Friday, April 07, 2006

Penguins to Hartford?

Anything having to do with sports franchises is inherently political these days, so I'll be following this story as it develops. If it develops.
Massachusetts developer wants to buy the Penguins and either keep the hockey team in the city or move them to Hartford, Conn., where he is trying to get state officials to build a new arena, a newspaper reported Friday.

Lawrence Gottesdiener told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he owns a great deal of property in Hartford, so moving the team there makes sense for him.

Late last year, Gottesdiener told Connecticut officials that he had a plan to bring an NHL team to the city if they would help him build a new 16,000-seat arena in Hartford, where his company, Northland Investment Corp., of Newton, Mass., owns about $500 million worth of real estate. (AP)
I have to admit, the thought of Sidney Crosby and the Pens playing in Hartford has a certain appeal for the hockey-inclined. Scratch that: it would be Hockey Heaven!

But should we head down this road? Would the economic benefit (and there would be one) and morale boost to the city and the state be enough to offset the cost of building an arena and the infrastructure to go with it?

I have no idea. If I had to guess, I'd think that Gov. Rell has even less interest in Hartford hockey than Rowland did. Connecticut politicians are probably a little wary of major league sports teams since the Patriots fiasco, too. Spending huge amounts of public money on new stadium construction is far less in favor than it used to be.

Those things combined with the fact that the NHL very badly wanted out of Hartford in 1997, and wants the Penguins to stay in Pittsburgh, suggests that this is unlikely to happen. But I'll keep an eye on it anyway. Who knows what could happen?

Source

"Developer wants to buy Penguins for possible move to Hartford." Associated Press 7 April, 2006.

4 comments:

ctblogger said...

How sweet would it be to have the Hartford Whalers back in town.

The NHL is much more popualar than when the Whales took off from Hartford and it should do well in the city now.

I'd love to put on my old Whaler's shirt (real old with the whale symbol not the newer one with the W and H) and see a hockey game in Hartford again.

Ah, the good ol days when the Whaler's were awful, tickets were cheap, and they broke my heart with each lost. I'll take that over no hockey team at all.

But hey, I'm a Mets and knicks fan also so I much like misery.

Genghis Conn said...

That was part of the original plan, MightyMouse. I don't know what happened to it. It was supposed to go just south of the convention center.

Genghis Conn said...

Yes, Peter Karmanos (that rat) still owns the rights to the logo, etc. But it could probably be bought. After all, the Cleveland Browns expansion team bought the rights to that name and logo from the Baltimore Ravens.

I can't see the city or the state entirely financing an arena--some sort of public/private deal would probably be worked out.

Anonymous said...

Why would I want to go see an AHL team play, when I could see a NHL team play? There just isn't the same amount of intensity! If a pro hockey team did come to Ct i would def. buy season tickets. I am not going to waste my money on season tickets for the Soundtigers or Wolfpack!

Crosby in Connecticut!!!