown during the week.
Marc-Andre Fleury's eventual exit from the Pittsburgh Penguins has been inevitable for almost a year now.
The Penguins also won the Cup in 1991 and 1992. The team also won the Cup in 1991 and 1992 and became the first National Hockey League team to repeat as champions since the Detroit Red Wings did it in 1997-98. Ottawa lost in the Eastern Conference finals to eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh.
In the end the Penguins are still likely to lose Fleury for no compensation (other than $5 million in salary cap space in each of the next two seasons) if Vegas takes him in the expansion draft, as it is assumed they will.
Crosby is only the third player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in back-to-back seasons, that's 99 years of hockey, just let that sink in for a minute.
-The New York Rangers agreed to terms with restricted free agent forward Matt Puempel on a new contract.
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