Whl Team To Relocate?

VANCOUVER, B.C. - A Pacific Northwest group hopes to build a $14 million arena in Surrey, B.C., and attract the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League.

The Winter Hawks Hockey Club is listed as a founding member of the group, which calls itself the Fraser River Sports and Entertainment Group.

The hockey team would relocate to the privately funded arena, said Ken Dextras, president of New Westminster's Dextras Engineering & Construction Ltd.

The group submitted an offer Friday to B.C. Transit to buy 1.8 acres of land at a SkyTrain park-and-ride location, where the 7,000-seat arena would be built.

Dextras said the Winter Hawks would be forced to leave Portland if it received a National Hockey League franchise. With the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers already well established, the Winter Hawks would be strapped for non-conflicting home dates if the NHL arrived, Dextras said.

Ken Hodge, Winter Hawks' general manager and part-owner, said the franchise has no immediate plans to relocate.