April 11th

THE LEIPOLD REIN BEGINS

Craig Leipold officially took over as owner of the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, completing the purchase of the team from Bob Naegele right in the middle of the first-round playoff series against Colorado.

"It's been a long process," Leipold said at a media conference. "Lots of signatures the last couple days. We were hoping to get it done last week and didn't get done. It just kept dragging out and dragging out. I'm just thrilled to death. This is a dream, to be part of a hockey program like this in a market like this. It's probably going to hit me when I'm on my way back home."

Leipold lives in Racine, Wis., and didn't do himself any favours with Minnesota sports fans when he said taking over for Naegele, who had owned the Wild since its inception, was like Aaron Rodgers taking over at quarterback for Green Bay's Brett Favre.

Naegele will stay on as a minority partner in the ownership group, Leipold said. He is also bringing in Phil Falcone, a 46-year-old native of Chisolm who played hockey at Harvard, as a general partner.

Leipold declined to discuss specifics of the deal, but did say he will own 51 per cent of the team and there is no immediate succession plan for Falcone to take over the franchise, as has been speculated.

"It's an interesting little transition that could happen some day," Leipold said. "But I'm not getting into this franchise right now with the anticipation of selling it within five or six years."

The NHL's Board of Governors unanimously approved the transaction, and Leipold said he doesn't have any immediate plans for sweeping changes.

"This organization is well-prepared and well-positioned for the future," he said. "And I really do believe in the saying, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

"This is not a broken franchise. This is a marquee franchise. What I hope to do is to continue the success this franchise has had."

Leipold said he would like to keep general manager Doug Risebrough, who has been mentioned as a possible replacement in Toronto, on board.

"Doug's a winner, and I really like Doug," Leipold said. "I've always respected Doug. So I can tell you it's a high, high, high, priority keeping him here."

A consortium of Nashville businessmen purchased the Predators for $193 million.

Reserch In Motion head Jim Balsillie of Waterloo, Ont., signed a non-binding letter of intent to buy the Predators for $220 million, but Leipold and the league balked after Balsillie explored relocating the team to Southern Ontario.



MARTIN TO STAY WITH CATS AS GM ONLY

According to the Miami Herald, Jacques Martin will not serve as the Florida Panthers coach next season.

Martin has been Florida's general manager and its coach, but the Herald reported on its website that team owner Alan Cohen told season ticket holders Thursday night that Martin's duties would be split.

"More than anything, we needed a change as coach," Cohen told the newspaper after the event. "Jacques has done a good job as GM. That's the bottom line."

Cohen brought in Martin as coach and Mike Keenan as general manager in May 2004. Martin assumed both duties when Keenan resigned after a little more than two years running the team's day-to-day operations.

"Jacques and I have talked about splitting the responsibilities and him staying on as GM," Cohen wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "In that role, he would be responsible for selecting the new coach."

Florida went 38-35-9 to finish with 85 points this season, nine behind Southeast Division champion Washington.

The Panthers haven't won a playoff game since 1997, and haven't reached the post-season since 2000.