We left Horseheads mid afternoon for Wilkes Barre. Since we’re 21st century type of travelers we ditched the road atlas in favor of the GPS to be our guide.

This may have been a bad move, instead of taking 86 East to 81 South we took the advice of the satellite guidance and took some winding maze of back country two lane roads through Northeast Pennsylania. Not a harrowing ride, but a tedious one that we’ll never take again to be certain.

Once we snuck into….errr…..arrived at the parking lot at the arena it was immediately noticeable that the venue had a very flashy and modern look to it. The anticipation was building. Then we stepped into the concourse and seating bowl. This arena opened in 1999 and is one of the newer venues in the AHL. So our first take? Hmmmm…..maybe functional is the proper term. The interior is dominated with a bit too much of a grey, concrete look and not incredibly pleasing to the eye. It is an intimate seating venue with about 8000 seats on two levels and hugh pitched seats behind the nets really give the feel of being right on top of the action not seen in most newer venues. Also at 7689 fans per night the Pens are the second best draw in the AHL, and the routine packed houses bring plenty of much needed color and atmosphere to the Wachovia Center.

Couple of notes: when a goal is scored, the goalposts and crossbar of the net that was scored in lights up, and red lights go off all throughout the venue for a Penguins goal. Also a minor architectural gaffe was committed in the building of the venue. The designers omitted the press box and a suite behind one of the nets had to be retrofitted for the media.

Hey! I think that’s Don Luce below moi in the box….hmmmm.

Probably the most significant lack of something in this building is the lack of a “Wow Factor” signature entrance. Pretty much the doors swing open, you scan your ticket and you’re in the concourse. There is no main team store, but plenty of souvenir stands in the corridors. If you’re hungry, there are more than a few signature food items - one stand sells potato/cheese pierogies and potato pancakes, another cheesesteaks, a Mexican stands offers fajitas, churros and cowboy bean soup. An end zone stand called “The Lion’s Den” offers the local Stegmaier Beer in addition to other specialty brews.

But really it is the raucous and passionate fans that makes this place. They are so into their Penguins, hooting and hollering on every rush, egging on their favorites during a couple fights, and the energy in this building is something that is very palpable and not typical of many of its peer arenas in the AHL.

Tonight we were treated to a great goaltending matchup, with NHL’ers Marc Andre Fleury and Brian Boucher between the pipes for the Penguins and the Philadelphia Phantoms. This tight contest was scoreless until 13:24 of the second period, when the Phantoms took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Lars Jonsson. That score would hold up, and Boucher and the Phantoms got their 1-0 shutout. Ugh! So much for the once heralded USRT Karma!

So off we go to the Sheraton Newark Airport, 120 miles to the east, to catch some zzzzzzz’s… Tomorrow it’s into the Big Apple via the Lincoln Tunnel and Day 3 of more great road trip memories. Till then!

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