SIDELINES : Minnesota Officials Reject North Stars’ Arena Demands

MINNEAPOLIS — The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission today unanimously rejected the Minnesota North Stars’ demand for $15 million in improvements to the team’s playing facility, which the club’s owners said were necessary to keep the NHL team in Minnesota.

The commission voted 7 to 0 to approve a recommendation by commission Chairman Ron Gornick and the commission staff to reject the demand.

North Stars’ co-owner Gordon Gund said he was disappointed by the rejection. He added that he and his co-owner brother, George, are not in the philanthropic business of supporting professional hockey in Minnesota.

Gordon Gund refused further comment and said a news conference would be held later in the day.

The Gunds, who say they have lost $16 million in the past three years operating the franchise, had asked the commission for $15-million worth of improvements at Met Center in suburban Bloomington.

The Gund brothers said Tuesday they were never made to feel a part of the Twin Cities’ professional sports community and that they want to take their team to the West Coast. They spoke in Chicago before a seven-member National Hockey League committee examining their request to move the franchise to the San Francisco Bay Area.