New Display Opens At Arena

The Pittsburgh Penguins today named the members of an “All-Time Team” and unveiled an interactive display honoring the player, fans and each of the three cups in the team’s history. The bank of touch screens is located just inside the entrance on Center Avenue. That area is open to the public during business hours. Each of the 15 players has his own screen where fans can get stats, see pictures and watch highlights. Two additional screens feature some of the most influential coaches; general managers, executives and support staff members in team history as well as the fans. Another wall features three Stanley Cups which visitors can manipulate on the screen to zoom in on the names of the players and see highlights of all the Pens championship seasons. Fans and a panel of media and team officials selected the players on the All-Time Team. Active NHL players were not eligible. The team includes hall of fame players Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Joe Mullen and Larry Murphy. Other members of the team are Syl Apps, Tom Barrasso, Les Binkley, Dave Burrows, Jaromir Jagr, Rick Kehoe, Pierre Larouche, Jean Pronovost, Kevin Stevens and Ulf Samuelsson. Pierre Larouch, who still lives in the South Hills, says he is honored to be part of the dream team, “it completes my career.” He says it will be a great way for the younger fans to learn about the history of the team. Pens President David Morehouse says since they do not get to keep the Stanley Cup having a virtual version is the next best thing. Fans can spin the cup, zoom in on player’s names and even see highlights of the championship series. Morehouse says he is a bit worried people may try to kiss the cup, “we are going to have to clean the screens in this display quite a lot.” As he scans the names of the player sin the Al-Time team Morehouse calls the collection of talent “awesome.” “When you look at that team and then look at the current players we have, it is rare in sports to have that kind of talent in one city.” Says Morehouse, “We have been very fortunate to have the kind of players we have had come through Pittsburgh.”
Check out some Pictures of the new Arena on our Facebook Page.

No Coal Will be Mined by Consol in WV Friday

Pittsburgh based Consol Energy says it will honor West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin’s request to not produce coal in any West Virginia Mines Friday. The request was made as a way to honor the 29 miners who lost their lives last week in Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine. The governor has asked that instead of mining the workers report for their shift as normal and then spend the day working on safety issues. Consol spokesperson Joe Cerenzia says their workers will spend the day in training. He says the workers get regular training on safety issues and the company has an “absolute zero” program aimed at preventing accidents, “So the classes will serve as refreshers” for Consol Employees. Consol operates 7 mines in West Virginia. Cerenzia says it is unclear right now what the one-day stoppage will mean to the company’s bottom line. He says that is not the issue, “At Consol Safety trumps every thing. It trumps production, it trumps profits.” Cerenzia says the drop in production should not hurt the company’s ability to service its customers. He says they have enough coal in stockpiles to make sure power plants that count on just-in-time deliveries do not see an interruption in supply. Governor Manchin has also called on state inspectors to enter every WV mine immediately to look closely at safety related issues. Massey Energy says it will also honor the Governor's request.

CONSOL Buys A Piece of Dominion for $3.5 Billion

Pittsburgh based CONSOL Energy has agreed to buy the Appalachian exploration and production business of Dominion Resources, Inc. for $3.475 billion in cash. The acquisition increases CONSOL Energy's total proved gas reserves by more than 50 percent from 1.9 trillion cubic feet to approximately 3 trillion cubic feet and doubles its potential gas resource base to approximately 41 trillion cubic feet. CONSOL Energy will acquire a total of 1.46 million oil and gas acres from Dominion along with more than 9,000 producing wells that are expected to extract more than 41 Bcfe in 2010. CONSOL currently has two Marcellus Shale horizontal drilling rig with a second to be delivered in a few weeks and a third to be delivered by September. Company CEO Brett Harvey says they will increase the number of rigs by 2013 to 10 and hope to have 170 wells drilled by 2014 as they take advantage of their new assets. Brett says, “This acquisition will substantially increase natural gas reserves and production capacity - further enhancing CONSOL Energy's position as a leading diversified energy company with a balanced portfolio of coal and natural gas.” The acquisition will give CONSOL Energy approximately 750,000 acres in the strategic Marcellus Shale fairway. Currently Dominion is doing very little with it’s shale assets and is focusing on shallow gas wells on its land holdings. Brett stress that although upon completion of the transaction, CONSOL Energy's natural gas business is expected to account for as much as 35 percent of it’s total revenue, the company is not turning its back on coal. Harvey says, “In the last 10 years we have invested over $5 billion into improving or expanding our mines. Now is the time for our share holders to realize the benefits from those investment.” He adds, "In addition to bolstering our gas platform, this transaction will also result in a more balanced energy portfolio, improving the Company's risk profile and positioning it to deliver sustainable long-term growth and increased value to shareholders." CONSOL says it will absorb the 193 Dominion employees associate with the assets. The Company expects to raise approximately $4.0 billion and is targeting a balanced mix of equity and debt to fund the acquisition and development of the acquired acreage. Brett says, “We kept our powder dry to do a big deal like this and we have the balance sheet to do it.”

Local Coal Miner Killed on Job

A coal miner died early Wednesday morning after being struck by falling rock in a Greene County mine. Consol Energy Spokesperson Joe Cerenzia says the rock fell around 11 last night at the Bailey Mine in Wind Ridge, striking a 54-year-old miner close to the end of the afternoon shift. After the incident Robert Maust, of Unionstown, was brought out of the mine. Emergency crews tried to revive him, but they were unsuccessful. Mr. Maust left a wife and two grown sons. He was an experienced miner, working 11 years specifically with underground coal mining, and had spent two years with Consol Energy. Cerenzia says falling rock is a known hazard of underground mining, and Consol does all they can to help prevent accidents from happening.

CONSOL Makes Production Estimate Changes

Pittsburgh based CONSOL Energy says it will resume longwall production at its Buchanan Mine in mid-July. The mine produces metallurgical coal used mostly by steel companies to make coke. The company idled most of its coal production at the mine in March as orders plummeted. CONSOL spokesperson Tom Hoffman says between reaching new agreements over past contractual commitments for coal and an expectation for rebounding steel orders the equipment, the decision was made to bring the equipment back on line. Hoffman says in the past year the demand for all types of coal has spiked and plunged. He says the company has no crystal ball but it does see “hopeful signs” in the economy and expects to see higher demand by the end of the year. The increased production at Buchannan will not return the mine to its full capacity. CONSOL has also made production announcements concerning two other mines. The company idled longwall production at its Blacksville #2 mine near Wana, West Virginia, beginning June 2, 2009, with the idle period expected to continue at least through July 18, 2009, which is the end of a three-week summer vacation period. The mine is one of seven high-Btu bituminous coal mines the company operates in Northern Appalachia. In total CONSOL Energy is adjusting its 2009 estimated production to 60 million tons from the previous target of 62 million tons.

Consol Mine in Washington County May Idle

Consol Energy could idle Mine 84 located in Amwell Township as early as March 5th putting 260 workers—at least temporarily—out of work. The energy group issued a WARN notice (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) on Friday saying layoffs could begin in 60 days. The site switched from mining steam-generating coal, to metallurgical coal in 2008 due to the geological state of the coal seam. Consol spokesman Tom Hoffman says the drop in the demand for steel has caused a drop in the demand for metallurgical coal and caused the impending Mine 84 idle. In fall 2008, metallurgical coal sold for $150 a ton. Hoffman says now it cannot be sold at all.