After Ontario Premier Mike Harris dismissed the
possibility of a new lottery to aid Canadian NHL teams, the
Montreal GAZETTE's Red Fisher speculated that the "message"
from the league to its Canadian "cash-strapped teams" was
that "if you really need money, find it somewhere else."
Teams "almost surely were told ... to forget about" a
lottery and the news, "while not unexpected, could jump-
start" Senators Chair Rod Bryden into "putting his splendid
team on the market, which is not "good news to anybody"
(GAZETTE, 10/16). In Ottawa, Rick Gibbons wrote that Bryden
"can't seem to penetrate the wall of indifference" by the
Ontario government "despite mounting a credible case about
the unfairness of a tax system" (OTTAWA SUN, 10/17).
WHY IS THERE NO DEAL? In Toronto, James Travers noted
the Senators could be sold by December: "Few will blame
Bryden. ... Avoiding blame is now the primal force in a
process that formally began in June [with the hockey
summit]." Travers, on why there is no deal with the
provincial governments: "The NHL hasn't tossed more gold
into the equalization pot, owners haven't dealt with the
obscene player salary levels and lower levels of government,
the ones that benefit most from hockey, are not willing to
forgo revenues" (TORONTO STAR, 10/16). In Toronto, Damien
Cox: "Canadian operators should share some of the blame for
current market conditions." More Cox: "Only a major leap of
logic would suggest these businesses now deserve an infusion
of public money" (TORONTO STAR, 10/16). The TORONTO STAR
does not support a new lottery for the teams: "Pro hockey is
a business, not a public trust. It should stand on its own
two skates" (TORONTO STAR, 10/16).
HAS THE LEAGUE LIVED "BEYOND ITS MEANS"? In Ottawa,
Bruce Garrioch wrote, "Before the NHL allows any more teams
to move to the U.S., it should get its own house in order."
Garrioch cited the Islanders, Penguins, Capitals and Coyotes
as troubled teams. An NHL exec: "The league has been living
way beyond its means for too long. If the Senators move to
Portland or Houston, they'll do fine for awhile but they'll
probably end up in the same kind of mess some of the other
U.S. cities are in" (OTTAWA SUN, 10/17).
