Jim Balsillie claims he had no plans on moving the Penguins out of Pittsburgh

by FrankD on Sep 3, 2009 12:19 PM EDT in News

SBN's very own James Mirtle has covered the unfolding saga in Phoenix all summer long with more clarity and insightful developments than some newspapers or networks could even dream of. While most of it doesn't pertain to the Penguins directly (but don't we all remember those days?), today's installment does relate to the city of Pittsburgh in some degree.

In a recent hearing with multi-bazillionaire Jim Balsillie, the Deposition reveals that Balsillie claims to have had no intention on moving the Penguins out of Pittsburgh.

The reasoning?

"I could get to the The Igloo for Pittsburgh faster than I could get to downtown Toronto for a Leafs game from my home in Waterloo."

By plane, of course. Combined with a ride from the airport JB was looking at about an hour commute to the arena.

To Balsillie's credit - maybe - he also claims he did not plan on messing with the tradition and heritage of the team, from Mario to The Igloo itself, yet also claims he would have made motions to potentially get a new arena in place.

The real question here is whether or not you - or more importantly, the league/courts - actually believe his cover story. There has to be some reason why the league is so hesitant to give this guy a team. Perhaps the main concern should be that he wants to buy a team, feign an interest in keeping them in the city of purchase and then offer relocation as the only solution. It has to be somewhere along those lines, seeing as how he's made it evident on many accounts that Hamilton is his tentative venue of choice for an NHL team.

I won't pretend to know more about the hearing than I actually do, but I did find it interesting to read the entire deposition (PDF file available here). It's not jumbled up with all sorts of court wording either. It's a straight forward Q&A with Balsillie. I'd recommend giving it a quick look if you really want to see how the league is handling this guy who insists a huge bankroll is the only qualification for owning a team. Plus, that particular file starts off with a lot of questions regarding his alleged plans for the Pens.

Tweet Comment 9 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Maybe my timeline of the events are way off, but when the NHL demanded a clause that Balsillie keep the Pens in Pittsburgh no matter what for 7 years, isn’t that when his interest in the club cooled off?

Of course, you have to remember that a new arena was far from a certainty, as the casino bid hadn’t even been awarded. If IOC and Don Barden didn’t win, the Pens could have been out of luck for public funding and/or casino revenue to build the arena.

It’s hard to fault Balsillie for not wanting to potentially be locked into the Mellon Arena until conceivably 2013 or 2014, it’s not a good venue and you can’t run a high payroll and expect to make any money…

But Jimmy Balls has been pretty slick about thinly veiling his intentions to move a team to Canada (see selling Nashville Predator season tickets in Hamilton). I wouldn’t trust him with the Penguins and I’m sure glad things shook out the way they did for the city of Pittsburgh, the NHL and Mario Lemieux and the residents/fans.

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Sep 3, 2009 12:56 PM EDT reply actions

You got it right. When they told him what to do, JB wanted no part in it. I genuinely don’t look at Balsillie as a fan of the game. I’ll never see him in that light. He’s a business man and as such interested only in money and how much he can profit. I admire the league’s tact in being continuously concerned with his motives and really don’t care how long the court sessions go on for or how long they deny him. As long as he doesn’t pick up a team and think he’s single-handedly going to better the league, I’m ok with it.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Sep 3, 2009 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I believe Mario pulled the offer off the table after the Pens won the lottery to draft Sid. I would also like to point out that at the time this was all going on the Pens absolutely did not have a great young team as he said. The Pens were awful. Crosby and Staal hadn’t been drafted yet. The NHL club was really a minor league club. And, the first round pick from the year before (Evgeni Malkin) had not yet committed to coming to play in the US.

I recall when reading about the deal when it was first announced that I got the impression the team was probably/almost certainly moving.

by PensFan024 on Sep 3, 2009 1:07 PM EDT reply actions

I would also like to point out that at the time this was all going on the Pens absolutely did not have a great young team as he said. The Pens were awful.

I was thinking the same thing too. Who did we have at the time that could be considered “great” and “young?” Rico Fata? Milan Kraft?

I was also sold on the notion that the Pens were moving. I can really relate to a lot of the Yotes fans out there and what they must be feeling. I’ll admit that there were days when I questioned if I even cared about following the Pens anymore if they did move. It stemmed from the notion, “If they don’t care about the fans, why should the fans care about them?” And frankly I found it difficult to stay a positive fan with all of the constant mentions of bankruptcy, moving, selling, et. al. Staying positive is much harder than it seems.

I also feel a lot of recent reports tend to have readers and people involved that moving out of Phoenix is the best option not only for the league but also for the players. Recent suggestions that it would “only” cost $15 mill to move out of town seems to me that those in favor of the move are in the majority.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Sep 3, 2009 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I believe Mario pulled the offer off the table after the Pens won the lottery to draft Sid.

I think you’re thinking of the deal he was going to reach with Boots Del Biaggo in 2005. Which in hindsight was a good decision, since Boots didn’t have the money to pay anyone for anything.

Balsillie attempted to purchase the Penguins formally from October – Decemeber 2006, well after the Penguins had Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the lineup.

Mario almost sold the team because of his frustrations securing arena financing. It sure helped to have an improving young team with 2 generational superstars but he would have sold the team if Pittsburgh and the state couldn’t provide enough funding to help the Pens get a new multi-purpose arena for the region.

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Sep 3, 2009 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions

he would have sold the team if Pittsburgh and the state couldn’t provide enough funding to help the Pens get a new multi-purpose arena for the region.

From a Penguins perspective, that’s the real gist of it all. No arena, no team. I really do admire the team for not rolling over and dying in the face of adverse plans for the team/city. Getting Crosby and Malkin was exactly what they needed. The tin-foil wearing freaks who feel the draft was a fix might think otherwise, but I feel luck played a big factor in it all as well. Had this been the 60s or 70s and the Penguins were facing the same sort of issue, there’s a big chance they would’ve just sold off all assets (players included at the time, since they could be exchanged for money) and called it a day. Thankfully the front office and Mario had other plans, even if it meant calling the city’s bluff with a trip to KC.

On the surface Balsillie and Mario played the same card in terms of relocation. They both had options and both had paperwork filed. But Pens fans were confident that Mario was acting in the best interest of the city and team. Balls was merely acting in the best interest of himself and his wallet, and I think that’s the most apparent personality trait that the league is wary about.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Sep 3, 2009 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions