It’s been a huge week in sports for our city. The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a Stanley Cup championship this past Sunday with a 3-1 win over the San Jose
Sharks, and the subsequent victory parade drew record crowds. With the big win dominating news cycles, the US Open seems to simply be the icing on the cake in a week that will surely be one for the ages. In this week’s wrap, we will take you through some of the week’s highlights, from the vastness of the crowds, to the individuals who make Pittsburgh the city of champions.
Mike Sullivan was a huge reason for the Penguins’ success this season. During his victory speech at the parade on Wednesday, he said he was immensely proud of his team for what they accomplished. He even thought his team stepped it up a notch from the regular season to the playoffs – amazing, given the huge turnaround his team made after he took over in mid-December.
Does Pittsburgh have a sports obsession? If there were ever any doubts, they were swiftly expelled Wednesday afternoon at the victory parade. The predicted crowd was 350,000, but that number was short of the amount of people who actually turned out. Downtown was a sea of black and gold, with people coming from all over the city and beyond to catch glimpses of their heroes. One family, who came down from Montreal, arrived at 6 a.m. to stake out a spot to watch the parade.
“It’s been an incredible run and we’re happy to be back here in Pittsburgh,” team captain Sidney Crosby said. The fans welcomed their franchise player enthusiastically. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald informed fans that it was estimated to be the largest crowd to ever attend a parade in Pittsburgh. The Pens were in 10th place in the Eastern Conference when Mike Sullivan was hired on December 12. From there, they climbed back up the ladder, entering the playoffs as the second seed. As it often does, adversity made the victory even sweeter.
What was your favorite memory from this season of Penguins hockey? Let us know in the comments below!
Image credit: WWC
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Sam Bojarski is an associate at WordWrite Communications. He can be reached at sam.bojarski@wordwritepr.com


