When Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby skates to center ice to take the opening face-off… When Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby skates to center ice to take the opening face-off tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first regular season game at the Consol Energy Center, there will be a large contingent of students in attendance. No, it’s not because there is a bunch of generous parents out there, it’s because of the American Eagle Student Rush program.

Any current high school or college student with valid student identification can purchase a single Student Rush ticket for $25. The tickets go on sale one hour before game time. The line technically starts five hours prior to the game but frequently begins to form earlier.

“The Student Rush has been around since the mid-1990s [1996], but gained most of its popularity around 2005-06,” Penguins Vice President of Communications Tom McMillan said. “We weren’t selling out, so we decided to let students have the extra tickets at a discounted price. The kids loved it, and soon we had thousands of students lined up to get the extra tickets.”

This year, the Penguins gave a lot of people early Christmas presents when they announced that the tickets would be offered for every home game, not just select ones like in the past.

“With the increased capacity of the new arena, it helped us make the expanded Student Rush a possibility,” McMillan said. “There will be 200 tickets available every game, with four or five dates where 500 to 600 will be available.”

“I only went to one last year [using Student Rush tickets],” Robert Morris University junior Nick Plavchak said. “I’m definitely going to come to more this season now that they are selling them for every home game.”

Over the past several years, Student Rush dates looked like a party outside Mellon Arena. Students would brave the terrible and unpredictable Pittsburgh winter to try and gain admittance. They did all of this without amenities like tents, grills, propane heaters or alcohol, which are all prohibited.

During select Student Rush dates, American Eagle will be hosting promotions prior to the game. Festivities will include a DJ, promotional giveaways and autographed items.

“This is my first time trying to get Student Rush tickets,” Duquesne University junior Mitchell Naden said while waiting in line before a preseason game last week. “Most of my friends have gone in the past and they always had a good time, even waiting in line.”

Originally, the Student Rush sold whatever extra tickets were available at game time. Several years ago, it was changed to only include several dates because of  the unavailability of tickets stemming from increased team popularity and success.

“When we started selling out games — 166 straight — we didn’t have the inventory anymore,” McMillan said. “We liked the program so we had to adjust and set dates where the students could come get the tickets. We didn’t want thousands of students lined up with only 52 tickets available.”

To keep students in the loop about upcoming Student Rush dates, the Penguins began using text message and Twitter alerts. You can sign up for text alerts regarding Student Rush ticket availability by texting “RUSH” to 32623.

“I went to a couple student rush games the past few years, and they were awesome,” Pitt junior Shane Nickolich said. “You really can’t beat getting a ticket that could be worth 90 dollars for only 25.”

The student rush tickets “are scattered — not a block section,” McMillan said. “Seat location was never the driving force. It was to give the kids the opportunity to see a game for cheap, and we knew the kids would sit anywhere.”

“The most important part of Student Rush is building a connection with young fans,” McMillan said. “The program has been a tremendous success and has helped us build a consistently strong fan base for the years to come, not to mention it helps enhance the crowd inside the arena. The program has become a great success.”