"Mellon Arena Memories" is a semi-regular feature that will appear
in this forum from time to time during the remainder of the Penguins'
final season at Mellon Arena. We will attempt to interview several
individuals inside and outside of the Penguins about the arena which
has served as the franchise's home facility since the its inception.
Today's
subject is Greg Malone.
Greg Malone (right) is the head professional scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A second-round pick with the Penguins in 1976, he spent seven season with the franchise as a center from 1976 through 1983. He was the leading scorer on the 78-79 team with 65 points (35 goals, 30 assists) During his time with the Penguins as a player, he appeared in 495 games and scored 364 points (143 goals, 221 assists). He is still the 13th leading scorer in franchise history.
After spending parts of five seasons with the Whalers and Nordiques, Malone retired in 1987. Former Penguins general manager Tony Esposito hired Malone as a scout in 1988. Malone eventually became the club's head scout and held that position until 2006. Among the players drafted under Malone's watch were Colby Armstrong, Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Andrew Ference, Alex Goligoski, Jan Hrdina, Jaromir Jagr, Tyler Kennedy, Patrick Lalime, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Markus Naslund, Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Martin Straka, Maxime Talbot, Ryan Whitney, and his son, Ryan Malone.
Following his tenure with the Penguins, Malone became a scout with the Coyotes before joining the Lightning organization.
Malone still resides in Pittsburgh is regularly scouts Penguins games.
First Memory of Mellon/Civic Arena:
“The first thing I remember, I showed up and they had the roof open. And I went ‘Wow!’ It would be kind of cool to have the roof open to play a hockey game. And the second memory I have was pretty much the balconies they put in both ends. Just the visualization of it.”
Favorite Memory of Mellon/Civic Arena:
“The guys that played on the team. We never really went far in the playoffs but I think we were competitive. Just hanging out with the guys. As far as game memories? The one game there I got lucky with six assists.”
Funniest of Mellon/Civic Arena:
“The afternoon Ryan (right, with Greg and mother, Peggy) was born. I was in Hartford the night before and I came home. I missed the game in Hartford. I went over to the hospital and he was born late afternoon. So I had never had time to go home and change. So I show up (at the arena) with my sneakers and jeans on. And then I went out on the ice and the first thing they (announced) was they’d like to welcome Ryan as a new member of the organization. I’m thinking, ‘Holy (Snickers) this kids not even five minutes old and he’s being announced on the PA.’”
On watching his son play at Mellon/Civic Arena:
"Probably I was more proud of him just coming on the ice. The first night he was here and they’re introducing the team. Because that was always a big thing as a player. Opening night, you get that call. I can remember the first year it was pretty cool just to be standing there in the tunnel and then you come out and the spotlight is on you. And it’s like ‘Holy (Snickers) I’m playing in the National Hockey League.’ And I can remember that moment when I did and it was pretty cool to see your son come out there and do the same thing. Probably more proud of that than I was a player. He had a lot more success with the team going to the (2008) Finals."
Bad memories of Mellon/Civic Arena:
"Within the organization, the death of (former Penguins general manager) Baz Bastien. Stuff like that. I think what happens is if a lot of the memories were made up tenfold by the good memories."
On the infamous visitors locker room:
“You know what? The visiting locker room, that’s where we used to dress. We loved it! It was home. I had no quarrels. It was like, ‘Hey, this is cool.’”
On having an office in Mellon Arena:
When I was working here and we had a lot of rain there were puddles on the floor down below. And once in a while you’d go into your office downstairs and there’d be water coming through the ceiling onto your desk.
On the atmosphere:
"It’s always had a great atmosphere. But I think that’s going to be with the new building as well. I think they’ll have that atmosphere because that shows how great the fans are here. It doesn’t matter. New building, old building. They’re still going to get excited and they’re still going to make noise at the game. They’re not going to sit on their hands like at some of the other arenas around the league that are really quiet. It’s always been a great atmosphere here."
(Photo: Malone-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Malone family-PittsburghHockey.net; Malone card-eBay)
Posted
Nov 06 2009, 06:45 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh