There is a generation of Penguins fans that were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. They came into their hockey fandom with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-André Fleury. They never knew the dread of years past other than to hear the stories. It was all Stanley Cup runs and a constant status as one of the NHL’s premiere teams. It was the best of times, until it wasn’t.
Times Are Tough for Penguins
The Penguins are on pace to miss the playoffs for a third-straight season, the team is selling players on the trade market for draft picks and prospects for a second-consecutive season, and the current outlook is bleak. If you are one of those Crosby Era Pens fans, you have lived a blessed life, but it’s time to earn your stripes. Time to prove that you are a true fan, and not just here for the good times.
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I speak from experience. I was born in 1986, my first hockey memories were of Mario Lemieux at the height of his power and the Penguins winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. I lived a blessed life. Even when Lemieux retired in 1997 despite being the sport’s best player, we had the second-best player in the world, Jaromir Jagr, standing there to carry the torch. Then of course there was Lemieux comeback and the run to the Conference Finals in 2001, but that is where the run of glory ended for my generation. Then came the “X Generation”.
The team could not afford Jagr, so he was shipped off to the Washington Capitals for what equated to nothing in hockey terms. With the team struggling, players like Alexei Kovalev, Martin Straka, and Robert Lang were either shipped off or not retained in order to save money. We were left with Lemieux and a bunch of no-names. Sound familiar?
From 2002-2004 the Penguins missed the playoffs every season and were never really competitive. There were times that the Civic Arena only had 11,000, maybe 12,000 fans, and you know what? Part of me loved it. Don’t get me wrong, you would take a contender over a lottery pick 10 times out of 10, but when all the fanfare is stripped away, and its just the real hockey fans in the building, you learn to appreciate the game and the team more.
I had heard about this from the pre-Lemieux era fans just like you are hearing it from me now. They had talked about the feeling in the building when it was pretty empty and kids were playing street hockey in the concourse. On volume there were fewer fans in attendance, but proportionally they were more engaged, more knowledgeable, and followed the team with fervor. If you can do that when times are tough, just imagine how good it will be when they turn it around?
With the “X Generation,” I finally got to experience it. There was something about the camaraderie of the arena at the time knowing everyone else there was a true hockey fan. Sure the team stunk, but you got to watch Lemieux play hockey, something I never took for granted.
The Student Rush program was invented to organically drive ticket sales. That program was my lifeblood, my brother and I would get to the arena hours before puck drop just to get a good spot in line hoping to score seats in section A at the Igloo. You could get to know your usher well and maybe they’d move you down closer to the action than you ever were when the arena was packed. You felt like the players appreciated the support and there was a real connection between the fans and the team. It was these dark days that forged my generation’s bond with the Penguins, more than the glory days ever did. During these days we didn’t know if we’d ever see the playoffs again, let alone another Stanley Cup. Sound familiar again?
Enjoy It While It Lasts
The Penguins don’t look like a team destined to make the playoffs this season, but you still have Crosby and you still have Evgeni Malkin. Enjoy them while they are still here because if you take them for granted now, you will regret it later. You still have a team in Pittsburgh, which hasn’t always been a given. You may be upset at missing out on playoff games, but you can be fairly confident the Penguins will still be in town for years to come. We didn’t always have that. There used to be a looming reality that, without enough playoff ticket revenue or a new building, the team could be moved to another city any given year.
The arena may not be packed every night, and the on-ice product can be infuriating, but you’ll start to see some light at the end of the tunnel. You’ll get a surprise performance from a young player that was just called up. You’ll hear a name you never heard of before that will soon become a fan favorite. You’ll get to see NHL debuts, first goals, first shutouts and more, all from the players that will hopefully usher in the next championship era to Pittsburgh.
So my advice to you Crosby Era Penguins fans: soak it all in now. Go to as many games as you can afford to, get as close to the action as you can, because before too long, the building will be filled to the brim again and you’ll be glad that you were there when it was empty.
