March 5, 2016
Consol Energy Center (Capacity: 18,387)
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Calgary Flames
Final Score: 2 – 4
* The arena has been renamed PPG Paints Arena
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My third visit to Western PA was for hockey and the weekend began in Pittsburgh for an afternoon matinee at the Consol Energy Center. This wonderful city of 300,000 has shed the early image of steel, iron and constant smoke by becoming innovative leaders in multiple realms. With a surrounding hilly terrain offering scenic views including a stunning skyline, the city offers a lot for visitors and is surprisingly a great destination. The Penguins joined the NHL during the league’s first expansion in 1967 and the franchise has had the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Generational talents define the most successful periods: the Mario Lemieux era, which peaked between the mid 80s and mid 90s, led to a pair of Stanley Cups; and the current stretch with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. This era has seen the team make the playoffs each year since 2007, with multiple Cup Finals appearances including winds in 2009 and again later this season. Pittsburgh has also seen it’s share of troubles as the franchise has had to fight off financial and ownership issues multiple times, along with the real threat of folding or relocating. That has since stabilized with Lemieux now a part owner and a 30-year lease signed with the city after the completion of the Consol Energy Center in 2010. This building has a solid ranking and all the requisite bells and whistles that a pro team now wants, but nothing made the arena experience stand out above the rest.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Location
Pittsburgh offers quite a bit to visitors looking to make a weekend out of attending the game as great places to check out closeby include the Heinz Museum, scenic Point State Park at the tip of the Three Rivers (Ohio, Alleghany and Monongahela), the incline to Mount Washington and the Strip District. Consol Energy Center is located in the Uptown neighborhood, right across from Duquense University on The Bluff. This area is right near the business and skyscraper section of downtown, however, the difference between the two is separated harshly by I-579. While the city has a lot to offer, the immediate area around the arena is a bit gritty with little reason for fans to arrive early or stay later. The main strip of Fifth Avenue presents an unattractive lineup of older businesses, empty storefronts and mostly blue-collar bars and restaurants (with just a few exceptions). We ate at the horrible “Souper Bowl”, which featured slow service and luke-warm food.
Location Ranking: 7 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Because of the rivers, the many bridges and tunnels make for challenging driving in and around the city, especially with varying on/off ramps. Stacked highways and city roads add to the confusion, even with a GPS. There are multiple ways to reach the arena and though directions often point to using I-579, I think the best way is to get on the Parkway East/West (I-376) and then exit onto 71A for a better route to Fifth Ave. Parking is primarily found on the empty site of the old Civic Arena across the street and though it seems plentiful, surface lots only hold about 3,000 cars. There are other choices, which include five nearby garages. As for traffic, it is heavy and can really lead to some delays, especially if the game coincides with rush hour. The downtown and interstate grid just does not handle traffic well. Pittsburgh’s Light Rail is a good alternative option to avoid the city headaches as the Steel Plaza station is a 5-10 minute walk away. It’s certainly not the most all-inclusive public transit system, but this small service is a decent option.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Exterior
The front of the arena is defined by the ground to top glass façade, but interestingly, this view is blocked by a century-old building that rightfully did not budge during the construction process, the Epiphany Catholic Church. The historic place of worship certainly is beautiful in its own right and it is an interesting piece remaining in the area. “Consol Energy Center” and it’s logo are on the top left part of the glass section, while the other three sides of the arena are made up of a light-colored brick. While it is a good-looking building, the arena exterior just does not fit in well with the surrounding darker brick neighborhood or the other architecturally stunning skyscrapers around the corner.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Concourse
The arena is built on a hill, so for those that enter via Fifth Ave, a long set of escalators is needed to reach the main lobby. Before fans head up to the first-level concourse, this inviting area is a nice (though crowded) introduction. Below a digital scoreboard is a huge team store and to the left is a historical display. A concourse serves each level of seating, with the lower one featuring the most space, food options and displays. Even still, I really loved the upper concourse as the many windows provided views of this great city and a lot of the area was open to the rink with standing rails available for fans to set-up shop. Both have several bars within the concourse to entice people to hang out before or during the game. The manueverably of the whole concourse is OK, but the footprint of the building doesn’t allow for any wide-open spaces for better breathing room. Shamelessly, corporate names are plastered everywhere throughout the walkways (see Other Stuff).
Concourse Ranking: 4.5 out of 5
Food
Food is excellent (though expensive) and a trip to Pittsburgh would not be complete without a Primanti’s sandwich, which is available in the arena. If stuffing your sandwich with fries and coleslaw is not for you, there are plenty of other good sandwich choices like Prime Rib, Brisket and Pulled Pork. A whole stand is devoted to Japanese specialties (including sushi), while the Burgatory offers crazy meat patty concoctions. For something truly funky, check out The Ole’ 29er. Drinks are best local by going with Iron City Beer as the other choices aren’t as diversified. Interesting note is this is the first venue I can remember that does not serve Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Dr. Pepper has the contract, so RC Cola is sold. One issue for the concession stands though is that the underhang is so low that you can’t read the entire menu unless you get right to the cashier.
Food Ranking: 8 out of 8
Interior
A two-level, oval-shaped bowl is the set-up and while the tried and true design for hockey works, it’s just kinda boring. Whereas the Igloo had character and the distinctive roof, Pittsburgh’s arena could be mistaken for Any Building USA. Sure, there are some rows of gold seats mixed with the slate-colored ones, but that’s about it. My frustration with lack of creativity shouldn’t take away from it being a very nice building. The arena has excellent sightlines and even though the upper deck is quite high because of the double stacking of luxury levels in the middle, the steepness of each row at least tries to alleviate that disadvantage. Seats themselves are quite comfortable thanks to a thick padding for the cushion. They were missing cupholders in the upper sections however. One other note in the 200 deck is that it features more of a sharper oval shape as opposed to a rounded one. In addition to the aforementioned suites, clubs are found behind the center sections of the 100 level.
