WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

Hurricanes: "Here To Play, Here To Stay"

Jul 23, 2005

RALEIGH, N.C. — On the day the NHL officially came back, Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos insisted his team is doing the same -- for good.

He put to rest any thoughts to the contrary Friday night after returning from New York, where the league showed off its new labor agreement and its new rules.

During a news conference on the club level at the RBC Center, Karmanos, also the chairman and chief executive officer of the software company Compuware, said he has no interest in moving the franchise and it never has been for sale.

"I don't recall ever putting the team up for sale, or even coming close to that," Karmanos said. "My guys tell me that's a real concern around here, and I am just absolutely amazed by it."

When pressed on the issue, he brusquely added, "Unequivocally, I'm not going to sell the team and it's never been for sale, all right? Ever, not since I bought it."

Now probably isn't the time for Karmanos to make that move, since the salary-cap-based collective bargaining agreement gives small-market teams such as the Hurricanes a better chance to compete for the Stanley Cup. No team's payroll will exceed $39 million or go under $21.5 million next season -- including salaries, signing bonuses and performance bonuses.

The Hurricanes' season-ticket holders will receive deep discounts for keeping their money with the team during the work stoppage. But several other promotions designed to fill the arena will cut tickets by an average of $5 per seat, taking prices from an average of $42 a seat to $37 or $38. More than 4,000 seats behind the goals in the upper level of the RBC Center will be priced at $12 to $15 a game.

"We're going to work our tails off to make sure our fans come back," Karmanos said.

Kevyn Adams, Carolina's player representative, was thrilled to be back in the locker room and the RBC Center on Friday afternoon.

"This is a day I've been waiting for for a long time," said Adams. "It's great to walk back through these doors.

The six-year deal between the league and players also stipulates that total player costs will not exceed 54 percent of league revenues. Karmanos said last year that he has lost $12 million to $16 million a year since buying the franchise in 1994, when it was based in Hartford, Conn., and known as the Whalers.

General manager Jim Rutherford had put the team's losses at $22 million in the 2003-04 season despite having just a $39 million payroll.

"It was very hard for the fans in different communities to really believe that their team had a chance to compete," Karmanos said. "The thing that makes sense about this is that the amount of money the players get and the amount of money the league gets is tied together."

A cap tied to revenues was a solution the players' association vowed never to accept, but the rank and file membership approved the deal with 464 of 532 players (87 percent) voting in favor.

"I think the players cared," said Hurricanes forward Kevyn Adams, the team's player representative. "The players that came to Toronto were extremely involved, voiced their opinions and asked a lot of questions. I think the fact that (87) percent of the players voted for it shows you this is a good deal for the players."

With the deal officially in place, a frenzy of player movement is set to start Saturday. And the flurry of signings won't really calm down until training camps open in September.

Some teams only have a handful of players under contract, and many big-name stars will soon go free. Beginning Saturday, teams will have six days to buy out players to make payrolls more cap friendly.

"The next two weeks are going to be a three-ring circus," Karmanos said. "None of us have been in this situation."

Now it's up to Rutherford to complete a roster that has only eight players under contract for the upcoming season.

"We're going to be given an opportunity now to build our team," Rutherford said. "We're going to have more flexibility and more options to look at different things. We've identified a few players that can help our team, and given the opportunity, if we can get them, we will.

"But we may very well wait a little bit longer until things filter down, where we think there might be some good deals."

No matter who's playing for the Hurricanes next season, Karmanos simply is happy to have them back on the ice. As a resident of Detroit, he's been forced to watch another team's run to success the past two years.

"I've had about all of the Detroit Pistons I can stand," he quipped.