Club History

The Pittsburgh Jr Tigers (as we were know then) were affiliated with the then Eastern Tigers who were a member of the Pittsburgh Amateur Hockey Association (PAHL) that first iced teams at the Monroeville Mall (center court) before moving to a rink in Plum Borough and then on to the Blade Runner Ice complex in Harmarville where our Jr Penguins have been skating since.

The Pittsburgh Jr Tigers started as an independent hockey team at the Jr C level back in 1997.  They were a ruthless group of 19 and 20 year old castoffs from other clubs that took their frustrations out on their opponents; old time hockey.  In the early years, the roster was thin in numbers, but exceptionally talented.  The team played a merciless game that often brought them controversy.  Additionally, while the team’s on-ice performance was stellar, their off-ice antics left a lot to be desired.

The staff’s primary focus early on was to change the attitude of the players and become a well respected program.  They quickly learned that they needed to trade off some of their best talent for a team that could win and lose with dignity.  Right about then, the Eastern Tigers merged with the Pittsburgh Amateur Penguins and the rest as they say is history.

As the Jr Penguins, they grew in popularity and numbers to the point where they expanded to as many as five teams that included Tier I Midgets and a host of Jr teams from Jr C Developmental, Jr C and two Jr B teams competing in two different Leagues throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast corridor.  Back then, they provided opportunities for players who were looking for an alternative to midget hockey and a program where they could travel by charter bus and room as a team, play 20-minute periods and more.  That formula resulted in signing the more mature players who were ready to step their game up to get to the next level.

Even without the big name players, the Jr Penguins proved year-in-and-year-out that their teams could compete well against top level players three and four years older then them.  Along the way, our teams became a regular at the Jr Nationals attending that stage nine times over a ten year stretch.

Today, and new for the 2011-12 season, the Jr Penguins are mothballing their two Jr B Franchises (CHA & EmJHL) so that they can ice Tier I Midget teams at the U16 and U18 levels.  These teams are development squads for Midgets looking to make the Flagship Junior A Penguin team while they are still in high school and have time to climb the ladder to the higher Junior levels in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and United States Hockey League (USHL) where they place players in the NCAA DI and DIII programs regularly.

In fact, throughout the season, the club will move players from both of their midget rosters to the Junior A Penguin roster so they can get a taste of what that level demands.  They will also work directly with a couple of the NAHL teams and possibly the USHAL Phantoms to move their top Jr A Penguin players to those rosters during the season when the need arises.

While the Jr Penguins rode the coattails of the Eastern Tigers and the Amateur Penguins in the early years, since then, they’ve grown not only in numbers, but also in prestige and have become an attraction to the hockey community for players looking for an opportunity to advance.

In fact with the recent acquisition of the North American 3 Hockey League (3HL) by the NAHL, the Jr Penguins have has become a direct feeder to the next level where they expect to place several players each season into that prestigious League.  For area student athletes, there is a greater significance to the Jr A Penguins being a member of the 3HL with a direct pathway to the NAHL.

The Jr Penguins have iced teams in the following Leagues: