Trivia and Fun Facts!

## Post-Game Player Award

Like all teams, the Penguins award a token to the player chosen as MVP by the other players after a win.

2022-2023

* black medieval gladiator helmet with spikes and leather strap

2021-2022

* helmet with fur and neck protector (resembles a Mongolian war helmet)

2020-2021 (season began January 13, 2021)

* a gray flight helmet with logo and visor

2019-2020

* An authentic fireman's helmet with the number 4 (indicating it was from Firehouse 4)

2018-2019

* A silver warrior helmet, similar to the one used in 2015-2016

2017-2018

* A Pittsburgh Steelers football helmet

2016-2017

* A PPG Paints paint can (only used for first part of season)
* A Pittsburgh Pirates baseball batting helmet

2015-2016

* A warrior helmet (provided by Pascal Dupuis); axes were used on the stickers to follow theme

2014-2015

* No award used during regular season. An old-fashioned 'punch-card' time clock was used for the playoffs

2013-2014

* A rock from the Penguins' pre-season trip to West Point (there are no stickers on this award)

2012-2013

* A fireman's helmet

2011-2012

* construction helmet painted to look like a miner's helmet; Penguins puck attached as the 'light'

2010-2011

* a working-man's lunch box (to continue the 'blue-collar hockey' theme)

2009-2010

* A shovel. It represents a longtime arena worker; when he died, the players made the shovel their coveted prize: The Kevin “Duffy” Shovel Award.

circa 2008

* a viking helmet

## Team Stats

### Penalties

* Penguins have played 3 games without either team taking a penalty. On 22 March 1969 in St. Louis, on 11 April 2015 in Buffalo, and 28 December 2016 in Pittsburgh.

## Trivia

### Arenas

* The Pens played in the Civic Arena from the time of their NHL debut in 1967 until the end of the 2009-2010 season.
* The Civic Arena was also known as the Igloo because of its dome-shaped form.
* Civic Arena was renamed Mellon Arena in December 1999.
* Mellon Arena was demolished between September 2011 - March 2012.
* The Penguins current home arena is the PPG Paints Arena.
* It was formerly known as Consol Energy Center.
* The Arena was completed in August 2010, and houses 18,087 seats in its hockey capacity in honour of Sidney Crosby, whose jersey number is #87.
* In the 2018 off-season, the Penguins spent hundreds of thousands dollars to replace the boards around the rink.
* The Penguins have yet to win a Stanley Cup on home ice.

### General

* History of team uniform.
* New Third Jerseys (2018-2019)-A blend of team heritage from the 1980s and the 2017 Stadium Series jerseys
* New Third Jerseys Unveiled
* Regarding uniforms, three players (Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Jake Guentzel) require 'custom alterations' to the standard jersey worn by all players. "In addition to numbering and lettering the jerseys, Pro Knitwear staffers must also accommodate all special requests players have passed along to Heinze."
* The Pittsburgh Penguins were originally named the Pittsburgh Pirates and played in the NHL from 1925-1926 to 1929-1930 before moving to Philadelphia and playing one season as the Philadelphia Quakers. Their color palette was black, gold, white, and orange.
* The 1967 Penguins' original color scheme was powder blue, which they abandoned in 1971 for the black and gold of their predecessors and to match the Steelers (Football) and the Pirates (Baseball).
* As of 2013, Western Pennsylvania was responsible for 15% of the growth of youth hockey in America in the last 5 years. This was, in parts, a direct result of Sidney Crosby's Little Penguins program.
* Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid faced off for the first time on 8 November 2016, Election Day. Mario Lemiuex and Wayne Gretzky faced off for the first time on Election Day in 1984.

### Team Bonding

* The 2015-2016 roster started a fantasy football league that continued in 2016-2017 and which the players take extremely seriously.

## Marc-André Fleury

* Once dressed as Catwoman for Halloween.

## Favorite Candy

Updated for 2018:

* Matt Cullen - Snickers
* Chad Ruhwedel - SweeTarts or Spree
* Bryan Rust - Twix
* Daniel Sprong - Mars bars
* Matt Murray - Crunchie (only available in Canada)
* Jack Johnson - Reese's peanut butter cups
* Jake Guentzel - Snickers
* Phil Kessel - Sour Patch Kids
* Carl Hagelin - Reese's Pieces
* Olli Maatta - Licorice
* Kris Letang - Canadian Smarties (similar to M & Ms in the US)
* Sidney Crosby - "anything chocolate"

Prior to 2018

* Dan Bylsma - Reese's peanut butter cup. Also Kit Kats.

* Jeff Zatkoff - Milky Way, or any kind of chocolate.

* Jayson Megna - Reese's peanut butter cup.
* Olli Maatta - Licorice, and Swedish berries. (Is not a chocolate kind of guy).

* Kris Letang - Chocolate (Endorsed and designed his own chocolate, eats two peanut butter cup snacks before games).

## Penguins In-Arena Game Playlist

* Penguins In-Arena Game Playlist
* Intro video before games - "Take the World (Let's Go)" by the Phantoms
* Pens vs. Caps 13 Oct 2016 Season Home Opener In-Game Opening Video - “Contact” by Daft Punk and “Outro” by M83.

## Miscellaneous

* During the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, actor Morgan Freeman indicated that he had put money down on the Penguins winning the Cup.

## References

1. ↑ [1]https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1180670939945721858
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1048314697844449280
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Pens Pre-Game Broadcast, 12/02/17, Dan Potash and Dana Heinze
4. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/sports/hockey/nhl-teams-pass-the-hat-or-shovel-or-maybe-a-belt.html?mcubz=1
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh\_Pirates\_(NHL)
6. ↑ https://youtu.be/rP2S4j7bebs?t=147
7. ↑ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/how-sidney-crosby-turned-pittsburgh-into-hockeytown/article9242309/
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/796133953069420544?ref\_src=twsrc%5Etfw
9. ↑ http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s\_659578.html
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1058512617759784960
11. ↑ https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/pens-talk-halloween/c-689367
12. ↑ www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2017/02/15/pittsburgh-penguins-kris-letang-chocolate-candy-bars-giant-eagle-get-go/stories/201702150195
13. ↑ https://twitter.com/penguins/status/793070295674388480
14. ↑ https://twitter.com/penguins/status/788229667253739523
15. ↑ https://twitter.com/penguins/status/786761906094804992
16. ↑ https://twitter.com/penguins/status/740345098399928321