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Patrick McGrath was just 6 years old when he sat in the stands at what used to be called the Northeastern Pennsylvania Civic Arena and Convention Center and watched the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins play on home ice for the first time.
The date was Nov. 13, 1999 and now, 17 years later, the Shavertown native could play for his hometown team on the anniversary of that first game when the Penguins head to Hartford on Sunday.
“It would be pretty cool to play on the anniversary of that day,” McGrath said. “I remember the vibe that night was really exciting. It was something new coming to town so everyone was excited. I just loved it and I thought it was the greatest thing.”
While McGrath remembers the first home game from his perspective in the stands, Tom Kostopoulos recalls the day from the ice.
Kostopoulos was a rookie in 1999 on a Penguins team that had a few veterans, but was mostly comprised of young players. Due to construction on the arena the Penguins played their first 13 games on the road, picking up their first win in Hamilton.
“The year before Pittsburgh shared a team in Syracuse with Vancouver, so we were basically a new team,” he said. “We weren’t sure how the season was going to go.”
But that first win in Hamilton on Nov. 10, 1999 allowed the team to bond just in time for the first home game and win. And when the Penguins finally came home from a brutally long road trip to a new arena buzzing with excitement, it created a memory that is forever etched into their minds.
Kostopoulos remembers the build-up before the game and the energy in the community.
“A lot of people weren’t sure about the new arena going in. They weren’t sure about a hockey team coming in or how attendance would be,” he said. “But that crowd was crazy. For us to go in and win that first game in the new arena, it felt like we were home.”
The game produced plenty of highlights. Two players who are now in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Hall of Fame played for the first time in front of the home fans and produced. Dennis Bonvie had two assists before he was kicked out for elbowing, and John Slaney scored the fourth goal in the 4-2 win.
And for the young players on the team, that first home game reinforced just how supportive their fans would be during that inaugural season.
“I remember after that win thinking this was going to be a fun place to play,” said Kostopoulos, who is in his 10th season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
And a good place for young players to begin their pro careers. Aside from the likes of Tyler Wright, Martin Sonnenberg, Slaney and Bonvie, the 1999-00 team was short on established players but bountiful in available ice time. While many of his teammates from juniors struggled to earn ice time with their AHL teams in 1999, Kostopoulos found plenty of opportunity with the Penguins.
“The team was kind of bare so I got to play right away,” he said. “A lot of us young guys could come in, get ice time right away and learn the game. It was a tough year record-wise, but it was a neat place to be.”
Now in his third stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Kostopoulos looks back at the inaugural season, the first home game and win and marvels at how much hockey and the community have grown since then.
He’s surprised by the amount of businesses that have sprung up around the arena in the last 17 years, never dreamed the team would have the practice facility they do on Coal Street and is amazed by the popularity of youth hockey in the area.
“I didn’t see that happening, the way hockey has infiltrated the community and now you have Pat McGrath playing for his hometown team,” he said.
And it all began 17 years ago on Nov. 13 when the Penguins took to the arena ice for the first time, and won.
“After that night it finally felt like up. We could finally set up as a team and play in front of our own fans,” Kostopoulos said. “I knew back then this would be a fun place to play, and it has been.”
