Faceoff Factor

Part 7: "We Talkin' Bout Practice"

C.J. "Stoosh" Jiuliante | Pittsburgh Penguins

Sep 13, 09:04 PM | Hype this story!

“I mean, listen…we’re talkin’ about PRACTICE. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We’re talkin’ about PRACTICE.”
~ Allen Iverson, talkin’ bout practice.

Penguins training camp is upon us. Training camp signifies the unofficial start of the new hockey season. Summer is over. The Pirates haven’t been relevant for three months and we’ve finally got something else to discuss other than to over analyze the last Steelers game.

Fans love them some camp. Baseball fans flock south every March to take in spring training. Steeler Nation descends upon Latrobe in the middle of the summer to sit on a hillside, watch linemen drills and seven-on-sevens.

What’s the allure? After all, we talkin’ bout practice.

You’ve heard all the clichés. “Hope springs eternal.” “It’s the only time of year that everyone has the same record.” Blah, blah, blah…whatever. It’s got to be more than that, or are Pirate fans dumb enough to think they’re really on an even keel with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in March? Wait. Don’t answer that.

Over the years, Penguins camps have been held at Mellon Arena, Bladerunners, Neville Island, and the Ice-O-Plex at Southpointe, among other locations. Sometimes, they even traveled for parts of camp. I believe back in the day they held a week of camp up in Erie, home of yours truly. I can’t remember because I was probably only like eight years old at the time. And drunk. But that’s another column.

I’ve only been living in Pittsburgh since 1994, which pretty much coincided with the start of the Ice-O-Plex Era. So I can’t really speak much about the camps that went on during Mario Lemieux’s early days and before. But even as early as five or six years ago, when training camp practices were made public – and many of them weren’t – they were sparsely attended by fans. Perhaps five hundred, maybe a thousand would attend, but that was it — mostly diehards there to watch the action.

Over the past decade or so, Penguin camps have followed the same format – an hour of working on drills or isolated game situations, followed by camp tournament games. There is a large emphasis on team workouts as opposed to position-specific work. Most of the practice involves all forwards, defensemen and goalies working together, usually covering situational elements such as breakouts, transitions out of the defensive zone, odd-man rushes and corner/board work.

The real lure of Penguins camp comes with the in-camp tournaments. The entire camp roster is broken up into four teams, and a round-robin tournament is played. If the best way to evaluate the players is to see how they perform in game-like situations, this is as close as it gets for the coaches before the preseason games start. Tournament games usually are up-tempo and very spirited, as many players are competing for roster spots. This is often the first time fans get good looks at the prospects coming up in the system through minor, junior and/or collegiate hockey.

In terms of constant game-like action, it beats the hell out of seven-on-sevens and linemen drills.

In fact, let’s do a little compare and contrast with Pens camps and Steeler camp.

Location, Location, Location
Penguins Camp – Usually held at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, which is right smack in the middle of the city, meaning it can easily be done in a half-day. You get lunch somewhere downtown and can still be home by 2:00. Plenty of places to eat downtown within walking distance of the Igloo, too.

Steelers Camp – Held at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, which is about 45 minutes to an hour outside of Pittsburgh. Give yourself pretty much the full day to get out, hang out there for the duration and then drive back home. If you’re coming from the west, you’ll probably have to deal with the Parkway East and Route 22, two roads notorious for construction.

Accommodations And Seating
Penguins Camp – You enter through one of the Igloo Club seating entrances. The Pens open up the seating along one side of the arena ice, so there are tons of seats available on a first-come, first-served basis. Want to commandeer one of those Gold Circle luxury boxes above the concourse entrances? Go right ahead. It beats sitting out in the hot sun for hours. Plus, you’re a lot closer to the action. As far as food goes, they open up the Igloo Club for the fans and serve everything from breakfast sandwiches and coffee in the morning to sandwiches and chicken fingers at lunch. And of course, nachos.

