Pittsburgh Penguins hopeful of hosting 2012 NHL Entry Draft –NHL offseason Update
The dust has not completely settled from the rowdy and thrilling 2011 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft, and Pittsburgh Penguins are already on their way to securing their bid for next year’s, 2012 NHL Entry Draft, at the Consol Energy Centre in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
A little over a month has passed from this year’s NHL Entry Draft, but Pittsburgh has already become noticed as one of the frontrunners in the race. At the moment, no venue has been decided and since there is no specific date for making such an announcement,
Pittsburgh can only hope and wait for good news, when the decision makers in the NHL announces their verdict.
Pittsburgh had the chance to host the event back in 1997, but it was at the Mellon/Civic Arena at that time. They were not able to hold such an event after that since, due to the arena not being up to standards, but viewing that their new Consol Energy Centre
opened up 11 months ago, Pittsburgh thinks their chances are good this time around.
"We've said since the beginning of the new arena process that our goal is to bring big NHL events like the draft and All-Star Game to Pittsburgh", said Tom McMillan, Penguins vice president of communications. "We know Pittsburgh has become a preeminent hockey
city in the U.S. — and that was evident by the 2011 Winter Classic being probably the most successful ever — and we're hopeful of bringing events like this to the city".
Bringing such events to any city, not only livens up the surrounding areas, but is also a fertile ground for huge business and profits. The June entry draft brought an estimated $10 million in revenue for Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Centre in St. Paul,
Minneapolis.
Pittsburgh on the other hand, plans on making it much bigger than ever before. According to McMillan, it will not be anything less than a weeklong celebration, if given the opportunity that is.
"It's like a hockey convention", McMillan said of the draft.
According to sources, Pittsburgh has a strong chance next year of hosting the event, while NHL sources have confirmed their bid, it will not be long till they face stronger competition from other major league teams.
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