In St. Paul, Charley Walters reported the Wild "need to win" their opening-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Blues "to make money as an organization this season." Selling out three home playoff games at Xcel Energy Center "is worth about" $1.3M in profit for the Wild. Team Owner Craig Leipold "will have lost money that he could have saved by cutting payroll" if the Wild fail to win the series. The Wild currently lead the series 2-1 entering tonight's Game 4 (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 4/20).
MOMENT OF ZEN: Knicks President Phil Jackson yesterday discussed the team's offseason plans and said teams "change rapidly in the NBA." He said, "We have a league that’s dominated by personalities, by talent, and with five players, getting two or three players of talent changes your direction quickly. We don’t expect to go to a championship next year. That would be, like, talking crazy. But we really do think that progressively we’re going to get better. I don’t think teams move as rapidly as that in this league. I think they have to take substantial steps, and that’s what we want to do.” He said of the club's plans for spending on free agents, "We’re not going to the Dollar Store. But we may not be at one of the bigger ones" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/22). In N.Y., Mike Vaccaro writes Jackson "looked defeated" when addressing the media yesterday. Jackson "looked beaten down by his first season as an executive" (N.Y. POST, 4/22).
WELL-OILED MACHINE? In Edmonton, Jason Gregor writes when Bob Nicholson joined Oilers Entertainment Group last year as Vice Chair, he and President of Hockey Operations Kevin Lowe "were equals," but after Nicholson's promotion to CEO, "many are wondering what that means for Lowe." Nicholson was "very vague about his plans for hockey operations, but you can expect an announcement in the coming weeks, possibly months, about specific roles and titles for the people in that department." The Oilers "need to improve on the ice, but they also need to repair their image off the ice and within the community." Many fans "have used the term 'arrogant' to describe the Oilers" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 4/22).
DEM BLACKOUTS: In L.A., Bill Shaikin wrote Dodgers investor Magic Johnson "is absolutely right" in his opinion that the team's lack of TV carriage has not hurt the Dodgers' brand. Keeping the Dodgers off its satellite system "has not hurt the DirecTV brand." If the Dodgers "thought their brand was being irreparably harmed by the blackout, they might consider lowering the asking price for SportsNet LA by shaving a $1 billion, or $2 billion, off their contract with TWC." But "loyalty to the Dodgers runs so strong and so deep here that the team can prosper despite disappearing from TV for a year or two" (L.A. TIMES, 4/19).
