COURT DECISION SAVES NHL MILLIONS IN PENSION PAY-OUT

     An Ontario Court of Justice chose the NHL's method of
accounting and saved the league at least $2.4M in pension surplus
payments to former players.  Under the NHL's figures, the former
players, who sued and won control of surpluses from the NHL
Pension Society, will get $33.3M as of June 30, 1993 -- the last
date for which audited financial statements were available.  The
payout will grow with time.  The next step is to determine where
the money will come from.  The NHL claims its teams owe $24.7M to
the pension fund, which would be added to the $8.4M already in
the fund and then reallocated.  The NHLPA will argue that the
$8.4M be left to go toward pensions of current players (Kevin
McGran, CP/Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 2/4).
     REVENUE SHARING:  The NHL has hired Denver-based Bortz & Co.
to determine a formula for compensating small-market clubs.  But
in Boston, Kevin Paul Dupont notes that "some clubs might not be
able to float" even with some form of revenue-sharing.  NHL
Commissioner Gary Bettman, on Winnipeg:  "If there's no new
building, and the team is averaging 8,000 or 9,000 a game, we
shouldn't knock ourselves out trying to save them" (BOSTON GLOBE,
2/5).