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Smaller textPenguins CEO Ken Sawyer to retire at the end of August
A look at retiring Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer's impact on the franchise in 11 seasons:
• He returned bankrupt franchise to solid financial footing - the team expects to turn a profit next season.
• He oversaw design of Consol Energy Center. The new arena will open next season with modern amenities or team personnel and fans.
• In 2006, he hired general manager Ray Shero, who helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 2009.
Ken Sawyer
Joe Appel | Tribune-Review file
Rob Rossi is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and can be reached at 412-380-5635, via e-mail or on Twitter.
BOSTON -- Ken Sawyer, who will retire as Penguins chief executive officer on Aug. 31, insists he will be "only a phone call away" if anybody needs him.
Team president and soon-to-be CEO David Morehouse should consider carefully calling Sawyer during Penguins' home games.
"I want to see as many game in the new building as I can," Sawyer said Thursday after his impending retirement was announced by the team. "I'm looking forward to just being a fan."
The simplicity of fandom will prove a pleasant change of pace for Sawyer, 61.
He joined the Penguins in 1999 as executive vice president and chief financial officer and was promoted to president in 2003 and CEO in 2006. His inclusion as part of the Mario Lemieux-led ownership group bid in 1999 was supported by NHL owners because of Sawyer's 14 years as the league's CFO, dating to 1979.
The Penguins were a bankrupt franchise when he joined, soon to trade away star players and hoping for a new arena. He will retire having watched a team of young stars win the Stanley Cup. The Penguins will also open a state-of-art arena next season, Consol Energy Center.
Sawyer said helping the Penguins land a new facility was a career-capping achievement, and he's happy to have resisted the urge to retire before overseeing its design.
"I had thought about it (in March 2007), when we secured the arena funding," Sawyer said. "That felt a little bit like the end to me, but then I thought: 'It might be fun to help with this building."
Sawyer caught himself laughing yesterday after making that remark.
"Maybe you won't have to wait until I retire to finally get some candid answers," he said.
Morehouse, 49 and a Beechview native, said his transition into a dual role of president and CEO will be smooth because of support from majority co-owners Lemieux and Ron Burkle, and Sawyer's work to place the Penguins on firm financial footing.
Hired as president in 2007 after spending several years as an advisor, Morehouse has overseen ticket sales, marketing, corporate sales and brand development. He has helped the Penguins win rave reviews for the players' delivery of season tickets to fans and pizza to arena construction workers; an energized commitment to youth hockey in the region; and the popular outdoor screen at Mellon Arena for playoff games.
The team will carry a sellout streak of over 150 games into Consol Energy Center.
As CEO, Morehouse will deal with team finances, legal dealings and hockey operations.
"It's kind of a dream come true for me to be a Beechview kid running the Pittsburgh Penguins," he said. "For me, though, it's not a big transition because most of the groundwork has already been laid by the ownership group, and Ken was a big part of that."
