Penguins season ticket holder Tim Mohney and his family had the experience of a lifetime when they flew to Italy for the Winter Olympic Games this past February. During their weeklong excursion, they got to see new places and try new foods, but more importantly, watch some hockey.
“As far as the Penguins go, we’re true hockey fans,” Tim said. “We come because we love the game. As far as the Olympics go, I would recommend it to anybody. It’s unreal. Just the atmosphere alone makes it all worth it.”
The original inspiration for the trip came over 30 years ago, when he was getting his son Levi into hockey.
“When my son was playing travel hockey, we had a tournament in Lake Placid,” Tim said. “He was maybe only 10 at the time, but it made us think about the Olympics.”
As the years went on, Levi started taking hockey more seriously and played for the Indianapolis Ice, a travel team. When Levi was 15 years old, Tim would drive him five hours every Wednesday for practice in Dayton, Ohio. Two years later, in 1995, he wanted to try out for a Junior A team in Toledo.
However, at that camp, Levi suffered a serious injury and became paralyzed. He spent the next seven months at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
A few months in, Levi and Tim were surprised by some unexpected visitors.
“Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis came to Levi’s rehab,” Tim said. “They said, ‘We’ve got a bus, and we’re going to take all of you to the game tonight.’ They got to go to the game where they were in the playoffs with the Blackhawks and the Penguins. They took me, Levi, and some of our friends into the locker room before the game.”
From what Tim remembers, Lemieux and some of his teammates would visit sick or hospitalized children while they were on the road. Needless to say, it was an experience that meant the absolute world to both Tim and Levi.
They loved watching that generation, and the one that followed. One day Levi, who was in a wheelchair, saw the construction of PPG Paints Arena on TV and immediately knew where he wanted to sit when it was built.
“We look straight across at the bench, and Levi liked how you could see the coaches and the players,” Tim said. “The experience of that is pretty good. I just love our seats here.”
While Levi passed away in 2023, the Mohneys still come to all of the home games in the spot that he loved most. And this past Christmas, Tim’s family fulfilled Levi’s lifelong wish with tickets to the Winter Olympics in Italy.
Tim was able to bring along his son, Noah, his grandson, Dylan, and his son-in-law, Charlie. When they got the tickets, they learned that the events they would see were a surprise.
“My family ended up getting us the Gold Medal round in short speed skating, which was amazing,” Tim said. “And then we had a Czech versus France hockey game, and then the U.S. versus Denmark.”
While Tim and his crew ultimately weren’t able to see any Penguins players live, they represented the United States in person, dressed head to toe in gear and carrying a giant American flag to the game.
For Tim, the biggest difference between watching NHL games live and international ones is the energy the fans bring.
“It's funny because when you watch European hockey, it's kind of like a rock concert,” Tim said. “Which is cool, but you can tell the NHL people, they cheer, but they're quiet watching the game. Seeing the two different styles or events was cool.”
They made it to Italy for the first week of the games. In the end, the timing of everything worked out perfectly for Tim and his crew, as they were there for both Tim and Noah’s birthdays, which fell on Feb. 11 and 12.
“I really wasn’t looking forward to the nine-hour flight, but it was smooth as glass,” Tim said. “I guess as it was getting closer, I was getting more excited. It all worked out 100% better than I thought it was going to be.”
Tim, who is 72 years old, quickly realized while he was in Italy how special an opportunity this was. What stuck out to him the most was talking to fans from other countries, trying different pastas, and visiting one of his favorite spots, The Duomo.
With a trip that was decades in the making and filled with so many memories, Tim is grateful to have done it with his family and in Levi’s honor. As for what’s next, Tim is eyeing 2030 when the Olympics will be held in the French Alps.
“If you could go to the games, then do it,” Tim said. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t even like hockey, but the experience alone is worth it. I’m just thankful that I could go with my family, and I know Levi would’ve loved it, too.”
