Pittsburgh is missing hockey. Badly. Restaurants and bars near the Penguins' home Consol Energy center are hurting. Under 5,000 people came out to see Pittsburgh native Wiz Khalifa in concert last week, and over 20,000 flocked to see college hockey this weekend. That stat is really telling of Pittsburgh's priorities.
This weekend, Pittsburgh was host to the Inaugural Three Rivers Classic college hockey tournament, featuring Ohio State, Penn State, Miami of Ohio, and Robert Morris. Day one of the tourney ended with PSU and Ohio State set to face off in the consolation game, and Miami and RMU to square off in the finals.
This is Penn State's first year with a Division I hockey team. They held a commanding 5-2 lead midway through the third period, and they seemed to be dominating Ohio State in the turnover department. They continued to win the turnover war, however Ohio State mounted a comeback which fell short, Penn State earning a 5-4 victory.
The Championship game featured Robert Morris and #5 ranked Miami of Ohio. The game was extremely tight and hard hitting. The only big chances of the first 2 periods came on a 5 on 3 powerplay for RMU, which they failed to score on. A goal finally came through for RMU in the third, and they collected a 1-0 win backstopped by stellar play by their goaltender Levine (51 saves).
Despite being just over half the crowd of a Penguins game, there was a buzz in the air. Of people being glad to watch live hockey. You could see it in the ice crew getting their first work since April. You could hear it in the voice of the Pens' PA announcer as he declared "one minute remaining in the period". You could especially hear it in the crowd, after every great save and hit, and as Dan Bylsma dropped the puck.
Excellent summary, Charlie. Especially love that last paragraph.
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