Mellon Arena Memories

As the Pittsburgh Penguins prepare to play their final regular season game in Mellon Arena's 43 seasons tonight against, of all clubs, a New York Islander team that has tortured them more than once in that building's history, there's a mixed focus on the past and present.

On the ice, the Penguins need a big win tonight if they're going to have a chance of overcoming the New Jersey Devils and winning the Atlantic Division. Currently 2 points back, the Penguins could find themselves settled into 4th place before the evening is over if they lose and the Devils beat their opponent tonight on the road, the Florida Panthers.

More important than seeding, though, is Pittsburgh bouncing back from Tuesday's night's loss to Washington and putting together 3 solid games to end the season. Consistency has been elusive for the Boys of Winter all season, so it would be nice to finally put at least a little streak together before the post-season.

To help that effort, the Penguins should have Evgeni Malkin back in the lineup tonight. Geno missed Tuesday's game against the Caps with what was described as an "illness" and which even caught head coach Dan Bylsma off guard.

Bylsma, meanwhile, has taken some local criticism for pulling goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury down 2 goals towards the end of the Washington game and giving Alexander Ovechkin a chance at a freebee goal -- which he got with all of .2 seconds left on the clock -- to aid him in the race against Sidney Crosby for the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer.

Personally, while I understand that criticism, I had no problem with the team still going for the win. Instead of keeping the goalie in, the team should have done a better job watching Ovechkin on the ice at the end and let someone else score it instead.

Speaking of Fleury, the Penguins need to see more out of him than he's been giving them lately. He was not sharp on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh won't get anywhere in the playoffs with that kind of goaltending.

That's the on-ice picture.

Now let's step back to the off-ice picture.

The Penguins will have more than 50 former players, coaches and general managers in the building tonight for a special pre-game ceremony to honor the ol' Igloo.

While the actual final game at Mellon Arena won't be determined until the post-season -- with any luck, it will end with the Penguins carrying the Stanley Cup -- there surely will be some wistful eyes in the house tonight.

And why not? The building -- first the Civic Center, then the Civic Arena, then Mellon Arena -- has played host to some tremendous hockey games over the years.

Just some of the few that immediately come to mind amidst the Pens' 857-576-205 (and 28 OT/SO losses) record in the building are Mario Lemieux's 8-point playoff game in 1988-89 against the Philadelphia Flyers, the 5 OT game between the Pens' and Flyers in the 2000 post-season (unfortunately won by those guys across the state), and the 'immaculate deflection' game 6 of the conference quarterfinals against Buffalo a year later.

Then, there's my all-time favorite game in the building -- a game which I attended in person, thanks to the obstructed view seats I managed to miraculously snag somehow after fighting the masses on ticketmaster from my college dorm room 2 hours away: Game 4 of the 1992 quarters against the New York Rangers.

Who can't remember that game, really? With the Pens' facing a 3-1 series deficit, then overcoming a 2-goal, third period hole to come back and win in overtime on a hat trick by my favorite player of all time, Ron Francis.

The Penguins didn't lose again that post-season on their way to a still-NHL-record 11 straight post-season victories and their 2nd Stanley Cup Championship. I'll never forget the celebration in the stands or outside the building afterwards.

It was a great trip back to school, I'll tell ya'.

Of course, I also remember going to game #6 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals after the big triple overtime win in Detroit in game 5 against the Red Wings that year.

It was an incredible atmosphere that night and I remember telling the person I was with before the game that I thought it was the bigggest game ever played in the history of that building. As it turned out, it was the biggest, but for the wrong reason, since it was the only time the Stanley Cup was ever lifted in the Igloo.

And by the wrong team.

I remember watching NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman hand the cup off to Red Wings' Captain Nicklas Lidstrom and being torn between wanting to watch the Cup be carried for the first time after being a hockey fan in general for 24 seasons, and wanting to vomit seeing an opponent beat us for the championship and lift the Silver Chalice in our barn.

When the cup was handed to about the 4th player, and one of the worst goalies to ever win the Cup -- Chris Osgood -- I couldn't take it any more and had to leave.

Of course, game #6 against Detroit the next year at least rivaled -- if not beat -- the importance and atmosphere of the game #6 I attended the year before, and one could argue it had more significance since it kept the Pens' alive and gave them the chance to pay back Detroit in their building in game 7 for the franchise's 3rd Cup.

There's a great piece in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review today where Mike Lange, the Pens' Hall of Fame broadcaster and current radio play-by-play man, talks about perhaps the 2 most signature goals in the history of the building.

He describes Lemieux's goal in game 4 of the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals against the Minnesota North Stars as the greatest one, and the goal he scored with just seconds remaining in game 1 of the 1992 Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks as the most dramatic ever in the building.

As most Penguin fans know, his goal against the 'Hawks came off a set face-off play that couldn't have been scripted any better, completed a comeback from a 4-1 deficit, and left the building roof just a few decibels from lifting off.

According to Lange, "I literally ripped my headset off halfway trying to call the goal".

And those are just the games.

The players the building has seen do their magic on the ice in the home sweater is one that not too many teams can rival.

Mario Lemieux
Paul Coffey
Ron Francis
Jaromir Jagr
Sidney Crosby
Evgeni Malkin

All of those guys are or will be legends. 10 years from now you could list the top 25 players in the game's history, and all of them could reasonably and very fairly occupy spots on it.

As current Pens' blueliner Jay McKee put it, "some of the players that built this league have played in this arena".

Penguin fans have been so fortunate to have guys of that caliber ply their trade regularly on the local ice.

And those are just the top-of-the-line guys. There have been many other great, great players to play in the building for the Penguins.

A lot of memories across the board for sure.

Let's hope the Penguins do tonight's ceremony justice, get back on the winning track, and maybe -- just MAYBE -- get a very slight measure of revenge against an arch rival for the torture they've caused Pittsburgh in the building over the years.

Recap tomorrow.

Let's Go Pens!