September 27, 200322 yr From Foxsports.com The Russian billionaire who bought London's Chelsea soccer club is reported to be negotiating to buy the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks. London's Evening Standard reported Thursday that Roman Abramovich, who bought Chelsea this summer, is being encouraged to invest in the NHL by fellow Russian and former NHL player Viacheslav Fetisov. The newspaper quoted Fetisov as saying: "It wouldn't hurt to have our own wholly Russian team in the National Hockey League. It would stir up more interest." A spokesman for Chelsea declined to comment. Abramovich already owns the Russian ice hockey team Avangard Omsk. NHL teams posted record losses of nearly $300 million last season, according to figures distributed to owners this summer. That was an increase of 35 percent from the $218 million in operating losses incurred by the league last year. The losses are blamed on soaring player salaries. Hmmm. this could shake things up majorly in the NHL. Vancouver would join teams like the Rangers and Dallas in just buying players instead of building teams through the draft. If I was Bill Wirtz, I'd be on the phone to this guy staright away begging him to buy da team.
September 27, 200322 yr That'd be pretty exciting. I know he knocked out ALOT of debt at Chelsea. The salaries are getting bad, I don't think the NHL can support superhigh salaries.
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