Sean Suisham was fighting a losing battle on Thursday.
He couldn’t find enough chairs for the audience.
So, some sat on the ground. Other just stood and watched.
But they were all captivated.
In the spacious lobby of the UMPC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, members of the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite girls hockey program took in the gold medal game at the Olympics between the United States and Canada which was airing on a large screen affixed to the wall.
When defender Megan Keller made a mad dash up the ice to score her overtime goal that gave the United States a 2-1 win, most of the assembled crew erupted in cheers (a few members of the program are from Canada and offered a different reaction).
“What you saw (Thursday), that excitement, that was real,” said Suisham, the director of girls hockey for Penguins Elite. “It was organic, it was genuine.”
The gathering — primarily composed of members from the 19-, 16-, and 14-and-under girls teams — was something of a happy accident. Nothing was planned. Some meetings had to be delayed or simply not staged so the game could be watched in the early afternoon.
Suisham looked for chairs and high stools from the facility’s dining area while also trying to document some of the gathering for the program’s social media platforms.
And some unexpected guests showed up.
Members of the boys’ teams.
“What struck me — even more significantly than seeing our young ladies’ excitement for the game — there were a whole bunch of young boys out there watching that game,” Suisham said. “What I saw was them rooting for Team USA. A hockey team, not girls playing hockey.
“I think that is a very exciting distinction. The recognition from the greater hockey community of just how great our women’s and girls’ games has become. The excitement about the growth. It was a special, special thing we saw (Thursday).”
Current members of the program saw four former members of the program win gold.
Goaltenders Ava McNaughton and Gwyneth Philips as well as forward Hannah Bilka and defenseman Laila Edwards all spent time with Penguins Elite. McNaughton is a native of Seven Fields.
“These girls have one degree of separation from four former Penguins Elite players on that Olympic roster,” Suisham said. “Whether they achieve that goal or that dream, those girls know that it’s real and they can go after it.
“It’s a special time to be a female hockey player, I do believe.”
Suisham’s love for the sport is infectious. A former kicker for Pittsburgh Steelers, Suisham played hockey as a youth growing up in Wallaceburg, Ont. A right-handed defenseman when he played, the 44-year-old Suisham regularly mingles with passers-by in the complex, always eager to chat up the teams he guides.
In trying to explain the significance of Thursday’s game and how his players reacted, Suisham’s voice cracked with emotion.
“Sport is the greatest unifier in the world,” Suisham said. “Sport has the ability to connect all of us. To buy into something, to be a part of something. We all want to feel connected. Be a part of a team, a club, a tribe.”
While plenty of scrutiny has been placed on the men’s tournament over how it can impact the NHL’s business concerns, the moment that unfolded in Thursday’s game offered incalculable benefit to the women’s game in the United States.
In short, it can lead to more girls caring about the sport and potentially playing.
“Our numbers continue to grow at our younger ages with young girls playing hockey,” Suisham said. “That stuff is like a wildfire in the hearts of these young ladies and chasing that dream.
“What I can tell you for certain is how watching that game, that performance, that moment made me feel. And also, I spend my days with these young ladies and I know how it made them feel. I saw it, I witnessed it. It was real.”