BUFFALO: Empire Sports Network will televise 46 of the
Sabres 48 games, the most games ever carried on the regional
sports network. The remaining two games will appear on Fox's
national broadcast, and WUTV-TV will simulcast 10 regular-season
games and all playoff games (Empire).
DALLAS: Home Sports Entertainment will televise 19 regular-
season Stars games (HSE).
CHICAGO: Chris Chelios and the Blackhawks do not think the
NHL will penalize Chelios for his comments threatening
Commissioner Bettman (Lance Hornby, TORONTO SUN, 1/15). LOS
ANGELES: In summing up the financial losses incurred by the
Kings and the Mighty Ducks, Thomas Mulligan writes that the Kings
"didn't have as much to lose," but the Ducks "should recover much
faster." The Kings' lost revenues are estimated at $10M, but
salary savings of $9M make the overall loss nearly a "wash." The
Ducks lost revenues are estimated at $12.75M, but lower salaries
bring their total losses to about $6M (L.A. TIMES, 1/16).
MONTREAL: Canadiens President Ronald Corey sold 12,000
Class-A non-voting shares in Molson Companies, the owner of the
team, worth C$223,875 at the "height" of the lockout in December
(MONTREAL GAZETTE, 1/14).
NEW YORK: Assessing the Rangers after the lockout, Joe
Lapointe writes that the relationship between Rangers President &
GM and new MSG President Dave Checketts "may be even more complex
and perplexing" than Mark Messier's situation. Lapointe notes it
was Checketts and a Garden lawyer that attended the "crucial"
January 7 Board meeting. Smith's absence "had to create obvious
questions in [his NHL peers'] minds" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/15)....Mark
Everson sees Messier's looming salary dispute as a key post-deal
test for the NHL and the union (N.Y. POST, 1/16). Messier
appeared on "Letterman" Friday and raised the Stanley Cup banner
in the studio ("Late Night," CBS, 1/13).
PHILADELPHIA: Les Bowen of the DAILY NEWS calls Flyers
Owner Ed Snider a "winner" because of the "way he handled" the
lockout (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 1/13).
TORONTO: Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. says its pretax income was
reduced by about C$8.5M as a result of the work stoppage (Toronto
GLOBE & MAIL, 1/14)....Ken Baumgartner, who served on the union
negotiating committee with teammate/NHLPA Pres Mike Gartner: "In
the old days in the wrong city, Garts and I would be moving to
another team today. But this is a first-class organization and
there'll be no strong-arm tactics" (Lance Hornby, TORONTO SUN,
1/14). VANCOUVER: Canuck Owner Arthur Griffiths said he voted
"no" on the players' last offer because the deal could have
"severely affected the control of the club": "I'm not saying I
would have lost control of the club, but I'd have had to borrow
more and pledge more security." The Canucks are collateral for
the $163M GM Place that will house Griffiths' Grizzlies (Iain
MacIntyre, VANCOUVER SUN, 1/14).
WASHINGTON: Capitals VP of Marketing Lew Strudler said the
team plans to advertise on local broadcast outlets and in
newspapers and magazines, as well as Metrobuses. Strudler added
that the Capitals have hired a full-time staffer to work on
"presentation" of the game, including music and bands (Athelia
Knight, WASHINGTON POST, 1/14).
