From page 11 the Vancouver dailies was exceeded only by the ongoing Quebec separa- tion debate. The same ratio on radio and TV. Over-play? You bet. Here's why: Right from the start Linden’s agent was demanding the equivalent of $2.5 niillion a year over three years, The Canucks were holding rm at $2.3 million. You had to be the most naive guy in town not to know that the eventual solution would be a sawoff at $2.4 million. ofter nearly four weeks of duti- ful daily reporting and speculation, that's exactly how it turned out, The Canucks had to be laughing. They knew that down the road it was going to be a done deal. In the meantime, all that extra publicity. As for Trevor, he got to skip all the aches and pains of taining camp. For most athletes, facing a grinding schedule of 84 mostly meaningless. games for a near auto- matic ticket into the Stanley Cup playoffs, a welcome relief. 4 Do I sound like a cynic? J Byes i lo. With Linden in place. it's con- ceivable that the Canucks rank in.the NHL's top five in payroli. Certainly . it's well off the .500 pace they’ve had on the ice the past couple of "years, They have eight $1 million-plus mercenaries, with Pavel Bure’s $5 million on the top shelf and Mike Ridley’s pay packet — a mere $1.1 million — on the bottom shelf. Total: $19,685 million. And we're talking U.S. eagles here. In Canadian loonies, the kind they take atthe GM Place gate and for the high-priced provender at the conces- sions stands, make that about $26 million, Eight-man hockey went out when Cyclone Tayler was in his prime. There'll be 15 other guys on the premises including three or four seldom used spear carriers. Giving, the Canucks all the best of it, their salarics could average out at $500,000 Canadian. Minirnum. Toss that nuruber times 15 into the mix and, suddenly, we have $32.5 mil- lion. Or, in ULS funds, a little over ~ $25 million. The average salary for the club then becomes about US$1.1 million, or just over Cdn$1.4 million. While averages are misleading — the top- end guys jack them way up —- they're numbers that league and team officials like to cite. A fairer representation are the median figures. In other words, list the 23 in descending order and choose the (ith or 12th highest as the number that most squares with reality. ; Team and league brass never use median numbers. 1 wonder why. Actually, [ don’t. The median figure always is smaller than the average. And the boss is always anxious to get across the point that the players are overpaid. Of course — average or median —- much of the public goes along with the boss. That's because the average guy would need 20 years to even approach a one-year Canuck average. But J doubt ifthe average guy will cry when be learns Arthur Griffiths has projected a $6 million loss on hockey operations this sea- son. I don’t know if it’s a loss leader, becuse when you also own the building and obtain revenue from everything else that comes into the garage, you can assign the costs any- where you want, Presumably. I've never read any stories about whether the Toronto Mapie Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens make or lose money. They are both whol- ly-owned subsidiaries of, respective- ly, Maple Leaf Gardens and Molson Companies, Both teams are just part of the annual report on the parent companies’ performances. That, | suspect, is how Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment will handle things . Meanwhile, the season starts this weekend and, in the cause of consis- tency, even though I was wrong fast season, once again I pick Philadelpt: hia Flyers to win the ; Staniey Cup. As to the first place team overall in the regular schedule, who cares? It doesn’t mean a thing. As for the Canucks, certainly they'll! go over .500 this time around. But not by as much as peo- ple think. Why? Something tells me the chemistry isn't right. we ET. SARL WALA LI A AMS && Giving the Canucks all the best of it, their salaries could average out at $500,000 Canadian. §Y ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT SERVICE SPECIALS FOR YOUR SUZUKI, SUNRUNNER, FIREFLY 8 SPRINT FALL SPECIAL Complste = ee sys : tem service, A ten, inspect bel is - 305, spe oe tes, new coolant a ORIGINAL ALL MAKES - EQUIPMENT SERVICE _|BRAKE SPECIAL 4 Inclusdes new rotors, add b systeny check & al above NORTH VAI 1695 MARINE DR. ICBC CLAUAS WELCOME ' Friday, October 6th from 7-Spm Come meet our friendly staff at Nevada Bob's. We take care of all your Golf and Tennis needs, Enter ‘to win in our October 30 draw for a $500 Nevada Bob’s Gift Certificate. *« 4 OCTOBER SPECIALS GALORE! Golf G Tennis v Pads turn rook ec uid Bee ETRY SY: AT TATLOW \ We have moved man 800-801 Marine | Dr. Ni. WU. 988-6283 _ just 2 doors away from old location. ICGUVER SU? , 0. VAN mord (LOTS OF PARKING IN BACK OF BUILDING) OPEN MON-SAT - $ suzuki el ‘The wheets are turning OU 983-394 a LK | aatiane MK | can Mall fled Robin NEVADA. BOB'S.