Return to NHL Sought by Buss : Hockey: He seeks a franchise for proposed San Diego arena. Bettman says no expansion is expected soon.

SAN DIEGO —  Jerry Buss, saying he misses hockey, has formally agreed to try to buy an NHL team and bring it here.

That announcement was to have been made Wednesday at a news conference, but the conference was canceled.

According to a press release obtained by The Times, however, Buss, owner of the Lakers and former owner of the Kings, has signed an agreement with San Diego developers Ron Hahn and Sam Marasco to apply for an NHL franchise, that team to play in a new downtown arena being planned by a group led by Hahn and Marasco.

The release said that Buss would be the majority owner of a hockey team and a minority owner of the arena, which will be built with mostly private funding.

Buss will not be a partner in San Diego’s aging Sports Arena, of which Hahn and Marasco are the lease holders.

The news conference was canceled because of a “minor glitch,” according to a spokesman.

The arena group apparently was worried that its announcement would be overshadowed here by the removal of General Manager Joe McIlvaine by baseball’s Padres.

Buss’ involvement with Hahn and Marasco, although not assuring the city of a franchise, has caught the attention of Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner.

“We have no plans to expand, and no plans to relocate any of our existing franchises at the present time,” Bettman said Wednesday. “But I’d be happy to talk to Jerry Buss about his interest.”

Although immediate expansion seems unlikely, because the league has added four teams in the last two years, some franchises are said to be in financial trouble. Leading candidates for purchase are the Hartford Whalers and Edmonton Oilers.

“I have missed owning a hockey team since I sold the Kings to Bruce McNall in 1989,” Buss said in the release. “I am confident that the NHL will look favorably on our application for a team in San Diego.”

The Mighty Ducks, Anaheim’s expansion team that is slated to begin play next fall, are not looking so favorably upon the agreement.

“This idea infringes on the Kings’ territories and our territories, particularly during our building years,” said Tony Tavares, president of Disney Sports Enterprises. “We would be opposed to something like that.”

Tavares added: “I can’t envision another team added to the marketplace when one is building.”

The Ducks were added to the league last winter, even though as much as 20% of the Kings’ season-ticket base comes from Orange County.

They had to pay the Kings $25 million for infringing on territorial rights.

“We had to deal with (McNall’s) rights in that market, so they would have to deal with our rights,” Tavares said.

Spokesmen for Buss and members of the arena group said they would have no comment concerning the agreement.

San Diego is the sixth-largest city in the country, and the largest without an NHL or NBA team.

The city has never had an NHL franchise and has been without an NBA team since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984.

The San Diego Gulls of the International Hockey League, in their third season, averaged 7,729 fans in 41 home dates at the 13,100-seat Sports Arena. This included 10 crowds of more than 10,000.

“I think (the NHL) knows of my desire and financial qualifications to own an NHL team again,” Buss said. “I think people know I was a very credible owner at the time I was in hockey. They are not dealing with an unknown entity.”

Hahn and Morasco acquired the lease to the city-owned Sports Arena last November as a first step toward building a downtown arena and filling it with professional sports franchises.

On March 29, the San Diego city council unanimously approved a revised memorandum of understanding, handing Hahn and Marasco exclusive rights to develop a sports and entertainment complex.

One requirement, however, is that the arena group have an agreement with a viable NHL or NBA partner within six months.

Buss, who has been negotiating with the developers for more than two years, could represent that partner.

Hahn has said that, unlike developers in St. Petersburg and San Antonio, he would not fall into the trap of building a new arena without acquiring a franchise. A new team could play in the Sports Arena while the new arena is being built.

Buss said his ownership of the Lakers and chairmanship of the NBA Board of Governors would preclude him from pursuing an NBA team for San Diego.

McNall’s name had surfaced, though, as a possible NBA owner in the city.

McNall is friendly with Buss and told The Times last fall when asked about owning an NBA team here: “Whatever Jerry tells me is what I’m going to do. He’ll be my contact in San Diego.”

Times staff writer Helene Elliott contributed to this story from Montreal.