Interior Ranking: 8.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
The scoreboard is of decent size and simplicity. There are four video screens that have an excellent picture and another screen just above the main one that typically features game information (though if needed, like the pregame montage, this can become one large video). Two circular displays above and bottom give advertisements or fan encouragement (clap!), while another circle at the top is a permanent “Consol Energy Center” sign. A pair of LED ribbon boards display various things during the game.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3.5 out of 4
Displays
Mario Lemieux is honored with a statue called “Le Magnifique” and though it looks like three random guys playing hockey, it really is Lemieux deking defenders on his way to a goal. Inside the main lobby is a much better display, a remarkable mosaic of Super Mario made up of all fan photographs. Also in this section, is the highlight of the arena, an interactive team hall of fame. Video screens pull up highlights and stats of each player and there is a separate section for the team’s three Stanley Cups. One problem, about 25% of the interactive monitors did not work! C’mon man, this building is only five years old! Further into the arena, the lower concourse features some cool things like a large hockey mask for kids and a beautiful mural of the city and it’s champions. It seems displaying high school jerseys is now a requisite at pro arenas, but it still is a cool thing to see here. The exposed beams on the inside hide the banners a little bit, but the actual work on each one is quite good looking. An added bonus is seeing winners of the Scoring Title and MVP listed. Two jerseys are retired: The #66 of Lemieux and the #21 of Michael Briere, a calder trophy winner who tragically passed away during the offseason of 1971.
Displays Ranking: 5 out of 6
Cost
Pittsburgh is not a huge city, but the prices all around for the Penguins certainly reflect that. Parking averages $20 and for the ultimate lot (the attached garage), it is $28. Not outrageous for an NHL game, but it’s still $20. Because of Dynamic Pricing, it’s impossible to get a number on a typical ticket cost, so I found looking at the pricing chart for the game I went to (a Saturday vs Calgary) a good middle representation. The cheapest at the box office was $60 and the majority of the building was priced over $100. If it is a regular season game, you are better off waiting until a few days before the game and use Ticket Exchange as prices come down to slightly cheaper than box office levels. Pittsburgh is generally 9th in the league for both ticket cost and Fan Cost Index total expense. Food prices are quite high with a regular soda costing $5.50, beer running nearly $10 and a hot dog going for $5.50. At least the programs were free.
Cost Ranking: 5 out of 8
Fan Support
Pittsburgh is a city with a deep sports following and while the Steelers are by far the biggest love of the city, the Penguins receive very solid support. They recently have led American cities in local TV ratings of Pens games and since the CEC opened, Pittsburgh has always had a +100% tickets sold attendance number. Actual butts in the seat for each game is pretty decent too and our game had a house that was generally full as any empty seats were relegated to those with club access in the lower levels. Those fancy seats do put a black mark on TV as I’ve seen these empty even during playoff games. I do believe there is pretty decent fan support for the Pens, but two negative things are worth noting: before Crosby arrived, Pittsburgh was dead last in league attendance (2003-2004). Secondly, with the Pens down 4-2 to Calgary, there were tons of people bee-lining for the exits with five minutes left in the game.
Fan Support Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
The early exit by the fans deadened the atmosphere towards the end and the boo birds were out as well given the team’s inconsistent play. Through the game, the crowd did fine and I heard several “Let’s Go Pens” chants, proceeded by the hand-held drum banging of their mascot. The building was never crazy, nor has it ever been a particularly loud or intimidating playoff place, but it has a slightly better than average atmosphere overall. Goal cheers and people standing made for good excitement after the home team put one in the back of the net.
Atmosphere Ranking: 9 out of 14
Other Stuff
The Civic Arena was home for the Penguins from birth until 2010 and it was a unique place with character, something I sorely miss nowadays. Known as “The Igloo” for it’s uncanny resemblance, this arena was the World’s first retractable roof and it was originally constructed for the Opera. The globe-like roof was the defining feature of this unique building. ……The Penguins nickname actually came from a name-the-team contest and the Civic Arena’s “Igloo” nickname was the inspiration for the winning selection……Before the Penguins began, Pittsburgh had an AHL franchise for nearly 30 years, known as the Hornets…..Long-time radio broadcaster Mike Lange continues to call games and is known for his zany sayings and deep-throated “Heeeee shoots and scores”……All eight of Pittsburgh’s division titles came after 1990……Heated rivals of the Penguins are Philadelphia and Washington…..The amount of advertisements and corporate sponsors at the CEC is a disgrace. While it doesn’t surprise me, seeing this extent of the most miniscule of things have a company attached to it sickens me. The Box Office, Entry Gates and Warm-Up Skate all have a company sponsor.…Pittsburgh’s mascot is the goofy looking “Iceburgh”, who is a great example of how a mascot’s look can make kids smile.
Game
It has been an inconsistent season for the Pens despite having a pair of super-duper stars and Pittsburgh played down a level during this game as they failed to create many scoring chances. They did at least convert, as Crosby got credited with each goal (a goalie error and a tip). Calgary answered each time within a minute and then late in the second, the Flames took the lead. After a failed power play by the home side, Lance Bouma salted the game away and Calgary broke a seven game losing streak with a 4-2 win.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
