Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ players built marriage on love of Penguins, hockey

Adam Knoerzer and Mike Marsico have a marriage made in hockey.

They met while playing in a tournament with the New York City Gay Hockey Association in 2008. It was Knoerzer's first tournament.
"That's when I met Mike, at the banquet for the tournament," Knoerzer said. "I didn't really know anybody at all. I was standing by myself, put on a Pittsburgh Penguins hat and then here he comes, introducing himself and asking if I like the Penguins. And I think that's pretty much what started the story that we now know today."
Knoerzer and Marsico combined their love for each other, the Penguins and hockey to form the Pittsburgh Tigers, a team that provides a fun, competitive space for LGBTQ+ players to play without fear of being hassled or judged because of their sexuality.
"When we got the group together it really became an outlet for people who grew up playing hockey, either here in Pittsburgh, which is a big hockey town since Mario (Lemieux) came here, or in other cities and they ended up moving here," said Marsico, a Pittsburgh native. "They've given up the sports for various reasons, very often because they felt like they didn't have a place to play, very often because they were made fun of for being gay or they didn't want people to know."
The Tigers are another branch from the NYCGHA tree, similar to the Madison (Wisconsin) Gay Hockey Association, the nation's largest gay hockey league, which was founded by former NYCGHA player Patrick Farabaugh in 2006.
"I would say New York, Toronto and Montreal were really the seed for everybody else," Marsico said. "I think one of the draws for our league is the opportunity is to play with other cities, and New York, Toronto and Montreal have done a very great job of showing us the way."
The Tigers are a small group, including a core of about 15 players and another of 10-15 who drop in for games that were held weekly before Pittsburgh rinks closed in March due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
"We're not as big as New York, we're not as big as Toronto in terms of a hockey league, but the folks that we do have, they're here because they love the game, they love being together and we inspire others," Marsico said. "We've had other people join our team because they see us playing and see us enjoy it so much that they come up to us after the game and want to be a part of it."

Marsico and Knoerzer can't seem to get away from rinks. They're former Penguins season ticket holders who got married at PPG Paints Arena on April 11, 2015, when it was named CONSOL Energy Center.
"People often get married at the Steelers stadium (Heinz Field) or the Pirates stadium (PNC Park) very frequently, but when we started to look into it, not a lot of people got married at (PPG Paints Arena)," Marsico said. "I think we were their fifth wedding ever. Fortunately the staff was super excited, super supportive. We're actually still in touch with our wedding planner from the arena, she's a friend of ours now."
But before saying, "I do," the couple had a pre-wedding scrimmage with the Tigers at Pittsburgh Ice Arena. Knoerzer's team won.
After playing they dashed to CONSOL Energy Center and exchanged vows in the building's Lexus Club lounge before 150 guests. Then the wedding party proceeded to the ice for photos.
"When they took us into the bowels of the arena to get onto the ice to take the pictures and we walked through the doors that the Penguins walk through to get on the ice, that was kind of a trip," Knoerzer said. "And then being on the ice and looking up and seeing our seats and the other perspective of that … it's a very surreal circumstance being in a suit on the ice that you spent so much time watching from high above."

Knoerzer was so thrilled with the experience that he shared his wedding picture with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby during a chance meeting on a flight from Paris to Pittsburgh that May.
The two struck up a conversation after Knoerzer helped Crosby locate the headphone jack on his seat.
"I said, 'By the way, I'm so sorry to interrupt you but obviously a big fan, I happened to get married at the place of your employer last month,'" he said. "And he's like, 'Wait, what? They do weddings at the arena?'
"I said, 'Well, yeah.' And I showed him my lock screen, which is Mike and me at center ice. And he's like, 'That's so cool, I didn't know they did weddings there.' We had a little conversation about it, and he gave two thumbs-up of support."
Photos courtesy: Beth Kukučka