7/21/2006
When hockey was hockey
Ten, 15 years ago, the Civic Arena was a great place to be on a winter night. It wasn't just that the Penguins were a winning team for a change - many of their fans had been with them from the darkest days of defeat.
There was, in those days, a camraderie among the fans. Many were season-ticket holders who sat in the same seats, year after year. They got to know each other.
The crowds then were sophisticated. Oh, sure, they were often raucous, obscene and childish, but they knew hockey, knew the game, knew when they had to raise the roof to back their team, knew when to cheer sarcastically, knew how and when to recognize an outstanding effort on the part of the opponents.
That crowd isn't there anymore. They've priced them out. Oh, you can still get into the Arena for less than $20, if you want to sit up in the last rows, too far away to really see the action. I would still go and sit there if the atmosphere was like it used to be. But it isn't.
Now, most of that crowd seems to be business people entertaining their out-of-town clients. You go to a game now and you're startled by the deadly quiet at times. These people don't know enough to wait until a break in play before getting out of their seats or back into them. They don't know hockey, and it's not nearly as much fun to be there anymore.
