Devils Owner Regrets Bringing Team To Newark

The managing partner of the New Jersey Devils says he regrets bringing the NHL team to Newark.

Jeff Vanderbeek spoke publicly for the first time Thursday to The Star-Ledger of Newark about a war of words with Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Vanderbeek says friends warned him not to invest $185 million to help the city build the Prudential Center.

Booker has criticized Vanderbeek after arbitrators ruled on April 3 largely in favor of the Devils in their ongoing dispute over how the team and the city share proceeds from the arena.

Booker called Vanderbeek a "high-class, highfalutin' huckster and hustler."

Vanderbeek says he doesn't plan to leave the city. Vanderbeek says the mayor can say whatever he wants, but "I'm a big boy."

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)