HOCKEY / LISA DILLMAN : Lessons Are Clear for Expansion Clubs

Expansion hockey, the downside:

Tampa Bay General Manager Phil Esposito didn’t look like a proud father in June as he stood on the stage in the Montreal ballroom where he had rummaged through the scrap heap known as the NHL’s expansion draft.

Instead, he assembled a motley crew of castoffs. Behind him was a large board, showing the crests of the Lightning and the Ottawa Senators and the names of hockey players, some of them substandard issue.

Esposito looked as if he couldn’t wait to begin trading. In fact, the Lightning’s first deal was announced less than two hours after the draft.

Someone asked Esposito whether he thought there was a potential Mario Lemieux or Jaromir Jagr up there on the board.

Gesturing in the direction of the names of Steve Maltais and Michel Mongeau, Esposito yelled, “Are you blind?”

Expansion hockey, the upside:

The San Jose Sharks sold out every game last season at their temporary home, the Cow Palace in Daly City. This season, the streak of 53 consecutive home sellouts ended on Dec. 3 against those notorious attendance killers, the Hartford Whalers.

And the Sharks were even more successful off the ice with their popular merchandise, leading the league in souvenir and clothing sales. The distinctive cartoon logo in a triangle--a shark biting a stick in half--has been spotted from Kamloops, British Columbia, to Barcelona, Spain.

The recent experiences of Tampa Bay, Ottawa and San Jose should serve as a cautionary note to hockey fans in South Florida and Orange County. What good are your team’s trendy T-shirt and cap if the club’s victory total in February matches the temperature in Winnipeg?

There are two things the new owners of the two expansion teams should keep in mind:

--If anyone from the Ottawa Senators offers advice during the expansion or entry drafts, run.

--If anyone from the San Jose Sharks offers advice about marketing and public relations, pull up a chair and listen.

The Sharks had a nearly flawless lead-in to their NHL debut in October of 1991. In May of 1990, the league allowed George and Gordon Gund to sell the Minnesota North Stars in return for the rights to an expansion team in the Bay Area.

Within a month, the team started holding events, generating interest in the franchise. First was a sweepstakes to name the team, which brought in more than 5,700 entries with 2,300 different nicknames.

That fall, the name Sharks was announced. Later, the team’s official logo, colors and uniform design were unveiled at another event. The logo was created by Terry Smith of Santa Clara and John Zeleznick of Los Angeles.

Perhaps the key hire was Matt Levine, the team’s executive vice president for business operations. Levine has worked with 43 pro sports franchises and has start-up experience. His primary background is in marketing and promotions and he has experience in litigation. Tim Bryant, the team’s director of media relations, came over with the Gunds from Minnesota and had previously worked with the NBA Timberwolves in their start-up operation.

If the Orange County and South Florida teams hope to start playing next season, planning and preparation will have to begin almost immediately. San Jose had the luxury of a much longer lead time.

“We had almost 18 months to prepare,” Bryant said. “We had more time to plan than we do now. We took the time to develop the look. We had season-ticket focus groups to see what they liked and what they didn’t like.

“It was the same way with the Wolves. We wanted them to be household name before we started playing.”

Information from the focus groups yielded interesting responses. The Sharks found that the color teal appealed to women. And teal combined with black didn’t turn off the male audience. Fans preferred the team name Blades, but management rejected it because of a possible gang connotation. Apparently, management relented somewhat, because the Sharks’ minor league team in the International Hockey League is the Kansas City Blades.

Wayne Huizenga of Blockbuster Entertainment, owner of the South Florida franchise, doesn’t want to rush the process unnecessarily.

“The last thing we want to do is put a bunch of people on the ice and not be professional,” he said. “We want to do it in a highly professional manner. If you want to do anything in life, you want to do it right.”

The NHL’s goal is to expand to a 28-team league by 2000. Originally, the plan was to bring in four teams when the league last awarded expansion franchises two years ago. But the pool of candidates was much weaker in 1990.

By waiting two years, the league was able to bring in two major corporations, Disney and Blockbuster.

So, who’s next?

The league needs two more teams to reach the magic number of 28. Speculation has revolved around Dallas and Houston, with Phoenix on deck. But Phoenix didn’t impress the league when the attractive matchup of the Kings-Montreal fell 1,500 short of capacity last week in a game there.

Not much has been heard from groups in Seattle, which would be a natural rival for Vancouver. Two years ago, a representative from the Seattle-area company Microsoft appeared at the league meetings when expansion was discussed.

King owner Bruce McNall has openly said that he wants the best companies to be involved in the NHL. Microsoft would certainly fit in with Disney and Blockbuster.

McNall said no one has come forward from Hamilton, Ontario, or Milwaukee. Hamilton, which is in Toronto’s territory, made a bid for a franchise two years ago. And Milwaukee Admiral owner Lloyd Pettit said he does not want to pay $50 million for an expansion team.

“Talk is cheap,” McNall said. “Anyone can yap about wanting a franchise here or a franchise there. These guys (Disney and Blockbuster) weren’t talkers, they were serious people, major people, major companies with the marketing ability to help the league.”

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In his first news conference after becoming commissioner, Gary Bettman had to deal with several questions about fighting. Unlike Gil Stein, who immediately spoke out against fighting when he became president in June, Bettman spoke carefully.

“I’m not ducking the question,” Bettman said. “I want to have a little better knowledge before I come to a conclusion. I want to know the views of the fans, the GMs, the players--views across the spectrum. That will affect my view.”

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The 1995 NHL All-Star game will be played in San Jose, the first time the event will be on the West Coast since it was held in Los Angeles in 1981. This season, the All-Star game will be in Montreal. New York’s Madison Square Garden will have it in 1994.