How you became a Penguins fan ?

jinx33

The Rust is real
Sep 11, 2006
376
2
Paris, FR
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.
 
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SteelFish87*

Guest
LPA1986.jpg
 

Le Magnifique 66

Let's Go Pens
Jun 9, 2006
23,618
3,246
Montreal
Living and growing up in Montreal it's pretty easy to only talk about hockey. It's 24/7 on TV or radio. I actually liked the Habs but I was 8 years old and didn't know much about " other teams". I was up North at the cottage and a family member was watching the ECF against the bruins. He was cheering or them and i felt like busting his balls. Started cheering for the Pens who swept the bruins and went on to win the cup. Never looked back since and always been hardcore. Very rare I miss a game and honestly a trip to the Pitt is coming in the next year or two. Wish I had a chance to have watched a game at the Mellon

66 and 68 made it very easy
 

bathroomSTAAL

The halcyon days
Mar 15, 2007
16,325
5,186
Pittsburgh
Born into it as a Pittsburgher. One of my earliest memories is watching the 8-0 Cup win vs. the North Stars at our "Stanley Cup party." I was 5 years old so barely remember ****, but still.
 
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Kovifan27

Registered User
Jan 17, 2012
3,245
7
Philly, PA
Born outside of Pittsburgh but my parents had moved from there. My dad took me to games from prob around age 7/8 in the late 80's. We went to games several times a year including playoffs/cup games.

We moved to the Coal Region of PA in the late 90's. My father and his friends from Merck pushed to have Fox Sports Pittsburgh in the channel lineup. Eventually they put it on. My dad would always watch games with me even if it meant recording on VHS than watching later.

I never realized until I was in college how my dad struggled to afford those games. We never grew up with a ton of money but somehow he made these games happen. It makes me appreciate it even more now.
 

Lionel Hutz

Registered User
Apr 13, 2004
13,355
33
Locking the Lounge??
When Paul Coffey was traded to the pens. My First exposure to hockey was in the oilers dynasty but I was so taken with Coffey. And then there was that Mario guy as well.
 

Honour Over Glory

Fire Sully
Jan 30, 2012
77,316
42,447

This as well, back in the 80's. I have nothing against the new group of fans, because like some of us that became fans because of Mario, I can see why some fans become Pens fans because of Crosby.

I can't be mad at that.

And as for the haters calling those fans bandwagon fans, they're just angry that the Pens fan base is growing.
 

dr robbie

Let's Go Pens!
Feb 21, 2012
3,134
1,103
Pittsburgh
Was really big into hockey in the late 80s and early 90s. Was more a fan of the Blues (you know, local team), but liked the Pens. Brother and I collected hockey cards and we made a deal one time when he was opening some Pinnacle cards that if he pulled a Nifty Fifty card, it would go to me. Well, lo and behold he pulled a Nifty Fifty of Mario Lemieux and gave it to me. Started my obsession with collecting anything Lemieux (from cards, to jerseys, to newspaper articles, to Becketts, etc) and eventually Penguins stuff. Been a huge fan since.
 

Crafton

Liver-Eating Johnson
May 6, 2010
9,842
110
San Francisco
went to CMU during the time they went from the worst team in the league to the best. that'll make you a lifer.

i remember talking to this major Sharks fan in the high school cafeteria, asking him how the hockey team in Pittsburgh looked. he laughed and said MAF was the only player of note and he'd probably only start to get good after i had graduated.
 
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HuskerTornado

Jobu Needs Rum
May 26, 2008
24,194
4,941
Parts Unknown
Pretty much in the Spring of 1990, went to a USHL game, liked the game, then got some packs of NHL cards, got a Lemieux, thought the skating Penguin was a cool logo and Mario reminded me of Super Mario Bros. Lemieux also seemed like a cool name. A few months later, drafted a guy named Jaromir Jagr, which I got a rookie of his that Fall/Winter and thought that name was just as awesome :laugh:.

May be odd reasons to start following a team, but that's the way it goes when there isn't a local team and you're just a little kid starting to get into the sport.

Didn't get to see many games back in those days though, being out of market, but caught as many as I could. It's been great to have Center Ice available for the last number of years.
 
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Skillzz

Registered Boozer
Jan 27, 2012
956
1
Omicron Persei 8
So, I guess I'll share this story with the masses...

April 23, 1991. Game 4, Pens are playing the Capitals in the conference semifinals. Also at this time, my mom is pregnant with me. So, during the game, my mom says to my dad "I think this baby is coming soon. We need to go." But, my dad says that he needs to see the end of the game. The game goes on, and by the third period, my mom is freaking out, saying "WE NEED TO GO NOW!!!" But, he won't go until he knows the Pens have it won, and it's 2-1 Pens at this point. Eventually, the ol' 29er Phil Bourque scored an empty net goal, so finally my dad says "Ok, they won. Let's go." And I was born at 4 am.

