The Pittsburgh Penguins today announced a plan to pay full and part-time arena and service employees at PPG Paints Arena, who would otherwise lose income on regular season games because the NHL has paused the season.

When the NHL announced the pause on Thursday, because of the threat of coronavirus COVID-19, the Penguins had six regular season games remaining on the schedule.

"The ushers, ticket takers, concession workers, cleaning staff and other arena workers are the backbone of a Penguins hockey game at PPG Paints Arena, and a big part of the Penguins' family," said David Morehouse, the team's president and CEO. "Our owners, Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, and our players, led by Sidney Crosby, thought it was essential to help them through this. We have come together to ensure that they will not lose pay because of the pause in our season."