NHL to Send Application to San Diego

The NHL announced plans Wednesday to immediately mail out expansion applications to interested groups in several communities, including San Diego.

At a Board of Governors’ meeting in Rosemont, Ill., the league approved a deal to grant the San Francisco Bay area an expansion franchise for the 1991-92 season and said it might add up to two more teams for 1992-93 at a cost of $50 million apiece.

In addition to San Diego, applications will be sent to interested groups in cities such as Milwaukee, Tampa, Denver, Seattle, Houston, Ottawa, Hamilton and Saskatoon.

Harry Cooper, co-owner of the lease to operate the San Diego Sports Arena and the man attempting to work with the city to build a new arena in San Diego, said he hopes to receive an application by the end of this month.

“They will all go out at the same time so that everybody has an equal chance,” Cooper said. “They want the applications back by August.”

Jerry Buss, who has said he will apply for an expansion franchise for Southern California, was unavailable for comment.

The granting of an expansion franchise to the Bay area was part of a deal that also included the sale of the Minnesota North Stars from Gordon and George Gund to Howard Baldwin and Morris Belzberg. In turn, the Gunds were given a Bay-area franchise for 1991-92 at a cost of $50 million.

NHL Commissioner John Ziegler said the league still hopes to expand to 28 teams during this decade.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.