Calgary Mayor Al Duerr said that "fickle hockey fans
will share much of the blame" if the Flames leave Canada,
and asked people to "get out and support the team,"
according to Michael Platt of the CALGARY SUN. Duerr: "The
bottom line is if you want to keep the team, you've got to
be there for the team. ... They're having a hard enough time
with exchange rates and outlandish salaries, and what we can
do, more than anything, is support the team." Platt adds
that the Flames pay "only" C$360,000 a year in provincial
property taxes, with no city fee, but pay C$20M annually in
federal taxes (CALGARY SUN, 4/20).
HELP ON THE WAY? The CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR's Ruth
Walker reviews the financial difficulties facing Canadian
NHL teams and writes that Toronto "is the only Canadian city
not in danger of losing its NHL team to the US." But IN
Univ. Center for Urban Policy & the Environment Dir Mark
Rosentraub says some Canadian cities are "not being big
enough to support" pro sports: "Even if Ottawa had built a
100 percent subsidized stadium, in a few months, we'd be
having the same discussion" (CSM, 4/20).
