After a several-month wait, the Hoffmann family has cleared the biggest hurdle to becoming the new owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins.While the news of the family’s interest in buying the team from its previous owner, Fenway Sports Group, became public almost a year ago and a sale was agreed upon in December, the deal wasn’t approved by the league until Tuesday’s NHL Board of Governors meeting in New York.The team announced that the sale “is expected to close imminently.” Though the team did not disclose the price, The Athletic reported in December that it was expected to be between $1.7 billion and $1.8 billion, nearly double the $900 million FSG paid for the franchise in 2021 from Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle.While the Hoffmann family did not earn its $2 billion fortune in hockey, it has a longtime affinity for the sport and has been a successful owner of the ECHL’s Florida Everblades since 2019.David Hoffmann is the billionaire patriarch of the family, the majority of his wealth coming from private equity, manufacturing, real estate and other businesses.The man expected to be at the forefront of the Penguins’ ownership and day-to-day operations, however, is David Hoffmann’s son, Geoff Hoffmann, CEO of the Hoffmann Family of Companies’ private equity arm, who will serve as the team’s governor. The team’s alternate governors will be Greg Hoffmann, CEO of the company’s real estate arm and brother of Geoff Hoffmann, along with David Hoffmann and Kyle Dubas, the Penguins’ president of hockey operations and general manager.