Game 3 vs. Toronto - Thoughts from the morning after

[Lt. Dish]

http://www.ryanmill.com/

I'm amazed how many other things he's done... I think he has the voice to turn it down.

Yes, he absolutely has the voice to turn it down. At regular level, I hear a terrific, resonating voice. He also did the Pens-centric "Hockey is Back" commercial. In fact, he does/has done so much stuff, many of us might not realize it's him.

He really doesn't have to do a throaty yell, ever. Can anyone get word to him? Tweet Jennifer Bullano in PR. Maybe she can get it to In-Game Ops. I'd like to see him really succeed because he's from the 'Burgh and is a life-long Pens die-hard.

Oh, and give me more--not all, but more--organ music. I love organ music at hockey games.

[Fire0nice228]

my only thoughts during and after the game revolve around puck management. The scary thing is, puck management issues plagued the Pens last season too. Unforced turnovers in all three zones, but especially glaring in the defensive zone by Geno. Sid also did his stupid, vintage Crosby, cross the blue line and drop pass it to nobody turnover as well. Pens need to go North out of the zone, through the neutral zone and into the attack zone. Get the freakin puck deep and then let the talent and work ethic take over.

Pens look like the Capitals 2007-2011.

[Lt. Dish]

The puck management and possession game was a huge factor in winning the Cup. I mean... c'mon, Pens.

[netwolf]

http://www.ryanmill.com/

I'm amazed how many other things he's done... I think he has the voice to turn it down.

Yes, he absolutely has the voice to turn it down. At regular level, I hear a terrific, resonating voice. He also did the Pens-centric "Hockey is Back" commercial. In fact, he does/has done so much stuff, many of us might not realize it's him.

He really doesn't have to do a throaty yell, ever. Can anyone get word to him? Tweet Jennifer Bullano in PR. Maybe she can get it to In-Game Ops. I'd like to see him really succeed because he's from the 'Burgh and is a life-long Pens die-hard.

Oh, and give me more--not all, but more--organ music. I love organ music at hockey games.

IIRC, he also did the voice overs in the Pens 24/7 style In The Room series, which was loved by most fans. I have no doubt he could tone it down IF that's what the organization wanted.

I do enjoy his Evgeni Malkin call quite a bit though; I think that's his best one. Would really like it if he could keep in mind that that captain's last name has 2 syllables, not 3 though.

[Three Stars]

Would really like it if he could keep in mind that that captain's last name has 2 syllables, not 3 though.

I believe that's the Japanese pronunciation. Cu-ra-so-bee.

[columbia]

Is that Japanese for concussion?

[Lt. Dish]

http://www.ryanmill.com/

I'm amazed how many other things he's done... I think he has the voice to turn it down.

Yes, he absolutely has the voice to turn it down. At regular level, I hear a terrific, resonating voice. He also did the Pens-centric "Hockey is Back" commercial. In fact, he does/has done so much stuff, many of us might not realize it's him.

He really doesn't have to do a throaty yell, ever. Can anyone get word to him? Tweet Jennifer Bullano in PR. Maybe she can get it to In-Game Ops. I'd like to see him really succeed because he's from the 'Burgh and is a life-long Pens die-hard.

Oh, and give me more--not all, but more--organ music. I love organ music at hockey games.

IIRC, he also did the voice overs in the Pens 24/7 style In The Room series, which was loved by most fans. I have no doubt he could tone it down IF that's what the organization wanted.

I do enjoy his Evgeni Malkin call quite a bit though; I think that's his best one. Would really like it if he could keep in mind that that captain's last name has 2 syllables, not 3 though.

I think you're right on all counts. I enjoy the Malkin call, too, when I can hear it on the radio broadcast.

netwolf, what's your take on this: Do you think the organIzation knows we want him to tone it down? Because historically, the Pens organIzation* has, for the most part, wanted what the fans want. Maybe if they knew fans wanted a more "refined" in-game PA, that they'd get him to do it?

*Edit: post 2005

[The Snapshot]

Last night was all my fault. As many know, my normal game attendance as a season ticket holder includes travel from NJ. I set a meeting in Hartford for this afternoon (1pm start) weeks ago with some high level folks at Travelers Insurance. This was before the lockout was ended. To my dismay, last night was the opener and there was no way I was going to miss it.

