Kovacevic: Move Over TO, It's Our Game

[Dying Alive]

Has Dejan finally perpetrated the most elaborate troll job of all time? You decide.


http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/3336198-74/nhl-team-fans#axzz2InwYdQm4

I'm all for talking Pittsburgh up for the great hockey market it is, but honestly. Completely unnecessary comparisons to another fan base aside, I think there's a ways to go before we approach Toronto hockey hotbed levels.

Click to read more...

 

[Til the End of Time]

terrible article. i now hate dejan.

 

[ColePens]

Yeeeeeep. Credibility is officially down the drain.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I'm from Pgh but live right near Toronto now.

I'm proud how far Pgh has come, but its a whole different world here.

Pgh has come a massive and impressively long way since I started playing as a kid shortly before the first cup runs. Lots to brag about with our city and its passion for hockey.

However, we aren't Toronto though. It's the Mecca of hockey, trust me. You feel it all around you when you are in the city.

Hockey to Toronto is what football is to Pgh.

 

[Shockmaster]

Trolololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol

 

[Shady Machine]

Strange, sad article from a desperate reporter.

 

[Dying Alive]

All this does is open the door for more "zomg, Pens almost went bankrupt lolz" by people who are completely unfamiliar with why they actually almost went bankrupt (in other words, inept government officials, Howard Baldwin's shady/moronic ownership, etc.).

Counterproductive article but I guess it's getting him plenty of attention, so whatever. He's already setting up interviews with Canadian radio shows.

 

[Shady Machine]

All this does is open the door for more "zomg, Pens almost went bankrupt lolz" by people who are completely unfamiliar with why they actually almost went bankrupt (in other words, inept government officials, Howard Baldwin's shady/moronic ownership, etc.).

Counterproductive article but I guess it's getting him plenty of attention, so whatever. He's already setting up interviews with Canadian radio shows.

Yup he got what he wanted. Good for him I guess. It's sad that we are in an age where journalism is boiled down to provocative headlines.

 

[Dying Alive]

As I thought, there's a thread going on the Leafs board and it's all "they almost moved" etc. One even called Pittsburgh an "industrial wasteland." Oookay.

Never mind the fact that the biggest **** Dejan is getting over that article is from Pens fans.

 

[Captain Hook]

I'm from Pgh but live right near Toronto now.

I'm proud how far Pgh has come, but its a whole different world here.

Pgh has come a massive and impressively long way since I started playing as a kid shortly before the first cup runs. Lots to brag about with our city and its passion for hockey.

However, we aren't Toronto though. It's the Mecca of hockey, trust me. You feel it all around you when you are in the city.

Hockey to Toronto is what football is to Pgh.

Yeah, I think the atmosphere at and around Steelers games is something very special and is probably similar for hockey in Toronto.

I agree with the rest of your post too.

 

[Raging Bull]

Meh, I don't see a problem with it as a Leaf fan. Hard to proclaim yourself mecca of anything when you've been the laughing stock for so long. Since Carlyle has came into the dressing room, his message has been use this stuff as fuel and and earn respect back, hopefully it happens soon.

 

[Allie Kitsune]

Dejan, you ignorant ****.

 

[Harv]

What a freaking idiot.

It's bad enough when an entire organization publicly mocks you for an article, now your shooting for the entire league?

 

[Crafton]

hack. he went full Rossi. never go full Rossi.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Heh. I go to click the link and it says "cannot display this page."

I guess that's a good thing?

What'd he say anyways???

 

[KIRK]

Has Dejan finally perpetrated the most elaborate troll job of all time? You decide.


http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/3336198-74/nhl-team-fans#axzz2InwYdQm4

I'm all for talking Pittsburgh up for the great hockey market it is, but honestly. Completely unnecessary comparisons to another fan base aside, I think there's a ways to go before we approach Toronto hockey hotbed levels.

I don't see how one ever could accuse Dejan of perpetrating the most elaborate troll job ever. I didn't think he could top the Crosby captain article. With this one he did. What makes you think he won't be able to top this one too?

 

[td_ice]

Wow, that's messed up. Totally uncalled for article. All apologies to Toronto.

Definitely a troll job. It is fine to build up progress in one city, but no need to deliver a side swipe to another city in the process.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Is this the article??? I apologize if quoting it is too long, but I can't read the article when I click the link.

Minutes before the Penguins‘ intrasquad scrimmage a week ago, a security officer outside Consol Energy Center‘s main entrance broke the bad news to about 1,000 fans gathered near the glass.

“Doors closed! Sorry, folks, that‘s it!”

Almost immediately, one youngster shouted that his buddy heard they were still letting fans in through the Centre Avenue entrance on the opposite side.

And so, they ran.

Several hundred of those fans bolted on an uphill sprint around the old church, through the grass, over a fence, whatever it took.

To try to get into a glorified practice already populated by a capacity crowd.

Now, imagine the real thing.

Imagine when the NHL finally, formally returns to Pittsburgh on this fittingly wintry Wednesday night, with the Penguins playing host to the Maple Leafs amid the game‘s two brightest stars, 18,387 of its most dedicated fans and about a half-million more near local TV sets.

If you ask me, it‘ll look like hockey‘s coming home.

Not just our home.

The sport‘s new home.

