Mario Lemieux to Kansas City, Vegas: "Thanks for Dinner, See You in Pittsburgh"

During last week's groundbreaking ceremony for the Pittsburgh Penguins' new arena, Pens' owner, Mario Lemieux, was once again on center stage. This time, the grueling 18 month battle between Lemieux and Pennsylvania politicians topped the list of every media members' question sheet.

For those of you not familiar with the arena proceedings, here's the quick and dirty: The Penguins' lease at Mellon Arena expires after the 2009-10 season, therefore leaving them without a place to play after the conclusion of that season.

Mellon Arena is the oldest arena that houses a current NHL team, thus establishing the fact that a new arena is much needed. That's where Mario comes in. His job was to lock up $290 million to build a new arena in Pittsburgh.

Asking for $290 million from politicians usually isn't a drive-thru window type of deal, and this was no exception.

The negotiations lasted roughly 18 months during 2006 and 2007, before a deal was finalized in March of 2007, enabling the Penguins to stay in Pittsburgh.

During the 18 month span, Lemieux made trips to Kansas City and Las Vegas, threatening to move the team to either city if Pennsylvania politicians could not come up with a way to pay for a new arena in Pittsburgh.

Fans in Kansas City created blogs, message boards, and fan pages depicting Sidney Crosby taking the ice at the newly constructed Sprint Center in K.C.

Finally, in March, a deal was reached that will garner the Penguins $7.5 million per year for 30 years from a development fund that is fueled by Pennsylvania's 55 percent gambling tax. A matching amount is expected to come from Pittsburgh's lone slot casino (which is another story entirely).

At the groundbreaking ceremony last week, Lemieux told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that "we (the owners) had to do a few things to put pressure on the city and the state, but our goal was to remain here in Pittsburgh all the way. Those trips to Kansas City and Vegas and other cities was just to go and have a nice dinner, and come back."

"Pressure was felt, and that was the important thing. A lot of things happened throughout the negotiations. Ups and downs. That was just a way for us to put more pressure, and we knew it would work at the end of the day," Lemieux added.

"If it was a negotiating tactic, it was a good one," said Chuck Ardo, spokesman for Pennsylvania's governor, Ed Rendell.

Whether or not Lemieux was serious about moving the team can now be relegated to the unsolved mysteries of hockey history. Mario did what he had to do, what he knew would work, and it payed off in the end.

Allegheny County Executive, Dan Onorato, was one of the front-runners on the state's side of the PA vs. the Penguins negotiations. He had this to say about Mario's tactics: "In my years, I have never been lobbied more with e-mails, letters, phone calls, personal stops on the street -- and let's just say that you (the fans) were very aggressive about your points about keeping the Penguins here."

I for one couldn't count on both hands how many on-line, as well as paper petitions that I signed during the negotiating months. The fans really stepped up to the plate in doing their part, however big or small it may have been, to keep the team in our city.

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