Pittsburgh Penguins
Rink: PPG Paints Arena
Capacity: 18,187
Built: 2010
League: NHL
City: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Home Of: Pittsburgh Penguins
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: November 19, 2023 vs Vegas
Unique Arena: #73
NHL Arena: #7
PPG Paints Arena sits just a stone’s throw away from where the old Mellon Arena (or Igloo) once proudly stood. I regret not getting to see the old arena before it was lost to history, but its replacement is an impressive large and modern-looking building with a giant glass front facade, that just to the left of it proudly announces the team’s 5 Stanley Cup Championships. It’s not often you see championship banners hung on the outside of the building. The immediate neighborhood around the rink is loaded with lots of bars and restaurants that makes pre and post-game an enjoyable experience in a city that was honestly much more beautiful than I expected it to be.
PPG Paints Arena is one of the more cavernous buildings I’ve been to in the NHL. But despite this the atmosphere there is very good. The A/V production is as top notch, as you would expect for the pro product that is before you. There are all the new luxuries anyone could want, with a vast variety of concession options and merch stands dotted throughout the rink. The sight lines are good with an extremely steep upper bowl. The upper bowl concourse is actually at the top of the bowl, so if you have a seat in row one you have to walk all the way down. Those afraid of heights might want to avoid this, as it’s a steep decline down to the first few rows.
It’s hard to believe with the beautiful arena and hardcore fanbase that you see before you today that the Pens almost left Pittsburgh on two different occasions some 20 years apart. They were only saved by sucking at the right time and getting generational superstar talents that saved them both times. One hopes (and doesn’t expect) that will need to ever happen again, and that Pittsburgh is on as much solid ground as it ever has been in a building worthy of a five-time Stanley Cup champion.
