A Night Of Finales

It didn't really hit us until we were there that the Mellon wouldn't be home next season.


Our first game at the Mellon was after the two Cup wins in the nineties but the place was still rocking. We were too young to understand anything but we could feel the excitement from the fans and the energy from the ice.

As we got older, the Penguins got worse. But that didn't stop us from watching the games and cheering for the Pens.

Our favorite story of the Mellon Arena was the last home game in the 2005/2006 season.

It was Sidney Crosby's rookie year and he was three points away from being the youngest player in NHL history to get 100.



Henrik was already in love. It was the 2005 draft that won her heart.

I (Noodles) was in my sophomore year of college and had watched every game I could on the fifteen inch television my roommate and I had in our dorm room.

We knew that the last home game of the season was a big deal and that we had to go. I skipped my full day of classes and drove the two hours to Pittsburgh. Sometimes hockey is more important than school work (don't tell the parents).

Our only option was Student Rush.

And this was in the days when Student Rush was not that popular. All you had to do was wait in a line outside the arena like two or three hours before puck drop and you were pretty much guaranteed a ticket.

Remember, this was the last home game of the season and we student rush-ed the game. It seems unbelievable to this day to think that we did that.

We paid our twenty dollars a ticket and got seats in C behind where Fleury was. Probably the best twenty bucks we've ever spent.

In this game, Fleury stopped Miroslav Satan on a penalty shot. He got the penalty shot because Rob Scuderi pulled him down on a breakaway.



And Ryan Malone scored twice, putting away the last Sidney Crosby pass that got him 100 points as a rookie.

For me, I was so excited that Ryan Whitney had a goal and an assist.

I think I may have punched the person behind me in excitement.

There was also the awards ceremony before the game and the jersey off their backs after the game.

Henrik still mentions the video tribute they had to Crosby's rookie year as the highlight of the night. The song was 'Sympathy for the Devil' by The Rolling Stones and we still play it before the last home game of the season.

Now, just knowing that this was the last home game for Mellon Arena makes us kinda sad and teary-eyed.

We may not have been alive for the opening of Mellon Arena or most of the Lemieux days but we have our memories. And they are just as powerful and amazing as the older generations'.

In our years as season ticket holders, we have always joked that Mellon Arena was home because it always felt like it. The smell, the walk up the ramp, the noises, it all seems to familiar, so comfortable.

We have had the same seats for three seasons and it may not seem like a lot but it was to us. They are our seats, our place in history.

It's going to be hard to see Mellon Arena go. It's going to be weird to stand on an escalator to get to our seats instead of huffing and puffing up that ramp. But changes happen and we're just glad that the Penguins didn't leave.

Last night was an emotional night for us as fans. Last regular season game and the videos and former players and memories from people were too much.

I was okay when Paul Coffey walked out on the ice, I was okay when Brooks Orpik scored but when Alex Goligoski scored on the power play after the fan behind us screamed, "DON'T PASS TO GOGO", the dam broke and I cried a little.

Henrik lost it when we got home and this was playing on our television.


Mellon Arena was a great place to be and it will always be our first home.

Luckily, this isn't the last we've seen of Mellon Arena yet. We still have the playoffs coming up and we would love to see a Cup raised by the Penguins on Mellon Arena ice.



Now that would be a great send-off.