A topic that keeps going around Pittsburgh is the lack of energy coming from the home crowds at Consol Energy Center. The Penguins young facility that seats more than 18,000 and rarely ever sounds like there is that many people there.
What might have been more pathetic than the Penguins actual performance last night was the sad attempts of the crowd trying to get a “Let’s Go Pens” chant. Granted they were not playing well but the home team has to be able to feed off its home crowd in some capacity.
Many fans at this point actually enjoy watching Penguins games on the road because the energy in opposing buildings has made the experience more enjoyable for a fan. Watching games on TV for home games can be dull and doesn’t always grab the fans attention.
Consol Energy Center isn’t close to being intimidating at all for road teams. Why should it be?
Road teams get treated just as well as the home team, first class all the way and of course the crowd intimidation isn’t there. Doesn’t take much to take the crowd out of it, it seems. Penguins fans blame this on the fact that Consol since it opened has been catering to corporate world. Like what many say, suits don’t cheer. With corporate sponsors getting a lot of tickets, means that ticket prices are more expensive than the past for the average fan and student rush plans have been cut over the years as well.
Just ask the Philadelphia Flyers winger Scott Hartnell who said last year before the playoffs that he wasn’t scared of coming to Consol Energy Center and that The Igloo (Civic/Mellon Arena) was intimidating.
The biggest factor of intimidation for The Igloo was that it was so old and wasn’t a cookie cutter arena like the ones you see today. It actually looked like an igloo and was built in 1961. The age of The Igloo had an effect on everything. Where the teams entered were dingy as well as the walk to the locker rooms. There were also rumors of rats running around through there. The locker rooms themselves were small, crammed and basically had the opposition sitting on top of each other. Not even close to what you see today.
The seating at The Igloo was also so different than the rest of the league. When opposing players came out onto the ice looking up at the ridiculously high rounded ceiling and feeling like the crowd was sitting right on top of them., it wasn’t like the lower and upper bowl situation like you see every where today.
For the fans it was all together different experience as well. Walking into the building after getting your ticket scanned then trying to fit down the narrow hallways that can barely fit any food vendors. With no elevators anywhere fans had to walk up narrow tight staircases to get anywhere. All fans would drag their hands against the roof on their way up, while looking at the old motors in the roof leaves that once helped open it before making their way to their original orange cushioned seats.
Consol Energy Center has some catching up to do be as intimidating as The Igloo and other arenas around the league but it can be. Pittsburgh should be that kind of place again for opposing teams to come to.
Photo Credits: Pittsburgh Penguins
