Hockeytown Exposed: Pucksburgh Holds The Torch Now

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

No fans travel better than Pittsburgh fans—a fact never more apparent than in the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals the other night. What sounded like thousands of them erupted into chants of “Let’s Go Pens!” after new cult-hero Max Talbot scored the first goal of the game. Mind you, this was at Joe Louis Arena in used-to-be-Hockeytown.

After the Red Wings won it all in Pucksburgh one year ago, the stunned homies applauded politely while the visitors went wild in their house. In Hockeytown, bitter Red Wings fans booed Crosby and the rest of the giddy Penguins while they celebrated on their ice. In the second period, many of them cheered wildly and waved blood-red towels while Sid the Kid dragged himself to the bench after a hard-but-illegal check along the boards.

It was easy to feel the frustration of the Red Wings faithful. Detroit has been down on its luck for years—a depressed city that could use something positive to get excited about for a change. Still, one would expect fans blessed with such a great hockey tradition to show a little more r-e-s-p-e-c-t, as Motown superstar Aretha Franklin would spell it out for them.

Of course, they love hockey in more than Motown and the ‘Burgh these days. Buffalo, Chicago, Minneapolis-St Paul and Philadelphia also have been mentioned as Hockeytown candidates in recent years. For all their attributes, though, none of them has had a sniff of the Stanley Cup in years.

Don’t you have to set the standard on the ice before you can be the acknowledged leader off it?

Now that the Penguins have won something, comparisons to the great Edmonton Oilers teams of the 1980’s have a sliver of legitimacy to them. The similarities between the two teams are as obvious as Don Cherry’s sports coat. Up front, the Oilers featured Wayne Gretzky, 23, Mark Messier, 23, Glen Anderson, 23, and Jari Kurri, 24. The Penguins have Crosby, 21, Malkin, 22, Eric Staal, 20, and Tyler Kennedy, 22. And Eric Tangradi, 20, is on the way.

The Oilers had Paul Coffey, 22, on the back line. The Penguins have Kris Letang, 21. In goal, the Oilers leaned on Grant Fuhr, 21. The Penguins bank on Marc-Andre Fleury, 24.

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