Pittsburgh, The New Hockeytown
// June 13th, 2009 // Pittsburgh, Sports
My friend and fraternity brother John published the following note on his Facebook page and I wanted to post it here because I thought it was great. Enjoy!
Shortly after the Pens hoisted the cup last night, someone (who shall remain nameless so as to avoid physical abuse) made the idiotic comment on Facebook that Pittsburgh was somehow not a hockey town. Hmmm…..let me count the ways that he is wrong (just off the top of my head):
1. A completely sold out arena for over 2 1/2 years (not sure where the guy who said we ranked 19th in attendance this year got his info, but a sell-out is a sell out).
2. A new, larger arena opening in 2010 will also be sold out thanks to a season ticket waiting list that is over 2,000 people strong. (Coincidentally, I’m #1 on the list and was just called late this past Thursday afternoon by the Pens to buy seats for next year.)
3. 10,000 fans sitting outside the arena, in the rain, to watch the game on a big screen just to experience the togetherness of being Pens fans.
4. Highest local ratings for hockey for any regional sports network (FSN Pittsburgh).
5. Just as many Pens shirts seen walking around town as Steelers shirts in early February.
Being a great hockey town doesn’t require that you be an “original six” team. It doesn’t require that all your other sports teams stink or mean that your town can’t provide phenomenal support to more than of its sports franchises. And it doesn’t require that you live in New York, Boston, or any of the other cities that ESPN routinely touts for no other reason than sheer size. If you live in a great hockey town, a great sports town, you don’t need any one to tell you that is the case. You know it because you feel it every day, in the way you live and die each night with your team, in the conversations held with perfect strangers over “last night’s game”, in the pride you feel when a phenomenal group of guys wearing sweaters that represent your city reach the pinnacle of their lives, and in knowing that somehow, someway, you are a part of it because, as a fan, you’ve been along with them for the ride the entire time.
Detroit can keep thinking they are Hockeytown, Dallas can keep thinking that they are America’s team, and Boston can keep claiming to be Titletown. I’ll take Pittsburgh, now and forever, and we are once again, at least for now, the City of Champions.
Dude, it takes more than winning a cup to become a hockey town. That didn’t just happen overnight with Detroit. There is an 80 year history there where Detroit winning 11 Stanley Cups. Pittsburgh has won 3. While I do think the Pens currently have the stars that could help make up a little bit of ground, Pittsburgh is and always will be a football town first. The Steelers rule the NFL with six championships and they rule Pittsburgh. Period.
Pittsburgh is definitely a hockey town. They may not be “Hockeytown” but they have a very large and loyal following of fans who do not just support them when they play at home but also when they play on the road. No one will ever argue that the Steelers are #1, they have been in the past, are now in the present, and will always be the most important sports franchise in that city. But, that has nothing to do with Pittsburgh being a hockey town as well. The city and surrounding metropolitan area are large enough to support both teams.
Let’s not forget though that Detroit won 7 of their cups when there were only 6 teams in the league.
So since the Penguins joined the league, the Red Wings have won 4, the Pens 3.
The Steelers will also be number 1, but I think the Pens are 1A.
Anyone been watching youth hockey around Pittsburgh? It’s huge! There’s a lot of young talent around the Burgh that will show up in the NHL in the next 5-10 years.