Leonsis talks of Mario's "different goal"
Tonight on "The Bram Weinstein Show" which streams on DC's Sportstalk 980 , Ted Leonsis the owner of the Washington Capitals was interviewed about the NHL CBA, the Caps activity (or lack thereof) in free agency, etc.
The gist of the interview is that the Caps plan to hover around the floor of the salary cap and re-build with youngsters and low priced free agents (sounds like the Pens in 2003). You can read his letter to the fans here to get his vision for what he's doing with their team.
What makes this Pens related is that Bram asked him why the Pens, who he claims have been "crying poor" for years now, have been so active in free agency.
Leonsis made the statement (paraphrasing here) that "Pittsburgh has different goals than we do, they have an owner, president and best player that is getting older and sees an opportunity to [try and get something done right away..we are building for the future to have a team that can be consistently successful year after year].
Which is an interesting take. I think people feel like the Pens have been so active out of the gate in free agency mostly so they can put a winner in the aging Igloo and force an arena deal. But I hadn't considered that this spending spree may have something to do with Mario wanting to make one last run at the cup before he laces the skates for the last time.
Leonsis also said that if the NHL is smart they will market Crosby and Ovechkin as the NHL's answer to Magic and Bird.
It will be interesting to see if a long rivalry forms between these two players and by extension the Penguins and the Caps.
I have to admit it was great meeting and usually beating them in the first round of the playoffs every year.
Sidney vs Alexander would certainly add juice to the "rivalry".
The gist of the interview is that the Caps plan to hover around the floor of the salary cap and re-build with youngsters and low priced free agents (sounds like the Pens in 2003). You can read his letter to the fans here to get his vision for what he's doing with their team.
What makes this Pens related is that Bram asked him why the Pens, who he claims have been "crying poor" for years now, have been so active in free agency.
Leonsis made the statement (paraphrasing here) that "Pittsburgh has different goals than we do, they have an owner, president and best player that is getting older and sees an opportunity to [try and get something done right away..we are building for the future to have a team that can be consistently successful year after year].
Which is an interesting take. I think people feel like the Pens have been so active out of the gate in free agency mostly so they can put a winner in the aging Igloo and force an arena deal. But I hadn't considered that this spending spree may have something to do with Mario wanting to make one last run at the cup before he laces the skates for the last time.
Leonsis also said that if the NHL is smart they will market Crosby and Ovechkin as the NHL's answer to Magic and Bird.
It will be interesting to see if a long rivalry forms between these two players and by extension the Penguins and the Caps.
I have to admit it was great meeting and usually beating them in the first round of the playoffs every year.
Sidney vs Alexander would certainly add juice to the "rivalry".
posted by Steve at 8:45 PM
2 Comments:
sweet site guys, it's great to see sombody else talking Pens hockey again! Keep up the good work.
The Nittanyproudfoot
I guess time will tell, but I don't see Ovechkin as being quite as good as Crosby. It seems like wishful thinking on the Craps part in hoping for a Magic-Bird type scenario.
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