LEAGUE NOTES

          The date for the 48th NHL All-Star Game at Vancouver's     GM Place has been changed from Saturday, January 17 to     Sunday, January 18 at 4:00pm ET.  NHL COO & Senior VP Steve     Solomon: "Playing the All-Star Game on Sunday afternoon     enables many more of our young fans to watch the greatest     players in the world" (NHL).  In Vancouver, Terry Bell     reports that the format of the game could change next year     in which a European team will face a North American squad.      NHL VP Special Events Frank Supovitz: "We've looked at     internationalizing the event overall to take advantage of     the Olympics in Nagano" (VANCOUVER PROVINCE, 7/24)....The     WALL STREET JOURNAL's Stefan Fatsis looks at salary caps in     pro sports under the header: "Is A Battle Looming Over     Salary Caps?"  Fatsis writes that while the salary cap     "[s]ounds good in theory ... Loopholes have allowed     wealthier teams in the NBA and NFL -- the only major leagues     with caps -- to continue to outspend their competitors"     (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/25).