NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Praises Penguins Co-Owners For Not Selling Franchise

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman "heaped heavy praise on the job done" by Penguins co-Owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, whose franchise is "no longer for sale," according to Jason Mackey of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. The Penguins have not been for sale for months, something that "doesn't figure to change in the foreseeable future." Bettman said, "They were looking at their options. They weren’t committed to any of them. In the final analysis, they love owning this team. They love this community. I think this franchise is in great shape. Why change anything?" Mackey notes Lemieux and Burkle "saw the market for NHL teams change mid-sale with the move to expand into Las Vegas." However, Bettman "insisted that didn’t influence Lemieux’s and Burkle’s decision to pull back." Bettman: "One doesn’t have anything to do with the other" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 2/27).