NHL's Senators Up For Sale

Ottawa Senators owner Rod Bryden, citing no commitment from the Canadian government on tax breaks, said Thursday that he is looking for a buyer for his team.

"My only prudent course of action is to turn attention to the process of moving the team," Bryden said during a news conference.

But he acknowledged that the odds of the Senators leaving the city are "not that high."

Bryden's announcement marks an escalation in his battle to secure tax help, effectively shifting the onus on to the federal government.

"I would not call it posturing," he said. "I do not believe the government would act if they believed I would stay anyway."

The owner said he would be "absolutely delighted" if the federal government agreed to join the provincial and municipal governments in cutting taxes for the Senators.

Bryden said he needed to start the search for new ownership now if the team is to move by June in order for the NHL to set next season's schedule.

Bryden has asked for $6.7 million to $8 million in tax relief from three levels of government, saying he needs the help to compete with U.S. teams, which pay lower taxes.

He said his move was not intended as pressure tactics on the federal government.

"There's a lot of time for the government to act and I'm not setting deadlines," he said. "And I'm not objecting if they don't act. I said at the very beginning I'm trying to put the facts in front of Canadians as clearly as possible. And if their judgment is that there is no public interest to be served in retaining this team here, then they shouldn't do it. And if there is, they should. I believe there is and I hope they will."

Bryden said he is looking for between $2.47 million and $3.3 million a year from the federal government to ease the U.S.-Canada dollar exchange rate.

But Industry Minister John Manley says there's not enough support for the federal government to act alone in subsidizing the Ottawa Senators.

"The first thing that we're trying to work on is whether there is in fact some kind of contribution that could be fashioned at a federal level that would be conditional upon the other players coming in," he said.

"I'm not surprised," Vancouver president and general manager Brian Burke said Thursday night before the Canucks' game against Edmonton. "This is what Mr. Bryden said some time ago that if he didn't get some action on the government front, that he was going to put the team up for sale.

"I think it's a sad day in the sense that we're in great risk of losing yet another Canadian team. I guess I'm pulling my hair out because I don't understand what it's going to take before people in government understand that this is not a heoretical problem, not a hypothetical problem. It's real."

Bryden denied a report that there were already five offers for the team.

However, the owners of the New Orleans Brass minor league hockey team inquired Thursday about buying the Senators.

The Brass, which play in the East Coast Hockey League, serve primarily as a developmental team for higher-level professional teams.

But the New Orleans club also plays in a new $110 million, 20,000-seat arena designed to attract an NHL or NBA team.

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