The day Mario Lemieux saved hockey in Pittsburgh?

Question

Well, I am heading off the P.E.I shortly for my wife's XMas party. Thought it would be nice to ask the question on how in God's name Mario saved hockey in Pittsburgh before I hit the highway.
People say he was drafted by them and put butts in the seats, he bought the team, he kept the team there etc........and I say BS.
People seem to forget when the Penguins called his name as the first overall draft pick, he did not shake general manager Eddie Johnston's hand or don the Penguins jersey, as is NHL tradition. He claimed he was upset about the contract negotiation, and said that "Pittsburgh doesn't want him bad enough." Lemieux's actions upset many fans and led to accusations of arrogance. Yeah, the great guy that saved the day.
Then he stepped in and "saved" the Pens from bankruptcy. Well, they owed him so much money in deferred salary that it was ipso facto his way of recovering what they owed. Kind of like when you owe the mob money and can't pay so they take your store.

Well, not really but you get the point.

Then came the whole securing of the new arena to keep the Pens there. Was this before or after the endless threats to move the team to greener pastures if he did not get his own way?

He is and always has been quite a jerk. He did not save hockey in Pittsburgh. That is a misconception.

Argue amongst yourselves.

Mario did suddenly become an "ambassador" of the game- Once he had a vested interest that is.

Answer 1

My two cents (point - counterpoint?):

Good points by all. I didn't follow the NHL when he was drafted, so I dont know about that situation. However, I still believe that franchise would have moved or folded in the 1980's, and again in this decade, if they had continued the way they were without him.

1. He AT LEAST brought fans back to the seats and sold a lot of jerseys for his first 4-5 years until they actually started to look like a profitable team around 1988. This more than anything else was the reason the franchise did not fail or move in the 1980's.

2. It was Howard Baldwin who botched things up finance wise in the mid-late 1990's and achieved bankruptcy. He bailed, and Mario and the other majority owners that bought the Pens from Baldwin paid off every single creditor with their own money, which is a real rarity in bakruptcy cases. Only after that was Lemieux finally compensated on his old contract.

3. And yes, he more or less HAD to buy the team in order to get what was owed to him. However, (according local Pittsburgh media) he never actually re-couped all that was owed to him on his contract. He agreed to forfiet a portion. How many pro sports atheletes would do that?

4. Of course they shopped around for a new city, I dont blame them one bit. Whether it was genuine or just a ploy does not matter. They had asked the local and state govt. for help for SEVEN years to build a new arena, so they could be competitive with the rest of the league finincially. Keep in mind that Pittsburgh and Philly both got new sports stadiums early in this decade (at least four total I think), at least some of which was paid for by public funds. The Pens got squat. Most any other franchise would have moved for sure. If Mario was not in the Ownership group, theres no way they would have held out that long for a new arena. Think the arena issue doesnt matter? Even now, selling out most every game, the Pens still cant bring their payroll up close to the salary cap. They wont be able to do this until the new arena is completed (I think around 2009-2010?). I doubt they are making much profit.

5. They terminated their deal with that scumbag Balsillie, even after it looked like a done deal, because both the NHL and Lemieux finally figured out he really intended to move the franchise.

Answer 2

Honestly-- I think Mario was just in the right place at the right time.. He did what any owner who loves his team would do -- fight for them.. The fact that he was a great player as well, only added to the drama a bit..
Some things though happen for a reason.. Certain people are the best for the cause at hand.. Kinda like Neil Armstrong was the only man who could first set foot on the moon..
As for Pittsburgh, Lemieux fills this role and he did what was asked.. Ive always heard that if you want trouble, lay your hands on a Steelers fan; I guess this is the hockey equivalent to that.. Their fans love him now, and thats what matters.. No matter what someone did in the past-- remember this -- "I once was lost but now I'm found".. Anyone can change.. I cant stand people who dont accept this, or atleast acknowledge this..
So if the Pens fans want to Idolize him, thats their perogative.. The rest of us can just accept it or not.. I choose to accept..
Just curious Bob-- Can someone ever do the right thing in your eyes if he has a few scars to his image??

Answer 3

Blah blah blah.......

This is exactly like the time you guys tried to convince me Brodeur is better than Roy. Did it work? No. Will this work? No.

(I'm a stubborn ***** ain't I?)

You're wrong about one thing here; you say that he threatened to move the team to bigger pastures. Isn't that what any good businessman would do? You threaten something, so then you can get what you really want. Let me use one of my patented real world examples; say you're bargaining for a car at a car dealership, you see the car you want but the dealer just won't go any lower. You tell him that you're just going to go to that dealer over there, and maybe he'll knock the price down, then the dealer you're talking to right now might knock it down himself in order to not lose money to the competition. Of course, this may not work sometimes, but us Russians do it a lot. You should see my uncle negotiate prices, oh man he's good. Anyway the point is that it's an effective business strategy. And either way my opinion of Lemieux won't change.

Answer 4

I always thought of Mario as an amazing talent whose intensity or day-to-day passion for the game was lacking. Maybe it was because it all came so easy for him as a skill forward, but, especially in the early days, you never seemed to see the fire in his eyes, like Gretzky's or Yzerman or Gilmour.

The draft day fiasco seems more embarrassing today than ever, but I'm sure as an 18-year-old Mario's head was being inflated by his inner circle.

I think it was the Canada Cup series in '88 that changed him a bit. He was never big on suiting up for Canada before that, but in that series he was befriended by Gretzky (someone he really looked up to) and the word out of that camp was that Wayne imparted several lessons (both verbally and by example) on how superstars should conduct themselves on the ice and off of it.

I think Lemieux came away a better player and slightly better ambassador for the game after that.

The "saving he franchise" bit was a bit much, though. He got screwed by the ownership on the money they owed him (I think it was as much as $20-million), so it was in his best self interest — and rightly so — to make sure he didn't take a financial bath for all those years he played. The fact the team stayed in Pittsburgh was just a side benefit.

"Saving the franchise" was more by circumstance than by design.

Answer 5

Don't forget that on January 19, 1984 and February 16, 1984...Mario Lemieux had his representatives send letters to both the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh asking both teams NOT to draft him and that he wouldn't report (similar to what Craig Redmond had sent to Toronto in December 1983).

Answer 6

Lets not forget, the Penogs got Mario, by throwing the end of their crappy season, to make sure they got the draft pick. They have built this current team, by sucking long enough, to get a bunch of great draft picks. Not to crap on what they have won in the past, but it hard to respect it, when you know how they got there. Just my feeling, dont like to see teams getting rewarded, for being less than mediocre.

Answer 7

as long as i have followed hockey, i have been a lemieux fan. i first saw him play in detroit in 88, just as my interest in the game was beginning. my opinion of him won't change, and i truly believe that regardless of the circumstances, sidney crosby plays hockey in pittsburgh today due to the guy the pens drafted in june 1984.

Answer 8

This paragraph reminded me of rant Dr. Cox on Scrubs would say, I read it in his voice.

I don't know too much about Lemieux off the ice, and by the sounds of it, that's probably the way he would like it. For one I never liked him the way many do, and secondly I haven't seen too many of his games.

But if both you and LITY maintain the same opinion, it's pretty likely that I'll believe it to be true.

Answer 9

Thanks for the info. That certainly changes my opinion of him. A pair of Stanley Cup rings puts him slightly ahead on my list of a certain cuncussion prone player that had an ignomious career here in Philly and retired recently.

Answer 10

I don't really care if Mario intended to save the team, he did it even if he didn't mean to.

jp242424- So you prefer teams that buy their talent instead of earning it?