Jets, Nordiques to Get No Help From Canada

OTTAWA —  The Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques, both in jeopardy of being sold and relocated to the United States, were told Tuesday they cannot count on money from the federal government to help them stay in Canada.

“There’s a hard dose of reality in these matters,” Human Resources Minister Lloyd Axworthy said. “Things that take place that are not anyone’s bailiwick but a combination of events.”

Axworthy spoke after meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Finance Minister Paul Martin and the owners of the Jets and Nordiques.

Barry Shenkarow, president and co-owner of the Jets, said the meeting did nothing to clarify whether Tuesday night’s NHL game at the Winnipeg Arena between the Jets and the Los Angeles Kings would be the last in the city.

“If I knew the answer, I would tell (the fans),” he said. “I hope it’s not, but it’s possible it is.”

If the Jets and Nordiques were to leave, Canada would be left with six NHL franchises. A Minnesota group is interested in the Jets and a group in Denver is eyeing the Nordiques.

None of the participants at the news conference following the meeting said the Jets in Winnipeg are dead. Nor did anyone hold out much hope the club will survive.

“As of today, nobody seems willing to stand behind the team,” Bettman said. “The government didn’t make any commitment to stand behind the potential losses of the club, and it would be presumptuous of me to suggest it should.”

Winnipeg passed a self-imposed deadline Monday night to complete a sale of the Jets to local interests.

Axworthy said without a sound business plan, the government could not promise Winnipeg any money toward a new arena deemed crucial to the team’s long-term survival.

John Loewen, the chairman of Manitoba Entertainment Complex, the group interested in purchasing the Jets and keeping them in Winnipeg, said he did not want to discuss the matter until having heard from the meeting participants.

The Jets have been rumored on the move for several years. Midnight Monday was the deadline set for a decision on building a new arena, without which the team could not continue to operate in Winnipeg.

Unless the Manitoba government -- which owns 32 percent of the team -- continues to assume all operating losses under an earlier agreement, Shenkarow now is free to sell to interests outside Winnipeg.

Minneapolis is considered a leading contender for the franchise. Bettman would neither confirm nor deny he’s been contacted about the Jets by Minnesota interests.

“People call me all the time about buying franchises,” he said.

A Denver group is said to have offered $75 million for the Nordiques and the club’s ownership would like a decision by the end of the month regarding a new arena.

“I have to acknowledge the time limit is working against us and also that the miracle has to be done to succeed,” said Marcel Aubut, the Nordiques president and co-owner.

Small comfort to hockey fans in Quebec and Winnipeg, but Bettman said he told Axworthy and Martin he believes Canada’s other NHL franchises are on solid financial ground.

Earlier in the day, Bettman addressed the annual meeting of The Canadian Press in Toronto and gave much the same message.

“If we lose Quebec and Winnipeg, hopefully that is the end of it,” he said.