Nike looking to sell Bauer hockey unit

Apparently, even Pittsburgh Penguins phenom Sidney Crosby hasn't been enough to revive stagnant interest in hockey. Nike (NYSE: NKE) is reportedly looking to unload Bauer, a market leader in hockey equipment. The company is expected to get less than half of the $395 million it paid for Bauer parent Canstar Sports -- in 1994.

According to the New York Times, "Player registrations for USA Hockey, the governing body, rose last season by 3.3 percent over the previous period. But the increase was largely caused by previously unregistered adult players who joined for insurance reasons. Youth memberships, the indicator of the sport's future, fell 0.5 percent."

Bauer has been a lackluster performer since it was acquired and recent efforts to incorporate the Nike swoosh into a new logo for the company (shown above) met with consumer resistance.

Unloading the brand might not be so easy, although Nike says it is profitable but does not break down the unit's income in its financial statements. Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK) recently hired JPMorgan to attempt to sell its Rossignol ski business which it acquired in 2005 and has struggled with ever since.

The market for slow- to no-growth winter sporting goods manufacturers would seem to be a buyer's one.