When the Penguins first won the Stanley Cup, longtime fan Timothy Hammer was at a wedding. The game was scheduled to start at eight and he kept an eye on the clock, as the hands ticked closer and closer. Just before the puck dropped, he turned to his wife and, “I can’t stay here anymore. I’m leaving.”
“So, we tried to sneak out the back,” Hammer said. “And as we’re going out the back of the hotel, we run into the bride and groom who were getting pictures. It was an awkward moment. It was actually one of my really good colleagues and friends that I’m still friends with today, but I said, ‘Look, congratulations – I gotta go see this game.’”
And he did. Hammer thinks his buddy may still hold a slight grudge against him for that, but he was adamant about getting home to watch the Penguins secure the first championship in franchise history, and doesn’t hold a single regret.
Hammer began following the team in 1969, shortly after their arrival to the league. His uncle was a postal worker and delivered mail to some of the Penguins throughout the late 1960s and ‘70s, including Jim Rutherford, Keith McCreary and Les Binkley, among others.
Occasionally, Hammer would join his uncle on his route, and had the opportunity to meet a couple of them. This was how Hammer had the opportunity to see his first game, as these players who would occasionally give tickets to his relative.
“I remember going to my first Penguins game, it was against the California Golden Seals, and I was in awe of watching these guys do what they were doing on ice skates,” Hammer said. “That's what caught me, and the excitement that went along with that. I couldn't afford to go to many games growing up, but when I got my first job, it was 1983 – I said, ‘I'm getting season tickets.’ I happened to get them in ‘84 when (Mario) Lemieux was drafted, and the rest is history.”
In the 40 years since he originally got the season tickets, Hammer has held them for about 35 in total. He gave them up when his son Brad was born, who he now watches just about every game with, and again when Timothy and his wife moved to Florida in 2020. Brad is a pilot and his parents moved to be closer to him.
Not long after, Brad’s base was moved back to Pittsburgh, and father and son picked up season tickets once more. Upon attending their first game back, Hammer felt at home.
“It just felt like I never left,” Hammer said, “It was just so good to be back and just to be back in that scene of going to Penguins games.”
Now, Timothy attends games with his wife Betty, his brother Kevin, Brad, his daughter-in-law Jess, and his grandson Connor.
“Connor, it’s amazing – he can last through maybe the first two periods, and then he's ready to go, which is longer than I thought, because he's literally not even 4 yet,” Timothy laughed.
During the preseason, Timothy had the ability to experience the team’s Creative Day up in Cranberry at the facility named after his favorite player.
“It's hard to describe what he has meant to a Penguins fan like myself, that had been through so much of the really difficult times prior to him arriving,” Hammer said. “Obviously when he came, and hope and optimism came along with him. Then what he's done, not only on the ice as a player, but the ownership side, he's just been an amazing thing for Penguins hockey and for Penguins fans, for sure.”
This opportunity allowed for a behind-the-scenes look at the day, where every player on the training camp roster goes through a variety of stations to gather assets for the organization to use throughout the season - including headshots, PensTV and videoboard features, social media content and interviews. However, Hammer was most interested in seeing how the players interacted with each other as they checked off their lists.
“And now, when I go to games and I see these photos show up on a scoreboard, I can say I know how they did those!"
