http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/101-02132004-245909.html There was a similar article in the Mercury News today. Sharks lost $10 million last year. SEC former commissioner (paid $250,000 by NHL to do the audit) said he wouldn't invest in a league that is headed only down.
There will always be questions about the validity of the numbers, we saw that with baseball two years ago. Remember that many of the teams are units of corporations (including AEG, NewsCorp, Cablevision and Comcast). Also, the fact that 11 teams made money is a lot more than the NHL said would be the case last summer. There very few teams that actually carry debt, those are the ones that have actual problems.
I also think we saw it with MLS in their lawsuit, when it benefitted them to say they had lost $250 million.