GeneralsIcer89 wrote: Rock, if you continue to try and twist arguments, then this whole debating thing doesn't work. Don't wait four posts to respond to something I've said in every post and try to throw it in my face. That's bullshit.

Second, yes, Pittsburgh finally does turn a profit. It is middle of the road in the NHL and in the lower half of the league, and pales in comparison to what the top 3 make. You might figure out what revenue means. The Penguins are valued at 222 mill as a franchise. They only bring in $87 million, which is 16th.

And yes, I know Sid took a pay cut so he and Malkin could both be with Pittsburgh. That's still a ton of money to have tied up in two players, specifically near 30% of the cap space each season. I like teams that spend to the cap, but I think throwing that much to two players can be a handicap. I'm not Ray Shero, however, so he can run his own team. Worked for him last year, and I guess we'll see if it continues to. Don't see the Pens repeating this year, myself.

You think my comments on Mario are way off base? He consistently tells the media things about Crosby that he knows are false. Says Crosby is better than he was, etc. Think I'm making that up? He had an interview about it in Detroit on the waterfront. Sid is going to be up there at the end of his career, but I'd bet he doesn't break the top 10-15 players of all time. If he proves me wrong, then great for him. He just doesn't play well enough defensively for me to consider him being on that level. Being on the ice for a quarter of your teams goals against is pretty piss poor, to be honest, especially when the game is far more defensive now than it was in the 80s.

Also, I find your claim that the fans still attended to be hilarious. Pittsburgh plummeted from 15th in attendance to last in a span of two years. Those are what we call fairweather fans, bandwagoners, etc. I'd LOVE to see how many current Penguins fans could even name who was on the team back in 2004.

KnightXC1 wrote: Crosby is not pure class or else he would give credit where it's due, something you almost never see him do for any team or player. Case in point, during both Stanley Cup Finals and last week when he gave Zetterberg no credit for shutting him down the entire game. Take your love glasses off and realize that! He was voted by 324 NHL players, not media, not coaches, but actual players last year as not even the best player on his own team (Malkin) and barely in the top 10 (just under 2% of the vote, same percentage as Brodeur) behind Ovechkin, Iginla, Datsyuk, and Zetterberg. This was done right before the playoffs last season. He's good, but not as good as people make him out to be. He isn't the savior of the league and is only the poster boy because NHL marketing department sucks thanks to Gary Bettman.

Being on the cover of SI has nothing to do with the point I made. Pressure from the ENTIRE country of Canada was on the ENTIRE team, ALL of the coaches, and ALL of the people who put the team together, not just Crosby. Yzerman and Holland were under pressure to put together a team that wouldn't finish 7th again, especially on their own home soil. Yea, the players put on the gear, but if you don't think every single person that was a part of that team and put that team together wasn't under pressure, you know nothing about hockey in Canada or sports in general. And once again, Crosby doesn't sniff that goal without the brilliant play Iginla made in the corner. There were easily 4-5 guys (Iginla, Heatley, Toews, Doughty) who were much better than him in that tournament. Once again, take off the blinders.

Never said the Rooney's were cut throats or tried to make them out to be. But the NFL is a business which they are in to make money. The economic impact of going to the playoffs in any sport right now is huge. Not going to the playoffs for a few years in a row is why the Pens were almost sold and relocated. Something they will certainly consider about whether or not cancelling out any potential home games at the end of the season when the playoffs could be possible.

Pittsburgh may not be a large market when compared to New York or LA, but they certainly are not a small market team such as Carolina, Phoenix, Nashville, or Florida. And no people didn't care about them when they were losing which is why they were dead last in attendance in 2004 and 25th in 2003, and 20th in 2006. The only reason the team wasn't moved during that time period was because Mario Lemieux decided not to sell the team, and all power in the world to him for doing that.

Those are all facts which you are free to look up (but I know you won't since you like to be argumentative) at your disposal.

KnightXC1 wrote:

The_Crosby_Show wrote: ^^^There's no way in hell Minnesota is a small market team. Unless we're talking TV revenue/coverage then yes.

Minneapolis / St. Paul is not considered a big market. The Twins are a small market team (Thank God they finally payed Mauer though and good for them) as are the Wild. Obviously it's different in hockey than baseball where there is no salary cap but the Wild would not be considered a big market. Don't get me wrong, they have great fans there and have since the North Stars were there but that area is not a big sports market.

Minneapolis / St. Paul is not considered a big market. The Twins are a small market team (Thank God they finally payed Mauer though and good for them) as are the Wild. Obviously it's different in hockey than baseball where there is no salary cap but the Wild would not be considered a big market. Don't get me wrong, they have great fans there and have since the North Stars were there but that area is not a big sports market.

KnightXC1 wrote: ^^ Correct, they love their hockey there and are very knowledgable on top of it.

Rock - Living and working in Pittsburgh has nothing to do with anything I said. I am not jealous of Crosby nor do I want him to ever be a Red Wing. Since the Wings already have 2 of the best 2 way players in the league and one of the greatest defenseman ever, there is nothing Crosby can offer me in my fandom. And yep Crosby wore down Hank to the tune of what, 3 goals in 7 games? Yea he sure showed him how great he was by doing basically nothing the whole series.

GoPens wrote:
Minneapolis/St. Paul is the 15th largest TV market in the US. Apparently that makes Denver and Miami "small" market cities since Minneapolis is larger than them. Pittsburgh is 23rd...nearly tied with that other small market team Carolina at 24th.

Strapping Young Lad wrote: After he sat out the third period and let his teammates hang onto the game. Who leaves game 7 of the SCF??? Cindy......