Friday, October 02, 2009
Jason Ioli
The new season is finally here and everyone is excited at the prospect of another Stanley Cup for the Penguins. But there is also a touch of sadness as the season begins because opening night against the Rangers will be the last one for the Mellon Arena. With the Consol Energy Center nearing completion, the Pens will move in to their new home for next season and the Igloo will be vacant and demolished. While a new arena is wonderful, it will be a little sad to see the old Civic Arena go.Penguins’ fans, young and old, have collections of memories from the arena and we here at Pens Universe want to hesr them.
Throughout this final season at Mellon Arena, we want you the Pens faithful to share your favorite or most embarrassing memories from the Igloo and we will post them here. Pens fans of all ages and all over the world can share in saying goodbye to the only home the Pens have ever had.
Simply submit your stories to mellon.memories@pensuniverse.com and we will get make sure that your memories of the arena are shared with the rest of the Penguins universe. Please remember to keep them somewhat family friendly so every Pens fan can enjoy them.
We’re working on some great gifts to giveaway so don't miss out. If you’re interesting in sponsoring, please let us know.
(CONGRATS TO DAVID BEATTY - Winner of NHL2K10 for the Wii )
2 Shirts from Hockey T-Shirt.net
KJ McElhattan is the first winner of the Hockey T-Shirt.
3 Stanley Cup Posters from Infojocks.com
RISSA LLOYD is the first winner of the Stanley Cup Poster.
1 SUMMER WITH STANLEY book from SteelCitySports.
along with a copy of the SLAPSHOT DVD!
CHARLIE STEITZ has been selected as the winner of the STEEL CITY SPORTS FAN gift pack.
1 AUTOGRAPHED PUCK BY MARIO LEMIEUX
Official Sponsors:
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To start off the celebration of the arena, I will start with my favorite memory of the Penguins at the old Civic Arena. The date was December 31, 1988 and I went to an afternoon game between the Pens and the Devils with my uncle and cousin. We were way up in section E (There was no section F yet), but I was 15 years old and just being at a game was exciting. The Penguins were still a mediocre team, but they had Mario so greatness was always a possibility. And that day, Mario showed what greatness is when he became the first, and to this day, only player to ever score five goals five different ways in a game. As the game was going on, I did not realize what was going on until, late in the game, I looked down at the scorecard of the game I was keeping and figured out that the four goals Lemieux had already scored were all different types. I was just still amazed at how he had undressed Chris Terreri on the penalty shot. So as the end of the game approached, and the Devils pulled their goalie and I knew that the chance for something special was in front of me. WhenSuper Mario netted his empty net goal, the arena exploded and I knew that I was not the only one who figured out what was going on. Of course, there has always been some speculation as to whether time had expired before the fifth goal went in the net. Personally, Iknow that the green light behind the net came on which was supposed to mean no goal, but at no point did anyone argue, so as far as I am concerned it was a good goal. At the time, I knew what Mario had done was special, but it was years before I knew that he was the only person in the long history of the NHL to have accomplished this feat. I still have the ticket form the game and it will be framed and hung in my “Room of Champions.” My one regret is that the program where I kept score during the game was lost years ago. To still have that part of this memory would be amazing, but alas, I am left with only my ticket and what I remember. But it is still enough.
Okay, Penguins fans, your turn. Submit your memories to mellon.memories@pensuniverse.com so we can start sharing your favorite moments with the rest of Pens Universe.
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