Buss Eyes His Own NHL Expansion Team : Hockey: Laker owner wants franchise. Then he says he will build a place for it to play.

Dr. Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Great Western Forum, said Wednesday he is waiting for word on NHL expansion and will not make plans to build an arena until he secures a franchise.

He said he is convinced that obtaining a franchise is the first step, and, since the NHL is not expected to decide on expansion until December of later, he will lobby the league and wait.

Buss detailed a plan to Wednesday entailing, in order: obtaining a franchise, finding a city to support it and getting a large company to back the team and community support. He said he will investigate Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties as possible locations if the franchise is awarded him. He is looking to be granted land on which to build an arena or a good deal on leasing land. Failing that, he said he will listen to offers from the proposed builders of arenas in Costa Mesa and Anaheim.

“I see this project probably different than other people see it,” Buss said. “To them, it’s go out and get land, get an architect, talk to the city, etc. In my estimation, that’s putting the cart before the horse. I think you have to have a franchise.”

Buss has expressed his interest in obtaining an expansion franchise by writing letters to key executives in the NHL but has not formally applied for a franchise because the NHL is not yet accepting applications.

“What I’ve told them is that I’m interested in anything in Southern California,” he said. “What I’ve thought is Orange County, Riverside and San Diego County. If I’m granted a franchise, those are the areas I’ll investigate.”

Gerry Helper, NHL spokesman, said the league is tentatively planning to review conditions and terms of its expansion application at the Board of Governors’ meeting the first week of May. League commissioner John Ziegler said at a Board of Governors’ meeting in February that expansion decisions of “who, what and how many” teams won’t be on the agenda until the Board of Governors’ meeting in December, at the earliest.