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 'It's all about the lawyers' Neither Chapter 7 nor 11 worry bankrupt Penguins
Posted: Monday May 10, 1999 08:17 PM
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Sometime later this week, the Penguins' next game could be their last -- not just in these NHL playoffs, but in Pittsburgh. They would appreciate it if people quit reminding them. The Penguins are entangled in a scenario previously unseen in major U.S. pro sports, with the franchise's very fate being played out in bankruptcy court at the same time the team is playing in the playoffs. Hockey players are accustomed to regularly changing uniforms, cities and addresses, so the possibility they might leave Pittsburgh probably is more unnerving to their fans than it is to them. Perhaps that's why head coach Kevin Constantine got rather testy Monday when a TV station producer asked him yet again about the difficulties of running a team that may be out of money before it runs out of games to play. "Not to be rude, but I'll say it for the 1,000th time, bankruptcy is not an issue," Constantine said. "It shouldn't be, it can't be and it isn't. ... It doesn't affect the coaches or players. The playoffs are the only thing we're focused on." That can't be said for all of the Penguins' nervous employees. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bernard Markovitz will hold an emergency hearing Tuesday on the NHL's petition to move up the creditors' vote on prospective owner Mario Lemieux's reorganization plan from June 24. The NHL strongly supports Lemieux's bid, but wants the Penguins' situation to be sorted out by June 1 or the franchise likely will be disbanded or sold elsewhere. Lemieux's bid is expected to get a financial boost when his group finalizes an agreement with Internet millionaire Mark Cuban to join up, according to sources close to the negotiations. Cuban, who founded the Broadcast.com web site that carries pro and college sports, concerts and radio stations on the Internet, is a Mount Lebanon, Pa., native who wants to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh. He and his partners recently sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for $6.1 billion. Penguins star Jaromir Jagr said Monday he can't think of a better scenario: a well-funded ownership group led by a respected former teammate, Lemieux. "He loves offense," Jagr said. "He loves to have a winning team. He would do anything to win a Stanley Cup." Still, Jagr said he hasn't closely followed the case, and he learned the details only upon visiting briefly with Lemieux. "I don't worry about that stuff ... it's all about the lawyers and I don't understand that stuff," Jagr said. "Mario explained a little bit about it, but I have no clue what is going to happen." However, Jagr joked that if Lemieux became his boss, he would not renegotiate his $48 million contract. Part of the Penguins' current financial problems stem from the estimated $26 million in deferred salary owed Lemieux. "There are two different kinds of owners: owners who are businessmen and owners who love the game, and I'd put Mario in that second category," Jagr said. "Some of the owners, it's a game, but they just don't understand it. "It would be a lot better for everybody [if Mario got the team] ... The fans would start coming more. They don't know if the Pens are going to be here or not. Mario Lemieux could put the team in the right direction and turn the franchise around."
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