NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman still believes the best
option for the Oilers is to stay in Edmonton, according to
MacDonald & Farrell of the EDMONTON JOURNAL. Bettman: "I'm
only in Mr. [Les] Alexander's camp if there is no option of
buying the club locally. If somebody steps up locally to
buy the club, that is our No. 1 desire" (EDMONTON JOURNAL,
2/13). But the EDMONTON SUN's Terry Jones reported that
Bettman sounded "anything but confident" a local group would
come up with the money in 28 days (EDMONTON SUN, 2/13). In
Edmonton, columnist Dan Barnes: "The similarities to
Winnipeg [which relocated to Phoenix] are frightening and
the crash may be just as inevitable here as it was there,
fuelled by skyrocketing salaries, greedy owners and an NHL
commissioner who pays lip service to the game in Canada and
real attention to U.S. money" (EDMONTON SUN, 2/13).
FROM NASHVILLE: Nashville Predators Owner Craig
Leipold, on rumors of a franchise swap with Alexander:
"There is no scenario, no possibility that the Edmonton
Oilers franchise would be moving here and the Predators
would be moving to Houston" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/13).
