Faceoff Factor

You’ve come a long way, Penguins.

Jesse Marshall | Pittsburgh Penguins

May 20, 12:12 PM | Hype this story!

Over the course of the next week, you’re going to get beat to death with analysis, predictions, and statistics about the Stanley Cup Finals.

So, before the anticipation general malaise that is the waiting game leading up to Saturday hits you full force, here are some thoughts and videos that ought to keep you spry and ready for the action this weekend.

Does the name Rico Fata sound familiar? It should. Rico was one of the guys the Penguins acquired from the New York Rangers in exchange for Alexei Kovalev on February 10th, 2003.

Times were tough.

We didn’t know who Richard Linter was. We didn’t care. The Rangers bought Kovy from us for four players and roughly 4 million dollars, cash.

One of the other pieces of that trade, Mikael Samuelsson, will line up against the Penguins this Saturday.

Regardless, we digress.

There wasn’t much to be excited about in 2003/04 as a Penguins fan. Kovalev was gone. Lang was gone. Straka was about to leave. There was an impending lockout threatening to steal hockey from the masses. The Penguins needed a new arena and the threat of re-location still loomed in the distance.

If there was a lockout, would our team return with the rest of the hockey world when it was over?

But when your team is down and out, you make things to get excited about.

Enter: Rico Fata.

If you went to Penguins games via the Student Rush in 2003 (there was no waiting in line and you could pick your ticket up a day in advance), you remember sitting right behind Marc-Andre Fleury in B12 cheering on the Pens. You also probably remember the Rico Fata chants. One side of the section would shout “Rico!”, the other side would respond with the appropriately with “Fata!”.

Hey, don’t blame us. It was all management bothered to hand the fans.

The chanting all started against the team the Penguins will face in the Stanley Cup finals.

No one knew or far from cared who Rico Fata was. But that changed when he scored 2 goals against the heavily favored wings on October 18, 2003 under head coach Ed Olzyck. One of those goals was shorthanded. It brought the score to 3-2 Wings. Then, Straka tied it at 3 before Fata would again pot one to give the Penguins the 4-3 win.

The bandwagon fans hung their heads in sadness as they exited the arena.

We can also talk about the night of November 19, 2003 when the Minnesota Wild thumped the Penguins 6-2. The power went out in the first period. Players and fans alike sat in the dark.

That’s where we’ve come from.

Being excited about Rico frickin’ Fata and power outages.

Four years later and we’re in the Stanley Cup finals.

And if you don’t remember what that’s like, let Mario remind you:

So why is any of this important? Why am I telling you stories about Rico Fata and Eddie Olzyck?

Cherish these moments, that’s why.

If this is your first Stanley Cup final, take it in as if it was the last time you’d ever watch the sport of hockey.

In the sport of hockey, nothing is guaranteed. It’s been 14 years since the Penguins last hoisted the greatest trophy in all of sports.

So, sit back and enjoy the ride. Who knows when it’ll happen again.

We might have to sit through some Rico Fata’s before we get back here.