Players Don’t Trust Numbers

CALGARY, Canada —  The Mighty Ducks’ player leadership reacted skeptically to Arthur Levitt’s yearlong study of NHL finances. Levitt, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, was hired by the NHL and announced Thursday that NHL teams had total operating losses of $273 million in 2002-03.

“We’re not sure if we’re seeing the whole picture,” team captain Steve Rucchin said. “Unless they show us that everything is being counted, then we really can’t be sure whether that’s the real number.”

Duck management does not release its financial information. It is believed the team, a small part of the Walt Disney Co., had about $7 million in operating losses last season, when it reached the Stanley Cup finals.

Players, though, say they have little trust when NHL officials talk numbers.

“We all know that there are ways to be creative in accounting,” said Keith Carney, one of the Ducks’ player representatives. “This guy was hired by the league. That just makes it hard for the players to buy.”

Carney was also suspicious of what he saw as maneuvering by NHL officials.

“I’d like to see the focus back on the game,” Carney said. “I would like to see this positioning taken out of the media. They should be doing all this behind the scenes.”

Carney, like others, is preparing for the worst. Players’ association officials started telling its membership to put aside money two years ago, about the same time the NHL was asking teams to contribute $10 million each to a lockout fund.

“We are ready to stand together as a group,” Carney said.

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TONIGHT

at Vancouver, 7, Channel 9

Site -- General Motors Place.

Radio -- XPRS (1090).

Records -- Ducks 18-24-8-7, Canucks 31-17-7-3.

Record vs. Canucks -- 1-1.

Update -- The Ducks defeated the Canucks, 2-1, on Jan. 17.