So, as you can see, I was born to be a Pens fan :)

My dad has had season tickets for 35 years, dating back to the 70's, so I've been going to games ever since I was a wee lad too.
 
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Dying Alive

Phil = 2x Champ
Mar 11, 2007
12,030
119
Pittsburgh
My whole family are big Pens fans and have been for many years. I started watching games with my dad when I was a kid back in the 80s.
 

Ray Shero*

Guest
Started watching Mario play and loved him. Been cheering for the Pens for about 15 years.
 

IcedCapp

Registered User
Aug 7, 2009
35,855
11,225
Lived in Ohio and then Florida in the 80s and 90s, and ESPN always had the Pens on and they were good. I guess in a way I was a bandwagon fan, but I was like 8... :) Been a fan ever since.
 

MetalheadPenguinsFan

Registered User
Sep 17, 2009
63,704
16,749
Canada
Watching Mario play back in the day on Hockey Night In Canada. Also the first hockey stick I ever got as a kid had a Pens logo and a fake Mario Lemieux signature on the shaft. That was around '92 or '93
 
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Coach Travis

Back2Back!!!
Jun 29, 2005
15,200
1,147
Thunder Bay, Ontario
bucketdecals.com
I guess I'm technically a "2005 bandwaggon fan" but to me, i became a fan in the most organic say somebody can.

Started watching Sidney Crosby. Really liked his game. Started getting to know the rest of the players. Then one day I suddenly realized that they were the team I most wanted to see win the Cup. Figured that meant I'm a Pens fan.

Since then I've travelled to Pittsburgh just to watch them play, and this year I flew to Toronto to watch them play.
 

Gold Diamond

Watermarks
Jul 11, 2008
7,069
1,320
Coatesville, PA
Born and raised in Greensburg, PA. Fell in love with the sport during my senior year in HS. 17 years later, I still love them - even after a move to (barf) Philadelphia.

Flyers suck! 1975 forever!
 
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Zero Pucks

Size matters
May 17, 2009
4,586
298
I remember watching Sports Center one day when there was a snowday in the early 90's and they were showing dominating highlights of Jagr and Lemieux from a game over and over again. Then there were commercials for a Sabres vs Pens game so I made it a point to watch that. And ever since then I was hooked.

I guess ESPN was good for something back then.
 

BmxHockey

Registered User
Jan 4, 2012
1,155
210
San Diego
My wife is from Pgh. She bought center ice after the lockout. Watched a lot of games-got me interested in playing adult league. Saw my first hockey game at Melon. Visit and go to Consol every Xmas.
 

Clunker

Registered User
Mar 4, 2007
259
0
Born and raised in Pittsburgh and my Dad was a huge fan dating back to the early blue jerseys days where he claims his Mom used to complain about giving him 8 dollars to go to games because the team was so bad. He also recollects being able to carry on conversations with other people in different sections of the arena because the place was so empty. :sarcasm:

Anyway, him being a huge fan pretty much guaranteed me becoming a fan. My first real memory of the Pens and sports in general is being 4 years old and attending the Penguins Rally at Point State Park in 91 and all the other festivities surrounding us winning our first cup.
 

STLPensFan

Registered User
Jun 5, 2012
129
0
STL, MO
Growing up in St Louis, it's really hard to establish - or even convince myself - that I'm not a bandwagon fan, but as a kid, the actual flightless bird fascinated me and the original EA Sports NHL Hockey was one of the only video games I owned. The one that even came before all this NHL 94 B.S. that's all over the internet news these days. I loved Coffey, Jagr, Lemieux, Barrasso as Stars with numbers (no names) and pixels. And they were Penguins.

I got turned off of hockey after the Blues' disappointing 90s with the Gretzky fiasco, the lockouts, the heartbreaking Blues failures to threaten for the Cup. It wasn't until after college with the 08-09 Cup Finals for my 'Other' team and 2010 Olympics were too tempting not to tune into that I began to call the Pens my team and the Blues only my Western Conference team.

The last two years I have been yearning for a Blues-Pens finals. It seems so close and so far.
 

domaug*

Registered User
Nov 27, 2011
5,310
0
Archbald, PA
born about two hours from Philly and six hours from Pittsburgh, so logically i should be a Flyers fan due to proximity. just about everyone in my family is a Pens fan though so that's how i became a Pens fan. i didn't even watch hockey until i was 4, though.
 

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