The Pittsburgh Penguins have won the Stanley Cups three times in franchise history. They have never clinched the title on home ice, winning back-to-back titles in 1991 and '92 in Minnesota and Chicago, and their most recent one in Detroit in 2009.
They have a chance to win the Cup at home on Thursday night in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the San Jose Sharks. If you want to see that game in person and do not already have tickets, it is going to cost you. A lot.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 24 hours before the drop of the puck, the cheapest seat available on Stubhub is in section 232 (the end of the rink the Penguins only shoot at once) is $1,159.99.
There are standing room tickets available in that same section going for more than $1,200.
If you head over to the Penguins official ticket exchange site the cheapest available seat is in section 223 (again, the end of the rink the Penguins shoot at once) for $1,125.
And those are for seats in the upper balcony.
Naturally, things get even more expensive if you want to sit in the lower level closer to the ice where tickets on Stubhub are starting at $1,875.
If you are a Penguins season ticket holder and were willing to sell your seats to this game, and you were able to find a buyer for your seat, you could probably come close to covering the cost for all of next season's tickets just by selling seats to one game.
There are also a few dreamers out there that only seem willing to sell their seats if it means they can get a new financial start on life. There are a few listings on Stubhub for seats in the $5,000-6,000 range, as well as a couple of listings on the Penguins' ticket exchange for upper level seats at more than $10,000.
If you want to sit in the front row, on the glass, there are two seats on Stubhub in section 106, right behind the net where the Penguins shoot twice, that are listed at more than $11,000 per seat.
The ticket exchange has two seats in the same section and same row at $10,000 per seat.
Not only are the Penguins looking to clinch the Stanley Cup on home ice for the first time ever, they are looking to become the first Pittsburgh team to clinch a championship in the city of Pittsburgh since Bill Mazeroski's home run in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series helped the Pirates beat the New York Yankees. Since then the Steelers have won six Super Bowls at neutral sites, the Penguins clinched the aforementioned three Stanley Cup titles on the road, and the Pirates won the 1971 and 1979 World Series on the road (both in Baltimore against the Orioles).
