Well, I guess it all started with Bill Cowher, but you get the point: no one wants in, everyone wants out… namely Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins. This mess has gone from bad to worse, as Mario and crew say that they can’t work with the city anymore. Of course they have also not declared a home for 2007-2008, and have already started selling season tickets to fans in Pittsburgh, so then the question arises whether or not the Penguins really do have the cajones to move to Kansas City, a city who already had a hockey team… for two years.. and folded because of lack of support. Honestly, if you are going to bluff (and to me Kansas City is an obvious bluff by the owners) you might want to go with Portland, Seattle, Houston, or pretty much any city with the ability to sustain the franchise. That would be like me bluffing that I put out quality content on this site.
Kansas City has offered its nearly completed Sprint Center to the Penguins rent-free. The Penguins would also gain revenue from development projects around the arena.
However, the Penguins would be leaving one of the NHL’s strongest U.S. markets for a smaller one that lost an NHL team in 1976 after only two seasons because of lack of support. The Penguins’ home attendance and local TV ratings are among the strongest of the 24 United States-based franchises.
So now, things are getting way out of hand, getting all ‘Pacman’ if you will, with Governor Ed Rendell asking Gary Bettman and the NHL to step in and stop a move. Why the NHL, I don’t know. Gary Bettman could not find a fat kid at a candy convention, let alone find a way to solve this mess, and speaking of mess, the other thing that gets tricky is if Lemiex and crew do take their puck and go home… uh, I mean Kansas City, are they still in the Eastern Conference? A map of the United States says ‘no’, but I don’t know how strong Americans’ geography is, so they might be able to get away with it. If not, one option being considered is to move the Detroit Red Wings into the East and put the Penguins in the West, which I actually believe Bettman would do because he is just dumb enough to break up the Wings-Avs rivalry, one of the better modern-day NHL rivals.
My last question is what the hell would you call this team, the Kansas City Penguins? Mmmm, has the certain, je ne sais quoi, that says “we really don’t give a crap, just buy some damn tickets to see Sid the Kid.”
2 responses so far ↓
1 Lou P. // Mar 7, 2007 at 9:08 am
The Kansas City Scouts didn’t technically fold (they relocated to Denver and became the Colorado Rockies; the franchise is now the New Jersey Devils) but still, a two-and-out legacy is not particularly appealing.
I can’t blame the Penguins for considering the move. A chance to play in a brand new arena, rent-free, and split the profits from the building? That’s a hard deal to pass up.
2 eric // Mar 7, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Yea, thanks Lou. The sad thing is that I actually did know that. Living in Colorado for 6 years I did get caught up on the history of the Scouts/Rockies/Devils, but of course I am lazy so I decided not to completely do my homework on that one.
But the point still stands, that free arena or not, Kansas City really does not seem like a place that can sustain an NHL franchise over an extended period of time.
Of course the counter argument to that is that with Malkin, Crosby, Fleury, Whitney, Staal, Christensen… that the Penguins could succeed over the next 5 years anywhere.
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