Madden, Special to The Times
Published: Sunday, June 21, 2009 11:43 PM EDT
As the Consol Energy Center rises across the street from Mellon Arena, plans for accessorizing the Penguins’ new digs should be forming.Even though it’s not his style, those plans must include a statue of the team’s greatest player and current owner, Mario Lemieux.As the euphoria of the franchise’s third Stanley Cup fades — and that’s going to take a while — we should never forget the gamble Lemieux took to keep the team in Pittsburgh and keep his sweater alive.Sure, his risk paid off handsomely: Purchased for $107 million, the Penguins were valued at $195 million by Forbes Magazine at season’s start.Forbes also calls the Penguins the NHL’s fastest-growing brand. They are on a string of 118 straight home sellouts.But Lemieux could have taken the easy way out.Lemieux got his share of the team in exchange for $29 million he was owed in deferred salary. He could have received a sizeable percentage of that, in cash, through bankruptcy court had the team been sold elsewhere.Lemieux could have then played one season for Montreal or the New York Rangers, made $20 million, and been ahead of the game with no further obligation, let alone the headache of owning a team.But if the Penguins had died, Lemieux’s legacy would have diminished. Peter Stastny is remembered in Quebec, but not revered.Lemieux rode out the uncertainty, kept the Penguins away from predators like Blackberry mogul Jim Balsillie, stared down politicians for a new arena, then focused on a business he knows: winning Stanley Cups. Pretty cerebral stuff for a kid from Ville Emard with no high school diploma.Lemieux is already in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player. He should be inducted again, someday, as a builder.Penguins fans should never forget what Lemieux did. Nor should they underestimate the role of co-owner Ron Burkle. Burkle isn’t just some guy in a golf shirt. His net worth ($3.5 billion), business acumen and reputation give the Penguins incredible stability.If Burkle could score goals, they would erect a statue of him, too.Lemieux’s status with the Penguins is unique. He’s the team’s best player ever, arguably the game’s greatest. He was pro sports’ first player/owner. He won the Stanley Cup as a player, then as an owner. Lemieux preserved the team’s existence on three occasions: When he joined the moribund club as a player in 1984, when he bought it out of bankruptcy in 1999, and when he won the new arena battle in 2007.It’s no exaggeration to say that, within the context of the Penguins, Lemieux is more ingrained than any other figure with any other team. Babe Ruth never owned the New York Yankees. Wayne Gretzky ditched the Edmonton Oilers. Heck, Michael Jordan ended his career with a scrub club.Gretzky and Jordan forgot how to win. Not Lemieux. Witness the well-documented inspiration he gave the Penguins during the Stanley Cup final.As a lifelong Penguins supporter, congratulating Mario on the ice at Joe Louis Arena after the Penguins won their third Stanley Cup is a mental image I will take to my grave.Now, about that statue: Maybe that time he scored right off the face-off could be immortalized.
Published: Sunday, June 21, 2009 11:43 PM EDT
As the Consol Energy Center rises across the street from Mellon Arena, plans for accessorizing the Penguins’ new digs should be forming.Even though it’s not his style, those plans must include a statue of the team’s greatest player and current owner, Mario Lemieux.As the euphoria of the franchise’s third Stanley Cup fades — and that’s going to take a while — we should never forget the gamble Lemieux took to keep the team in Pittsburgh and keep his sweater alive.Sure, his risk paid off handsomely: Purchased for $107 million, the Penguins were valued at $195 million by Forbes Magazine at season’s start.Forbes also calls the Penguins the NHL’s fastest-growing brand. They are on a string of 118 straight home sellouts.But Lemieux could have taken the easy way out.Lemieux got his share of the team in exchange for $29 million he was owed in deferred salary. He could have received a sizeable percentage of that, in cash, through bankruptcy court had the team been sold elsewhere.Lemieux could have then played one season for Montreal or the New York Rangers, made $20 million, and been ahead of the game with no further obligation, let alone the headache of owning a team.But if the Penguins had died, Lemieux’s legacy would have diminished. Peter Stastny is remembered in Quebec, but not revered.Lemieux rode out the uncertainty, kept the Penguins away from predators like Blackberry mogul Jim Balsillie, stared down politicians for a new arena, then focused on a business he knows: winning Stanley Cups. Pretty cerebral stuff for a kid from Ville Emard with no high school diploma.Lemieux is already in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player. He should be inducted again, someday, as a builder.Penguins fans should never forget what Lemieux did. Nor should they underestimate the role of co-owner Ron Burkle. Burkle isn’t just some guy in a golf shirt. His net worth ($3.5 billion), business acumen and reputation give the Penguins incredible stability.If Burkle could score goals, they would erect a statue of him, too.Lemieux’s status with the Penguins is unique. He’s the team’s best player ever, arguably the game’s greatest. He was pro sports’ first player/owner. He won the Stanley Cup as a player, then as an owner. Lemieux preserved the team’s existence on three occasions: When he joined the moribund club as a player in 1984, when he bought it out of bankruptcy in 1999, and when he won the new arena battle in 2007.It’s no exaggeration to say that, within the context of the Penguins, Lemieux is more ingrained than any other figure with any other team. Babe Ruth never owned the New York Yankees. Wayne Gretzky ditched the Edmonton Oilers. Heck, Michael Jordan ended his career with a scrub club.Gretzky and Jordan forgot how to win. Not Lemieux. Witness the well-documented inspiration he gave the Penguins during the Stanley Cup final.As a lifelong Penguins supporter, congratulating Mario on the ice at Joe Louis Arena after the Penguins won their third Stanley Cup is a mental image I will take to my grave.Now, about that statue: Maybe that time he scored right off the face-off could be immortalized.
All Hail King Mario!!!!!
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