NHL approves sale of Senators

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NEW YORK, June 17 (UPI) -- The sale of the Ottawa Senators to billionaire Eugene Melnyk received unanimous approval Tuesday from the NHL Board of Governors.

The board also approved the sale of Steve Stavro's share of the Toronto Maple Leafs to Bell Globemedia and unanimously re-elected Harley Hotchkiss of the Calgary Flames to another two-year term as chairman.

Approval from the board came a week after Melnyk reached agreement to buy the Corel Centre and four days after he completed a deal with the Ontario provincial government to restructure a $21 million loan the team has been paying to finance a highway interchange near the arena.

Melnyk cannot finalize the Corel Centre transaction - or his purchase of the team - for another three weeks. But approval from the league was considered the last major hurdle.