Jun 13, 2009 3 min read

Odds were stacked against the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday night due to not having home ice advantage, but although they weren’t able to capitalize on a power play during the first period, the folks at the Elks club in Uniontown were confident in their win. Although he admitted the Pens were the underdogs coming into game seven against the Detroit Red Wings, Charlie Marcinko, decked out in a Sidney Crosby jersey, predicted the Pens, as their affectionately known in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, would win 4-2, while one of his cohorts said it would be a low-scoring game, predicting a Pens win of 3-2. “They play well… They can win it,” Marcinko said.

Pat “Killer” Phelan said since the Detroit Red Wings are an older team, the Penguins need fast-moving legs to beat their opponents in the Stanley Cup finals’ game seven.

Phelan was wearing a Steelers shirt during the game since it brought good luck to the Pittsburgh football team in January when they took home the Super Bowl ring. He hoped it would bring the same luck to the Pens.

The crowd broke into chants of “Let’s Go Pens” to support their hometeam even though the first period of Friday night’s game ended in a 0-0 tie. Their spirits were lifted in the second period as the Penguins took the lead, with Maxine Talbot scoring both goals.

Eyes peeled to the screen, Marcinko placed himself in the top five of all Penguins fans and the team’s number one fan at the Elks. He said he began watching the Penguins as a junior high student, under the likes of players Jaromir Jagr, Ulf Samuelsson and Mario Lemiuex, members of a back-to-back Stanley Cup winning team that won the prize in the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons.

“Hockey,” he said, “it’s become a big part of Pittsburgh.”

The Red Wings would again earn that title of a back-to-back Stanley Cup winning team if they were to pull off a win on their home ice at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich., where Friday night’s game was played.

The final stretch has proven that the home ice advantage benefits the hometeam. The Penguins won every game at home during the series as did the Red Wings, the current prize holders.

Annie Renze, barmaid at the Elks, said about 60 people have partaken in the action at the club, watching the big game on one of four TV screens. She said attendance at the club has picked up since the Penguins made it to the Stanley Cup finals as fans are revved up to experience the game with others just as excited and confident for a Pens win.

Some of those interviewed in the Elks audience thought Jordan Stahl would emerge as a leader of the game, like Keith Hilling, who said his children became big hockey fans after he took them to games.

Bill Over, another patron at the bar, said he relies on the prediction of Chuck Craig, a member of the club, who said after game five, when the Penguins faced a 5-0 blowout where Detroit came out on top, that the Penguins would win the last two games of the series. From left: Annie Renze, Patti Malec, and Roni Snyder, cheer for the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup victory in the Uniontown Elks on Friday evening. Vanna Weaver