Target Center Exec Dir Dana Warg said that after a recent
phone conversation with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, "the stars
are in the right direction" for the Winnipeg Jets to move to
Minneapolis next year. The city of Winnipeg, which has been
subsidizing the team, has until May 1, 1995, to decide whether to
build an arena to keep the NHL franchise viable. Warg: "My guess
is that they won't." New Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has
expressed interest in having a second tenant in the Target Center
(Jay Weiner, Minneapolis STAR-TRIBUNE, 10/19). Winnipeg Deputy
Mayor George Fraser said keeping the Jets in Winnipeg is a
"razor-thin deal" that hinges on a resolution to the current
labor dispute that includes a salary cap. Fraser added that if a
league-wide cap is not put in place, "then Winnipeg will be the
first city to make the decision to give up its NHL team. And it
will soon be followed by other Canadian cities" (Scott Taylor,
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 10/20). A source close to Jets' President
Barry Shenkarow called Warg's assertions of a move to MN
"garbage" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 10/20).
FLY AWAY JETS: In Winnipeg, Val Werier criticizes the city
for spending $8.5M a year to keep the team: "If this an example
of how we spend our money, it is clear where the priority should
lie -- for the services of the less affluent citizens and not to
underwrite in part the huge salaries of the Winnipeg Jets, eight
of whom are in the millionaire class" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS,
10/20).
