Defenseman Sergei Gonchar arrived in Pittsburgh in 2005 after the NHL lockout and just in time for a front-row seat to a saga that saw the Penguins' future go from iffy to spiffy in just a few years.

The team had been struggling financially and, even with the introduction of a league salary cap, there was uncertainty about the viability of the club here because it needed a new arena, more paying customers and more wins. For a time, it looked as if the team was going to be sold and perhaps moved.

"As a human being, you want to have some stability in your life, especially when you have a family. Yes, there were some worries," Gonchar said yesterday after the Penguins' practice at Mellon Arena.

"At the same time, I think it makes you more focused on what you do. You want to make sure that you do everything as best as possible to help the situation. If the club is playing well, it's going to attract more buyers and they're going to solve the situation quicker."

It is easy to say everything turned out great for the Stanley Cup champion Penguins, who have sold out 119 consecutive games and will move into the new Consol Energy Center next season.

No one knows if things will be nearly as rosy anytime in the foreseeable future for the Phoenix Coyotes, who visit Mellon Arena tonight.

They are in bankruptcy, for sale and with no clear path to solvency. A bankruptcy judge recently dismissed offers from the NHL and Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie -- who, at one point, was close to buying the Penguins and had plans to move the Coyotes to Ontario.

Defenseman Brooks Orpik, drafted by the Penguins in 2000, has seen the decline and rise of the franchise. Speaking from experience, he does not expect the Coyotes to be distracted.

"Maybe some of the older guys who have houses, kids in school, maybe it's a little more of a concern for them, but, at the end of the day, it's something that's completely out of their control," Orpik said. "I don't think it affects players as much as people think it does."

He said when the Penguins' situation was at its worst, the fact that the team's core players were mostly under 25 helped.

"Guys were mostly on their first contract or some guys who [had signed as free agents] were at the end of their career," he said. "Hopefully, people don't take this the wrong way, but we didn't have too much attachment to the city yet."

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury can back that up. He was one of those very young players then after being the first overall draft pick in 2003.

"I think we followed what was going on, but we couldn't change it," Fleury said.

"We couldn't do anything but play well. I just tried to play hockey. I was hoping to stay in Pittsburgh, but whatever happened, happened."

What happened was the Penguins developed plans for the new arena, saw ticket sales increase with the arrival of 2005 first overall draft pick Sidney Crosby, and remained the property of majority co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle.

"I don't know all the politics of it," Orpik said. "I don't know how close we actually were to leaving here. Some people say we were really close. Other people say it would have never happened.

"I think everyone in this room is happy that we stayed here. I know everyone enjoys living here and playing here."

Of course, it helps when a team has a meteoric rise like the Penguins, who were the second-worst team in the NHL in 2005-06, made the playoffs but lost in the first round to Ottawa in 2006-07, made it to the final but lost to Detroit in 2007-08 and beat Detroit in the final last season.

"As long as you're winning, everything's nice," Fleury said.

"People come to the games. I remember when I first started, and we couldn't give tickets away. Now we've got a new building because everybody supported the team."

Phoenix has a modern building, but attendance is light and the Coyotes have not made the playoffs since 2002.

Crosby does not remember the trials and tribulations of the Penguins' status being a problem for the players his first couple seasons, and he doubts the Coyotes are distracted.

"What did they win, 6-3, their last game?" he said of Phoenix's season-opening victory Saturday against Los Angeles.

"So, it doesn't look like it affected anything. They played well."

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.