Penguins fans know little about Senators except that they’ll lose
They call this the City of Champions (sorry, Edmonton), where souvenir T-shirts and licence plates read “Black and Gold Til I’m Dead and Cold” in support of Pittsburgh’s three similarly hued major sports franchises. And the Penguins ARE the defending Stanley Cup champions who just knocked off the regular season league-best Washington Capitals.
So it’s understandable, perhaps, that Pittsburghers and other Pens fans are predicting a five- or, at most, six-game series that will send Sid the Kid et al to yet another Cup final.
Jake and Kayla Nelson drove the hour from Wheeling, W.V., to attend Saturday’s game. “Pens in five, maybe six,” said Jake. Kayla says she wants Pittsburgh to sweep the series because the high school at which she teaches is holding its graduation next Sunday, coinciding with a Game 5 should one be necessary. And while Jake is concerned about the Penguins’ being tired following bruising series against Columbus and Washington, as well as Crosby’s concussions, he admits he knows little about the Senators beyond Erik Karlsson and Craig Anderson, which is still more than Kayla can claim. “I know the Canadian national anthem,” she offered, while declining a request to perform it.
Pittsburgh’s hockey-fan base, notes local Liz Harlich, is much smaller than that of the NFL’s Steelers, or baseball’s Pirates, but it’s far more intense. “They’re lunatics. They’re fanatical. They love it.” She describes herself as only a moderate Penguins fan, yet in the same breath admits she agonized as she watched the Penguins lose to Washington in Game 6 of their series. “(The Penguins) looked like high-schoolers playing the New York Rangers.” Despite that poor showing, however, and confessing she can’t name a single Senator, she’s confident her black-and-gold will win.
Other Pittsburghers too busy to stop for a chat were often nonetheless willing to share their predictions. “Pens in five.” “Pens in six.” “Pens in four.”
Chrissy Kyak, who grew up in Pittsburgh and has been a Pens fan since the Mario Lemieux days, also admits to knowing precious little about the Senators.
“We’re really aware of what Washington is doing all the time, but I don’t know that I’ve watched Ottawa play against Pittsburgh,” she said. “I do know that they beat us two out of three games this year, but we’ve had a lot of injuries. So I don’t know how it’s going to go down.
“But we’re superstitious,” piped in her daughter Kate, “so we never say whether we think we’re going to win or not.”
“No,” agreed Chrissy. “We would never say.”