With a new hockey season on the horizon comes the Penguins’ annual tradition of players hand-delivering special packages to season ticket holders as a way to show gratitude and appreciation for their support to the team.
It is always a magical day for families anticipating visits. For the Cranden family, who have been season ticket holders for decades, getting the call was a dream come true.
“I was working from home, and I got a call from our season ticket rep that I was randomly selected,” Tracy Cranden said. “I about near freaked out, ran up here to tell my mom, because I always see these videos and I thought that this was never going to happen to us.”
After finding out just a few days ago, the Crandens’ household was filled with anticipation about which of their favorite Penguins players might arrive at their doorstep.
“We’ve been freaking out about it all weekend,” Tracy said.
But no one was more excited than her nephew, Tyler, a 13-year-old die-hard Penguins fan. While Tyler loves the Big Three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, he wanted to choose someone different as his favorite player, and landed on Bryan Rust.
But as Tyler fell more in love with the team, he saved up enough money to buy his own Penguins jersey, and ended up going with Rickard Rakell.
“I just really like him and he’s such a great player,” Tyler said as they waited for a player to stop by. “It’s not because of the 6-7 meme, but it worked out well for that, too.”
Given how rare the opportunity was, Tyler was allowed to stay home from school so he wouldn’t miss the chance to meet a Pittsburgh Penguin. Knowing that the player would arrive around 12:30 PM, Tracy, Tracy’s mother, Marlene, and Tyler kept looking out the window for a car to pull into the driveway and guessing who it could be.
Suddenly, Tracy received a phone call from her season ticket representative saying that they would arrive in a few minutes.
“They’re about to be here,” Tracy announced to the room.
While Tracy and Marlene passed the time sharing stories from games they’d attended over the years, Tyler kept a close eye on the door, and the minutes of anticipation felt like hours. At 12:40 PM, they finally heard the eagerly anticipated knock at the front door. Tyler was greeted by none other than Rakell himself.
After getting his own Rakell jersey signed, Tyler got some 1-on-1 time with the forward, taking advantage of the chance to ask some questions about how he’s enjoyed his summer, what his other favorite sports are, and what it was like going back home to Sweden last year when the Penguins participated in the Global Series.
Tyler loves to make signs for the team whenever he and his family attend games, and he shared with Rakell the sign he made him one time, saying, “6-7 may be a meme, but you’re a star in Pittsburgh.”
With a laugh, Rakell told Tyler, “I better see the sign on the glass this year!”
Speechless, stunned, and filled with excitement, Tyler had a story for the ages to share with his friends.
“I was able to miss school today for this, but I have marching band practice later today, and I can’t wait to tell them!” he said.
For Tyler and his family, meeting Rakell and having a genuine conversation with one of their favorite players meant the world.
“He’s such a down-to-earth person and can talk about anything,” Marlene said. “It was truly amazing for him to take the time to do that for us.”
It always amazes the players to see the pride Penguins fans have, and how hockey brings their families together. For the Cranden family, the Penguins have always played a huge role in their lives, as Tracy’s father held season tickets for over thirty years before passing them down to his daughters.
“He always did a draft on who would go to which game with him,” Tracy said. “But once Tyler was born, he was like, ‘I’ll take Tyler to every game!’”
While he was too young to remember the team winning Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, Tyler was especially excited to go to the playoff games last season against the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I told him that we weren’t going to go to every playoff game, just the first and the last one,” Tracy said. “But then he kept saying, ‘Are we going to this one?’ and it was so hard to say no because of how excited he was, so we ended up going to all of them.”
Tyler makes sure to watch all the games on TV when the team is on the road and tries to watch some of the games later at night when they are on the road. He makes it his goal to know all of the players on the team and keeps his aunt informed on what is going on.
“There was a time last year, and he was talking my ear off about everybody’s statistics and who to watch for on the other team,” Tracy said. “The people in front of us turned around and loved all of the information that Tyler was giving them. He’s very knowledgeable not just about the Penguins, but sports as a whole.”
Today is a core memory Tyler will carry forever, and the Crandens are grateful for that.
“I love that the organization can make it happen, and it’s not always the same people,” Tracy said. “And it’s personable, because it can very well be just one picture, hi, and bye. They take the time to make it a personable interaction, and it makes you feel a part of the team in a way. It was really cool.”
