Last Tuesday, the city of Pittsburgh and its hockey fans took a look back to the final game at the historic Mellon Arena that was played exactly a decade prior. That night in 2010 marked the end of an era in Penguins hockey, as well as the culmination of decades of hard work for an organization who was finally about to get its shiny new arena. When “The Igloo” closed down in 2010 it had seen three championships, multiple generational talents, and many heartbreaks both on and off the ice. The Penguins and their fans not only had a brand-new arena, but also a sense of stability for the first time in franchise history. PPG Paints Arena, formerly Consol Energy Center, has been the home of the Penguins for a decade now, and it has proven to be the friendliest of confines.
On October 7th, 2010 the Penguins officially dropped the puck on their new arena for the first time against the Philadelphia Flyers. It was a historic night that saw Mario Lemieux skate out to center ice prior to the game in a suit to ceremonially drop melted Mellon Arena ice onto the center dot of the Pens new rink. Early on the Flyers Daniel Briere potted a powerplay goal for the Flyers, scoring the first official goal in the arena’s history. Just over 38 minutes of play, and another Flyers goal later, Tyler Kennedy became the first Pittsburgh Penguin to score at Consol just 44 seconds into the third period. However, the Pens comeback efforts were throttled by Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, and the Flyers handed Pittsburgh a loss on their special night.
Ten years and a name change later, the place affectionately called “The Paint Bucket” has housed one of the most successful teams of the decade. Since the beginning of that season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have collected the most regular-season home wins (256) and the highest regular-season home win percentage (0.651%), making them the clear-cut best home team of the 2010s. The Penguins also found plenty of success during the playoffs in the first decade of PPG Paints Arena, finishing tied for second with Chicago and San Jose in home playoff wins (31) and just two back of Boston for the lead.
Apart from the number of wins, the Penguins created plenty of memorable moments that will be remembered for the rest of Pittsburgh hockey history. In 2017 PPG Paints was the site of Sidney Crosby’s 1,000thpoint on a first-period goal by Chris Kunitz, then just two years later Evgeni Malkin reached the same milestone in a game against the Capitals on a secondary assist to Phil Kessel. The playoffs provided even more memories, especially during the 2016 and 2017 runs to the Stanley Cup.
The greatest moment of the arena’s short history so far may have come at the hands of former Penguins center Nick Bonino. His overtime goal not only sent the fans into a frenzy, but it also sent the team to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2013. As we would find out after that night, that goal also sent the Penguins on a run that culminates with two more Stanley Cup banners in the rafters. A pair of game seven victories in 2016 and 2017 also provided fond memories, especially Chris Kunitz’s double-overtime clincher against Ottawa in 2017. In fact, the only thing the Penguins didn’t accomplish during their first decade under their new roof was clinching a Stanley Cup on home ice, something that hasn’t happened yet in franchise history.
While many of its memories originated inside the walls of PPG Paints Arena, the scene’s that have taken place outside on the arena lawn have been special as well. None more special than on June 9th, 2016 when the Pittsburgh Penguins had a chance to put away the Sharks for their fourth Stanley Cup. The sellout crowd inside was matched by 20,000 fans primed and set to watch the Pens on the big screen. It was truly one of the most unique sites in Pittsburgh sports history. On the Penguins documentary, Pittsburgh is HomeSidney Crosby said, “Your first goal sticks out, those overtime wins in playoffs they stick out, but that one thing that I’ll remember is that game five and driving in for that game.”
As we sit here at the dawn of the summer of 2020 the entire world is at a standstill, but it seems as if the wheels are starting to move towards the return of the 2019.20 NHL season. If that is the case the Penguins will have a chance to add to their franchise legacy with a sixth Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, due to the concerns about COVID-19, those playoff games might have to take place elsewhere, closing the book on the Arena's tenth season. If that is the case, what a great ten seasons it was.
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