Steelers Camp – You sit on a hillside and pray for shade. This year, they did add some bleachers, but I’m not sure there’s enough there to account for the ten thousand or so who show up. You’re not very close to the action at all even when you’re down near the fence. As far as food goes, I’m not sure what it’s like now but when I was there in 1999, if you didn’t pack a cooler, you were out of luck. They did have a small spread available for fans in the cafeteria, but it was nothing overly impressive.

Alternative Entertainment
Penguins Camp – Other than the odd fights that occur during the tournament games, there are no real distractions…not unless the Pens plan on bringing Dennis Bonvie back so he can make an ass out of himself again by talking to the young players like he has a guaranteed spot on the big club. Most of the fans are there to watch the action on the ice, and the team doesn’t do much to keep you away from the rink. PenStation is open to the public that day and, Ray Shero did make an appearance to mingle with fans for about an hour or so last year. Maybe most fascinating, though, was power skating instructor Besa Tsintsadze, who put on an absolute show with his power skating drills.

Steelers Camp – They have expanded the ever-growing Steelers Experience, an interactive area mostly for kids. That’s evolved into its own little circus as its become popular with both kids and adults alike. And if you enjoy people-watching, this is certainly a good place to be. More on that in a second…

Annoying Fan Factor
Penguins Camp – Autograph hounds aren’t out in full force because access to the players is very limited and almost non-existent — and it’s nice that way. The only time you’re likely to encounter pushy autograph seekers is near the players’ parking lot outside the arena before and after the practices. Everyone cheers when they’re supposed to cheer. No one boos, and everyone is into what’s taking place on the ice. The only other annoyance may be the plethora of puckbunnies, given the youth on the roster. And yes, Jefe, I said “plethora”. But the annoyance factor is nothing like…

Steelers Camp – Get ready to dodge some yinzers. Just like at Steeler games, 75 percent of the crowd is just fine. It’s the other 25 percent that will drive you insane. First, you’ve got your fans who take the practice WAY too seriously; some Steelers got noticeably booed when I was there (and you could tell these weren’t “joking around” boos). Who boos players at camp? Then you’ve got your overzealous fans who can be divided into two groups – middle-aged autograph hounds (generally male) and the groupies (generally female).

You usually encounter both of those in the same setting – near the field house as the players walk to and from practice. This is where most of the fans will try to get their autographs. You know you’re in trouble if you find yourself near “that” guy. He’s the smelly, sweaty, balding, Jack Lambert jersey-wearing, still-living-in-mom’s-basement at age forty-something autograph hound. He’s the one pushing little kids out of the way to shove a mini-helmet and a Sharpie in the face of whatever player he sees. And, occasionally, if a player passes by without signing stuff, he’s the one to yell a barrage of foul-mouthed comments. And he doesn’t care how many kids are around. All he knows is that Clark Haggans is a [bleepin] [bleep]-hole because he wouldn’t sign his helmet.

If you still manage to avoid “that guy”, keep an eye out for the small armies of groupies who rush the front of the line any time a big-name player walks past, desperately trying to get said player’s attention. I know nothing screams “hook up with me” like a girl roughly Chukky Okobi’s size wearing a baby doll Steelers top with her stomach hanging over her Lycra shorts. I don’t know how these guys resist (and I’m not making fun of fat people here. I’ve got the physique of Drew Carey, which means I don’t go walking around in tight Under Armor® t-shirts for a reason). These girls might as well walk around with a sign that says “I Just Want Your Child Support Check”.

I’m not trying to knock Steelers camp at all. Penguins camp is just a very different animal and generally a much more entertaining atmosphere. Put it this way: you’re much less likely to walk away from Penguins camp angry.

I’m glad teams do these things for fans because they’re a chance to get a different look at the team. I just prefer being able to experience that without feeling like I’m in the middle of a mosh pit.

Just remember, we talkin’ bout practice.

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