NHL NEWS & NOTES: EDMONTON GROUP SHOULD ANNOUNCE BID TODAY

          An Edmonton group "is expected" to announce sometime
     today its intentions to buy the NHL Oilers, according to Ric
     Dolphin of the EDMONTON JOURNAL.  The group is led by Cathy
     Allard Roozen, who is part owner of Vancouver-based WIC TV;
     and Bruce Saville, a computer entrepreneur.  The JOURNAL's
     Dolphin reports that the two are worth "in excess" of C$300M
     between them (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 9/17).
          SALES UPDATE: Senators President & CEO Roy Mlakar said
     that the team is "approaching" the 9,400 mark for season-
     ticket sales, 1,300 more than the team sold last year.  He
     said the goal is to have 10,000 season-ticket holders by the
     start of the season and 12,000 by the start of the '98-99
     season (OTTAWA SUN, 9/17)....Canadiens GM Rejean Houle:
     "We've sold about 15,000 season tickets, which is where we
     were last season.  We're working on our group sales and
     various packages now" (Montreal GAZETTE, 9/17).