Altoona Curve to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of Penguins First Stanley Cup May 23

Chris Rossetti

Chris Rossetti

Published April 28, 2016 4:17 am
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CURVE, Pa. – The Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, today announced plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Penguins winning their first Stanley Cup in 1991.

On Monday, May 23 as the Curve host the Akron RubberDucks for a 6 p.m. game, Troy Loney and Peter Taglianetti from the 1990-91 Cup-winning Penguins’ team, will be on hand to sign autographs, shoot ceremonial “first pucks”, and be involved with hockey-themed activities throughout the night. The event, which will be nearly 25 years to the day the Penguins hoisted the cup for the first time, is being sponsored by WTAJ Your News Leader. Loney, Taglianetti and the Penguins won the championship on May 25, 1991 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minn. with a resounding, 8-0 rout of the Minnesota North Stars in Game Six of the best-of-seven series.

“We’ve had a lot of fun over the years hosting Penguins’ players and personalities,” said Curve General Manager Rob Egan. “This year, with the 25th anniversary of the Penguins’ first Cup championship being commemorated, it’s the perfect time to celebrate with them by inviting Troy and Tags to join us in Altoona for a night. The success of that 1990-91 team really led to an explosion of interest in hockey throughout Western Pennsylvania that continues to be strong to this day. It will be an honor to have two of the men here who helped make that happen.”

Loney played for all or parts of twelve seasons in the National Hockey League, ten of those with the Penguins, after being selected by Pittsburgh in the third round of the 1982 draft. The left winger from Bow Island, Alberta was a member of each of the Penguins first two Cup-winning teams in 1991 and 1992. A big, physical forward, Loney not only created space and provided protection for his linemates, but contributed offensively. He notched a pair of goals and two assists during the 1991 playoffs and four goals and five assists in the 1992 post-season. After being selected by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1993 expansion draft, Loney played for a year with the new franchise and finished up his career in New York splitting the 1994-95 season with the Islanders and Rangers.

Taglianetti was in the NHL for all or portions of eleven seasons and spent two different stints with the Penguins (1990-92 and 1992-95). In between his two turns with Pittsburgh, the defenseman was an expansion draft selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992 and played with that team for the first 61 games of the 1992-93 season before the Penguins reacquired him in trade. Originally a third-round pick of Winnipeg in 1983, Taglianetti had the distinction of playing for both Minnesota and Pittsburgh the season that the teams met in the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals. “Tags” and Larry Murphy were picked up by the Penguins in a December 1990 trade from the North Stars while Chris Dahlquist and Jim Johnson went the other way. Taglianetti recorded two assists in the Cup-clinching, 8-0 win against his former teammates.

Tickets for the May 23 event or any Curve game this season can be purchased by phone at 877.99.CURVE, online at AltoonaCurve.com, or in person at the Peoples Natural Gas Field ticket office.

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