PITTSBURGH (93.7 the Fan) A thing about sports that gets lost on fans quite often is how teams within a league are businesses.
Teams always have to focus on what is best for business and sometimes that means losing a fan favorite player.
Prior to the start of the 2020-21 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded away fan favorite Patric Hornqvist.
The Penguins traded Hornqvist to the Florida Panthers for Mike Matheson and Colton Sceviour.
After the trade, the Penguins and Panthers did not face off against one another thanks to a truncated schedule and limited travel within the league.
Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena marked the first time the Penguins have hosted Hornqvist and the Panthers since the trade.
When a former player who had as much impact as Hornqvist did, you know there is going to be a welcome back tribute video.
Hornqvist's tribute video was followed by a lengthy ovation from the Penguins faithful within the arena.
That's what the Swedish forward deserves for all of his work with Pittsburgh, and that includes scoring the last goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup victory, and the game winning goal in 2017.
Hornqvist was a fan favorite for a long time in Pittsburgh and for good reason.
He was one of the Penguins' most consistent goal scorers year after year, and played a chippy style of hockey that a fan can get behind.
