The Pittsburgh Penguins' Stanley Cup championship parade is scheduled for noon, as the Steel City prepares to celebrate their hockey heroes and see if Sidney Crosby shows up on time to shake some hands. Fans have been lining up since as early as 5 a.m. ... mostly because they've haven't been able to sleep since Thursday night.
The parade will follow the same route as the Pittsburgh Steelers' championship parade, at which shameless Mayor Luke Ravenstahl renamed the city "Sixburgh" for the day in honor of the franchise's legacy of six titles. No word if the Penguins will receive the same honor, as TankingForHighDraftPicksburgh just doesn't roll off the tongue.
The Steelers had over 300,000 for their parade. City officials say there could be over 350,000 for the Pens.
Friend of Puck Daddy Chad Brooks of Qdoba, home of the unstoppable Bylsma Burrito, said they aren't taking part in the parade today but expects "a total madhouse." He also thanked hockey fans for allowing his Grant Street store to be a small part of "hockey superstition," as the Penguins were 4-0 in the Final when Coach Dan Bylsma ate his magic Mexi-food.
WPXI in Pittsburgh has a live stream of the parade and coverage beginning at 11 a.m. If any readers are at the parade and grab some interesting images or video, send'em on over to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com for a wrap-up later; please do the same if you come across any around the Web. Down in the comments, please do point folks to other blogs or Twitterers covering the parade if you see them.
Coming up: What We Learned ... and the much-anticipated final eulogies of the playoffs.
