PITTSBURGH (AP) – A 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, according to media reports.

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.

“I see a really exciting future for that team,” Gottesdiener told the newspaper. “If it can’t be worked out in Pittsburgh … we have a really huge real estate portfolio in Hartford.”

“As a policy, we’re not going to comment and we’re not going to confirm or deny any of these inquiries,” Penguins spokesman Tom McMillan said Friday.

Gottesdiener also didn’t immediately return a call to his office from The Associated Press.

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 $87 million worth of real estate, according to Hartford city records.

Gottesdiener told The Hartford Courant this week that he hired brokers and is eyeing teams, including the Penguins, that might be ripe for acquisition.

The Whalers moved to North Carolina and were renamed the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997.

Al Victor, president of the Hartford Whalers Booster Club, said he believes Hartford has enough fervent hockey fans to support major league hockey again.

“Our hopes have been dashed a couple of times, but we’ll keep persevering and hoping that one day it’ll really happen,” said Victor, of New Britain.

Some officials caution that Connecticut’s demographics might be an obstacle. Unlike some other metropolitan areas, Connecticut’s population has not been growing in recent years.

Questions also remain about where a new arena would be built, how much would have to come from public funds, and whether games would draw fans from throughout the state and region or just central Connecticut.

“It’s great to have people who’ve got the dream, and I applaud them, but there are so many questions that have to be identified and answered,” said R. Nelson “Oz” Griebel, president of the Metro Hartford Alliance.

The Penguins’ lease on 45-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest and smallest in the NHL, expires at the end of next season. Penguins owner Mario Lemieux is trying to sell the team and he has said a new owner would likely move out of Pittsburgh without a new arena.

There are two proposals to build a new arena for the team in Pittsburgh, and both are tied to gambling.

Isle of Capri Casinos has agreed to pay the entire cost for a new arena if it is awarded a state license to open a slot machine parlor. The company is one of three vying for a single slot parlor license. The arena Isle of Capri arena would be part of a complex that includes a casino and shops.

City, county and state officials have countered with a backup plan that would require the Penguins to pay $8.5 million up front and make annual lease payments of $2.9 million. That plan calls for contributions from whichever gambling company wins the slots parlor license.

Penguins representatives on Thursday discussed the backup plan with city and county officials.

A Penguins consultant, David Morehouse, told the newspaper after that meeting that the team didn’t learn enough about the proposal to decide whether to accept the alternative arena plan.

“There are still a number of questions that have to be answered before we can determine if it’s viable,” Morehouse said.

Among other things, he said it’s not clear if Gov. Ed Rendell could legally use slot machine proceeds to help fund the arena or whether another casino company would agree to contribute.

Gottesdiener called the Penguins “an excellent entry point to get into the NHL. We’ve said that we’re in this to buy an NHL team.”



On the Net:

http://www.Northland.com

http://www.pittsburghpenguins.com

AP-ES-04-07-06 1328EDT


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