Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) skates in the third period against the New York Rangers in NHL hockey action at Pittsburgh, Saturday, April 7, 2007. The Pens beat the Rangers, 2-1, with Crosby finishing the season as the NHL scoring champion.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The final game of the home season historically has been a lovefest between the Penguins and their fans. In good times and bad, these dedicated customers have made this early April trip to Mellon Arena to cheer their heroes, to let them know their efforts were appreciated -- even when they did nothing more than produce a last-place finish -- and most of all to say goodbye.
This year the script was just a bit different.
The fans came out every bit as strong -- 17,132, the team's 30th sellout in 41 games -- and every bit as appreciative. They wildly applauded the pregame award ceremony, and didn't mind the event was a bit of a cop-out. Of course, Sidney Crosby, who by game's end was the official NHL scoring champion, was the MVP in a vote of his teammates. But the rookie of the year was co-awarded to Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, even though Malkin had twice as many points as Staal. The hockey writers' Good-Guy Award was not presented to an individual, as is usually the case, but the entire team.
The fans didn't mind a bit. More Penguins to cheer.
There was an added bonus this year. Because the opponent last night was the New York Rangers, the fans had the opportunity to participate in the mandatory pregame and every-time-he-touched-the-puck booing of former Penguin Jaromir Jagr, the second-greatest player in franchise history.
But that wasn't what was different. This is what was different. This time the fans didn't have to say goodbye. This time there's more hockey -- maybe lots more.
It has been six years since the Penguins' season extended beyond 82 games. April 2001 was the previous time the fans came to the final home game and didn't have to say goodbye. The Penguins finished third in the Atlantic Division that season and greatly surprised by winning two playoffs series before losing in the conference final to New Jersey.
It has been a long drought and the return to the postseason has been somewhat unexpected. The true believers hoped the Penguins might sneak in as maybe the seventh or eighth seed in the conference. Others thought that was too optimistic for so young a team.
The Penguins fooled everyone -- even the true believers. After a mediocre start, they kept getting better and better: 8-2-2 in January, 9-3-1 in February and 12-3-2. The intense March schedule, that was expected to be their undoing, served to prepare them for the playoffs.
The Penguins will open the playoffs later this week against the Ottawa Senators. It was the prospect of that matchup that added a touch of drama last night to what became a 2-1 Penguins' victory.
Although the Penguins had long since locked up their playoff slot, they had a chance to gain home-ice advantage if they beat the Rangers and the Senators lost to the Boston Bruins. The game in Boston started about 35 minutes earlier and the Bruins caused a stir in Pittsburgh by scoring twice in the first six minutes. Unfortunately, for the Penguins, the Senators quickly answered both of those scores and went on to a 6-3 win that clinched home ice for them.
Both teams finished with 105 points, but the Senators earned home ice in the best-of-seven series with the advantage in the first tiebreaker, most wins, 48-47.
No one should take that to mean they have any other significant advantage. The teams have met three times in the past month -- twice in Ottawa -- and the Penguins won every time.
The impressive win against a playoff-bound Rangers team, which has been playing extremely well, served to send the Penguins off to the postseason on a positive note.
And the Penguins sent their loyal fans home on an equally positive note. Although many headed for the exits after the Penguins held off a furious Rangers attempt to tie the score in the closing minutes, about one-third of the crowd remained. About 10 minutes after the conclusion of the game, the Penguins returned to the ice to participate in what could be called one of the great promotions in professional sports: "Shirts Off Their Back."
Twenty six fans were brought down to the ice and each one received a jersey worn by a Penguin that night. As the player's number was called, he pulled off his shirt, skated to center ice, shook hands with the winner and autographed the shirt.
It was a grand gesture and one that thrilled the fans even if the exchange was not a particularly even one.
The Penguins gave 26 fans their shirts; More than 17,000 fans in attendance and many, many more gave the Penguins their hearts.
(Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.)
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