Cartoon Canon: Packed Igloo! taken in Richmond, Va. (Penguins)

RICHMOND, Va. -- The Penguins haven't failed to sell out a home game in more than a decade. But such was not always the case. In 1979, for instance, they didn’t pack the Civic Arena until the calendar had turned to January.

The crowd that night was well-earned, however.

The team was on a hot streak, just lending more heat to an exuberant time to be a Pittsburgh sports fan. A week later, the Steelers would capture their third Lombardi Trophy, and 12 months later, their fourth. In the midst of that span, the Fam-a-Lee of Pirates would win the World Series. And while those Penguins didn’t achieve such heights, they did manage to end the season with a 36-31-13 record, good enough for second place in the Norris Division, and beat the Sabres in the first round of the playoffs before falling to these same Bruins in the second.

ROB ULLMAN / DKPS

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