Forbes magazine came out with their annual list of how much each NHL team is worth.
Here is the full list
There are some fairly obvious candidates at the top.
Pittsburgh is ranked 11th. They are worth a very respectable 570 million dollars, but that isn't quite in the 700 million dollar range that the Lemieux ownership group was hoping for when news first broke they wanted to sell the team.
Carolina is bringing up the rear. I am a proponent of the southern expansion and I believe it has done great things for USA Hockey, but with Quebec City on the horizon it might make some sense to look in Carolina's direction for a relocation.
Florida is in 29th which isn't great, but they did jump 26% in value since last year so they are at least tracking in the right direction. They should have good teams for years to come and I could see their value continue to rise.
Forbes also ranked the best fans in the NHL and for the first time since 2009 it won't be Pittsburgh. The Chicago Blackhawks were ranked as the best fans and Pittsburgh is now tied for second with Montreal.
Sidney Crosby wasn't the highest paid player this year. That honor goes to Jonathan Toews and his $16 million dollar pay day. That includes the $13.8 million he got from Chicago as well as his endorsement money. Sidney Crosby was in second with $15.4 million with 10.9 million coming from the Penguins and $4.5 million coming from endorsements.
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It’s “rivalry” night in Brooklyn this evening as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the underachieving New York Islanders. Get your tickets now before they run out
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been a mixed bag lately. In their last seven games they are 3-3-1 which includes really bad losses against the Capitals, Rangers, and Wild. Their wins have come against the Islanders, Devils, and a nice bounce back game against the Rangers. It will be good news tonight if the trend of beating tri-state area teams continues.
The Islanders are 3-5-4 this month and have been one of the worst teams in the NHL this season. They currently are the worst team in the league sitting in 30th place. Sometimes a team’s record isn’t totally indicative of how the team has played but the Islanders process has been garbage this year as well. They are the 28th ranked Score-Adjusted Fenwick team at even-strength at 46.7%. Not too many people pegged this team to be so terrible. Jack Capuano is currently one of the longest tenured coaches in the league which is something that should probably change in the near future.
Patric Hornqvist is poised to make his return to the lineup after missing an extended period of time with a concussion. Pittsburgh was getting by without him in the lineup, but his return will give Mike Sullivan better balance with his forward lines and that should help generate more offense. It certainly won't hurt the power play with his return.
So who sits for Hornqvist? The coach said it would be a game time decision and that it definitely won't be Jake Guentzel. This is good news. He doesn't deserve to be taken out.
Matt Murray gets the start for Pittsburgh as he should.
Some more evidence of #SidDownLow
New Hockey Hurts Podcast discusses the handling of the coaching situation in Florida and catches up with the Penguins. You can find that
here
Thanks for reading!
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