Can the Penguins make it in Pittsburgh?

[Swede]

With all that young talent,they are gonna be a great team. I only wish Mario could've skated with all these young guns.

[Proud MD Liberal]

1. Sorry

As a Capitals fan, I wish nothing but ill on the Penguins - plus, I'd rather watch Ovechkin than Crosby...

[Captain Hilts]

2. I don't understand why Pittsburgh has a difficult time supporting the Pens...

but not the Bucs or the Steelers.

Yes, I'm a Caps fan too...

[Swede]

3. Pittsburgh has the potential now to be the next big deal

I'm a Leafs fan,but I love watching good hockey regardless of which team is playing. I've heard rumours of the Pens going to either Kansas City or Hamilton which would be a shame.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Yes, I hope they stay. Weren't they getting screwed on rent in the Igloo? nt

[Ravenseye]

6. Big time

One of the worst arena deals in professional sports, for one of the worst and oldest arena's in professional sports. They control nothing, get nothing from concessions or parking, and have the fewest luxury boxes of any team...If they leave Pittsburgh it'll be the fault of the people who kept them in there, not the fans.

[Ravenseye]

5. Pittsburgh has a difficult time, not Pittsburghers

The people love the team, though attendance has always been lower in the fall while the Steelers are still playing. Spring attendance goes through the roof generally.

The problem comes down to the fact that they play in one of the oldest sporting facilities on the continent still used as a professional venue. Only a few notable baseball parks are older. They broke ground on the facility in 1957 and it opened in 1961. They've rennovated it a few times, and I absolutely love the building, but it needs to go. The reasons it's gotten to this point are many and tie in to previous owners, and the city itself.

Don't think though that people in Pittsburgh don't care about their hockey team though. They support it. It's just been one of the worst teams in the league for half a decade, and that would affect the numbers of ANY city's attendance. They've also shown the biggest jumps in attendenace the past couple of years. Also the city just recently built brand new stadiums for the bucs and steelers, and the people of the region are still a bit shellshocked from paying for them.

A new arena though is vital to the region not just for hockey, but for tons of other events. We don't get lots of concert tours through here anymore because the arena actually can't handle many of the electircal requirments of modern bands. How insane is that?

We'll know soon hopefully if there will be a new arena. If there will be one, and they break ground, and the pens aren't going to go anywhere you'lls ee another jump in attendance. There are many people who also don't want to put too much heart into the team this year because they don't want it broken if they move next year.

Anyway don't blame the fans. They could sell out every game and still lose money in that arena. It's gotta go.

[PRETZEL]

7. I think the arena is just but one issue,

there's no place like the Igloo. I don't think it's one of the bigger issues for the fans. But it most certainly an issue for the team and the league. There's no doubt it's old and outdated. Your point about not being able to accomodate other types of events most certainly is true.

You're right that attendance suffers during football season. That's always been true. It's probably worse now that when trying to stretch money for either expensive Steelers tix or expensive Pens tix, that's a no brainer. It'll be Steelers virtually every time. But being realistic, it hasn't been much fun shelling out a hundred bucks for a couple of tickets, parking (which is probably the worst I've ever seen for a major arena), food, etc. just to see a team that had such payroll constraints (thanks Harold Baldwin)that they couldn't afford to put top notch players on the ice. We're seeing the benefits now thanks to all the 1st & 2nd picks on the ice, but we've had to suffer for many years because of that.

But you're absolutely right, Pens fans are very, very loyal.