LEAGUE NOTES

          The date for the 48th NHL All-Star Game at Vancouver's
     GM Place has been changed from Saturday, January 17 to
     Sunday, January 18 at 4:00pm ET.  NHL COO & Senior VP Steve
     Solomon: "Playing the All-Star Game on Sunday afternoon
     enables many more of our young fans to watch the greatest
     players in the world" (NHL).  In Vancouver, Terry Bell
     reports that the format of the game could change next year
     in which a European team will face a North American squad. 
     NHL VP Special Events Frank Supovitz: "We've looked at
     internationalizing the event overall to take advantage of
     the Olympics in Nagano" (VANCOUVER PROVINCE, 7/24)....The
     WALL STREET JOURNAL's Stefan Fatsis looks at salary caps in
     pro sports under the header: "Is A Battle Looming Over
     Salary Caps?"  Fatsis writes that while the salary cap
     "[s]ounds good in theory ... Loopholes have allowed
     wealthier teams in the NBA and NFL -- the only major leagues
     with caps -- to continue to outspend their competitors"
     (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/25).