All Good Things Must Come to an End

As the title says, all good things must come to an end. This includes the Wilkes Barre Penguins' playoff run. As many of you may already know, the Albany River Rats swept the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs, eliminating the WBS Pens. The Pens being eliminated was hard on me (as you can tell by how late this post is) but I am finally ready for closure.  It is time to say goodbye to the '09-'10 season.

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This season brought about some awesome and some not at all awesome memories. Some of the best memories for me include seeing Chris Conner get hat tricks in back to back games, shutting out Hershey, and presenting the Fan Favorite Award on the ice to my favorite Penguins player, Ben Lovejoy. Low moments of the season include the slump that seemed to last forever and being swept in round 1 of playoffs.

I do not want to dwell on the bad moments however, and would like to finish this post with some thank yous:

Penguins organization: Thank you for putting your farm team 15 minutes from my college. All of my time, energy, and money is now invested in that team.

Deryk Engelland: Thank you for hustling on the ice all season and playing with a passion that most often ended in a fight.

Ben Lovejoy: Thank you for being an amazing person on and off of the ice. Thank you for always having a smile on your face and for making me happy every time I talked to you. Thank you for caring enough about your fans to ask them their name and attempt to get to know them.

Robert Bortuzzo: Thank you for showing up to every signing that I attended, even if it meant getting lost in Hazleton on the way. Thank you also for attempting to fight; it's the thought that counts.

Mark Letestu: Thank you for playing your heart out all season; even when it seemed liked nothing good was happening, you managed to score a goal and change that.

Zach Sill: Thank you for continuing to fight a player even though he practically undressed you in the process (the fan girl in me really thanks you). Thank you for always playing with grit and intensity.

Jesse Boulerice: Thank you for proving to me that people change and that you actually are a good guy. I am not sure how it happened, but I went from hating you and holding onto a grudge against you to cheering you on at every game.

Steve Wagner: Thank you for bringing a new energy to the WBS Pens team and for meeting with your fans even when your jaw was wired shut and you couldn't talk easily.

Dustin Jeffrey: Thank you for your offensive contributions this season. Thank you also for having a real conversation with me when I met you, even if it was about my college finals.

Chris Conner: Thank you for always hustling on the ice, for your hat tricks, and for your incredible skating speed.

Tim Wallace: Thank you for always hustling and for excelling on the ice when no one else could.

Eric Tangradi: Thank you for entertaining me with your tweets on twitter. Thank you for not embarrassing me when I stepped on and almost tripped over your foot the first time I met you. Thank you for being awesome with your fans.

Joey Vitale: Thank you for always smiling. Thank you also for signing the picture of the two of us even though you claimed I cut your head off. (I so did not do that. Walmart did it.)

John Curry: Thank you for never giving up and trying your hardest every game. Thank you also for some awesome saves.

It has been quite a season and I am sad to see it go. At least I still have the Pittsburgh Penguins (and Vancouver Canucks) to cheer on!