NHL Franchise Notes: Wild See Green From New Alternate Jersey

Wild Will Wear Green Jerseys In 15 Games

Wild Dir of Retail Operations Matt Freiberg said the team's alternate green jersey has been "doing very well for us, and the line around it has been extremely successful, too." The Wild will wear the green jersey, which features "Minnesota" in script lettering across a green background, for 15 games this season. The club is not releasing sales figures, but NHL.com on the Monday after Thanksgiving "listed the Wild's third jersey as its 10th-best-seller" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/5).

LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: The Senators are averaging 17,970 fans through 16 home games at Scotiabank Place this season, "down 1,174 from the same period last season." Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk said, "I saw what was coming down the pipeline. We've had a 10[%] drop. All that means is that someone who goes to 20 games a year ... goes to 18." He added, "We're going to be working hard to replenish our season-ticket base (and conduct) a full review of what steps we can do to get back to the sellouts we had a year ago" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 12/7).

SOMETHING BRUIN? The GLOBE & MAIL's Eric Duhatschek predicted the NHL "will scrutinize" the Bruins C Marc Savard's new seven-year, $28.5M contract extension. Savard is "getting fair-market value" for the first four years of the deal, during which he will earn $7M, $7M, $6.5M and $5M. But the contract drops to $1.5M in the fifth season and to $525,000 for each of the final two years, "at which point Savard will be 39 and almost certainly retired." The deal is an "obvious and egregious attempt to keep the salary-cap charge down" (GLOBE & MAIL, 12/5). ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun: "The league feels ... it circumvents the spirit of the CBA." But the CBC's Glenn Healy said the deal "is 100% legal." Healy: "Everybody wins. The team wins, the fans win" ("HNIC," CBC, 12/5).

ALREADY LOOKING AT EUROPE AGAIN: An NHL source indicated that the Bruins are "one of six teams that have been approached by the NHL to start the 2010-11 regular season in Europe" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/5).