The fate of Mellon Arena is at the heart of the Penguins' ownership woes. Everyone agrees Pittsburgh needs a new arena, but who's going to build it? (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Viewpoint: Scott Morrison
The Penguins may yet be on the march
Last Updated Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006
by Scott Morrison
Boston versus Montreal.
The too-good-to-be true white knight, with the $175-million cheque, is gone.
For now. Perhaps forever.
The too-good-to-be true free arena proposal, valued at $290 million, is gone.
Forever, make no mistake.
The owners who no longer want to be owners, remain.
For who knows how long.
The existing lease on the 45-year-old arena has six months left on it.
As the old joke goes: other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the movie?
Such is life in Pittsburgh, where the future is bright for the franchise but the future of the franchise is unclear.
Indeed, there is little doubt after the events of Wednesday, in which the casino/slots license with which the club was affiliated, that would have provided a new arena essentially for free was not granted, that the fate of the team in Pittsburgh is in serious doubt, for all the above stated reasons.
Now we see who the serious suitors are for the franchise and how serious the city of Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania are about keeping the team, which has a potentially brilliant future on the ice with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and others.
And we see how dedicated the NHL is to keeping the team in Pittsburgh, or making sure they land in the destination of their choice, not wherever Jim Balsillie ultimately might have wanted to go.
Balsillie, one of the owners of Research in Motion, withdrew his $175 purchase offer on Friday because he felt the league had imposed too many last-minute restrictions, which essentially would have dictated when, where and if he could have moved the team if the casino bid and other avenues fell through. The league would argue that Balsillie changed the landscape, not them, though somewhere in the middle is undoubtedly a joint truth.
The bottom line is, a lot has to happen in a short while to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh, with the existing arena lease to expire in the summer and not an immediate bona fide ownership prospect on the horizon, though it is difficult to fathom Balsillie would have been allowed to escape without an apparent struggle if there wasn't another group waiting in the wings, either in Pittsburgh or elsewhere.
"The decision by the gaming commission was terrible news for the Penguins, their fans and the NHL," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "The future of this franchise in Pittsburgh is uncertain and the Penguins now will have to explore all other options, including possible relocation. The NHL will support the Penguins in their endeavours."
All of which prompts the question: why, allegedly, was the NHL so adamant about the escape from Pittsburgh clauses in the sales agreement? It was never a case of you can't ever leave, but there certainly were terms of how and when. And Bettman's comments, though perhaps designed to add to the dramatics, hardly sound like a resounding assurance the team isn't moving. And makes you wonder, again, what really did transpire with Balsillie?
This much we do know: the NHL has never wanted the franchise, if it was to move, to be relocated in Canada. They want their shining stars on an American stage in an effort to further market and sell the game south of the border. Whether that is Kansas City or Houston, who knows, but Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo are places the NHL never wants to go.
The next step, presumably, will be to see whether the Plan B that is on the table, with the winning casino bid offering up $7.5 million annually for 30 years and the Penguins owners, whoever they may ultimately be, asked to pay $8.5 million one time and $4 million annually for 30 years, will be improved upon. Ask some teams around the NHL and it is not unheard of paying $3 million or $4 million a year for an arena deal. The key is what you get back, what revenue streams flow directly to you.
After all, it isn't about civic pride, and in some cases wins and losses, but rather profits and losses.
It will also be interesting to see, since there are more questions than answers at this point, what the sale price of the team is if, in fact, it is sold again. It was widely agreed that Balsillie paid high at $175 million, especially since a purchase offer pre-lockout and pre-Crosby was $118 million. But Balsillie's price obviously factored in either in the phenom and a new arena being built for nothing, not to mention a move if necessary.
If nothing else, after years of inactivity regarding a new arena and the future of the franchise, they finally have pressure points. Severe pressure points, which will result in action.
Now to see where the march of the Penguins leads.
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About Scott
- Scott Morrison, the recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fame's 2006 Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, has been covering hockey for 25 years. The Toronto native began his career at the Toronto Sun in 1979. After spending more than 11 years as a hockey writer and columnist at the paper, Morrison became Sports Editor in 1991 and led the section to being named one of North America's top-ten sports sections in 1999 - the first sports section in Canada to receive the AP Sports Editors North American Award. Scott, a former two-term president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, joined Rogers Sportsnet in 2001 as Managing Editor, Hockey, and is currently both a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and a columnist for CBC.ca.
