CAROLINA'S CUP-CRAZY? NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman
attended Thursday's Bruins-Canes playoff game at Greensboro
Coliseum, at which he said, "It's time to get the Carolinas
Cup-crazy" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 4/23). In Greensboro,
Ed Hardin puts attendance at last night's game -- a 2-0
Hurricanes loss -- at "somewhere between 8,000 and 11,059
... the smallest in modern NHL playoff history." The game
was an announced sellout at 11,059. Hardin: "The playoffs
came to Greensboro on Thursday, and thousands of people and
thousands of empty seats attended the game. That was either
a great shock or a great expectation." Bettman: "You can't
underestimate the difficulty of playing games this far from
home [Raleigh]" (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 4/23).
MORE NHL NOTES: The NHL is "expected to seek
permission" today from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bernard
Markovitz to "dissolve" the Penguins, in an attempt to
"accelerate the slow-moving efforts to complete a financial
reorganization" of the team. Markovitz, "who also has
expressed displeasure" with the pace of the case, "will
approve the NHL's request" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE,
4/23)....The Sabres total regular-season attendance of
737,275 is a team record (BUFFALO BUSINESS FIRST, 4/21
issue). For more on final NHL attendance, see (#30).
OTHER: Former Knicks President & GM Ernie Grunfeld, on
his reaction to being reassigned on Wednesday: "Was I
surprised? Yes, absolutely. I was very disappointed by it.
The timing of it was awkward -- I thought it was very
awkward" (STAR-LEDGER, 4/23)....The Rapids postponed their
home game scheduled for Saturday night against the Fire due
to the tragic events at Columbine High School (Rapids).
