Mario Lemieux said he does not think the Penguins will remain in Pittsburgh after the team's lease expires in 2007
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Penguins owner-captain Mario Lemieux said he is doubtful that the team will remain in Pittsburgh after its Mellon Arena lease expires in 2007, citing a lack of progress on a new arena.
The Penguins are projecting a $7 million loss this season, a figure that assumes the team will draw near-capacity crowds and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
"I think we're really running out of time," Lemieux said Saturday. "We probably ran out of time already. It's been unfortunate that the city and the county haven't been willing to work with us over the last two or three years."
Lemieux has said for several years that the Penguins would not be able to survive in Pittsburgh without a new arena. Mellon Arena is the oldest and smallest arena in the National Hockey League.
The lease allows the team to solicit offers for the franchise beginning in June 2006. Kansas City is among the cities that have expressed interest in the team.
"We'll sit down with everybody and understand what's at stake for our investment and what's best for the franchise" when the board of directors is scheduled to meet this week, Lemieux said.
But wait, I thought the salary cap was supposed to guarantee that all of the NHL's franchises would be economically viable and profitable...
Coincidentally, former Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut declared last week he would bring back an NHL franchise in Quebec city if a new arena was built. Aubut is a good friend of Bettman and he knows when to sell and when to buy. Quebec city will celebrate their 400th birthday in 2008 and rumors say there is a plan to have a franchise there by then.
All that high priced over the hill talent...Recchi, LeClair, Palffy, Gonchar, etc. Now Mario mentioning moving the team is going to kill the box office.
What makes Kansas City so attractive as a possible site? They have never done well supporting their hockey teams...(See Scouts and Blades)
Thing that kills me...Pirates haven't had a good team since 1992, no World Series appearances since "We are Family" was on the top of the charts, and they get a new yard. Even with the new yard, the owner is so cheap they run it like a AAA franchise.
Otis wrote:But wait, I thought the salary cap was supposed to guarantee that all of the NHL's franchises would be economically viable and profitable...
Well, if you're too stupid to see that the vast majority of them are, you may as well quit trying to understand.
Mario's merely putting some pressure on the city to cough up some cash for what he wants. He may still not get it, but for now, the Penguins aren't going anywhere.
Didn't Gretzky pull the same shit in Phoenix 2 or 3 years ago, only to finally get his precious arena?
Otis wrote:But wait, I thought the salary cap was supposed to guarantee that all of the NHL's franchises would be economically viable and profitable...
No one ever said that, and you know it. What it does do it give teams the opportunity to be successful as long as they're managed well and operate in a market with sufficent sources of revenue to sustain them. Pittsburgh apparently has neither.
It seems that there is no public appetite to build another public stadium, after building a football and a baseball stadium the city is broke. There are cutbacks on alot of public services and lets face it...it is a football town first.
I can only hope the next choice would be Winnipeg...Jets?
I'd love to see the Nords come back. I fucking hated them......it was a beautiful thing.
Tiger Williams wrote:"... some snot-nosed little fuck that isn't going to break a nail is going to score 50 goals and he's never driven to the net in his life. He's never stood in front with Moose Dupont giving him 89 cross checks in the back of the head."
Mainiac wrote:I'd love to see the Nords come back. I fucking hated them......it was a beautiful thing.
I remember one game back in the 90's when the Nords sucked a.. and Ron Tugnut had stopped 70 shots in a 3-3 tie against Boston. If my memory is correct the game was played in Boston and Bruins fans gave a standing ovation at the end to honor the accomplishment.
Cross Traffic wrote:What makes Kansas City so attractive as a possible site? They have never done well supporting their hockey teams...(See Scouts and Blades)
At least the Scouts have won a couple of Stanley Cups, unlike their expansion brethren,
the Washington Crapitals.
Granted, it wasn't until the franchise moved twice, but that counts (sort of), right? :P
“If you look at folks of color, even women, they’re more
successful in the Democratic Party than they are in the white, uh,
excuse me, in the Republican Party.” (NPR Interview Of Howard Dean
<http://www.breitbart.tv/html/153493.html> , 8/15/08)
