Pens Sold

[D3nZ 0]

The mayor is young and there are already lots of people lining up to run against him.

Reminds me of the situation in Newark where the mayor is also young and there is a huge uprise of people right now saying that building that new arena for the Devils is a huge mistake. Now he is just saying that they will get that arena done and no one will stop him.

[D3nZ 0]

The Pens are now off the market and Mario is now looking to move the team somewhere else. He will probably continue to have talks with the city and the state but after more than 10 years of debate on the situation I personally think it's time to move the team and get this thing done with. The article talks about 5 cities and none of them canadian and unfortunatly for us canadian I think as long as Gary is at the top of the pyramid, we will not see a US team moving to Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2006...ns-lemieux.html

EDIT: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=189251&hubname=

New article mentionning Winnipeg with some of the other US cities mentionned above.

[Gongshow11 1]

the whole league should be in canada, hell, besides 3 major US markets, year after year the league revenue is going down

[mack 44]

They still want to make money even though it'd be awfully cute if every NHL team was moved there. I can't wait to see the Flin Flon Predators in action.

[kosydar 0]

the whole league should be in canada, hell, besides 3 major US markets, year after year the league revenue is going down

I don't get this at all. Two NHL franchises failed in Canadian "hockey" cities (Quebec and Winnipeg), so it doesn't make sense to blame to problem solely on geographic location. How many teams would be in a just Canadian league? Six? People bitch enough now about playing the same teams 4-8 times a year, imagine if they had only 5 other teams to play. Canada only has 9 cities with populations over 500,000, and in two of those cities NHL franchises have failed. The ninth (Hamilton), is way too close to TO and the Leafs to draw in a huge fan base. So while I agree with you that the expansion of the league ultimately hurt itself, saying that the entire league should be in Canada is stupid. The solution is to cut teams from the league, not move them to new, questionable markets that are bound to fail.

[Eazy_b97 1]

The Canadian cities largest problem was corporate sponsorships and new arenas. Population isn't a huge factor in those really, but I doubt many Canadian cities can provide more than a great atmosphere.

[DarkStar50 679]

Its a shame there are no more Habs/Nords games from Le Colisee. Those games in the late 80s and early 90s were all-out wars. Viva la Olde Time Hockey!!

[jmiro 55]

just heard. no slots means no pens. just when they gave me a reason to make the 80 mile drive they are leaving.

[D3nZ 0]

The Canadian cities largest problem was corporate sponsorships and new arenas. Population isn't a huge factor in those really, but I doubt many Canadian cities can provide more than a great atmosphere.

I'm with you on that one, the problem with Quebec and Winnipeg is the exact problem the Penguins are having now. No implication on the corporate part and the provincial government not willing to invest in an arena for millionaires. With the MTS Center only fitting 15 000 people it's a bit too small for an NHL team, same with the KeyArena in Seattle. Las Vegas is a huge market but I see them having trouble getting a regular fan base. Kansas City looks to be a good market, new arena beeing built there and will be ready soon, I think they are the front runners right now. I don't see the hockey craze in Oklahoma City althought they have a nice new but small arena, the Ford Center. And as a Montreal Canadien fan, I could just imagine the athmosphere with the Nordiques comming back into town if the team would move to Quebec. They could pull off one like the Washington Nationals. Move the team there, play at the Colisée for a couple of years and then move to a new arena. But Mairesse Boucher is against building a new arena with public funds and no one with corporate money as stepped up in the last 10 years (since the Nordiques moved to Denver) to build a new arena. But Quebec will be celebrating their 400 anniversary in 2008 so they could get a nice little birthday present. And Marcel Aubut is always in the area, maybe he could pitch in. I am sure Mario will look at all options in the US and in Canada before making final decision. For the good of the league it would be nice to get a team in Canada, but as a marketing point of view and with the trouble that the NHL is having right now in the US, they need as much exposure as they can.

So, my head is going with Kansas City but my heart is with Quebec.

[Chadd 916]

Ok, this is going to take a while.

1. The winning bidder for the slots license did commit to participating in "plan B", it would require the Pens to also contribute and that's why Mario has avoided it entirely. In fact, the Pens refused to return calls to the county after the slots decision was announced. Hopefully people in Pitt come to realize that if the Pens do leave, they can only thank Mario for demanding that their new building come entirely at the expense of others.

2. The gaming commission did the right thing in awarding the license to the group that they felt would produce the most revenue for the state. It also makes a lot more sense than having the slots downtown.

3. Evidently the "must stay in Pitt" contract terminology that caused Balsille to walk away is gone now that the NHL and the Penguins couldn't strong arm the state into giving them what they wanted. Feingold is also back into the picture.

4. I told you so.

5. Pens stay in Pitt still 50-50, if they're willing to pony up $8M up front and $4M for 30 years, they get a new building. That's less than half of their annual local TV contract and they can afford it.

[Grave77Digger 1]

5. Pens stay in Pitt still 50-50, if they're willing to pony up $8M up front and $4M for 30 years, they get a new building. That's less than half of their annual local TV contract and they can afford it.

The only problem is that they will most certainly get a sweeter deal from another city that already has a brand new arena. On top of that who will have to cover the cost overruns on the arena? Staying in Pitt is going to be a lose/lose situation no matter what.

[Trooper 8]

The Pens will be in Pittsburgh, no doubt about it. The people in Pittsburgh whined and complained that tax money was used to build both PNC Park and Heinz Field, that's why the IOC made a lot of sense. The land's purchased, the demolition is set to begin, and the posturing continues.