Pittsburgh Penguins show support for female goalie who was taunted during high-school game

On October 28th, a female goaltender for Mars Hockey Club in Pennsylvania who wants to remain anonymous, was taunted with crude, sexual chants from students attending Armstrong High School, the opposing team.

As a result of those chants, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League (PIHL) has banned students from Armstrong High School from attending games for the rest of the 2021-22 season. The Armstrong team has also been placed on probation for the rest of the season, including the playoffs.

Then the Pittsburgh Penguins stepped up in a big way to show their support for the female goaltender. The Penguins invited Mars Hockey Club to their practice facility for their game against South Fayette, which was officiated by two female referees.

Pittsburgh also invited the entire Mars Hockey Club to their game on November 6th against the Minnesota Wild. The Penguins gave Mars Hockey Club a luxury suite for the game and even recognized them on the jumbotron.

"I'm extremely proud of the stance our whole organization has taken, our players have taken, to reach out and try to make a difference," said Penguins assistant Todd Reirden, who is serving as coach with Mike Sullivan in NHL COVID-19 protocol. "It's sad that the whole situation had to occur. This type of behavior is not appropriate at any time, let alone at a hockey rink."

The wife of Penguins defenceman Mike Matheson, Emily, reached out to Mars' goaltender. Emily won the gold medal with the the United States at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

"I think everyone quickly agreed on how disgusting that was," Mike Matheson said. "That that happened, especially nowadays, that something like that could still be going on, I think the message that Emily tried to send her was to let her know that she wasn't alone. As much as it might not be fun to be in the spotlight, especially for something like that, there's just such an outpour of people that are willing to speak out and show that that wasn't right and support her. That was the message. Let her know that she's not alone."

It's nice to see that the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League took a stand against those students from Armstrong High School. Their chants towards Mars' goaltender were disgusting, and should never be uttered to anyone, at any time.

Kudos to the Pittsburgh Penguins as well, for stepping up and showing their support for the goaltender. She's probably dealing with a lot of emotions surrounding the events of October 28th, so it's nice to see that so many people are rallying around to support her.

Well done, @penguins. 👏 https://t.co/rTvFJO7LbI— NHL (@NHL) November 9, 2021

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