FRANCHISE NOTES

          NHL: The Predators have sold 8,002 season tickets as of
     February 16, meaning they must sell 3,998 by March 31 to
     meet NHL requirements (Predators)....N.Y. investment banker
     Michael Largue "is bringing his purchase plan" for the NHL
     Oilers to Edmonton Monday (EDMONTON SUN, 2/25).  Meanwhile,
     Molson Breweries announced it will contribute one dollar to
     the Edmonton Oilers Forever Fund for every 12 Molson
     Canadian and Canadian Ice beers sold in Alberta (EDMONTON
     JOURNAL, 2/25)....Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford, on the $38M
     offer to Sergei Fedorov, which was rejected by the NHL but
     is headed for arbitration: "[T]his could not have been done
     if we had stayed in Hartford" (ESPN SportsZone, 2/24).