THE NHL/HELENE ELLIOTT : Creative Accounting Creates Deceptive Figures

Owner Ed Snider of the Philadelphia Flyers says his team lost $3 million on $30 million of revenue last season, and he might bail out if the losses continue. The New York Rangers, who play in 18,200-seat Madison Square Garden, say they lost $7-$8 million.

Neither club is being entirely truthful, but according to accepted accounting practices, neither is lying.

Each is a branch of a corporation with many tentacles. Snider also owns the Spectrum, Specta-Guard and Ticketmaster. The Rangers, Knicks, Madison Square Garden and the MSG Cable network are similarly linked, as properties of ITT-Sheraton/Cablevision.

In paying rent to the Spectrum, the Flyers are merely shifting money from one of Snider’s pockets to another, but they can claim rent as an expense. In New York, money from advertisements displayed on the dasher boards during hockey games is considered revenue for the Garden, not for the Rangers. The possibilities for interpretation are nearly endless.

That’s why revenue sharing would be so difficult to implement, at least until there’s a standard definition of what constitutes revenue.

Commissioner Gary Bettman claims a majority of clubs have lost substantial amounts of money over the last four years, but he won’t identify which clubs or how much was lost. It’s a good bet more than a few use the same creative accounting practiced by the Flyers and Rangers.

NUMBERS GAME

There are no goals, assists and penalties to tabulate, so here are some other numbers to crunch:

It took the NHL Players Assn. 51 hours to respond to the league’s invitation last Friday to resume talks. Assuming they meet today as scheduled, 98 hours will have elapsed since Bettman announced the delay in the start of the season until Oct. 15 while negotiations continue.

Through Monday, 16 games had been postponed. Game 16 would have been memorable. Before it, the Rangers had planned to raise their Stanley Cup banner. Sad, isn’t it, that after waiting 54 years to win the Cup, Ranger fans have to wait again?

THEY COULDN’T HAVE ANSWERED BELL

Some players might not mind the delay because they can now recover from injuries that would have kept them out of the lineup.

Several wear Ranger uniforms: Adam Graves, who has a sore lower back; Joby Messier and Sergei Zubov, who have knee injuries, and Kevin Lowe, who underwent shoulder surgery. The Rangers also have yet to come up with the $6-million annual salary Mark Messier is demanding.

Also not ready were Quebec’s Wendel Clark, who suffered a concussion in an exhibition, and Detroit’s Steve Yzerman, recovering from back surgery.

HE DID IT HIS WAY

Tony Esposito, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s director of operations, doesn’t understand why players and the league are feuding.

This never happened when he was president of the players’ union, he said. When he and the owners disagreed, “no matter what we did, we hammered it out and just worked on it and worked on it until both sides got weary and said, ‘OK, we’ll do this.’ That’s how it gets done.”

Sure, but there’s one big difference now. The NHLPA’s executive director during Esposito’s days was Alan Eagleson, who was friendlier with NHL President John Ziegler than many club owners were. Not surprisingly, that regime didn’t get any revolutionary deals that made players rich.

UNHAPPY CAMPERS

Whenever the season starts, defenseman Kevin Hatcher won’t be back with the Washington Capitals.

Hatcher asked to be traded after they wouldn’t pay him more than $3 million a season. Hatcher, who never reported to training camp, also cited a lack of support from fans and management as reasons for leaving.

Center Dale Hawerchuk left the Buffalo Sabres’ camp last Friday. He wants a raise from the $1.2 million he earned last season and he wants a guaranteed, three- year deal. The Sabres were willing to guarantee only one season.

BURKE’S LAW

Brian Burke, who handles disciplinary matters as the NHL’s senior vice president and director of operations, accepted a contract extension through the 1995-96 season.

Burke’s biggest battle might be in instituting standards for helmets. Shaken by the career-ending concussion suffered last season by the Blackhawks’ Michel Goulet, Burke wants players to wear headgear that would blunt the impact of a collision. However, some players, including the Kings’ Wayne Gretzky, cling to comfortable helmets that afford little protection.

First, the NHL must revoke the clause that allows players to go without helmets altogether if they sign an insurance waiver. Only Craig MacTavish, now of the Flyers, was foolish enough to do so last season.

QUOTABLES

--Chicago Blackhawk center Bernie Nicholls on Bettman’s postponement: “With John Ziegler, at least we played.”

--Capital General Manager David Poile on who’s to blame: “We have not managed our business well. We need help from players to control ourselves; they don’t like to hear that.”

SLAP SHOTS

Mike Barnett, who represents No. 3 draft pick Radek Bonk, said he had “some positive discussions” with the Ottawa Senators. Bonk also has an offer to remain with Las Vegas of the International Hockey League.

Left wing Jason Wiemer, picked eighth by Tampa Bay, signed for $2.45 million over three years. Left wing Jeff Friesen, drafted 11th by San Jose, signed for $3.2 million over four years.

The Panthers sent first-round draft pick Ed Jovanovski back to his junior team, Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League, to keep him in shape during the NHL delay. The Boston Bruins sent their top pick, Evgeny Ryabchikov, to Providence of the American Hockey League.