Supporters of a new Saint Paul hockey arena spent the day doing damage control at the state capitol today. Reports of possible improprieties in the way a construction company won the arena contract have cast a pall over the project, and the plan's opponents are taking advantage of the situation. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: This morning's front-page articles questioning the integrity of the arena's construction deal and the politicians who approved it, couldn't have come at a worse time for the arena's boosters. House and Senate negotiators are scheduled to take up the matter this week: the House wants to spend $65 million dollars of state money on the arena, but the Senate does NOT. Of the Senate negotiators, Saint Paul DFLer Dick Cohen, says even the suggestion of impropriety is bad for a project that was already in trouble: