Peter Block (ice hockey)

Last updated October 30, 2019

Peter Block (1933 - December 13, 2015) was a co-founder and former-owner of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. He was a part of the team's ownership for just one season, selling in his share in 1968. Block rejoined the ownership group in 1971, though, and kept his stake until the team went bankrupt in 1975. He relocated to California in the mid-1980s to start a business venture and died on December 13, 2015 at his home in Santa Monica from cancer.^[1]

The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently comprising 31 teams: 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Penguins are one of two NHL franchises in Pennsylvania, the other being the Philadelphia Flyers. The cities' proximity has led to a rivalry known as the "Battle of Pennsylvania". The club is owned by Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle, who purchased the Penguins in 1999 and brought the club out of bankruptcy.

Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is bordered on three sides by the city of Los Angeles – Pacific Palisades to the north, Brentwood on the northeast, West Los Angeles on the east, Mar Vista on the southeast, and Venice on the south. The 2010 U.S. Census population was 89,736. Due in part to an agreeable climate, Santa Monica became a famed resort town by the early 20th century. The city has experienced a boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its downtown core, significant job growth and increased tourism. The Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Park remain popular destinations.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Block and Jack McGregor, a Republican Pennsylvania State Senator from Pittsburgh, came up with the idea for the club in 1965, during a car trip along the Pennsylvania Turnpike when they heard the NHL planned to expand from six to 12 teams. Block stated to McGregor that in order for Pittsburgh to be a true sports town, in needed to have an NHL team.^[2] The two men, who were classmates at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, gathered together a group of investors, that included HJ Heinz II, Art Rooney, and Richard Scaife, and made their successful proposal to the NHL. Pittsburgh was awarded a franchise and McGregor and Block each owned a 12.5 percent share of the team.^[3] According to McGregor, Block initially laughed to him for McGregor's wife, Carol, coming up with the name "Penguins". Block argued against the name and favored naming the club the Hornets, from Pittsburgh's long-time and successful affiliate in the American Hockey League.^[2]

Jack Edwin McGregor is a former Pennsylvania State Senator from Pittsburgh and the founder of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. He currently resides in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he serves as counsel to Cohen and Wolf, P.C. as an advisor to companies looking to create business opportunities in the Bridgeport region. He also serves as a consultant to existing companies wishing to expand their market share in the area.

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the seats are contested at each election. Even numbered seats and odd numbered seats are contested in separate election years. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate becomes the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania in the event of the sitting Lieutenant Governor's removal, resignation or death. In this case the President Pro Tempore and Lieutenant Governor would be the same person. The Pennsylvania Senate has been meeting since 1791.

Block, and several other Penguins' investors, also purchased a second professional franchise in 1967, the Pittsburgh Phantoms, a soccer team in the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League. The club played for just one season folded before the 1968 NASL season due to poor attendance, drawing only an average of 3,122. The Phantoms' financial losses also tapped out Block and many of the Penguins' investors.^[3]

The Pittsburgh Phantoms were a professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1967. The club was a member of the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). All of the team's home games were played at Forbes Field, which also served as the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played with a spherical ball between two teams of eleven players. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport. The game is played on a rectangular field called a pitch with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by moving the ball beyond the goal line into the opposing goal.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association is a non-profit organization which describes itself as an international governing body of association football, fútsal, beach soccer, and efootball. It is the highest governing body of football.

Aside from his ownership duties, Block was also the team's vice president and chief operating officer during the season.^[4] At end of the team's inaugural season, Block relinquished his share in the team. However he rejoined the ownership group in 1971. During his ownership tenure, Block would bring his stepchildren to the team Christmas party, and his wife, Ida, even gave guitar lessons to former Penguins winger Bob "Battleship" Kelly.^[1]

Winger, in the game of ice hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink. Nowadays, there are different types of wingers in the game — out-and-out goal scorers, checkers who disrupt the opponents, and forwards who work along the boards and in the corners. They tend to be bigger than centreman and smaller than defenseman.

John Robert "Battleship" Kelly is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 425 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Chicago Black Hawks. Although official NHL records cite him merely as Bob Kelly he was commonly known during his NHL playing career as J. Bob Kelly, in an effort to differentiate himself from the Bob Kelly who played primarily with the Philadelphia Flyers at that time.

At the end of the Penguins' 1974-75 season, the team filed for bankruptcy. The ownership group had been negotiating a plan to keep the team while beginning to pay $532,000 in overdue withholding taxes, however a local management change in the team. On June 12, 1975, IRS agents walked into the Pittsburgh Civic Arena and placed a tax lien against the Penguins. Meanwhile Equibank, the Penguins' largest creditor, had filed a $5 million suit against the club. Penguins were eventually sold for a mere $3.8 million to a group that included Wren Blair, ending Block's stake in the team. When the Penguins declared bankruptcy again in the late 1990s, Block expressed hope that the Pens would be rescued stating "It's very, very scary to see this happening to the Penguins again, after all, it was my idea and I want to see it succeed forever".^[5]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The government agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is appointed to a five-year term by the President of the United States. The IRS is responsible for collecting taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of federal statutory tax law of the United States. The duties of the IRS include providing tax assistance to taxpayers and pursuing and resolving instances of erroneous or fraudulent tax filings. The IRS has also overseen various benefits programs, and enforces portions of the Affordable Care Act.

Wren Alvin Blair was a Canadian ice hockey coach, scout and executive in the National Hockey League.

Personal

Block was survived by his wife, Donna, and their daughter, Jennifer. He was also survived by his ex-wife Ida and three stepchildren.^[1]

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References

1 2 3 Werner, Sam (2015-12-15). "Obituary: Peter Block / Co-founder of the Pittsburgh Penguins". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved 2016-07-13.
1 2 Bombulie, Jonathan (2015-12-17). "Penguins founder Block dies at 82". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved 2016-07-13.
1 2 "Pittsburgh Penguins are Hatched". Pittsburgh Hockey Net. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
↑ Williams, Frank (2015-12-16). "Penguins Founder Block Dies". WESB . Retrieved 2016-07-13.
↑ Grove, Bob (1998-11-01). "Behind the Net Penguin's Bankruptcy Revisited". Pittsburgh Sports Report. Retrieved 2016-07-13.

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[Werner-1] 1 2 3 Werner, Sam (2015-12-15). "Obituary: Peter Block / Co-founder of the Pittsburgh Penguins". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved 2016-07-13.

[Bombulie-2] 1 2 Bombulie, Jonathan (2015-12-17). "Penguins founder Block dies at 82". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved 2016-07-13.

[Hatched-3] 1 2 "Pittsburgh Penguins are Hatched". Pittsburgh Hockey Net. Retrieved 2016-07-13.

[4] Williams, Frank (2015-12-16). "Penguins Founder Block Dies". WESB . Retrieved 2016-07-13.

[5] Grove, Bob (1998-11-01). "Behind the Net Penguin's Bankruptcy Revisited". Pittsburgh Sports Report. Retrieved 2016-07-13.

Peter Block (ice hockey)

Contents

Pittsburgh Penguins

Personal

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References