In honor of the Pens reaching the Stanley Cup Finals (and the fact that I'm too lazy to write something right now), here's a little repost from December 2008. It pretty much explains why the Pens REALLY need to bring Lord Stanley back home to Pittsburgh.

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It's been quite some time now since Alexis made up her mind that she wanted Santa to make the appropriate arrangements for her to attend a Penguins game. Forget the toys, the clothes, the books, all she wanted for Christmas was Pens tickets. Well, Santa is magical and all, but he doesn't have the power to alter the Pens schedule, so he had to work a little of his mojo and make things happen for the kid a wee bit before Christmas. In fact, with a thud and a clank, he somehow maneuvered through Alexis' bedroom window yesterday and left a little something under her tree.

We quickly ushered the surprised little Pens freak to the floor and urged her to open her present. (And, yes, Santa did manage to use the fugliest blue Dora paper anyone has ever seen.)

To be honest, I was a little worried that giving a kid paper for Christmas (albeit ridiculously expensive paper) was going to go over about as well as a couple of neck ties do with Mr. Husband.

Yet, she seemed to know instantly what the pieces of paper represented. Maybe that's because Santa and Sidney Crosby were allegedly in her room the night before and told her she was going to a game. I'm not even kidding, that was her story all morning long. Before she knew about the tickets. Or that there was a game.

She was excited about those pieces of paper.

She was nearly as excited about the new baby blue jersey Santa snuck in as she was those tickets.

She clutched those tickets in her chubby little hands and held them tight for hours after Santa dropped by. It was next to impossible to wrestle them from her, but she was more than willing to show them to anyone who asked.

When finally it came time to leave for the game, Alexis donned her new blue jersey and insisted on pairing it with a jean skirt and the stuffed Penguin she got at a game last year. She clutched that Penguin tight all through the game.

She grinned with glee every time she spotted Sidney Crosby on the ice, who was kind enough to wear his blue jersey so he would perfectly match Alexis.

Alexis' excitement all through the game was the kind of thing you wish you could toss in a bottle, seal up tight, and set on a shelf to cherish for years to come. It was the sort of warm fuzzy night that makes parenting a kid (who today yelled for over an hour, with shrieks that were drenched in misery, because she wanted some waffles but then refused to eat them) all worth while.

Better than worth while.

Perfect.

There's no feeling better than the one you get when you realize you have made your kid very, very happy.

Alexis had a fun little moment with her good bud Iceburgh, who was kind enough to come stand near us for a while. Alexis waved to him, smiled at him, and blew him kisses then promptly buried her face and cried fear-filled tears when he tried to shake her hand. Iceburgh is a classy mascot, though, and gave her a little distance before blowing her a kiss goodbye and heading to another part of the arena.

The Pens lost the game in Epic Fail style.

But a little two-year old didn't care about the final score because Santa made her dream come true.