Mario Lemieux's relationship with the Penguins just took a major turn

Mario Lemieux's twenty seven year run atop the Pittsburgh Penguins has officially come to an end.

According to Dejan Kovacevic of DK Pittsburgh Sports, Lemieux and longtime business partner Ron Burkle have sold every remaining share they held in the franchise, dropping both men to zero ownership for the first time since Lemieux led a group that pulled the Penguins out of bankruptcy back in 1999.

It is a stunning close to one of the most important ownership runs in modern NHL history.

Lemieux had held onto a small stake even after Fenway Sports Group purchased the team for $900 million in 2021, while Burkle kept an even bigger piece.

That changed earlier this year when FSG agreed to sell the Penguins to the Hoffmann Family of Companies for $1.75 billion, a deal the Board of Governors approved in June.

Neither Lemieux nor Burkle survived the ownership transition.

It is easy to forget how close the Penguins came to disappearing from Pittsburgh entirely.

The team was $100 million in debt and filed for bankruptcy in 1998, with Lemieux himself owed more than $26 million in deferred salary.

Rather than walk away, he converted that debt into equity and became the team's majority owner in 1999, a move that ultimately delivered three more Stanley Cups to the city.

Lemieux reportedly tried to assemble his own group to buy the team back before the Hoffmanns won the bidding.

Penguins governor Geoff Hoffmann has said he hopes Lemieux stays connected to the organization in some capacity, and a suite at PPG Paints Arena for Lemieux and his family has already been floated as one possibility.

The end of an ownership era does not erase what No. 66 means to this franchise and this city.

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