City officials say the aim is to get the Devils to move theirtop minor league affiliate, now playing in Upstate New York as theAlbany River Rats, to the proposed new venue, which would be ownedby the city and operated by the Devils. One city official who didnot want to be identified indicates that a deal could be donewithin the next months. Devils officials, meanwhile, characterizethe talks as "preliminary." Both sides declined furthercomment.

Besides hosting the minor league hockey team, the venue could beused for a variety of events, including concerts, trade shows andother exhibits. The proposed venue would share a parking lot withFirstEnergy Park, home field of the Lakewood BlueClaws, anaffiliate of baseball's Philadelphia Phillies.

One obstacle, according to State Sen. Robert Singer (R-OceanCounty), who's the city's lead negotiator, is re-acquiring aseven-acre site needed to fill out the arena's building site. Thatseven acres was turned over to the locally based CedarbridgeDevelopment a couple of years ago as part of that firm's siteassembly for a 200-acre office park. The latter project has beenstalled, with only some site work completed to date.