Ok, i have no idea why it gets me to be so curious this early morning (3:30 AM here in France), but i somehow wanted to know how you folks started to be a fan of our Pittsburgh Penguins.
Me, it's simple. In our country, ice hockey is not really famous, you got die hard soccer fans, rugby, handball, basket. You have to come back 20 years ago where hockey was actually broadcasted on TV, via a channel you needed to suscribe (along with NFL and NBA, MLB being the sport totally ignored here, believe me or not it's true).
For lot of french following NHL now, hockey came first by... video games (few also during Winter Olympics at Albertville). My bro was actually playing all EA NHL on SNES, i was yet too young to find interest on it. Then came the cable, but i was more into NBA and .. soccer as well. And on a random night, and i swear it's real, on one night, i ended on that channel i told you few lines before, and they were broadcasting that famous Maple Leafs-Penguins, December 27th 2000, Lemieux's return.
And i watched that team dominates all over the ice, with an offensive force simply amazing, leaded by Jagr and his czech mates. I was wondering at the end of the game how come i never really had a crush on that sport, but since this day, i'm always behind those Pens, even back to the time Dick Tarnstrom was our leading scorer and Morozov our best winger (and yes we did tank, gotta be honest).
Nostalgia strikes just like that, but i really need to know how that community that share the same passion for the team discovered it, even if there is actually Pittsburgh people and its clear how they did.
One thing, no disrespect but, i don't want any bandwagonners stories..
Hope i made it clear anyways, heading to bed, hope this topic will find some success
PS : And yes, i have to thanks two people actually. One girl fan of the team since her birth living there and helped me improve my english through our conversations during games and gift me a Crosby shirt, and td_ice, who few years ago mailed me goodies of the team, and believe i really appreciated. I will always remember, many thanks to you both.
Me, it's simple. In our country, ice hockey is not really famous, you got die hard soccer fans, rugby, handball, basket. You have to come back 20 years ago where hockey was actually broadcasted on TV, via a channel you needed to suscribe (along with NFL and NBA, MLB being the sport totally ignored here, believe me or not it's true).
For lot of french following NHL now, hockey came first by... video games (few also during Winter Olympics at Albertville). My bro was actually playing all EA NHL on SNES, i was yet too young to find interest on it. Then came the cable, but i was more into NBA and .. soccer as well. And on a random night, and i swear it's real, on one night, i ended on that channel i told you few lines before, and they were broadcasting that famous Maple Leafs-Penguins, December 27th 2000, Lemieux's return.
And i watched that team dominates all over the ice, with an offensive force simply amazing, leaded by Jagr and his czech mates. I was wondering at the end of the game how come i never really had a crush on that sport, but since this day, i'm always behind those Pens, even back to the time Dick Tarnstrom was our leading scorer and Morozov our best winger (and yes we did tank, gotta be honest).
Nostalgia strikes just like that, but i really need to know how that community that share the same passion for the team discovered it, even if there is actually Pittsburgh people and its clear how they did.
One thing, no disrespect but, i don't want any bandwagonners stories..
Hope i made it clear anyways, heading to bed, hope this topic will find some success
PS : And yes, i have to thanks two people actually. One girl fan of the team since her birth living there and helped me improve my english through our conversations during games and gift me a Crosby shirt, and td_ice, who few years ago mailed me goodies of the team, and believe i really appreciated. I will always remember, many thanks to you both.
Last edited: