The leader of Las Vegas' NHL bid has "finalized a deal" with the Howard Hughes Corp. to build a practice facility for his prospective club in Summerlin, Nev., according to Steve Carp of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Fidelity National Financial Chair Bill Foley has "signed an agreement with Gillette Construction of Las Vegas to build the 105,000-square foot building" at a cost of approximately $17M. The facility "would have two NHL-sized rinks with a capacity of 600 seats for each rink." There also "will be a 20,000-square-foot locker room and training facility for the team, along with team offices, a pro shop, concessions and smaller locker rooms." There is "room to expand to four sheets of ice," and groundbreaking "probably would come in September." Foley said that the NHL "had no problem with him planning for a place for his potential team to practice." Foley: "They said, ‘It’s your risk money.' But we’re not going to build it unless we get the team. And if we get the team, we need to be ready to move quickly. At the same time, we’re trying not to get too far ahead of ourselves." The NHL is currently mulling Foley's bid, and he said that his last conversation with the league "was a few weeks ago." Asked for an update on the potential team’s ticket sales, Foley reported that there had "been a few defections and that the current figure of deposits was just below 14,000." Carp notes a decision "in the next few weeks by the NHL makes sense." The league "released its two plans for an expansion draft" in '17 last month at the GM meetings in Boca Raton. The BOG's next scheduled meeting "is in Las Vegas in late June." But NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman "can call a special meeting if he decides he has the votes to expand" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/8).
