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Saskatoon Blades’ days under Brodsky family numbered
The writing is on the wall that the WHL's Saskatoon Blades will have a new ownership group in the near future.
The chatter of Blades majority owner Jack Brodsky possibly putting a For Sale sign in front of his Credit Union Centre-based office all started with him saying, "We're considering our future options, and the Saskatoon Blades are committed to the people and the city of Saskatoon,” to Blades play-by-play announcer Les Lazaruk on the matter at the end of June. Since Lazaruk’s report, rumours and reports of Brodsky selling the Blades have snowballed.
It was originally reported that a group made up of Blades alumni, including former St. Louis Blues forward Kelly Chase and Calgary Flames defenceman Rhett Warrener, were the front-runners in the Blades sweepstakes. But as negotiations have evolved between Brodsky and interested buyers, it is now believed Edmonton car dealership owner Mike Priestner is on the brink of a finalizing a deal for the club.
Regina radio personality Rod Pedersen, who was the voice of the Regina Pats for 15 seasons, went to the extent of saying ‘I was told it’s now a done deal’ between Brodsky and Priestner.
It is no secret that the For Sale sign went up on the Saskatoon Blades after the 2013 Memorial Cup and on Thursday I was told it's now a done deal. Edmonton car dealership owner Mike Priestner is set to assume ownership of the Blades for a pricetag a shade below $9.8-million.
Why is Jack Brodsky ready to relinquish ownership of the Blades? A WHL insider answered in a text message on Thursday "Because they lost money on the Memorial Cup and Jack's ready to retire.”
However, Blades beat writer Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the StarPhoenix reported Priestner told him the deal isn’t finalized and the other interested ownership group, consisting of Chase and Warrener, haven’t thrown in the towel.
He restated his interest a day later, but stressed no deal has been reached yet.
"As I said the other day, we're talking regularly with Jack, but nothing's done," said Priestner.
But regardless of the sale's progress, the other prominent interested group, which includes former Blades Rhett Warrener and Kelly Chase and Calgary-based businessman/promoter Andy McCreath, won't give up hope.
"I think we can add a lot to the city," said Chase in an interview Thursday. "Hopefully we can stay in the mix here.
Before any WHL sale is official, two-thirds of the 22 team ownership groups have to vote to approve the deal.
It seems Saskatoon major junior hockey fans will have mixed emotions to the Brodsky family selling the Blades. They have been involved in ownership with the team since 1976 and became the majority owners in 1980 when Nate Brodsky, Jack’s father, bought the team outright from his partners. During that time, the Brodsky family has become one the most beloved families in The City of Bridges. But at the other end of the spectrum, they have never won a championship during their reign. Not to mention, Brodsky never made big changes in the front office in the last decade while his team built up a reputation for consistently falling flat in the playoffs. A new ownership should give Blades fans optimism that their club’s on-ice future will be brighter than their past.
After finishing last as the host of 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup, Lorne Molleken relinquished his head coaching duties to long-time assistant coach Dave Struch and remained the team’s general manager. It is uncertain whether Molleken or Struch will stay on with the team after the expected sale. Pedersen, however, is reporting both will keep their positions for the 2013-14 season with change expected next offseason. He also speculated that former Prince George Cougars coach Dean Clark could be the Blades’ next head coach and GM based on his close relationship with Priestner.
The Blades’ Memorial Cup hangover season will be the start of a major rebuild. They will have at least 11 new faces on their team, including six up front. The overhaul of the organization won’t be an easy process either with the club not holding a first-round bantam pick for the next two years because they were dealt in trades to load up for the Memorial Cup.
The reported $9-10 million evaluation for the Blades sets a strong comparable for the value of the Regina Pats, who have been in the middle of WHL sale rumours for the last couple of years. Although a sale for the Pats isn’t considered to be in the works, if majority owner Russ Parker were to start the negotiation process, it seems it wouldn’t take long for his club to change hands.
“Former Regina Pat Nevin Markwart has let it be known his group would love to take the Pats off the Parker's hands but Regina businessman Anthony Markwart (no relation) has had informal talks with Russ Parker as well,” said Pedersen in his popular blog. “There's a third party interested too, however they have yet to declare their intentions and tell me they would prefer to remain anonymous for now. The pricetag of $12-million has been tossed around but the prospective suitors balked. Ideally, I'm sure, the Parkers would like a bidding war for the team but I've been told none of the buyers want to be a part of that.”
Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen
