Judge Approves Mario's Bid

Penguins roster

Lemieux won a bankruptcy court approval Friday to take control of the Penguins, making him the first retired player to become the owner of a major sports team for which he played.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to come back," said Lemieux. "This is a dream come true, after 10 months working on the deal. I had no idea it would be this difficult. I'm glad we were finally able to put this together."

On Wednesday, the NHL's board of governors approved Lemieux's takeover of the team and then it was only up to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bernard Markovitz to approve the deal, which he did in a hearing Friday morning.

"It looks like we've done something and succeeded. Now the puck's on Mr. Lemieux's stick and we've all seen what he's been able to do with that," Markovitz said.

The Penguins went into bankruptcy last season and was only able to meet its payroll with a bank loan. Before Lemieux stepped up it was not sure the team would stay in Pittsburgh or even in the NHL.

"It's one thing to bring the team out of bankruptcy. We have to make it viable now. Hopefully, we can make this a great success story," Lemieux said.

Lemieux has a biggest stake in the team with most of it coming from $25 million that Penguins owed him as deferred salary. Lemieux said general manager Craig Patrick will keep his job. Lemieux is going to take care of the business side with help of others.

"I need to surround myself with smart people. This is all brand new to me." Lemieux said. "It's going to be a team effort, just like it was in the 90s when we were winning Cups."