Could Mario Lemieux being doing us a favor?
With his recent stepping down as a part-owner and CEO of the Pittsburgh Penguins, coupled with his recent retirement, Mario Lemieux may finally be removing the final stumbling blocks keeping Portland from having a hockey franchise.
Lemieux, who had long been working to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh, noted recently that he had no intention of the franchise moving from Pittsburgh on his watch, and despite efforts to prevent such a thing, there was a distinct possibility it could be happening.
Current outlooks hold a distinct possibility that the Penguins may be moving when their current lease expires in 2007, and a limited number of realistic options are being discussed. Portland joins a field that includes Las Vegas, Winnipeg, Quebec City, and Newfoundland.
Given the current lack of an NHL franchise in the Pacific Northwest, coupled with a strong hockey following (along with Portland, hockey is big in Yakima, Spokane, Seattle, and the Tri-Cities) and the more readily available winter audience (baseball might bust in P-Town, but none of us are running out to get rained on in the winter months), the NHL should be, and reportedly is, giving Portland a long look as they consider their next move. It helps that we have a current, well-made stadium ready-built that would accomodate, and a back-up rink at the Colliseum for those occasional conflicts with the Blazers.
Personally, I love the Winter Hawks. But the prospect of a pro franchise in town, with the right ownership and a commitment to community involvement, excites me as well.
What do you think?
it’s still hockey.
So long as it isn’t going to become one of those taxpayer-fleecing boondoggles, why not?
Wait a minute, you’ve got it all wrong man. The order of cities that may get the team are KC, Houston, Las Vegas, and by a longshot Winnipeg. Quebec don’t even get mentioned and the NHL will never go to New Found land are you nutz? Everyone wants a team in portland, but we have no owners stepping up for our region. It’s a real shame because us and Seattle are true historic hockey hotbeds, yet we haven’t had a team since what the early 1900s. It’s a damn shame.