Jump to content

Penguins declare arena talks impasse, move closer to leaving


TheMaxDaddy

Recommended Posts

More news today that the Penguins are closer to being sold and moved. Sooo...

Mr. Gillett, please buy the Penguins, bring them to Montreal and sell the load of cr@p that takes the ice evernight to some investors in KC. Please. Please.

Thanks,

TMD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel bad for the fans ... the PA gov. has been farting around with this thing for 8 years and this is what happens ... sadly i'd hate to see a team in KC and Pittburgh not have one but if I was Mario and co. I'd pick up the phone to KC and get serious.

Like the Ryan Smyth saga ... this is another stiuation where the Team is loyal to the city they dump on them when it's the city's job to return the favor. This should have been done years ago,. The team should have been ready to move into a new building next season wtih Crosby and Malkin ready to fill the building for years to come.

PA Gov = :nono:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm surprised that the State isn't showering much leverage to the Pens. The recent resurgence of the team should have at least given Mario and the rest of the owners more bargaining leverage for a new arena deal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More news today that the Penguins are closer to being sold and moved. Sooo...

Mr. Gillett, please buy the Penguins, bring them to Montreal and sell the load of cr@p that takes the ice evernight to some investors in KC. Please. Please.

Thanks,

TMD.

:clap::clap::clap:

I appreciate the sentiment, but wouldn't want to lose the CH, the lineage, ect.

Now, some sort of player transplant before such a move would be sweet. Graft Crosby onto the habs, kick Koivu to the Pens, grab Malkin, dump Boullion and Sammy...ect... until you have an asskicking powerhouse in montreal and a true expansion team for KC

Yeah, right....could never happen for about a hundred reasons. But it's fun to fantasize sometimes.

Edited by sbhatt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:clap::clap::clap:

I appreciate the sentiment, but wouldn't want to lose the CH, the lineage, ect.

Now, some sort of player transplant before such a move would be sweet. Graft Crosby onto the habs, kick Koivu to the Pens, grab Malkin, dump Boullion and Sammy...ect... until you have an asskicking powerhouse in montreal and a true expansion team for KC

Yeah, right....could never happen for about a hundred reasons. But it's fun to fantasize sometimes.

After all he's done for this team? :puke:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

KC though? What a sad joke.

Why is it that when a Canadian city wants a team the excuse is that the NHL doesnt want to put a franchise where it has already failed. Ironically though the NHL prefers to put franchises back into US cities where they have already failed. i.e. Colarado, Atlanta, Minnesota, and soon to be KC :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-p...p&type=lgns

sad to see them go but this was inevitable.

How was it inevitable? Pittsburgh has one of the strongest hockey markets in the US in terms of attendance and TV viewership, as indicated in the article. Not only was it not inevitable before, it's still not. This could be another negotiating ploy by the Pens to extract a few more shillings from the government. I admit it doesn't look good, but who knows what's going on behind the scenes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How was it inevitable? Pittsburgh has one of the strongest hockey markets in the US in terms of attendance and TV viewership, as indicated in the article. Not only was it not inevitable before, it's still not. This could be another negotiating ploy by the Pens to extract a few more shillings from the government. I admit it doesn't look good, but who knows what's going on behind the scenes.

Economics. The PA government wasn't going to budge.

KC is a joke though, joke of a city and joke of professional sports teams. They can only support 1 team and that's the Chiefs. People go oh but they have like 500,000 people in their city. The metro area is tiny. Only around 1.5. Saint Louis on the other hand has a metro of 2.5.

DO NOT GO TO KC. Go to Portland.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

KC though? What a sad joke.

Why is it that when a Canadian city wants a team the excuse is that the NHL doesnt want to put a franchise where it has already failed. Ironically though the NHL prefers to put franchises back into US cities where they have already failed. i.e. Colarado, Atlanta, Minnesota, and soon to be KC :rolleyes:

Atlanta's the only city where the NHL failed again though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hell with KC, hell with moving them to Montreal and moving the Habs to KC, move the Pens to Quebec City. There's nothing on Earth that will light a fire under the Canadiens' ass than being beaten repeatedly by the Nordiques. If QC ever gets a team - and one that's actually better than the Habs? - the Canadiens will regroup so fast we'll have a dynasty on our hands to keep them down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny how Pennsylvania takes care of their 2 teams : Pens are the most exciting team in the coming years and Flyers the worst team in th NHL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Might as well include the Bay area in terms of markets that got a 2nd chance (Oakland/California and then San Jose).

