Now that the lockout’s over, teams are trying to make amends with their fans.
Two clubs -- the St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins -- took the lead on Monday, offering up apologies via their respective websites.
“There is nothing we can say to explain or excuse what happened over the past four months,” Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said.
Here’s more, from the Pittsburgh website:
Now that the NHL is back, we want to assure you that the Pittsburgh Penguins will do everything we can to regain your trust and show how much we value your amazing support.
The sounds of skates churning across the ice and pucks banging against the glass are returning to CONSOL Energy Center. That means a healthy Sidney Crosby is about to rejoin NHL MVP Evgeni Malkin, first-team All-Star James Neal, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and others as we begin our quest to bring the Stanley Cup back to Pittsburgh.
We want to thank you for your patience and your loyalty to the Penguins. We hope to repay it many times over.
St. Louis owner Tom Stillman gave a similar apology to Blues fans, sharing their “disappointment and frustration about the lockout and the lack of Blues hockey over the past three months.”
Stillman, who took over full ownership of the Blues in May, also made a plea for fans to return:
As you can imagine, the last thing our new ownership group wanted in our first year was a lockout and no Blues hockey. Everyone in the organization -- the players, hockey management, the front office – would have preferred to start the season on time.
Moving forward, our aim is to make up for lost time and to earn your continued support. As I said last May, we are firmly committed to the Blues and to ensuring the franchise’s long-term success here in St. Louis. With the lockout behind us, we reaffirm that commitment. But we know we cannot succeed without you, and we hope you will continue to support us at this critical time.
The Blues are hoping to carry over momentum from their successful 2011-12 season. They captured their first Central Division title in 12 years and won a playoff round for the first time since 2002.
The team also finished ninth in attendance, averaging 18,809 per game.
More:
Flames CEO King to fans: “We’re sorry”
Caps owner Leonsis: “Thanks to all of you for your patience”
Oilers COO LaForge: “I wish none of [our fans] had to go through it or watch it”
Preds GM David Polie offered up one of the more emotional statements:
“I’d like to apologize to the fans and anybody who cares about hockey and especially the Nashville Predators. This was a situation none of us really thought would happen. I think we’re all disappointed that it turned out the way it did. It’s really unfortunate, but like anything in life, whether it’s your relationship with the Predators and hockey, or your personal relationships, sometimes things go wrong and you need to apologize, and I’m apologizing. Sometimes you need forgiveness and you need to move on, and that’s what we’re going to do today.”
