The center would aim to provide increased access to care, research studies and new treatments for children with all forms of lymphoma. The center would treat lymphoma patients in their teens and 20s, not just children, and the Lemieux foundation hopes the center will draw childhood and adolescent lymphoma patients from around the world, according to the statement.



“The center is extremely unique and, to my knowledge, is the first of its kind,” said Gina Russo, senior director of patient access and education with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, based in New York.



As an extension of Children's Hospital, the center would be able to recruit clinical and research experts who specialize in lymphoma and provide a forum for regional and global experts on the disease. The center would include a program that supports child and adolescent cancer survivors, the statement said.

The UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry is coming along! The complex is scheduled to open in the summer of 2015. pic.twitter.com/3zeatBsNR2 — Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 3, 2014

Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal There is finally some very good news coming out of Pittsburgh.The Mario Lemieux Foundation and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation have teamed up to announce a new youth lymphoma center at the Children’s Hospital Mario Lemieux continues to do amazing things on the humanitarian front, this is just the latest of many great things he has done to help children battle against undesirable health conditions.The Lemieux Foundation will be putting 2.5M towards the project.Things may be murky at the NHL level in Pittsburgh right now, but the real things that matter on a human level continue to improve thanks in part to #66.****Another facility that Mario Lemieux is involved with is starting to take shape. The Pittsburgh Penguins new practice facility in Cranberry looks to be coming along. Here is an updated photo of the construction site.Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal The facility looks like it will be very impressive and I believe it has the potential to not only improve the quality of the Penguins practices but also the Pittsburgh hockey community.With a great new facility comes great opportunity. Perhaps down the road the Penguins could share the facility with a junior hockey program (USHL) or something along those lines. It would be a prudent move to give all the local talent coming out of Pittsburgh an option to stay close to home while chasing their hockey aspirations. It would be another sign of Southwest Pennsylvania flexing its hockey market muscle.It started with Lemieux/Jagr and has now continued with Crosby/Malkin. The Pittsburgh hockey market is ascending to become one of the top hockey markets in the United States.****Love The Simpsons? Love NHL hockey? This is pretty great. Courtesy of @AK47_Studios That is all for now, it is pointless to speculate on the Penguins GM opening. Everything is deathly quiet except for the guy who makes a living being on TV.Thanks for reading!Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal