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HAF
06-27-2006, 10:57 PM
Can anyone substantiate this rumor? I heard a rumour on the Minnesota wild Message board that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and former Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino were trying to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins. Anyone else heard this?I've looked but cant find any info on it.

LifelongChiefsFan
06-27-2006, 11:06 PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/hockey/nhl/06/27/cuban.marino.penguins.ap/index.html

Jimmypop316
06-28-2006, 02:33 AM
I pray to god that they get the nod for ownership. Taking it to the press was huge too, definately will put the pressure on the people deciding on who to sell the Pens too.

Now if only they could get this whole slot license rolling.

dondo
06-28-2006, 09:04 AM
well if Cuban does for hockey in Pittsburgh what he did for basketball in Dallas.. we could see more hockey fans down south, but what kind of fans would they be? Educated? or just spectacle hunters.

HAF
06-28-2006, 11:36 AM
well if Cuban does for hockey in Pittsburgh what he did for basketball in Dallas.. we could see more hockey fans down south, but what kind of fans would they be? Educated? or just spectacle hunters.

One stipulation Cuban and Marino have is to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh. The Pens have a rich hockey tradition in Pittsburgh with a fanbase of long time, educated fans. Why would Mark Cuban as owner suddenly make them all uneducated spectacle hunters? Its not like Basketball where Cuban will be sitting right behind the bench putting on his circus act. He'd be in an owners box I'm sure.

Number_4
06-28-2006, 12:05 PM
One of the best things Cuban does is community involvment. He has been great in Denver, he always has something to do. He is a huge supporter of the US army, as well as many youth organizations. As a BASKETBALL owner, he sits on the sidelines and pushes the envelope a bit. But he is not alone, there are people in every sport who are not afraid to speak their mind. Personally I find it refreshing that the commish and league cant silence everybody. As a HOCKEY owner, I can see him being incredibly benificial to Pittsburg and area if he continues his high standards for community involvment. Thats not only good for pitts, but also for the league as a whole. Image is everything.

Im for it... a breath of fresh air in Pittsburg may be a good thing... and its always nice to have someone outspoken in the league... it keeps the fans informed as well as amused.

rinkrat
06-28-2006, 03:49 PM
He is a huge supporter of the US army.

And that is a good thing? What is the relevance? Personally one of the reasons I enjoy sport is to escape alot of the crap that goes on in the world today. :spineyes:

HAF
06-28-2006, 04:06 PM
And that is a good thing? What is the relevance? Personally one of the reasons I enjoy sport is to escape alot of the crap that goes on in the world today. :spineyes:

Because the US army looks to private enterprises to fund their athletic and recreational sports programs for soldiers. There is nothing wrong with that in my book.

Toswammi
06-28-2006, 05:50 PM
With the kids in that organization who with the money (and a plan) wouldnt want the team.

Beaner
06-28-2006, 06:26 PM
Cuban would be good for the NHL, as he isn't afraid to speak his mind when things are not working right, no matter how much Stern fines him.

It would be great for the NHL to get an owner who isnt afraid to say Bettman is an idiot and then just pay the 2M dollar fine out of his spare change.

dondo
06-28-2006, 07:53 PM
One stipulation Cuban and Marino have is to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh. The Pens have a rich hockey tradition in Pittsburgh with a fanbase of long time, educated fans. Why would Mark Cuban as owner suddenly make them all uneducated spectacle hunters? Its not like Basketball where Cuban will be sitting right behind the bench putting on his circus act. He'd be in an owners box I'm sure.

I wasn't talking specifically Pittsburgh, but more of his showmanship marketing and personal style making more headlines and getting more people down south aware of hockey, if not educated about the game. He could raise the profile of the game (just by being himself - the bad boy owner), something that Bettman gives lips service to but fails miserably at in practice.

I heard that both Cuban and Marino are native Pittsburghers so I believe it would be in their best interest to keep the team there.

HAF
07-03-2006, 12:17 AM
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

by Adam Proteau

Here’s the first thing that ran through our mind after we heard Mark Cuban wants a piece of the NHL’s action: For goodness sake, Gary Bettman, don’t cough up the puck on this one. Do whatever you’ve got to do, but make it happen.

As soon as he had word the Dallas Mavericks owner and internet tycoon – as well as former NFL star quarterback Dan Marino – was partnering up with a New York City moneyman to bid on the Pittsburgh Penguins, the NHL commissioner should’ve leapt from his leather office chair, commissioned a conference call and said, ‘Thanks, other interested parties, but don’t call Mario Lemieux’s Ownership Group – Mario Lemieux’s Ownership Group will call you.’

