The Penguins’ new ownership has created anger within the fan base. Not because they’re unwilling to spend to the cap. Not because they’ve laid off beloved workers. Not because they’ve meddled with Dubas’ plan. No, they have sparked anger over dropping Wheeling as an affiliate and replacing MilkShake Factory at PPG Paints Arena.
I cannot begin to explain how stupid you have to be to care about these things. The new ownership group owns our new ECHL affiliate, the Florida Everblades, and it owns Oberweis, the new ice cream partner at PPG. It only makes sense for them to align the Penguins with their other business ventures. People think that means they don’t care about the Penguins? That’s such an ass-backwards way of looking at the situation.
The more the Hoffmann businesses succeed, the more likely it is they help the Penguins succeed. It’s really that simple. FSG, the previous owners, actually did not care about the team. Under FSG, Mario Lemieux became far less visible around the franchise. Tonight, he was back at PPG Paints Arena for the Penguins’ 60th anniversary ceremony.
As someone who goes to every single game, I have never once cared about the Wheeling Nailers, nor getting a Rusty Shake during the game. I go to games to see the Penguins win. The new ownership group has done nothing to stop them from reclaiming the Stanley Cup.
Oh, and their ice cream actually looked really good.