This all meant that in order to make the game and meeting both, I needed to leave immediately after the game and drive to Hartford. That's about an 8 hour drive, and I needed to meet my team at noon - so basically I had about 4 hours to play with, and overall about 16 hours of driving in a 30 hours period. I got a hotel at 6:30 am in Hartford so that I could squeeze in about a 4 hour "sleep".

So what is my point? The point is that EVERY time I do something completely mental to attend a game the Pens lay an egg for me. I should have sent an e-mail to every single attendee beforehand and warned them.

The 8 hours in car were made even more bearable by the disappoinment and disgust.

Oh, and Tangradi has always been terrible, and that is what makes me nuts that he has this chance in the first place. I knew he wasn't up to it, and it understandable that some on here erred on hope's side - but there is NO excuse that our talent evaluators ever thought this could work.

Add in Bylsma's COMPLETE rejection of any line matching against the line with JVR and Kulemin on it is a microcosm of our playoff failures of late. They handed Geno's line their lunch all night, and with the last change he did absolutely nothing about it except to dismantle every single line. I am starting to sincerely wonder about our coach - and I have always been his supporter.

[The U]

I didn't like the line changes either. Tangradi gets benched so lines 2, 3, and 4 all have to suffer. Everything lines 3 and 4 accomplished over the first two games...right out the window.

If Tangradi is on line 4 tomorrow that will be eye opening as well. If Bylsma thinks he's a good fit there, I'll be concerned.

Tons of assets, tons of cap room. No excuses to having gaping holes on this roster.

[columbia]

He's not the answer, but just put freakin Jeffrey on Malkin's line until the real Plan A can be determined.
At least DJ has 4-5 recognizable NHL skills.

[The Snapshot]

To add insult to injury where the wing on Malkin's line is concerned, Stevie Sullivan has 4 goals so far this season after an HT last gane and one tonight.

[André]

def agree about the home opener jinx, every one this season seems to spell disaster for the home team

+crosby
+pk

-almost everything else
refs were god awful and malkin needs to stop making bad passes that lead to goals

thank god next game is a road game

Crosby's goal was obviously nice, and his pressure on the point-men on the PK was good, but he also had the most giveaways on the team last night, and a couple of those were pretty bad. I don't know that I'd give anyone a + other than the PK units as a whole.

Yeah that's a generous + for sure. Geno and Sid have been throwing away pucks. Sid "wins" in quantity and Geno in "quality" with that assist to JVR.

[lifetimefan]

Tangradi is useless in a fourth line role.

Right now you could have stopped after useless.

[netwolf]

netwolf, what's your take on this: Do you think the organIzation knows we want him to tone it down? Because historically, the Pens organIzation* has, for the most part, wanted what the fans want. Maybe if they knew fans wanted a more "refined" in-game PA, that they'd get him to do it?

I think that if enough people complained, they would change. Fan complaints led to them swapping out the initial cable railings in the upper bowl with glass. The PK used to be sponsored; no idea if that was cancelled over fan complaints or not...

I just think that despite all the hate Mill gets here (and other non-existent sites) it's a vocal minority; I get the feeling most people in the building don't care. And while I know Penguins staff visits this site (and non-existent others), if you really want your voice heard on the topic, the best way is to contact them directly. A politely written email is going to carry more weight than posting "Ryan Mill sux; worst PA guy evah" here.

[Digitalgypsy66]

I went to a Canes game a couple of seasons ago, my second NHL game since 1998 (Greensboro Coliseum), and I was shocked about how loud the PA and music was. I think I posted about it at the time. I don't think Ryan Mill or the Pens are any different than other teams in this regard...

[llipgh2]

I just think that despite all the hate Mill gets here (and other non-existent sites) it's a vocal minority; I get the feeling most people in the building don't care.

This. He's no John Barbero, to be sure. But he isn't trying to be. I'm fine with him.

[Froggy]

If he's getting overly exited about an announcement, it probably means we just scored. So whatever

[DelPen]

To add insult to injury where the wing on Malkin's line is concerned, Stevie Sullivan has 4 goals so far this season after an HT last gane and one tonight.

Sullivan isn't the right player for this team right now, if he was it would have shown last year. They need someone more like Bill Guerin.

[The Snapshot]

To add insult to injury where the wing on Malkin's line is concerned, Stevie Sullivan has 4 goals so far this season after an HT last gane and one tonight.

