THE SIDELINES : Local Buyers Bid for North Stars

A group that includes Minnesota businessman Harvey Mackay today expressed interest in negotiating for local investors to buy the Minnesota North Stars, whose owners have said they’ll move the NHL team to the San Francisco Bay Area if a buyer cannot be found to keep it in the state.

“We are optimistic that a deal can be struck to keep the North Stars in Minnesota, but this is far from a completed transaction,” the group, which calls itself North Star Hockey Partners of Minnesota, said in a prepared statement released before a news conference late this morning.

According to the statement, Mackay called North Stars co-owner Gordon Gund on Wednesday night to tell him about a letter Gund would receive from the Mackay group. The statement said the letter “indicated an offer to open direct and serious negotiations for the purchase of the Minnesota North Stars by a group of local investors.”

Mackay also talked with NHL Commissioner John Ziegler and sent him a copy of the letter.

The North Stars have arena offers in Oakland and San Jose.