Hi, I'm a hockey addict.

I'd consider myself as having an addictive personality. However, my addiction is not drugs, gambling, or food. It's hockey. Born on Long Island, raised in Jersey, and now living outside of Philadelphia, you'd assume that I supported one of the aforementioned teams. However, I didn't develop my love of this men-without-teeth sport until I met my husband- a die hard Pittsburgh fan.

I'd never had a strong affiliation for a particular city's sports team. Hell, growing up I loved football, but rooted for the Broncos and the Cowboys. And I didn't watch a lick of hockey. Finding baseball extremely boring, I should have known that given a chance, hockey was just the fast-paced, cross-checking, rowdy sport I was missing in my life.

So in 2008 when the Penguins raced toward (and ultimately lost) the Stanley Cup, I decided that hockey would become my sport of choice, and I would closely follow my Pens. Five years later, my growing love has become an obsession. I check NHL daily, monitoring the standings and statistics. During this year's lock out, I felt like a lost puppy and crossed my fingers each day that hockey would return. And after months of waiting, it finally did.

My husband and I made it to three games this year, two of which were in Pittsburgh, the other in Philadelphia.

Oh, Philadelphia. The tickets were a joint birthday present from my husband and brother/sister-in-law. I cried. You will soon learn my love for Kris Letang, the defensive superhero with sexy hair.

I had to wait over a month for that game, but it was well worth it. It's rough being a Pens fan in Philadelphia. Thankfully there's always a decent turnout of Penguins fans in Philly (safety in numbers), but even still...I was glad my nine year old nephew was by my side. I'm making a big (perhaps mistaken) assumption that even Flyers fans wouldn't hurt a lady with a cute kid with her, even if he's wearing #87.

The good news? We won. I would have taken a butt kicking for that comeback win any day. The better news? We won the rest of our games in March, and I was at two of them! It was a piece of Pens history that I was thrilled to be a part of.

I continue to love this team, and not just because they currently sit at the top of the standings. I love their passion, heart pride and drive. I love their nicknames for each other. I love "mustache boy" and their other rituals. I'm a die-hard Pens fan and everybody knows it.