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Pastimes : Time to talk PUCK - thread for hockey junkies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RangeRover who wrote (1598)	9/1/1999 5:59:00 PM
From: RangeRover	Respond to of 1750

NHL governors approve Lemieux takeover of Penguins Sep. 1, 1999 SportsLine wire reports NEW YORK -- Mario Lemieux's takeover of the bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins was approved Wednesday by the NHL's board of governors. Only court approval remains to complete the deal, which is expected Friday in Pittsburgh by a bankruptcy judge. The board gave its expected approval after the former NHL great made his presentation. The NHL has endorsed Lemieux's group all along in a determined effort to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Lemieux said the team value was $85 million, or the price of an expansion team. He said he had $52 million committed among his investors and himself and that he hoped to raise more money. Lemieux and his group made it shortly before deadline - the Penguins will open training camp on Saturday and will play their first exhibition game Sept. 11 against the New York Islanders. "I'm very excited about the opportunity come back," Lemieux said. "This is a dream come true after 10 months of working on the deal." Lemieux said he finished tying up all the loose ends this week with SMG, a Philadelphia-based group that operates the Civic Center, the Penguins' home arena. "It's great that it's over," said Penguins general manager Craig Patrick. "Now we need to get to work." Lemieux is the first retired player to take over ownership in one of the four major North American pro sports leagues. He led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup title in 1991 and 1992. A six-time NHL scoring champion, Lemieux retired following the 1996-97 season and went directly into the Hall of Fame without the usual three-year waiting period. By converting $25 million in deferred salary and cash into an equity stake, Lemieux will have the largest financial stake of an ownership group that numbers more than a dozen investors. Until Lemieux stepped forward, there was still some doubt whether the Penguins would remain in Pittsburgh, or even in the NHL. The team went into bankruptcy last season and was only able to meet its payroll with the help of a bank loan. It is not the first time that Lemieux helped to save the Penguins franchise. Before he joined them as a player in 1984, the Penguins had dire financial problems. The Penguins were losing games, fans and money. Attendance plunged to the bottom of the NHL, and there was talk the team would be moved out of town. With Lemieux on the ice, attendance soared and the Penguins eventually became a solvent and winning team. It has been a long road for Lemieux in his attempt to buy the team. The arena lease accounted for much of the delay in Lemieux's takeover. Under the lease, SMG will continue to control the 38-year-old arena until 2004, when it will revert to Lemieux, with SMG as the arena manager. Negotiations with SMG have been tough for Lemieux to resolve. The Penguins blamed the high cost of their lease with SMG to play at the Civic Arena for helping push the franchise into bankruptcy.