Lemieux: A vested interest in Penguins
Posted: Monday February 15, 1999 05:19 PM
Mario Lemieux the new owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins?
Current co-owner Roger Marino scoffs at the notion, but others aren't so sure.
The latest twists and turns in the off-ice fortunes of the bankrupt franchise have Lemieux, the greatest Penguin ever and one of the greatest in NHL history, attempting to put together a group that would steer the team out of it's current fiscal mess and keep the franchise in Pittsburgh.
No small task on either front.
"The fans in Pittsburgh deserve a lot more than a bankrupt team," Lemieux said upon making the announcement that he is putting together a group of investors and would like to keep the team operating in Pittsburgh.
There's a reason for Lemieux's big push and it has as much to do with money as it does with keeping the team the city he now calls home. According to court records, Lemieux is owed $26.3 million. He is the team's single largest unsecured creditor and he said he is willing to convert a "large part" of the money owned him into equity in the team. If he courts accept his proposal, the equity stake, along with money from his still unnamed partners, could result in Lemieux taking over the franchise.
Marino, who also is involved in a bitter battle with another co-owner, Howard Baldwin, over control of the franchise has tried to downplay Lemieux's proposal as not serious. But if Lemieux can convince the court to convert money owed him into an equity stake in the franchise, Lemieux, and the right investors, could become an off-ice player in the ultimate resolution to the bankruptcy mess.
The issue of unsecured debt is a huge one to Penguins players past and present as well as the NHL and the NHL Player's Association. If the courts decree that the Penguins current owners can pay only a portion of the money owned in deferred contracts, it will wreck havoc on Lemieux's financial future and the NHL contract system for years to come. Players often defer a portion of their contracts to a later date, a tactic that in the past has benefitted the club as well as the player.
There are a slew of Penguins past and present who have money owed to them based on such contracts. Mike Ramsey, a veteran defenseman who played in Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Detroit and negotiated his own contracts with each team, deferred $68,000 in money owed him while a Penguin to a later date. That seems like nothing in comparison to Lemieux's money, but Ramsey earned it and it was supposed to be set aside for a time when his earning power was no longer tied to an NHL career.
"I know it doesn't seem like a lot in today's day and age, but I deferred that money so I would have it later in life. It's a lot of money to me," Ramsey said.
Who gets paid, when and how much is the big issue in Pittsburgh.
If Lemieux, Ramsey or anyone else has to settle for less than a dollar on a dollar owed through these proceedings, the state of all NHL contracts is in jeopardy.
"They say in a bankruptcy wages come first," said Ramsey. "If that's the case, I'm hopeful, but if we lose the money because we signed a deferred contract, well that's just not right. They have new teams coming in and paying $85 million just to get in the league and the old ones aren't paying their bills. How are they going to explain that."
Panthers worried about Bure
There's concern in Florida as to just how badly injured Pavel Bure is.
The Russian Rocket was supposed to return to the lineup on Saturday, a week after he suffered a vague knee injury. It didn't happen and neither Bure, who last week signed a six-year $58 million contract with the Panthers, or anyone associated with the club has much to say on the subject.
The problem is that this is the same knee that caused Bure to miss 67 games with the Canucks in 1995-96. Back then he had a torn anterior cruciate ligament and Panther watchers are concerned that the current injury could be related to that.
"I don't really know about that kind of stuff. I have no idea when he's going to skate again," said Panthers coach Terry Murray, usually a stickler for medical updates.
Bure electrified Panther fans with six goals in eight games before he was injured. Having been a season-long holdout up until the All-Star break, it was a given that he would not be in the best of shape, but if this knee problem is related to his problems of the past, the Panthers have a serious -- and expensive -- problem. Bure was expected to start skating Feb. 15, but there has been no time frame established for his return.
Roy gets latest laugh
The latest laugh in a long-running feud between Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy and Detroit Red Wings coach Scott Bowman went to Roy.
Roy recently won his 400th NHL game and he did it against the Red Wings in Joe Louis arena. "It's good timing, no?" Roy said with a smirk. "I was saying it would be nice if it happened [in Detroit] and it did."
What was especially galling to Bowman is that he pointed his team toward this game in an attempt to end a stumbling skid. He even put most of his best players on one line and played them a ton, but Roy handled everything the Red Wings threw at him and won 3-1.
Only four goalies have 400 or more wins. The leader is Terry Sawchuk (447) followed by Jacques Plante (434), Tony Esposito (432) and Glenn Hall (407). Ironically, Bowman coached for or against all of them.
"For me, it's been a great career," Roy said. "I never thought I would get to 400 wins and now I have a chance to reach the No. 1 guy. That's my objective."
At 33, Roy is the youngest goalie to reach the 400 club. He also did it in the fewest number of games (753).
Against Colorado, Bowman used seven different lines in the first 10 minutes, double-shifted Sergei Fedorov and used Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Fedorov, Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Murphy whenever Colorado put Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg on the ice.
"We played our top guys and they didn't make anything happen," Bowman said. "They wanted more ice time and the got it. Fedorov and Shanahan both had over 20 minutes...You can do a lot of complaining, but you've got to back it up and they didn't back it up."
For the record, Fedorov has been doing most of the complaining. Shanahan has been in Bowman's doghouse most of the season and is keeping quiet about it, but Fedorov struck back.
"All of a sudden you get that range [of ice time] that never would have happened in the last 48 games or something like that," Fedorov said. "I feel it's been missing all season long and all of a sudden I get minutes and all of a sudden now coach is frustrated about it. There's nothing to be frustrated about from my point of view. I play my best -- I think I play hard to try to make something happen and it didn't come my way."
Sources in Detroit maintain Bowman is close to losing some of his key players. The lure of a third Stanley Cup could still pull this team back together, but if the Red Wings don't find a way to manufacture goals AND upgrade their defense, the team could sour fast.
Around the rinks
Mark Messier, out with a knee injury, has told the Canucks he does not want to be traded. Messier's name has surfaced in some strange rumors recently. Whoever started them apparently overlooked the fact Messier has a no-trade clause in his contract...Phil Housley, one of the few wonder kids who broke into the NHL at 18 and had a meaninful career, recently passed Denis Potvin for fourth on the all-time scoring list for NHL defenseman. Housley is within a handful of goals of reaching 300 for his career. Only Potvin, Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey have scored 300 or more goals form the position...St. Louis Blues goalie Grant Fuhr has had yet another procedure on his ailing knees. Fuhr had arthroscopic surgery and is hoping to return before the playoffs. Fuhr has already determined that next season will be his last, but the surgery may hasten his decision...The Toronto Maple Leafs closed out Maple Leaf Gardens just the way the opened it 67 years ago; with a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Worse, the post-game ceremony honoring the building and its past was deadly dull.
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