Sprint Center books NHL exhibition game with masochistic appeal

Kansas City can pretend it has an NHL franchise on September 27, when the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins play a preseason game at the Sprint Center.

The match-up comes tinged with cruelty. The Kings are owned by AEG, the company that operates the Sprint Center but has not been able to tenant the building with a pro hockey or basketball team. The Penguins, meanwhile, play in a one-year-old building that Kansas City helped build. The Penguins’ owners came to town in an effort to gain leverage during the negotiations that resulted in the construction of a $321 million arena in downtown Pittsburgh.