Penguins aaaaarrrrreeeeeee sold.
Or so goes the news tonight locally. Not sure what the word is nationally or whatnot but there is a buyer in Ontario who'd said he WOULD move them to Hamilton, however he's saying he is 100% committed to keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh so long as a new arena is built, which is all but a given at this point because there are two plans...
-Plan A is the Isle of Capris deal where they (a Casino company place) get the Slots license in Pittsburgh (there is only one), where IoC will build the new Pen's Arena near where the old one is, and build it 100% with private funds. It'll be a gambling complex, hotels, nightlife, and of course the Arena which will be available to other things than the Pens too.
-Plan B is a plan where local politicians blow, payback, or however you want to phrase it, the campaign contributors locally who donated... This plan would give the Slots License to the dickhead who owns Station Square, an already congested nightlife area across the river from downtown. In this plan, they are promising a new Arena, but funded only in part with private funds and the rest by the taxpayers... Where it would be is also in question.
Obviously I like Plan A over B because it's all privately funded, and the area it's in needs redevelopment... But either way a new arena seems a lock, as it has for a while, it's just a matter of this slots thing. The new buyer supposedly doesn't care how, he just wants a new Arena...
Interesting day for hockey here... Been an interesting pre-season too with all the youth we've got going for us. This is now the dominant story though, not that 3 of our young forwards are 3 of the future stars of the game. Even with a bleak outlook for our season, I love it... I really look forward to a game or two if I can afford it, to watch some of the new kids play.