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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NHL NEWS & NOTES: WIRTZ SAYS OLYMPIC BOOST NO SURE THING

          NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was featured in a Q&A
     with Rick Barger of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER.  Bettman, asked
     if he is concerned about a drop in league-wide attendance:
     "I don't think we have too many teams that are struggling. 
     There are peaks and valleys in attendance or teams.  Some of
     it's related obviously to performance year to year. ... If
     you exclude the Hurricanes, I think as of (Tuesday) we were
     down three-tenths of a point" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/14).
          BURKE-ISMS: NHL Senior VP/Dir of Operations Brian Burke
     was interviewed in the HARTFORD COURANT.  Asked if Hartford
     could receive another team after Atlanta and Minneapolis/St.
     Paul were awarded expansion franchises after losing teams:
     "[S]ince the team moved out of Atlanta, I think the city has
     -- if it hasn't doubled in size, it's close to -- doubled in
     size.  I think Atlanta is a slam dunk for us.  I'd have to
     see the same type of growth and corporate growth in Hartford
     before I could predict that" (HARTFORD COURANT, 12/14).
          NO FAN OF NAGANO: Blackhawks Owner Bill Wirtz, on the
     NHL's participation in the Nagano Games: "The Games will be
     on at 1, 2, 3 a.m.  This is exposure?  Do it in Salt Lake
     City (in 2002).  The World Cup, that is what we should be
     building up" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 12/13).  Wirtz was asked
     about the "thousands of empty seats in the United Center,"
     and Rich Strom of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE wrote that while Wirtz
     "skated around his thoughts. ... He did say people
     throughout the league are talking about the lack of
     intensity of the game and that could be one of the reasons
     attendance is down" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 12/13). 

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