Penguins to remain in Pittsburgh?

The Pittsburgh Penguins have reached a deal with city, county and state
officials on financing for a new arena, a television station reported Monday
night.

KDKA-TV, citing unidentified sources, said the deal is "done" and will be
announced before Tuesday's game against the Buffalo Sabres at Mellon
Arena.

-Associated Press

This is a surpise indeed, when all was lost and it seemed as if the Penguins would be spending their last days in Pittsburgh this season.

But no, Mario Lemieux does it...again?
Don't forget that this was the same type of article we got a few months ago when Jim Balisille was all but set to buy the Penguins. And that did not happen.

I think until the Penguins' organization calls a press conference and announces this, you should take this lightly, not saying you shouldn't believe it, but do not take this to heart...yet.

But this doens't seem like the kind of affair like what happened to the Balsille vs. Mario saga way back.

It'll be nice to see the Penguins out of the Mellon, after all, they'll be stuck there for two more seasons.

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.