A Trip Down Penguins Memory Lane

First Note:  I apologize if this page takes forever to load.  If it does, just walk away and come back to it later, it’s pretty much all pictures.

Second Note:  A little background.  I got the idea for this post thanks to Twitter, largely because of the wide variety of reactions and opinions that were spouted out after the Pens were upset in the first round.  All of the arguing over the team’s failures, and now who should be traded, made me think back to times long before social media, when being a fan was quite different and less interactive in many ways.  It also forced me to think about how fan bases often lose their ways after winning (I’m looking at you, Red Sox fans).  Have we lost our way as a fan base?  If so, take this opportunity to reminisce and ground yourself again as to where this team has been.  If not, well take a walk down memory lane with me anyways.

Third Note:  My background.  I’m 27.  I moved to Pittsburgh from St. Louis when I was 6, which was in November of 1990.  Stanley Cup in 91, Stanley Cup in 92, yeah I think we can figure out how I turned into a hockey fan.  My first Pens shirt had #15 McEachern on the back and I went to my first game in ’95 against Tampa Bay I think.  I grew up in the age of student rushing and $20 tickets, as long as I remembered my report card before I was 16.  I went to the University of Richmond, was too far away from my sports teams, and transferred to Penn State (University Park) after a semester so I was always close enough to come back for games.  Then I came back to law school at Pitt, so I could take out an extra $2-3k/yr in loans to spend on tickets.  I’m serious. I racked up an extra $8-10k in loans during grad school and I’ve had season tickets since 2007 because of it.  Finally, I’ve been playing hockey since I was 8, and grew into being a shot-blocking, defensive defenseman before Scuderi made it popular.  As such, whenever you read this blog, I favor defense and D zone responsibility heavily over highlight reel goals.  Thanks for reading J.  In retrospect, this should have been my very first post on this blog, but oh well.

Now, on with the pictures!  PS – I’ll put a key at the bottom.  PPS - You can click on the pics to enlarge them or see a slideshow.

95 - 96

The '96 playoffs...but look at the bottom, a nice
piece by Dejan Kovacevic about the Jets leaving

The first programs I saved. Bottom one is from 3/26/96.
Remember what happened in that game? (1)

Lemieux ejected...4 OT's...Nedved...epic.

96 - 97

And then there was Ron Cook's take...

Mario announces retirement...Dave Molinari's take.

97 - 98

Time to move on...recognize who's on that cover? (2)

98 - 99

Game 6 of the East Semifinals vs. Toronto.  My mom took me to the game
only because of the Pens bankruptcy issues and since there was a chance
the Pens would be moving after this.  Thank you mom!
Garry Valk (hate!) ended the series and the season in OT.

99 - 00

Look at those rosters...CHARA!

00 - 01

Two keepsakes that I need to frame

Early Dec, 2000...can you imagine how this
would have spread on Twitter?

His tribute from '97 to his comeback playoff run in '01 to
an EASports cover in 2002.
Did anyone else ever get Powerplay magazine??

Ron Cook finally came around this time.

From displaying other teams on the cover, to Mario,
to Mario's best friend and new Mtl GM, to Moose!

Moose Antlers!!

01 - 02

35th anniversary for the franchise...ranging from honoring 9/11 to
honoring Lemieux going for the Gold.  Do you recognize the
bottom middle cover? (3)

So many Olympians, can you name them all? (4)

02 - 03

It was not a pretty season for covers.

Flew back home from Richmond, VA to go to the '02 opener.
Then drove to DC for the season finale out of fear that
Lemieux would retire after that game.  He didn't even make
the trip to DC.

03 - 04

Edzo's first year as coach...and a lot of bad.

Fleury's first NHL game.  TEN DOLLARS TO SEE IT.

Can't wait til it's 2004 again so I can use these...

04 - 05: Lockout, Sadness, Random Pics to Fill Space

A random assortment of forgotten Penguins.
Who do you recognize or remember? (5)

I went on an autograph kick in 96-97 and mailed
the whole team individually.  Craig Muni put
the most effort into his reply.  Greg Johnson
sent me stuff before he even had Pens apparel yet.

Also gathered 2 stud Mighty Ducks as I started mailing
players on other teams.  Selanne's came over a year later.

I have to confess, Peter Forsberg was my favorite player after
Lemieux retired originally.  This didn't hurt his case.  Arguably the
best 2 goalies in NHL history are pretty sweet too.

05 - 06

Out of the lockout, it was time for a trip to NJ to wish
Mario a happy 40th bday and go see this Sid character.

Heading out for his NHL game...
remember who wore #11 then? (6)

Last opener of his career :-(

This year was supposed to be special...it wasn't.

Sid did accomplish this though...as I sat in the highest row
of Section E, wondering if there was a 2nd net for the finale.

06 - 07

Bottom ticket is our return to the playoffs.  Any idea
why the top ticket made this post? (7)

My favorite opening cover, with every player.
And some other scrubs on the team.

07 - 08

The opener starts with filling a void that Lemieux left...
the big C.

I guess winning all these trophies kinda
earned it.

Sykora finally scored his first career hat trick before Christmas.

Some former Pens...and apparently Sid
was eiffel-towered for Christmas.

There was this special moment...

Then there was a magical playoff run....

ending with complete heartbreak.

I'll never forget how much this sight hurt...

or how much I paid for it.

08 - 09

One of my ex-gfs made me cookies of
the whole roster the day before
Therrien was fired.  I don't speak to her
anymore, but my 3 fav Cup winning cookies
rest safely with my Pens stuff.
Lesson: Hockey > Girls

My second favorite opening cover...moving on from last year.

Another wonderful playoff run.

The best playoff shirt ever.

Memories of an awful trip to Detroit for a Game 5, 5-0 loss.
I meant to buy Game 7 tix on the day of Game 5 and accidentally
bought tix for Game 5 - so I made an impromptu trip to Detroit.

The perfect ending that let me do this
in my room.

09 - 10

The season began with a celebration.

My favorite picture that I've ever taken, at the last opener in Mellon.

And then all of a sudden, it was time for EVERYONE to say
goodbye to Mellon Arena.

10 - 11

I was in the Adams group, hooray!

Before Consol was opened, there was the ever so weird,
Student Flush.

Then it was time to open the state of the art building that
we were never sure we would get.

Heinz Field even joined in with a Winter Classic that we wish
never ever happened.

11 - 12

Sid FINALLY came back...and then left..and then came back
again.

This is how the year started.

Mario was honored.

and now we shall argue about who will be traded and what happened to this team.  Hope you enjoyed a nice refresher on why we shouldn't act spoiled - because this franchise has come a very long way in a very short amount of time and we should be grateful for it.  Also, go look through your own old stuff, it is a lot of fun to do!

Answers from random pics:
1) Mario vs. Gretzky.  Mario's son Austin was born 3 months premature just days beforehand.  Lemieux scored 5 goals while Francois Leroux and Tony Twist got into a very bloody fight.
2) Stu Barnes!
3) Dan LaCouture
4) Alex Kovalev, Johan Hedberg, Robert Lang, Darius Kasparitis, Mario Lemieux, Martin Straka, Jan Hrdina
5) From top row, left to right: Ron Tugnutt, Shawn McEachern, Kevin Hacher, Phil Bourque
2nd row: Frederick Olausson, Bryan Smolinski, Zarley Zalapski, Andreas Johansson, Stefan Bergkvist
3rd row: Tomas Sandstrom, Kjell Samuelsson, Dmitri Mironov, Ed Olczyk
6) Lasse Pirjeta
7) Mario came out that night and announced that there was a deal for a new arena finally.  There would be no move to Kansas City.