Penguins

Morehouse: "Pgh. Has Become A Great Hockey Town"

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Regardless of what happens from here on in, consider the fact that the Pittsburgh Penguins are playing in the Stanley Cup Finals.

It's an amazing feat for a young hockey team and even more amazing when you consider that just a year ago the team was on the verge of packing up and leaving Pittsburgh.

Just last winter the Pens were threatening to move out of town to Kansas City, Las Vegas or Houston, but tomorrow night they'll be at Mellon Arena for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup.

Right now, you can feel it from every die hard fan down to those who have only recently jumped on the bandwagon; the Penguins have Pittsburgh in a frenzy.

In recent days and weeks, it seems that people can talk of little else.

"Pittsburgh has become a great hockey town," said Penguins' President David Morehouse.

But a little over a year ago, the Penguins and owner Mario Lemieux seriously entertained Kansas City's offer of a rent-free arena complete with luxury boxes.

Morehouse says it was a matter of economic survival, the Penguins needed to get out of antiquated Mellon Arena for the revenues a new arena could generate.

As a former advisor to Presidents and presidential candidates, Morehouse played some hardball politics.

"We never wanted to leave," Morehouse told KDKA. "We always wanted to stay here."

It was a power play that worked because the Penguins scored a new arena and long-term future in Pittsburgh.

"The fans are why we ended up staying in Pittsburgh," said Morehouse. "That's what convinced people to look hard at some alternative solutions."

Today, as a new arena goes up in the shadow of Mellon Arena, Morehouse says the Pens are having an impact on the city off the ice by generating tax money, Downtown business, the promise of redevelopment and more.

"There's a definite economic benefit, there's lot of indirect but there's this intangible benefit to the soul of the city," he said.

Morehouse says the Penguins and Pittsburgh are inextricably entwined.

"What we saw last night was a team that wouldn't die and did everything they had to do to win, and I think people in Pittsburgh relate to that," Morehouse said. "It's a city that had to do what it had to do to survive."

If nothing else, there is definitely a spirit and excitement in the air that would not be here right now had the Penguins left town.

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