For Cuban, Bettman should be planning the welcome mat party to end all welcome mat parties. He should be offering up flaming piñatas modeled after NBA referees, and organizing $500-a-plate fundraisers to help Cuban pay his NBA fines. He should be working a side deal with OLN to finance and broadcast new episodes of Cuban’s short-lived reality TV series.

Despite the NHL’s groundbreaking new era, the league won’t get many shots at a feel-good fable like this again. What we have here is a ready-made, prodigal-son-returns-home-to-keep-the-team-from-moving story, the kind even the impenetrably aloof U.S. sports media couldn’t help but have all day for.

And that’s only the beginning of Cuban’s appeal.

Bring on all the rants and critiques the man can muster. Bring on his brashness, his zeal, his unproven-but-highly-entertaining conspiracy theories and his turbo-charged techie background. Carve out another seat at the end of the players’ bench, and sit him beside the backup goalie if he wants. Because the publicity payout generated by Cuban more than makes up the cost of a bigger Excedrin budget for the league’s head offices.

Then there’s his connection (cue rim shot) to High Definition TV, a broadcast technology many believe will benefit the NHL more than any other pro sport. Cuban founded the HD Net broadcasting channel, and no doubt has the intention of eventually expanding coverage of Bettman’s product in the Hi-Def mix.

Best of all, Cuban only agreed to join the New York ownership group if it was guaranteed the newly-purchased Penguins wouldn’t relocate to another city. That’s big for the city of Pittsburgh, and especially important to a league that already has lost too much of its past. Besides, there are many other NHL franchises that should be uprooted and moved to Kansas City, Winnipeg or Houston before the Penguins. (Of course, seeing as Screen Shots already has reached its yearly quota of dangerously irate reader e-mail, we’ll reveal those places later.)

There’s just no downside to an NHL with Cuban in it, Gary. After he becomes part of the pro-hockey community, you’ll see press interest spike as if Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie agreed to deliver their next child – named Snepsts, to the delight of thousands of old Canucks fans – at center ice during the league’s next All-Star game. And those who run the NHL Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund (a.k.a. the group that benefits from all fines levied by the league) will adore you forever.

If you shank a sure-fire public relations field goal like this one, Mr. Commissioner, consider gone all the post-lockout goodwill you’ve accumulated. The Gods of Gab have presented you with a gift, and you’d be a fool to anger them by throwing it away.

Give Mark Cuban his NHL citizenship. Keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh. And hurry up, before he changes his mind.

Adam Proteau’s Screen Shots appears every Monday only on thehockeynews.com. (http://www.thehockeynews.com/en/columnist/list.asp?columnist=1) Want to take a shot at Adam Proteau? You can reach him ataproteau@thehockeynews.com (aproteau@thehockeynews.com?subject=SCREEN SHOTS)</U>.

Can’t get enough Adam? Subscribe (https://secure.indas.on.ca/care/hnc/index.php?keyw=stories) to The Hockey News to get the column Proteau Type delivered to you every issue.

HAF
07-22-2006, 09:55 PM
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=172078&hubname= (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=172078&hubname=)

TSN.ca Staff

7/22/2006 9:51:07 PM

It appears Mark Cuban and Dan Marino will not be the saviors of hockey in Pittsburgh.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the group headed up by New York City financier Andrew Murstein had their bid of more than $170 million US rejected by the Penguins.

"We increased our offer significantly, and it was not accepted," said Murstein, whose group has made it known they would like to keep the team in Pittsburgh. Cuban and Marino are both Pittsburgh-area natives.

Hartford businessman Sam Fingold appears to be the frontrunner with a bid in the neighbourhood of $175 million US. Fingold has discussed the possibility of moving the team to Kansas City.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Fingold could sign a letter of intent within days to negotiate a deal. But Massachusetts developer Larry Gottesdiener, who has talked about moving the team to Hartford, is still in the picture as well.

A group that considered moving the team to Hamilton, Ontario appears to have dropped out of the running.

The Penguins ownership group, including former team captain Mario Lemieux, would like to finalize the sale of the team before the start of the 2006-07 campaign.

LifelongChiefsFan
07-22-2006, 10:59 PM
Well at least now we won't have to worry about watching Cuban try and chase the officials around the ice after a bad call. :p

Tinner
07-23-2006, 09:30 AM
that is maybe good and bad news......all his fines in the NBA go to charity, and if the little moron (Bettman) holds true to his trying to change the NHL to the NBA style of gimics and the like, I would assume NHL charities would benefit.

That said, the NHL needs a guy like Mark Cuban. He certainly wouldn't run the team like the circus in Long Island!