Follow me on twitter
When rooting for a sports franchise it's easy to get caught up analyzing minor roster moves and coaching decisions. It's even easier to lose track of the big picture.
The reality of following your favorite team is that they are not going to win a championship every year. In fact, for mostly all of their existence they will fall short of that lofty goal.
A more realistic expectation is that your favorite team gives themselves the opportunity to win a championship. Winning titles takes a lot of luck along the way. When the expectations you have of your team change from winning a title, to being content that your team has the potential of winning a title, it makes the fan experience more enjoyable.
The Pittsburgh Penguins provide that for their fans. The Penguins have come a long way from their humble beginnings as a franchise, and over the course of time have built up an impressive résumé. The Penguins have been incredibly fortunate to draft the likes of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin. These players have laid the framework for the current state of the franchise.
The Penguins are currently one of the most popular teams in the NHL, they have great ownership, great hockey operations department, very good coaching staff, top of the line facilities, and some of the biggest stars in the game signed for the long term. All in all, it's a great time to be a fan of the Penguins.
The best part about the success of the Penguins has been the affect they have had on youth hockey participation in the Pittsburgh area. Southwest Pennsylvania has become one of the better hockey hotbeds in the United States. Any time you can increase the popularity of hockey and grow the number of youth participants playing, it is a great thing.
In this series of blogs I will be highlighting why I believe that Penguin fans are some of the most fortunate fans in the NHL, starting today with part 1.
Art Ross Dominance
Hockey fans love seeing highly skilled offensive players make highly skilled offensive plays. No franchise since the 1967-1968 season had the luxury of watching its players win the Art Ross Trophy as often as the Penguins. The Penguins have had one of their players win that trophy a remarkable 14 times.
From 1980-1981 to 2000-2001 (20 years) only 3 players won the Art Ross, two of them were Penguins (Lemieux 6 and Jagr 5). The other player was some guy named Gretzky.
During the last 45 years, Penguins have won the art ross trophy 31.1% of the time, that is almost one third of all the winners, amazing. Also amazing is that when Lemieux and Crosby's injuries are taken into consideration, the number could have been even higher.
No other fan base has been spoiled by offensive superstars as much as the Penguins. The most exciting part about hockey is when offensive creativity is combined with dynamic physical skill sets. The Penguins have cornered the market on those kind of players the past two decades.
What could be more enjoyable than having the opportunity to watch players of that caliber on a nightly basis wearing your favorite team's jersey?
That concludes Part 1 on why I think it is great to be a Penguins fan. Be on the lookout for Part 2 in the coming days.
Thanks for reading!
Follow me on twitter
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»