Balsille switches over to Preds...to move them?

After failing to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins from Mario Lemieux earlier in the NHL season, Blackberry mogul Jim Balsille has reportedly put an agreement in place to buy Music City's Predators.

Balsille went after Pittsburgh and a deal like this was almost done, until Balsille backed away the last minute, he eventually came crawling back but Mario coldly said "no", and his franchise then faced relocation.

Luckily for the Pens, the city was able to make a deal in time with Lemieux and co. for a new building, that would move them out of the oldie that is Mellon Arena.

Balsille, according to a Nashville news publication, has indeed bought the Predators, and he very well may have bought a failing franchise.

The Preds have had a tough time attracting fans consistently, and many have toyed with the idea of relocation; their fan problem is also mainly due to the fact that Gaylord Entertainment Centre, isn't exactly your natural hockey arena, and has a surplus of seats for other events like soccer, arena hockey, lacrosse.

Balsille pulled a whopping $220 million out of his pocket to buy his first NHL franchise.

There is a way out, however.
Because average game attendance for the season recently ended was below 14,000, the team has 60 days from its final hockey game to exercise an exit clause.
That move, which would have to happen by mid-June, would trigger a one-year cure period in which the city must bring ticket sales up to 14,000 per game. Otherwise, after the year, the team could leave.

That is very, very interesting.

And what make this even all more intriguing, is the fact Balsille is rumoured to be buying land and it speculated he will build an arena for his Predators there.

Where? In...Cambridge?

One of the guys from the sports desk who is from the area says where the land was purchased is "a stones throw from the 401 ... probably about 1 hour and 10 minutes from downtown Toronto." -Mirtle
--BBR

As much as I hate to say this, Mario Lemieux is to blame for Penguins' relocation.

The Penguins have declared an impasse in negotiations with government officials over construction of a new arena and will aggressively explore relocating the team to a new city.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Aww man, this is sad indeed, it will be very tough for you Penguins fans. Pittsburgh has great fans, great players and a great legacy. Leaving that to go to some hole like Kansas City or Oklahoma.

What the hell has happened to hockey?

You're telling me the great Mario Lemieux, who now is the majority owner of his life-long team, can't even put together a deal to save his sacred franchise?
Yeah, right...

If the Penguins do indeed lose their franchise to another city (god, please not Kansas City...), the first to whom I will point my finger is Mario Lemieux.
I respect all that he's done, hockey-wise and business-wise, but I think he made a HUGE mistake, not selling the club to Blackberry mogul Jim Balsille a few months ago.

I understand Lemieux was offended of the way Balsille acted during the critical part of the negotiations, but the point is...it doesn't matter, if you're kind of situation, that you sell the club to a complete jerk, as long as he keeps the club in Pittsburgh and builds you a new arena while rewarding you with a couple hundred million on top of it.

I also understand why Lemieux didn't make this choice above...he loves the franchise, he wants someone to keep it intact, to take care of it, a good owner.
He probably didn't see that in Jim Balsille, but at the expense of losing a team and dragging fans into a bottomless pit of sorrow, he should have sold the team to Balsille, he should have...

And now, we are witnessing the last months of the franchise known as the Pittsburgh Penguins...soon to be (uhh) Kansas City Penguins or even worse...Oklahoma Penguins.
For the sake of the NHL's reputation, at least bring 'em back to Winnipeg...

Pittsburgh fans, take it from me, I know what it feels like to lose a team you care about.

I lost that when baseball commissioner Bud Selig, forever Expos foe and ex-owner Jeffrey Loria and John Henry dumped my Montreal Expos in a grave and buried them alive.
They decided baseball wasn't important in Montreal anymore, and you know what, we lost our team because there was no new stadium built, kind of like the current Mellon Arena situation, except worse...in Stade Olympique de Montreal, blech.

All this came at the expense of money,and have you realized sports and teams are always about money these days? God, I miss the old days, it must've been great to play for peanuts but play for love of the game.

Here's a thought...maybe money should replace God, since that's what's more important to people these days than actual human values.

These people have no human values.

Pens fans, I really wish you luck, and hope that you don't lose your team, a part of yourself, like I did.

If I lost the Canadiens, that's a different story...I don't really know what I'd do...

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.