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Prince George Cougars sale completed – report
It seems it’s only a matter of time before the Prince George Cougars officially change hands.
A report released by WHL insider Greg Drinnan states Cougars majority owner Rick Brodsky and a group headed by local business owner Greg Pocock and NHL defencemen Dan Hamhuis and Eric Brewer have signed off on the sale. The transaction just needs to pass the league’s due diligence process before going to a vote by the other owners.
This news comes exactly a month after the Prince George Citizen’s Ted Clarke reported the deal had already been agreed upon. It, however, was later deemed that the transaction wasn’t signed off on at the time of the report.
The PG Citizen March 3 report:
The Prince George Cougars have been sold to local businessman Greg Pocock and a group of investors that includes NHL players and former Cougars Eric Brewer and Dan Hamhuis, say several sources close to the team.
Pocock is the owner of Prince George Hydromechanical, an industrial cleaning services contractor, and is co-owner of Forest Power Sports, a Prince George-based recreational vehicle dealership.
The local sources, who requested anonymity, say the team was purchased for close to $7 million, while longtime owner Rick Brodsky had been asking for $8 million. With a tentative deal now in place, it still has to receive approval from the WHL head office and be passed by the league's board of directors.
Clarke confirmed in a March 26 column that the new ownership group will keep the team in Prince George.
"We're not buying a team to move a team, we're buying a team to keep it in Prince George," said Pocock. "There's been no discussion about moving the team at any point in time, and certainly not within two years, which has previously been stated in the paper.
"We're a group of Prince George business people, we've lived here our whole lives and we're not interested in doing a business deal that would require us to relocate our businesses or operate elsewhere. We're here in Prince George and want to make a go of it here."
It appears the news of the sale will be music to the ears of most Prince George hockey fans. The fan base and the Brodsky-led ownership group hasn’t seen eye to eye mainly because of the lack of change in the front office. Dallas Thompson, who married Rick Brodsky's daughter Brandi Brodsky, has remained the team’s general manager since 2004 despite missing the playoffs in six of the 10 seasons. To put that into a better perspective, eight of 10 teams in the Western Conference make the post-season, so it’s not like it’s an MLB playoff format.
The fans have voiced their displeasure through their wallets. The Cougars’ attendance has consistently dropped from 5,824 per game in 1998-99 to 1,693 per game this season. With that, the major junior team reportedly lost $650,000 this year alone.
Besides the obvious in the Cougars organization having a fresh start in Prince George, there seems to be other benefits to the change of hands. This should help their recruiting woes as a phone call from Hamhuis or Brewer, both PG Alumni, could go a long way in convincing a 16-year-old that joining the Cougars is his best option to get to The Show.
Despite the Cougars' troubles in recruiting some prospects, the new ownership group will inherit a quality group of young players. Jansen Harkins and Brad Morrison, both high 2012 bantam picks, have the potential to blossom into top-notch centres. Blueliners Sam Ruopp and Tate Olson also impressed in their rookie seasons this year. In addition, top 2013 pick Josh Anderson is coming up the ranks and they hold the fifth-overall pick of the 2014 draft. So there is hope that Prince George could make some noise in the playoffs in just two or three years.
Once the sale is signed off on, the famous Brodsky family will be completely out of the WHL. Rick Brodsky has owned the Cougars since buying the then-Victoria based team in 1992. He moved them just two years later to Prince George. Meanwhile, Rick’s brother, Jack Brodsky, sold the Saskatoon Blades to Mike Priestner in September after being involved with the organization since the 1970s.
Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen
