Talented Pens May Fly Away From Pittsburgh

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The New York Sun

Back in the spring of 1995, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Rangers emerged victorious in their first round playoff series against the high-flying Quebec Nordiques. That Quebec team featured some of the brightest stars to grace the NHL over the past decade, including Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Owen Nolan.

But the economics of the NHL — and the rapidly shrinking Canadian dollar — made the team’s relocation to Denver a fait accompli when Quebec was unwilling to construct a new arena for the Nordiques. Though it came as little surprise when that supremely talented lineup captured the Stanley Cup in their first season in Colorado (as the Avalanche), the loss of the franchise — and the missed opportunity to enjoy that celebration — stung badly in Quebec City.

A decade has made all the difference with respect to the Canadian dollar’s strength, now nearly on par with the American dollar. The NHL’s new collective-bargaining agreement has done a great job of leveling the playing field between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” to the point where it’s become nearly impossible to predict which free agents will land in which markets.

But one thing hasn’t changed, and that’s each team’s need for a new facility every 25–30 years. For that reason, the team the Rangers host tonight — the Pittsburgh Penguins — is more similar to those Nordiques than any team has been since.

In the final season of their agreement with the Mellon Arena (known affectionately as “The Igloo”), the Pens are essentially a lame-duck franchise. Purchased last week by Jim Balsillie (chairman and CEO of Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry wireless email device), the team is quite stable economically. But the need for a new arena — the Igloo is, along with the Nassau Coliseum, the most outdated facility in the NHL — is very real and could precipitate the franchise’s relocation.

There are a number of bids battling for the right to open a slots casino in Pittsburgh, and one of them — submitted by gambling company Isle of Capri — is favored heavily by the Penguins, as it would provide the team with a new arena. If that bid is not accepted by the city, look for the Pens to have a new home in 2007–08, with Hamilton, Ontario; Kansas City, Mo.; Las Vegas, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, the most likely suitors.

From a historical perspective, relocating the Penguins — 1991 and 1992 Cup Champions — would be quite significant. The last Stanley Cup winning team to either relocate or disband was the Montreal Maroons, who captured the Cup back in 1935. But the future ramifications of the move would be far more significant, especially when one looks at the team’s on-ice product.

Like the Nordiques, the Penguins boast a plethora of top-tier young talent and are expected to be one of the league’s better teams over the next decade. Phenom Sidney Crosby tallied 102 points as an 18-year-old, and a strong training camp has Penguins insiders believing that he will be far better in this, his sophomore season.

Complementing Crosby are a quartet of highly skilled youngsters who were also amongst the top of their draft class. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury suffered through a difficult training camp and preseason, but his play in the first few regular season games has given the Pens renewed confidence in his ability to emerge as a top-notch starting netminder. And on the blue line, Ryan Whitney tallied an impressive 38 points in his first 68 NHL games, firmly establishing himself as the team’s power play quarterback of the present and future.

It’s at center ice that the Pens are most impressive. Crosby is the face of the franchise — as Sakic has been for the Nordiques/Avalanche for well over a decade — but Evgeni Malkin will closely rival him, just as Forsberg rivaled Sakic. The supremely talented forward generated tremendous press during the off-season with his controversial “defection” from Russian team Magnitogorsk Metallurg.

Malkin went down with a separated shoulder in his first preseason game for the Pens, and hasn’t yet made his NHL debut. He’s not expected to be in the lineup tonight, but if Malkin misses only the team’s first 5–6 games, he is the prohibitive favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

Not content with the duo of Crosby and Malkin, the Pens selected another center, Jordan Staal, with their first round pick (no. 2 overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, giving them what might well develop into the finest trio of pivots ever to take the ice for an NHL team. Staal, the younger brother of Hurricanes’ star Eric and Rangers’ prospect Marc, was quite impressive during the preseason, never once looking out of place.

So for Pittsburgh’s die-hard hockey fans, this season is quite bittersweet. On the one hand, they get to enjoy watching one of the league’s most promising young lineups, and there remains hope that the Isle of Capri’s casino bid will be chosen and that Balsillie will keep the team in the Steel City.

But on the other, there’s the growing belief that the city of Pittsburgh — which has already invested in new facilities for the Steelers and Pirates — is not willing to prioritize the Penguins right now. And with the news surfacing that a mysterious party has paid for the right to lease Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum for an NHL team (and extended the agreement until February 1, 2007), there’s good reason to wonder whether tonight could in fact be one of the last times the Pittsburgh Penguins will visit Madison Square Garden.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.


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