When Carla Jeke’s son Travis was 17 months old, he wanted to be a hockey player.

“We’d use the example of Mario Lemieux, like, ‘A big, strong hockey player like Mario eats all his vegetables,'” said Jeke, the manager at Perani’s Hockey World in Scott. His son is now 18 and playing hockey at the Northwood School in Lake Placid, N.Y. “We’ve been blessed here in Pittsburgh with the advent of Mario, and then Sidney Crosby.”

Big-name hockey ambassadors like Lemieux and Crosby, the success of the Penguins on the ice and a plentiful supply of ice rinks have created a boom of interest in hockey and skating in the Pittsburgh region, according to rink managers, retailers and skaters.

“Our total number of teams are up. … There’s definitely a Crosby effect going with the numbers,” said Mike Tappe, vice president of team placement for the Pittsburgh Amateur Hockey League, representing more than 250 teams in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. “I’ve been here too long; I can remember the Mario effect.”

Back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992 precipitated the first boom in recreational hockey and skating, Tappe said. A lull during several lackluster seasons and the 2004-2005 NHL lockout ended with the 2005 draft of Crosby, renewing interest.

Mt. Lebanon’s municipal ice rinks — one full-size rink and one smaller one — have set financial records three years in a row, and are on pace to do so this year, said facilities Manager Bob Hlebinsky, who did not have precise numbers on hand. But he said that the 35-year-old facility, which includes a pool and community center, is in the black as a result of the busy rinks.

“We can see hockey just growing in leaps and bounds,” he said. “They’re picking up all the ice time.”

At Robert Morris University’s Island Sports Center in Neville, Executive Director Dave Hanson said the Pens’ success has increased interest in speed skating, figure skating and recreational public skating sessions.

“The Pens have had a tremendous effect on our business. … They’ve been our greatest advertisement,” Hanson said. “That organization has done an outstanding job of not only marketing themselves, but continuing to reach out to the grassroots community.”

Jeke pointed to programs like the Little Penguins Learn to Play Hockey, which partnered with Crosby, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Reebok to give hockey equipment to 1,000 youth players, or the Penguins Pond at SouthSide Works, which continued outdoor skating that began last year in the North Side with the NHL Winter Classic program.

The Penguins did not return calls for comment.

Meanwhile, the scenery and holiday charm of outdoor rinks in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County’s parks draw casual skaters, families and tourists, said Byron Sharp, president of Miami-based Magic Ice USA, which built the PPG Place rink for the past 10 years and did the Penguins Pond at SouthSide Works.

The PPG rink had more than 50,000 skaters last year and is on track to do better this year, Sharp said.

“It’s become an icon of the holiday season,” he said. “We have groups that are booking in June and July to get time in for skating.”

“It’s the best rink we’ve ever been to,” said Bridgette Kooghler, 36, of Fairfax, Va., who was among throngs of tourists in PPG Place on Wednesday.

Schenley Park’s outdoor rink had 7,899 people in the first six weeks of the 2010 season, which begins in November, compared to 6,708 this year, but Manager Mariella Ranallo attributed that to opening a week later with warmer weather.

Ranallo expects 500 more people either skating or watching today, when the PAHL Pittsburgh Vipers and the Youngstown Phantoms play their third “Winter Classic” to benefit the Mario Lemieux Foundation.

“I’d say the crowds are growing bigger over the last few years,” said Alex Sandryhaila, 29, of Squirrel Hill, as he left Schenley Park after skating with his son Daniel, 5. “I’ve had a few friends who started skating because of the Penguins. They felt it was bad to be fans and never learn to skate.”

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