During the final game at the Aud, the Sabres decided not to
wear their new uniforms, instead putting on "the blue and gold
one last time." The new colors will be on display when the team
begins play at the $120M Marine Midland Arena next season (THE
DAILY)....Because of uncertainty over the Oilers' Nashville
situation, Owner Bud Adams is experiencing money problems which
have curtailed the signing of free agents and could force the
club to trade down in the Draft (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/14)....The
Edmonton Oilers are about 3,000 season tickets short of the
13,000 needed by May 31 to earn the team roughly C$3.4M from the
NHL's Canadian Assistance Program (Edmonton JOURNAL, 4/12)....The
Broncos have announced that approx. 3,000 season tickets will be
offered to those on the waiting list. In the past, such tickets
were made available first for single-game sales. The club's
renewal rate was over 97% (Broncos)....Attendance numbers for the
last place IHL Aeros fell by 8% from the team's inaugural season
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE). attendance....Encouraged by the crowd at
MLS's first game in L.A., the NY/NJ MetroStars will double the
number of tickets available for their home opener from the
initially planned 26,576 (N.Y. TIMES, 4/16)...Columnist Dan
Barreiro, on the apathy at the final home game of the IHL Moose:
"The closing of your average Burger King franchise arouses more
emotion" (Minneapolis STAR-TRIBUNE, 4/14).... The NHL has given
St. Paul a set of conditions it must meet before it is awarded a
franchise. The city must refurbish St. Paul Civic Center so it
ranks with the NHL's best arenas and then turn it over to the
team with guarantees for suite and season-ticket sales
(Minneapolis STAR-TRIBUNE, 4/16).