Defending McNall - The Fans Speak Out

Hockey Digest, Feb, 2003 by William Taylor

I don't know what things are like where you live, but in Southern California we have respect and admiration for the man who took the game of hockey out of a dusty cellar and turned it into a sport that will support publications like yours. Former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall ["Owners Behaving Badly," December 2002] didn't fit in with the creeps that run the NHL. He was a hockey man; a Southern Californian who loved the sport enough to underwrite one of the largest player contracts in history and bring Wayne Gretzky to the largest media market in the world. You and every other hockey business benefited from his effort and you do him a disservice. What you don't understand is the commitment required of people who finance this hockey revolution you see on major and regional networks. McNall was a kind man driven by his concern for the people in his organization. Huge deals fall apart and powerful people roll the dice for the common good. Meanwhile, you still benefit We all do. I think an apology is in order.

William Taylor
Bakersfield, Calif.

Regardless of McNall's intentions, the fact remains that he plead guilty in 1997 to bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy, after scheming to swindle banks, a securities firm, and the Kings out of more than $236 million. He was paroled last spring after serving four years of his 70-month prison term.