Tag: Pittsburgh Civic Arena

1994 Pittsburgh Phantoms Media Guide from Roller Hockey International

Pittsburgh Phantoms (1994)

The Pittsburgh Phantoms were a one-and-done professional roller hockey promotion that played at the Civic Arena during the summer of 1994. The club was owned by Pittsburgh Penguins owner Howard Baldwin and had a heavy Pens flavor, featuring former NHLers Bryan Trottier, Warren Young and Alain Lemieux (older brother of Mario) on the roster. Former Penguins star Rick Kehoe coached the team, which performed well and reached the Roller Hockey International playoff quarterfinals. But the team disbanded after one season due to Baldwin’s unhappiness with the league’s management.

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2000 Pittsburgh CrosseFire pocket schedule from the National Lacrosse League

Pittsburgh CrosseFire

The Pittsburgh CrosseFire were a One-Year Wonder box lacrosse entry that played in the National Lacrosse League during the 2000 season. Despite a talented roster featuring superstar twins Gary Gait and Paul Gait, the team under-performed and missed the playoffs with a 6-6 record. The team was sold to new owners and moved to Washington, D.C. ahead of the 2001 season. This marked the second time that the league departed the Steel City, following the earlier departure of the Pittsburgh Bulls (1990-1993) after four seasons. The former CrosseFire franchise still exists today in the National Lacrosse League and is now known as the Colorado Mammoth.

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1991 Pittsburgh Bulls program from the Major Indoor Lacrosse League

Pittsburgh Bulls

The Pittsburgh Bulls were the Steel City’s first introduction to the sport of box (indoor) lacrosse. The Bulls were part of the winter/spring Major Indoor Lacrosse League for four seasons during the early 1990’s. Despite several outstanding individual players, including Canadian attacker Brian Nikula and former Johns Hopkins defenseman Dave Pietramala, Pittsburgh never put it all together as a team. The Bulls endured four straight losing seasons before folding in 1993.

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Pittsburgh Rens American Basketball League

Pittsburgh Rens

The Pittsburgh Rens – short for Renaissance – were one of eight franchises in Abe Saperstein’s American Basketball League that debuted in the autumn of 1961. The team was notable for signing teenage center Connie Hawkins to his first pro contract after the future Hall of Famer was expelled from college and blackballed by the NBA over dubious insinuations of point-shaving. Hawkins dominated the ABL and won the league’s MVP award as a rookie in 1962. The Rens and the rest of the ABL folded midway through the league’s second season in January 1962.

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Pittsburgh Gladiators Arena Football League

Pittsburgh Gladiators

The Pittsburgh Gladiators were one of four founding members of the Arena Football League in 1987. The novelty of 50-yard indoor football caught some traction in the Steel City in the summer of ’87. All four of the Glads’ home games in the summer of 1987 drew strong crowds, culminating when Pittsburgh hosted Arena Bowl I at the Civic Arena before 13,232 and an ESPN national TV audience on August 1, 1987.

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