Pittsburgh Sports N'at

[Art2Gecko]

Pens find a new breed of fan
In the anguished aftermath of the Stanley Cup loss, Pittsburgh finds its hockey heart
Friday, June 06, 2008
By Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
Ryan Richards, 2, went with his mother, Rebecca Richards, of Plum, trying to get tickets at Mellon Arena for Game Six of the Stanley Cup final. Ryan did his best to imitate the poster of Jordan Staal on the arena facade.For years, the statistics have shown that young people are leaving Pittsburgh. We see the census figures, quote the employment data and hear the grumbling in the South Side clubs.

Lately, however, the city's young people have been gathering in groups to show a pride and spirit that some thought they lacked.

They're Penguins fans. And for the past few weeks, as the local hockey players pounded their way through the Stanley Cup playoffs, young people in Pittsburgh rallied around them.

Sure, Mellon Arena was sold out, but most of those ticket-holders were longtime hockey fans who followed the Penguins when they played in powder blue or came on board the bandwagon when Mario Lemieux was drafted more than two decades ago.

The newly minted fans were sitting in lawn chairs outside the arena, watching the playoff games on an outdoor screen. Thousands of them paid $5 each to get inside to watch Games 1, 2 and 5 of the final series on the arena scoreboard, while the Penguins were playing in Detroit.

"We noticed there are a lot more young fans with this particular team," said Penguins President David Morehouse.

Mr. Morehouse attributed the young fans' attachment to three factors.

First, the "student rush program," making discount tickets available to students for all games -- even sellouts -- is paying dividends.

"Also, the age of our players," Mr. Morehouse said. "The youth and the energy that they have is appealing to young people. A lot of our players aren't much older than the young fans.

"And I think hockey, in general, has caught on in Pittsburgh. The sport lends itself to a younger audience. It's fast-paced, it's full of energy, and with today's youth, who are used to instant gratification, hockey sort of falls right into that."

Courtney Craig, 17, is one of those fans. She and five of her girlfriends piled into a car and drove from their homes in Leechburg to be in Mellon Arena to watch Game 5 of the finals on the scoreboard.

"We love hockey and we love the Penguins," she said. "Everything. The players are hot. I even love the fighting."

She and her friends also noted that the arena was filled with young men their age.

Tara Simonic, 18, of the North Hills, was outside the arena watching Game 6 with two friends. Even with the team on the verge of elimination, she clung to her hopes for another comeback victory.

"It's madness," she said. "How could you not love it?"

"Pittsburgh became a hockey town on the level of Detroit, if not better, this year," Mr. Morehouse said yesterday. "We sold out, they didn't. Our television ratings were higher, our merchandise sales were higher. We basically beat them on every level except the series."

"This is the most Penguins merchandise we've ever moved," said Mike Romano, assistant manager with The Pittsburgh Fan, a sports clothing and accessory shop near PNC Park on the North Shore. "We restocked a couple times during the playoffs, and we still sold out of jerseys, hats, T-shirts. We sold out of our kids' merchandise, and a lot of our youth and women stuff."

But these are no more your father's Penguins than this is your father's -- or grandfather's -- Pittsburgh.

"I think Pittsburgh is in a transition itself," Mr. Morehouse said. "The younger generation still appreciates the hard work of their parents, and the commitment they had to make Pittsburgh what it is. But they're also moving in another direction, just like Pittsburgh is. Pittsburgh, economically, is moving more toward technology and medicine and other things. So is Pittsburgh's youth.

"I think there's a parallel there: Pittsburgh old, Pittsburgh new. And maybe the Penguins represent Pittsburgh new. Pittsburgh, in general, has embraced this particular team because it exemplifies all of the virtues we hold dear.

"We saw it all in Game 5. The team would not quit. They made great sacrifices, worked very hard and did what it took to win the game. Those are the kinds of things the Steelers have shown for generations. And Pittsburghers relate to that. It exemplifies what Pittsburgh has done to fight back."

It starts, Mr. Morehouse said, with the players, led by team captain Sidney Crosby, who sets the example.

"They work hard, they fight back, they're tough and they're very humble," he said. "You can't fake this stuff. You can't create a public relations campaign that makes people into something they're not.

"These guys have a genuine interest in the fans and the community. We just provide them avenues to do that. Delivering tickets and pizzas and Thanksgiving turkeys to people. They had fun doing that."

And they're so young, some of them still teenagers. Most of them, now that the season is over, will be headed to their hometowns for the summer.

"Some of them still live with their parents," Mr. Morehouse said, laughing. "But I think they're quickly becoming Pittsburghers. They have a genuine appreciation for Pittsburgh."

And when those young Penguins return, the young fans will be waiting.

Dan Majors can be reached at [e-mail] or 412-263-1456.