It's sickening that the PA government was put through this, but they painted themselves into this corner with giving the Pirates a new ballpark with no contribution from that pitiful franchise. Years of bad management before Mario came really crippled the team, and the years under him didn't really help a lot, either, except in terms of credibility and respect from the community (not the ledger).

Pro teams shouldn't get gov't handouts and free facilities to play in. They're essentially subsidies, it's why they don't work. Mario is going to make money in KC off of short term revenue windfalls and free rent, and the citizens there are going to get hurt in the long term after the short term benefits. It's lose-lose for the fans, and win-win for the Penguins' ownership.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After all he's done for this team? :puke:

Yeah...his perennial underachieving, the way he took a twenty-plus game mental vacation each of the past two years right when he's needed most, and the lack of success in the playoffs this team has had under his incapable leadership. :puke:

I'd kick number 11 out the door for Sid The Kid so fast it'd make your head spin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Um ok there, judging from your quite tasteful signature - you're hardly the person to be asked for an impartial opinion.

Great to have fans who blame the captain for everything.

And if you hate perennial underachievers so much, you certainly look like quite the hypocrite with Alex Kovalev as your favourite Canadien. Good luck with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This will make the NHL and Bettman look so stupid if they move a two time cup winning team which has the best young talent in the league.

The only positive will be the precedent that it is acceptable to move cup teams so Tampa and Carolina can be contracted when the NHL discovers that hockey is not viable to those area’s.

PS I know I’m dreaming about my final point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This will make the NHL and Bettman look so stupid if they move a two time cup winning team which has the best young talent in the league.

The only positive will be the precedent that it is acceptable to move cup teams so Tampa and Carolina can be contracted when the NHL discovers that hockey is not viable to those area’s.

PS I know I’m dreaming about my final point.

Bettman is whispering "expansion" again. *laughs* No contraction in sight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That would be hilarious but as long as their are owners who know how to make owning a pro sports team good for them financially they will continue to expand. But when there are so many empty buildings it makes the league look worse than the WMBA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This will make the NHL and Bettman look so stupid if they move a two time cup winning team which has the best young talent in the league.

The only positive will be the precedent that it is acceptable to move cup teams so Tampa and Carolina can be contracted when the NHL discovers that hockey is not viable to those area’s.

PS I know I’m dreaming about my final point.

I'm for contraction too but Tampa is the wrong team to get rid of. They've got a great fanbase down there, only Montreal and Detroit are averaging better home attendance then the Lightning right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To add to this fire, I heard recently that there is a clause in the contract the Penguins signed with the Isle of Capri that has some impact on this stay-or-go affair in Pittsburgh. The Penguins promised to pay the Isle of Capri $10M if the Penguins had a new arena built in Pittsburgh by someone else. When the governor of Pennsylvania met with the Pittsburgh recently, they brought up this $10M payment, and asked for the state to cover that expense! The governor balked at it, and is now using this as ammunition against the Penguins ownership, to show their greed.

If I were a betting man, I would say the Penguins will leave Pennsylvania, and KC is their most likely destination, based on the sweetheart deal on that mid-western table. It will be interesting if they end up in Missouri, because the group behind this offer and the new $276 M arena, is the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which currently owns the LA Kings. I'm not certain if the NHL will allow one owner to control 2 franchises, especially since both will likely end up in the same conference. I cannot see the Penguins, or whatever they will be renamed to, staying in the Eastern conference if they reside in Kansas City.

As for the ability for KC to support the Penguins, according to a 2006 survey from bizjournals.com, KC is the 5th most overextended sports market. They stated that the area has a collective annual income of $65 Billion. The 4th most overextended sports market is...you guessed it...Pittsburgh, with $61 Billion.

http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2007/0...aa6penguins.txt

Edited by habscout
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm for contraction too but Tampa is the wrong team to get rid of. They've got a great fanbase down there, only Montreal and Detroit are averaging better home attendance then the Lightning right now.

Yeah, many players from Québec and many people from Québec live in Florida during winter...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

since i now live 1 hour from Pittsburgh - i'm starting to know why this region doesn't embrace hockey ... marketing.

i've never seen commercials that were all fights all the time, until i got here. the billboards are of fighting scenes.

not that fighting isn't a part of the game - but - basically, at least where i live - you can't tell hockey apart from wrestling or boxing on ice!

i can't comment on the city of Pittsburgh itself - but - at least in this area that is well within driving distance to see Penguins games, the marketing is poorly targetted IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...