PITTSBURGH - The announcement reverberates throughout Consol Energy Center:
"The Pittsburgh goal, scored by Tyler Kennedy ... assisted by Brooks Orpik and Chris Kunitz."
So who decides who gets credit for the goals and assists?
At Pittsburgh Penguins home games, that responsibility usually falls to Keith Schreiber, who has the kind of part-time job any hockey fanatic would love.
He's the official scorer for most of the Penguins' home games, part of a 15-person crew of off-ice officials who work every game.
The officials on the ice determine whether or not a goal was scored. The officials who sit up in the press box determine who gets credit for the goal.
In Schreiber's case, that means relying on his eyes, his experience and the big replay screen that's mounted above his press box seat.
The toughest plays are shots through traffic. Sometimes it's apparent that the puck hits another player on the way in and abruptly changes direction.
If it hits an opposing player, the goal belongs to the shooter. If it hits a teammate, that player gets credit for the goal, even if it hit him in the seat of the pants.
Schreiber takes a good look at the play live, then consults the replay if he needs help.
"They [the NHL] want it right," Schreiber said. "That's the bottom line."
Sometimes someone from the bench will call the press box to say the scorer got it wrong.
There were more calls in the old days. The super slow motion replays have taken a lot of the mystery out of identifying the goal scorer.
There can be two assists on every goal. There can also be one or zero, though.
The mission is to identify players who actually contributed to the goal.
Schreiber said the NHL sends out a video every year to help the off-ice officials do their work.
"They show what the criteria are for everything," he said. "They want to make sure every club is doing it the same way. They want it to be standardized."
There are six people who work on the stats at each game. In addition to the official scorer, another person records on shots on goal and faceoff results, another takes responsibility for hits and blocked shots and two track ice time for players on both teams.
A spotter assists all of them.
The off-ice crew is rounded out by penalty box attendants, a game timekeeper, a penalty timekeeper, a commercial coordinator (they cue the referees for TV timeouts), a video replay official and two goal judges.
The goal judges used to sit in cubicles behind the goals. Now they're also at press level, and their duties have become more ceremonial.
With two referees and a video replay system in place, there's less need for goal judges.
Phil Spano, who heads up the off-ice officials in Pittsburgh, is fond of calling his co-workers the "fourth team" at every game.
The Pittsburgh crew functions smoothly, partly because of their experience. Schreiber, 58, first started working games in 1975. Jim Gricar, another veteran member of the group, started when the Penguins did, in 1967.
Each member signs a contract with the NHL.
Things used to be much more informal. A lot of the Penguins' off-ice officials came aboard because they knew the late Terry Schiffhauer, the team's media relations director in the early 1970s.
The Penguins needed help at games, and Schiffhauer invited them to fill the jobs. There was no pay then, just two tickets for each game and a parking pass.
The rudimentary statistics were kept with pencil and paper.
These days, things are a lot more sophisticated. With the aid of a computer system called Hockey Information and Tracking System, the off-ice officials compile a wide range of data.
Today's standard game summary sheet includes ice time for every player, broken down by even strength, power play and penalty killing play. In addition to tracking shots on goal, there are columns for shots attempted and blocked and those that were attempted but missed the net.
Off-ice officials also keep track of hits, blocked shots, giveaways, takeaways and faceoff results.
There is also an official running play-by-play, which notes how goals were scored and which players took shots at what times.
Question of the week:
Who has the worst temper on the team?
Mike Rupp: "I'd say [Evgeni Malkin]. If he gets hit hard, you have to yell as loud as you can for him not to go get the guy, because he's going to go after him and take a penalty."
Jordan Staal: "That would be probably a tie between Sid and Matt Cooke."
Craig Adams: "Probably I would say Sid."
Mark Letestu: "Brent Johnson. Any time you're knocking people down in fights like that he's usually a pretty mild-mannered guy, but obviously he can flip the switch pretty good."
Chris Conner: "I don't know if I should say. I haven't really see anybody lose their lid for no reason. Obviously it's all for a reason and the passion. I don't know, I couldn't say. I'm going to have to pass on that one."
Second generation
This is the 20th anniversary of the Penguins' first Stanley Cup championship.
One player - Mark Recchi - is still active in the NHL, playing for the Boston Bruins.
The best gauge of how much time has passed is the sons of the 1991 players are beginning to make their way in pro hockey.
Ulf Samuelsson's son Phillip was the Penguins' second-round draft pick in 2009 and is currently in his sophomore season at Boston College.
Troy Loney's son Ty is playing for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL and is eligible for this summer's draft.
