nathan jara

I love golf. And I love Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. Today, thanks to my friends at American Eagle Outfitters, I was fortunate enough to combine these two things as I attended and participated in the 13th Annual Pittsburgh Penguins Alumni Golf Classic. The event took place at Valley Brook Country Club, located near Canonsburg, PA. This year, the Pens Alumni brought together a great group of past Penguin goaltenders. The elite group included players such as Les Binkley, the first Penguins goalie from 1967, Ken Wregget, from the Pens second Stanley Cup year, and Gilles Meloche, who tended the net from 1985 – 1988 and currently is the goaltending coach for the Penguins. I was actually able to play golf with Mr. Meloche today. What a great guy! He was a lot of fun and also is a great golfer. There were many times today during the scramble format of play that we didn’t think we’d have to even hit our shots after Gilles because he put it close just about every time. It was great to visit and talk with Gilles about golf, life, and hockey of course. He said he has a good feeling about the upcoming season, which was great news. He also gave me a few swing tips :) After our round we headed to the clubhouse for dinner and awards. I was able to mingle with some more great names like Dan Bylsma, the Pens’ head coach, Todd Rierden, the new assistant coach, Bob Errey, Dave Hanson of the Hanson Brothers, Paul Alexander from FSN Pittsburgh, Ed Johnston, Francois Leroux, Troy Loney, Joey Mullen, Bryan Trottier, and Ken Wregget. Check out some photos below to see some of my favorites. It was a super awesome day and one I will never forget. And I didn’t hit the golf ball half bad today either :)