Plans unveiled yesterday by the Maple Leafs for a new
Maple Leaf Gardens above Toronto's Union Station "will
never, ever, come to pass," according to Craig Daniels of
the TORONTO SUN. Daniels writes that the Leafs and Raptors
"will get together on an arena soon. It just won't be the
one the Leafs were talking about yesterday" because if the
Raptors scrap their Air Canada Centre plans to join the
Leafs, "what little credibility" the team has earned from
its fans and PSL-holders "will be destroyed." Raptors
President Richard Peddie: "They'd all want their money back.
I think we'd face lawsuits" (TORONTO SUN, 4/18). MLG Chair
Steve Stavro: "I'll do my best to bring the Raptors in.
Common sense will prevail." Peddie: "I find it
objectionable that we would have to drop everything. ...
We're at the construction stage. They're at the conceptual
stage" (Lance Hornby, TORONTO SUN, 4/18). A SUN editorial:
"Build one arena. Just do it" (TORONTO SUN, 4/18).
OWNERSHIP QUESTIONS: The SUN's Daniels writes that
negotiations for a shared arena "can't begin for one simple
reason: [Raptors VP] Isiah Thomas doesn't have control of
the Raptors and it appears that it is Isiah Thomas, not
Allan Slaight, with whom Leafs' chairman Steve Stavro, is
prepared to negotiate" (TORONTO SUN, 4/18). Slaight said
yesterday that he would "maintain control of the franchise
if he believed it was best for the club," according to Mary
Ormsby of the TORONTO STAR. Slaight, who owns approximately
80% of the team: "In any discussions with Isiah, it has
always been understood that I would be staying in, but we
just haven't gotten around to the precise (equity) points"
(TORONTO STAR, 4/18). The STAR's business reporter David
Israelson writes that Thomas "may not buy all of the shares
Slaight is offering, leaving room for another buyer to join
in. For example, the Leafs" (TORONTO STAR, 4/18).
