USA Today May 30th 1991

Even if Minnesota North Stars owner Norm Green loses money again next season, his team is guaranteed to be in the black.

The North Stars will ditch their traditional green uniform next season for a dominantly black one. The logo has been changed from the giant ``N-Stars'' to ``Stars.''

``Black is a modern, intimidating color for sports teams,'' Green says. ``We like that image.''

The uniform change is symbolic of Green's plan to change the North Stars into a profitable NHL franchise - something they have not been for a while.

An unexpected trip to the Stanley Cup final has helped that effort, but with his team giving up players to San Jose in today's expansion draft, Green finds himself trying to convince people his team won't be dismantled.

``I'm ecstatic about the draft because by the end of the day we will be ahead, not behind,'' Green said. ``Finally I won't have to convince people that the perception was worse than the reality. Finally, they will be able to see it.''

The North Stars, though losing some top young prospects, will only lose a few players off a roster that put them in the final for first time since 1981. Green believes the expansion will add depth.

The turnaround has been amazing for the North Stars, who in six months have gone from 3,331 season tickets to almost 7,200. Green is even talking about getting 10,000 for next season - which would be about 700 more than the franchise had when it was thriving in 1981.

``The turnaround is similar to what happened at Chrysler,'' Green says. ``The difference is Lee Iacocca did it for them, and the team did it for me.''

Even with postseason success, Green still lost more than $1 million.

In early January, when the team was drawing crowds of just over 5,000, Green was so low he wondered whether he was wrong in his assessment that the team was salvageable.

Now he considers the $31 million he spent for the North Stars a bargain.

``I was able to buy low. That's like buying on the stock market at the lowest point,'' he said. ``I like to buy low. I don't like to sell at all, not even high.''