Why Was Pittsburgh's 1999 Game 6 Win Against The Devils So Important?

[Jimmy Firecracker]

I watched that game on YouTube given all the festivities around Jagr and this was his return to the lineup those playoffs and he came up huge for the Penguins, scoring two goals including the OT winner. A lot of the comments on that video talk about how this win basically saved the Penguins from financial ruin and I'm curious why that was? There wasn't a guarantee of more gate revenue from home playoff games because they still had to go to New Jersey and win Game 7 to guarantee that (which they did). Did the owner have some ultimatum that if they lost that game the team would move? Just looking for context given how pivotal that game was and how storybook it was to have Jagr return and be the one to win the game.

 

[MadLuke]

Jagr: Game 6 goal in 1999 saved Penguins

Was it really the goal that saved the Pittsburgh Penguins’ franchise? Jaromir Jagr thinks so. In 1999 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the Penguins faced a 3-2 series deficit against the Devils.

www.espn.com

It was winning the round apparently, not that exact game but that game needed to be won to make that possible according to Jagr:

“I remember that like it happened yesterday,” Jagr said. “I pulled my groin in the first game. We were losing 3-2 in the series and if we would lose the first round I think the team would move to Kansas City because they had no money. We had to make the second round to get the (money) for the payments.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Yeah, it was the series. That was just enough to keep the team alive. It was a hell of an effort. The best of Jagr and it was on one leg. This was talked about extensively during the retirement ceremony. This may or may not have been the moment of the ceremony where I teared up.

(I just made it to this thing too...4:17 pm start to the ceremony, I got in at 4:19 pm...luckily had only 58 minutes of wheels up/wheels down from NYC that afternoon...really, really glad I got to be there. Provided a lot of closure.)

 

[Crosby2010]

They were in financial ruins, but I do have to wonder if they really did lose if they'd have left. It is hard to say. I remember they were begging Mario to come back at this time. There was that play in overtime where Straka manages to just squeak by the Devils defenseman (not sure which one) and you know as a hockey fan there are those moments when you know a goal is going to be scored, and I can remember just knowing that the puck was going in, because Straka is dead set on feeding that puck over to Jagr. Bang, game over. And let's not forget, two assists in Game 7 for Jagr. I think we tend to take for granted and forget just how good he was in these years. He was awesome, so very good.

 

[Michael Farkas]

It might have been a couple years after this, I'm not 100% sure. But Bettman did start asking around the league owners if they'd approve a move to Portland. Bettman - famously against teams moving - canvassing opinions and votes like that is pretty far down the line for something like that based on my, admittedly, very peripheral knowledge of this process...

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Just crazy that as recent as 1999, a team was playing for its life in a 1st Round playoff series.

 

[McGarnagle]

If they had moved, it'd be interesting to see what their legacy would've been after the fact and whether Pittsburgh ever would've got an expansion team or relocation down the line.

Every team that moved in the 90s had very little NHL success, a couple Cinderella runs, one #1 seed, not much else. But Pittsburgh not only had two cups, but were highly competitive through the 90s. Also, does Mario decide to come back in 2000 still, and if so does he suit up in KC for the continuation of the Penguin franchise or does he try to go to Montreal or New York?

 

[GMR]

Kansas City wasn't an option for NHL teams until after the 2005 lockout, when they begun construction of a new downtown arena.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

If they had moved, it'd be interesting to see what their legacy would've been after the fact and whether Pittsburgh ever would've got an expansion team or relocation down the line.

Every team that moved in the 90s had very little NHL success, a couple Cinderella runs, one #1 seed, not much else. But Pittsburgh not only had two cups, but were highly competitive through the 90s. Also, does Mario decide to come back in 2000 still, and if so does he suit up in KC for the continuation of the Penguin franchise or does he try to go to Montreal or New York?

It's well known that Portland would have been a strong option if the Penguins were forced to relocate during bankruptcy in 1999.

 

[Crosby2010]

I honestly don't think they move though. Not that it wasn't close, because it was bad those years for the Penguins financially. Mario did come in and save them in 1999 being part-owner and all, so even a loss to the Devils and I think that still happens. Even as late as 2007, with Crosby and Malkin in the line up, the Penguins had threats to move to Kansas City, or even somewhere in Ontario like in the area potential owner Jim Balsille was in such as Hamilton or Kitchener. For whatever reason the NHL didn't seem to like Balsille I don't think. But even with Mario in the mix that team was not out of the woods until the late 2000s.

I have to wonder, with Crosby and Malkin soon to be gone, and the Pens just a shell of their former selves, will there be these talks about them leaving again? I hope not. The Penguins are so iconic, and 5 Cups and all is huge. I'd like to think things are more stable for them now.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Things are stable now.

 

[frisco]

The Penguins were hanging on by the skin of their teeth. The revenues generated by the second-round playoff games bought them time to work the Lemieux/Burkle ownership deal using Lemieux's debt and leverage that into equity. Missing major payments (especially payroll) might've been the final straw in a long sequence of events and shortened the timeline.

It is probably not an overstatement to say Jagr saved the Penguins (in Pittsburgh, at least). The dominoes could've fallen very different have they not won. Kansas City could've easily taken ownership of the team and played in a secondary facility while the new place was built and/or kept them as a lame duck team in Pittsburgh before making the move to KC. There were other cities also in the running.

My Best-Carey