RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. is considering selling the NHL team.
Hurricanes spokesman Mike Sundheim said in a statement that Karmanos is deciding whether to accept an offer for the franchise or remain the owner, but he declined to say who made the offer.
The offer could have come from former Texas Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg. Bloomberg News and WRAL-TV, the NBC affiliate in Raleigh, reported that Greenberg is close to purchasing the team and will not move the Hurricanes. Bloomberg reported the sale price at roughly $500 million.
Karmanos bought the Hartford Whalers franchise in 1994 and moved it to North Carolina three years later. He had been publicly seeking a local buyer for at least three years.
Greenberg is the Rangers' former managing partner who spent seven months as their CEO before leaving in 2011. He also owns several minor-league baseball teams, including one in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Greenberg did not return a phone call and a text message seeking comment. Seven of the team's 12 publicly identified minority investors contacted by The Associated Press either declined comment or did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.
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Reports about possible relocation have plagued the Hurricanes even as team officials and even Commissioner Gary Bettman have persistently and repeatedly denied them. Bettman said at the All-Star game in January that "the club is not moving" and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly echoed that sentiment by saying the league is committed to Raleigh in the same manner it has stuck with Phoenix during years of struggles for the Coyotes (see full story).
Oilers: Ference retires after 16-year career
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Veteran defenseman Andrew Ference, who won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011, has announced his retirement from the NHL after 16 seasons.
The 38-year-old made his announcement Thursday after spending the past four seasons with Edmonton, where he served as the Oilers' captain from 2013-15.
The 5-foot-11, 184-pound Ference totaled 43 goals, 182 assists and 753 penalty minutes in 907 career games with Pittsburgh, Calgary, Boston and Edmonton. He also had eight goals, 30 assists and 122 penalty minutes in 120 playoff games, including four goals and six assists in 25 games during the Bruins' championship run.
Ference was selected by the Penguins in the eighth round, 208th overall, of the 1997 NHL draft.
"As I graduate from my time of playing in the NHL, I realize I have the problem of being unable to properly thank the hundreds of people who have helped me achieve my goal of playing in the best league in the world," Ference said in a statement released by the Oilers. "No one gets here on their own, especially average sized guys with average skills. If you think you deserve a thank you from me, you probably do ... Thanks!"
Ference also represented Canada at the 1999 world junior hockey championship.
Kings: Team re-signs Russian center Loktionov
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Kings have re-signed Andrei Loktionov, the Russian center who won a Stanley Cup ring with the club in 2012.
The Kings confirmed the professional tryout contract Thursday.
Loktionov was a fifth-round pick by the Kings in 2008, and he played 59 games with Los Angeles over three seasons from 2009-12.
He appeared in two early postseason games for the Kings in 2012 during their run to the franchise's first NHL title. His name wasn't inscribed on the Stanley Cup despite his appearance in 39 regular-season games that season.
Loktionov was traded in February 2013 to New Jersey, where he played 76 games over two seasons before getting traded to Carolina for another 20 games. He spent the past three seasons playing for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL.