See, with all due respect to our Ontarian visitors in town, I dare say it‘s now plenty safe to posit that this golden little triangle, this most fortunate magnet to four of the greatest talents in NHL history … this is hockey‘s new Mecca.

Montreal?

Bon voyage to that ship. The two dozen Stanley Cup banners of the bleu, blanc et rouge might fly untouched forever. But the old Forum is as much of a ghost as those that once haunted it, and the Habs are a shadow of their former selves, not having reached a single final since last winning it all in 1993.

Where have you stormed off, Patrick Roy?

Toronto?

Well, that‘s the consensus choice across Canada, but let‘s be real: It‘s based on black-and-white footage. The Leafs haven‘t won the Cup since 1967, the sport‘s longest such streak, or even reached a final. Just one division title in all that time, too. No playoffs since 2004.

Personal favorite: No scoring champion since Gordie Drillon in 1938.

Yes, that Gordie Drillon.

Look, don‘t misunderstand. The Toronto metro area is three times our size, and its passion for pucks is unrivaled. The Maple Leafs are the NHL‘s most lucrative franchise and, fact is, the league could put a second franchise there and it would be the second-most lucrative.

But sorry, no road to Mecca can have four decades of failure and Phil Kessel at the other end.

There has to be a marquee.

There has to be some magic.

I‘m not sure any of us can fully process what‘s happened to hockey in Pittsburgh, from the three championships to the 14 scoring titles in 24 years to the various events — some as bizarre as they were blessed — that led to the confluence of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.

But here we are …

· A 255-game sellout streak.

· A season-ticket waiting list of 9,500.

· Higher local TV ratings than any U.S.-based NHL team and higher than any NBA team.

· Greater popularity than the Steelers among the younger crowd — ages 18-29, per a statewide poll in 2011 — and greater popularity than the Pirates overall. The only other market where the NHL team is bigger than its Major League Baseball counterpart is, of course, Toronto.

· Ranking No. 1 in merchandise sales the past five years.

· Record amateur hockey registrations across Western Pennsylvania.

· Placing four locals on the U.S. national team that just won the World Junior Championships, an event Canada once owned. One of them was the tournament MVP, goaltender John Gibson of Whitehall.

The Penguins aren‘t just a phenomenon. They‘re a freak. They‘re scaling heights of popularity no American team has known.

Yeah, I can hear the uninformed cynics repeating the same tired refrain about how they had the NHL‘s worst record and lowest home attendance in 2003-04.

Save it.

I was on the beat that winter tailing Dick Tarnstrom and Company, and what I know, from the inside and outside, was that ownership had dug too many holes too deeply over too many years, the team was terrible, the building was ancient, the NHL‘s pre-cap economics were a mess, and the bill came due.

It was rock bottom.

Even then, that season was capped by one of the most moving ovations I‘d witnessed at the Civic Arena, as that sorry bunch was serenaded by a standing, roaring crowd after its finale simply for having given an honest effort.

Those of you who were there know what I‘m talking about.

Even then, Pittsburgh never stopped loving its Penguins.

And the cold truth, as those hardy fans who eventually were squeezed into last week‘s scrimmage can attest, is that it‘s all been an uphill sprint ever since.

To the very peak.

If so, what a bunch of trollbait ****ing garbage. I was born in Toronto and reading the **** being spewed here makes me sick.

Terrible.

 

[Dying Alive]

I don't see how one ever could accuse Dejan of perpetrating the most elaborate troll job ever. I didn't think he could top the Crosby captain article. With this one he did. What makes you think he won't be able to top this one too?

OK, I revise my statement to "Has Dejan finally perpetrated the most elaborate troll job of all time, at least until his next blockbuster trolling?"

I miss the days when Dejan just reported the Pens news instead of spreading rumors or writing these ridiculous homeriffic blogs to get page hits.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

What a joke of an article

 

[KIRK]

OK, I revise my statement to "Has Dejan finally perpetrated the most elaborate troll job of all time, at least until his next blockbuster trolling?"

I miss the days when Dejan just reported the Pens news instead of spreading rumors or writing these ridiculous homeriffic blogs to get page hits.

He used to be a pretty good, straight hockey guy until he used that Rossification Chamber a few years ago.

 

[Bennett Brauer]

Leaf fans over on their board talking **** about our bankruptcy, Crosby "gift" and our fanbase

"Bettman handed us Crosby"

 

[Captain Hook]

Leaf fans over on their board talking **** about our bankruptcy, Crosby "gift" and our fanbase

"Bettman handed us Crosby"

A lot of their fans are no better than Dejan with the crap they spew but I guess more should be expected from a journalist or whatever Dejan is supposed to be these days.

 

[Bennett Brauer]

Yeah I just think it's funny that one reporter says something stupid and it's a whole backlash. Some Pittsburgh Journalists are known for being idiots so a "consider the source" approach would be fine but they say our fanbase is a joke and we only show up because we have Crosby and Malkin, and Bettman handed us Crosby as a gift and if he didn't the team wouldn't be in Pittsburgh.

Leafs fans.

 

[Due North]

Is this an early April Fools joke? He talks about a 255 game sell out!
Wow, I guess selling out the last 80 years does not count. I guess
all those kids comming out of Toronto area and Ontario don't count.
Just because the leafs haven't won since 1967, does that mean I can
tell a person from Chicago that baseball was bigger in Toronto in the 90's
because the Cubs havn't won in 90 or so years and the Jays won twice!