This column wasn?t going to have so much Italian-Canadian content until ?tre stelle? (three stars) aligned November 21.
Vancouver?s Tom Gaglardi realized a childhood dream and was announced as the Dallas Stars? new owner. The Northland Properties? president was the only bidder in a $240 million bankruptcy auction for the 1999 Stanley Cup champions and half-ownership of the American Airlines Center, four Novembers since he lost out with Beedie Group president Ryan Beedie on becoming John McCaw?s partners in the Vancouver Canucks.
McCaw instead did a deal with Francesco Aquilini, who took full ownership in June 2007 during a sensational BC Supreme Court trial. Justice Catherine Wedge ruled in January 2008 against jilted suitors Gaglardi and Beedie, confirming Aquilini as the rightful owner of the team and Rogers Arena. The BC Court of Appeal upheld the verdict, and the case didn?t go to a second overtime period because the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear arguments.
Gaglardi, who bought the Kamloops Blazers for $7 million in 2007, has a big job to do in the ?Big D.? The Stars lost $38 million in the last fiscal year and $92 million over the last three in a market that includes the NFL?s Dallas Cowboys, NBA champion Dallas Mavericks and the American League champion Texas Rangers.
West Vancouver?s Jason Farris, the Stars? newly hired executive vice-president of business operations and development, will be key to the turnaround. Farris is a hockey fanatic and author, whose latest book Behind the Moves is about the business of being a National Hockey League general manager. He also has a business pedigree, most recently as president of Citizens Bank of Canada.
Kelowna?s Herb Capozzi, a contemporary of Gaglardi?s grandfather ?Flying? Phil, died the same day of cancer.
The British Columbia sports business owes Capozzi a collective ?grazie!?
Capozzi, 86, was inducted to the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. His resumé included being general manager of the BC Lions when they won their first Grey Cup in 1964.
In 1973, Lamar Hunt sold him a North American Soccer League franchise. The Vancouver Whitecaps debuted the next year and, in 1979, won Soccer Bowl.
Capozzi was a Vancouver College football star in high school who eventually made it in the CFL as a Calgary Stampeder and Montreal Alouette. He left the Lions front office after almost a decade for a seven-year stint as a Social Credit MLA. His $3.65 million financing bridged the gap between the ownership of disgraced original Canucks? owner Tom Scallen of Minnesota and Vancouver?s Frank Griffiths.
November 21 was a week after Canucks? netminder Roberto Luongo hosted a charity poker tournament backed by the BC Lottery Corp. at the River Rock Casino Resort. I received a response from the province?s gambling monopoly about Luongo?s endorsement of PlayNow.com online poker.
The NHL?s collective bargaining agreement prohibits players from promoting alcohol and tobacco products, but no such clause precludes boosting lotteries or casinos. Even though PlayNow.com prohibits minors from playing, Luongo is a superstar professional athlete who appeals to tech-savvy, sports-mad teenage males, a demographic at risk of developing a gambling addiction.
A two-page document titled ?Roberto Luongo and PlayNow.com Partnership Opportunities,? released via freedom of information, was heavily censored for fear that disclosure would harm BCLC financially.
?We want to build (censored) hat (censored) by (censored) and (censored) have long standing relationships with the Canucks, the B.C. Lions and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
?Our overall (censored). However we recognize that (censored). Therefore we are looking to develop (censored).
?We feel that these words could also easily describe Roberto. If you combine this synergy with his interest in poker a partnership between Roberto and PlayNow.com would be a great fit.?
The document ponders potential promotional opportunities ?that can be tailored to Roberto?s preferences.
?The key is that we would like to (censored). We would build the partnership around a series of promotional campaigns that would (censored).?
The plan for advertising support of the November 14 Roberto Luongo Charity Poker Classic, including the estimated time commitment, was also censored. Same with the bottom line: the BCLC payment for Luongo (who took in $10 million last season and is to make $6.71 million this campaign).
BCLC?s deal with Luongo was a major gamble after his collapse in last June?s Stanley Cup final. ?
