In the summary of the loan that the Penguins received under the Payroll Protection Program, the large number stands out: US $ 4,821,785.
That was how much the franchise owner, Lemieux Group LP, received in emergency aid from the federal government in early August. The group is, as reported by the New York Post on Sunday, the only major American professional sports team to receive a penny.
The other 122 cohort members, depending on whether you count the LA Lakers’ blatant attempt to get into the first round of action, all seem to have said, “No, we’re fine.”
Why and how the Penguins ended up alone on the PPP island, nobody knows. Do they need the money so much? Have the red PR flags raised elsewhere been lost or ignored? Did they go up? Are they smarter and more cunning than the rest of the professional sports owner caste?
It could be any of those things. It could be everything. But if you are …