In the midst of negotiations between the Devils and the
NJSEA, both parties agreed Monday to postpone a hearing requested
by the Authority seeking a restraining order to keep the team
from moving. The latest move has the team extending its lease-
termination date until July 11. The RECORD's Hirsch and
Fitzgerald called the delay "the most concrete sign of progress
toward a settlement since intensive talks between the two sides
began last week." A source "familiar to the negotiations" said
the extension was due in part to advice given to the Devils
management that "in no uncertain terms ... they couldn't win in
court -- that it would be a costly court battle and that they
would lose" (Bergen RECORD, 7/4). Larry Brooks of the N.Y. POST
writes that the move makes it "ever more apparent" that the team
will stay in NJ (N.Y. POST, 7/4). Richard Sandomir writes that
the postponement "may indicate progress in talks" between the two
sides (N.Y. TIMES, 7/3).
ONLY IF THEY'RE FREE? In a poll in Sunday's RECORD, 68% of
surveyed residents in Passaic and Bergen Counties said they would
rather see the team move than use tax dollars to keep them at the
Meadowlands. Only 21% favored the use of tax dollars, with
nearly half saying they had "little interest in hockey." Forty-
eight percent said it was important or somewhat important to keep
the team in NJ, while 51% said it mattered little. The poll
surveyed 705 adults through telephone interviews (Bergen RECORD,
7/2). In Boston, the GLOBE's Kevin Paul Dupont writes that his
"best guess" is that the team will move, with part of the $20M
they will receive from Nashville as "seed money to pay off the
NJSEA" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/2).