Sullivan isn't the right player for this team right now, if he was it would have shown last year. They need someone more like Bill Guerin.

Agreed. Just pointing out that we filled a role with a guy who is useless, and the previous holder of that role is scoring.

[newarenanow]

I'm to blame. When I watch the game, I zone out and just focus. I don't make noise. I used to back in my drunk days when no one was there and the team sucked, but now that I'm old, I zone out and focus on play and forget everything around me.

As for music, I wish they would just play the beginning of Machinehead over and over. I love that.

[DropEmJayBird]

My hate for Colton Orr grows.

During his fight with Engo, I noticed Engo basically gave him the "are you done?, good fight?" as they were tied up... Orr responded with a right hand. I think that's why the officials let em punch themselves to exhaustion. Engo should know better, I'm sure Orr is still looking to set himself right after getting schooled a few years back, I don't think it's settled in his head.

[no name]

My hate for Colton Orr grows.

During his fight with Engo, I noticed Engo basically gave him the "are you done?, good fight?" as they were tied up... Orr responded with a right hand. I think that's why the officials let em punch themselves to exhaustion. Engo should know better, I'm sure Orr is still looking to set himself right after getting schooled a few years back, I don't think it's settled in his head.

Agree at one point during the fight i thought Engelland gave up and thought they would seperate. No wonder Engelland gave it all he could towards the end. Got to apoint they had no energy and could barley throw any force behind their puches.

[Pens Fan Since 1970]

My hate for Colton Orr grows.

During his fight with Engo, I noticed Engo basically gave him the "are you done?, good fight?" as they were tied up... Orr responded with a right hand. I think that's why the officials let em punch themselves to exhaustion. Engo should know better, I'm sure Orr is still looking to set himself right after getting schooled a few years back, I don't think it's settled in his head.

I thought the exact same thing.

[Lt. Dish]

netwolf, what's your take on this: Do you think the organIzation knows we want him to tone it down? Because historically, the Pens organIzation* has, for the most part, wanted what the fans want. Maybe if they knew fans wanted a more "refined" in-game PA, that they'd get him to do it?

I think that if enough people complained, they would change. Fan complaints led to them swapping out the initial cable railings in the upper bowl with glass. The PK used to be sponsored; no idea if that was cancelled over fan complaints or not...

I just think that despite all the hate Mill gets here (and other non-existent sites) it's a vocal minority; I get the feeling most people in the building don't care. And while I know Penguins staff visits this site (and non-existent others), if you really want your voice heard on the topic, the best way is to contact them directly. A politely written email is going to carry more weight than posting "Ryan Mill sux; worst PA guy evah" here.

Thanks for your input, as always, netwolf. It's good to know the team is often responsive to direct, constructive, and respectfully offered entreaties. I forgot about the cable vs. glass controversy (read about it on here). I didn't know the PK was sponsored--what? I have yet to see a game in the CEC.

Disclosure: A lifetime or three ago, I knew Ryan as a friend, and I still recall him as one of the kindest, most hysterically smart-funny people I've ever met. Personally, I'm thrilled he has the job; I imagine that, despite all he's achieved in his career, it's a dream come true for him. We were lucky to have our legendary John Barbero. This Pens fan's hope is that Ryan will eventually carve out his own legend. (I unabashedly admit that I'm too chicken-schenn to come out of nowhere, even as a friendly ghost, and email him myself; I'm sure he doesn't remember me.)

The 20-something Ryan I knew is likely dying to editorialize (subtly) when announcing Flyers penalties.

[Penspal]

My hate for Colton Orr grows.

During his fight with Engo, I noticed Engo basically gave him the "are you done?, good fight?" as they were tied up... Orr responded with a right hand. I think that's why the officials let em punch themselves to exhaustion. Engo should know better, I'm sure Orr is still looking to set himself right after getting schooled a few years back, I don't think it's settled in his head.

I thought the exact same thing.

Orr was messed up for months after Engy beat him. I watched him lose way more than he normally does. This year, Orr looks like he worked out hard and is ready for this year, while Engy had nothing even close to a fight or competition in his Euro vacation. I have to say that vs. teams running goons (NYI for certain), Big Mac should be in the lineup. And before anyone freaks out, is it really that bad considering Cran-gradi (cause watching him puts a bad taste in my mouth - thnx Froggy) got 3-4 shifts a game? When the going gets tough, bring out the goon.