Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Lumbard Excited to be Part of Pats' Ownership

Bruce Luebke has the following story on his blog which you can check out here: Luber's Lounge

Lumbard Excited to be Part of Pats' Ownership

Former Brandonite and Wheat King Todd Lumbard will have a prominent role in the new ownership group of the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats.

The sale of the Pats was officially approved by the WHL's Board of Governors Wednesday, with the new ownership group in Regina is headed by local businessman Anthony Marquart.

Other members of the Queen City Sports and Entertainment group include Lumbard and fellow Regina businessmen Gavin Semple, Shaun Semple, and Jason Drummond.

"I don't think that desire to be involved in hockey ever leaves someone. After playing hockey, it's been something that I've always desired to get back into and this was a dream of mine to be an owner in this league," said Lumbard on Wednesday, "Having this opportunity, I just feel so fortunate to be part of it and, for me, it's very exciting to be involved in the game of hockey in such an interesting way. I'm looking forward to re-engaging myself with hockey. It's something I've missed being part of for the last several years."

Lumbard's role with the Pats will be more than part of the ownership group, as the 50-year old will taking over as Team President.

"I will be spending a fair bit of time with the Pats as President. Of course, we'll have a general manager that really will conduct the day-to-day business, but I'll be the direct contact between the general manager and the ownership group," said Lumbard, "I'm really looking forward to being involved, in more than just as an owner, being somewhat involved in the operations of the club."

The negotiations to purchase the Pats took over a year, with the sale expected to officially close by the end of May.

In the meantime, Lumbard expects to begin his duties as Team President immediately.

"First things for us is getting to know the people in the organization, right from our general manager all the way through, learning about how they operate and what they do. And then moving forward with some of the plans we have in conjunction with our staff team to implement some of the things that we want to do," said Lumbard, "We have an ownership group that is very strongly invested in the community of Regina, which we hope bodes well for corporate sponsorship involvement and, also, season tickets sales, interest in the team and those type of things."

The price tag for the Pats was reportedly 7.5 million dollars.

It's Official

I know everyone already has heard, but the sale of the Pats has been approved.

The media release:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30th, 2014

WHL BOARD OF GOVERNORS APPROVE NEW OWNERSHIP GROUPS FOR PRINCE GEORGE AND REGINA

CALGARY, AB - The Western Hockey League announced today that the WHL Board of Governors have approved the application to transfer the ownership of the Prince George Cougars and the Regina Pats WHL franchises.

The WHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the transfer of the Prince George Cougars ownership from Rick Brodsky to EDGEPRO Sports and Entertainment Ltd., and the Regina Pats from Russ and Diane Parker to Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group Ltd.

The new Prince George ownership group is led by local businessman Greg Pocock along with partners Ernest Ouellet, Raymond Fortier, and John Pateman. Former Prince George Cougars and current NHL players Dan Hamhuis and Eric Brewer are also key members of the new ownership entity.

The Prince George Cougars franchise relocated from Victoria twenty years ago. Rick Brodsky has been the only owner of the Cougars WHL franchise since it began operations in Prince George in 1994.

The new ownership group in Regina is headed by local businessman Anthony Marquart, who takes over the franchise from Russ and Diane Parker who have owned and operated the Pats franchise for the past 19 seasons. The other members of the Queen City Sports and Entertainment group includes prominent Regina businessmen Todd Lumbard, Gavin Semple, Shaun Semple, and Jason Drummond.

“The WHL is fortunate to have attracted two very high calibre ownership groups who are fully committed to whatever is necessary to take the Prince George Cougars and the Regina Pats franchises to a new level,” commented WHL Commissioner Ron Robison. “We are confident that fans will enthusiastically embrace the local ownership groups and bring long-term stability to these WHL markets.”

It’s anticipated that both sales will close prior to the end of May. Further details will be announced in the near future when the new ownership groups conduct media conferences in both Prince George and Regina.



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Saturday, April 26, 2014

Yesterday's post today

I know I said I was going to write yesterday but, I got watching the NHL playoffs and never got to it. Excuses, excuses I know.

This might be a little all over the place as the more I think about things the more (or less I'll ramble).

- I'm happy that Queen City Sports & Entertainment Group is buying the Pats. I'm glad that the Parker's bought the Pats and tried their best. But I think it's time for the change and I'm glad it's a bunch of local guys that are purchasing the team.

- I am a little worried that the new owners stay too "status quo" and nothing changes and the Brandt Centre stays a tomb like it's been for the last number of years. The atmosphere has lacked over the last few years and I don't know why for sure, but I do have an idea as to why. It there too many corporate seats and not enough legit genuine fans? I don't know.

- I've been a Pats fan my whole life and I honestly can't remember the last time I was excited for a Pats game that was meaningful (the Memorial Cup in 2001 was the exception). Over my life I've been accustomed to seeing the Pats fall flat at one point or an other, so I don't get excited. I admit that I have that "this is the year, the're gonna do it" mentality only to be crushed over and over and over. The last time that the Pats did anything of note was 1983-84 where we (yes I said we) made it to the final I was 5. I'm a loyal Pats fan and I've been disappointed over and over, just like all of the people that have stuck it out for all these years. I want the Pats to win.

I'll add more later.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

New plan: I'll blog tomorrow.

I have a large post that I'm working on and I'm not sure if I want to post it.I pride myself on not hiding behind a "anonymous" or "insert name here" from the message boards and blogs. I'll figure out what I want to post and how I want to go about it. I'll post some stuff tomorrow.

One thing I do want to say is, I'm happy with the news of the last couple of days.

Good night,

Kevin

Throwback Thursday

1930-31 Regina Pats Programme

I acquired this Pats "Progamme" during the last few months and figured that today would be as good of day to post it as any.

It features the 1930-31 Regina Pats, Art Dowie, Ralph Redding and Ken Campbell were the only returning players.

This game took place Friday January 23, 1931 in Edmonton. The Pats and the Edmonton All-Stars played to a 2-all tie. The following is a story from the January 24, 1931 LeaderPost.


The headline

The story as it appeared in the LeaderPost January 24, 1931

The Lineups and Summary

Well, well, well. What have I missed?

For those few people that actually check out my blog thank you.

I know I said that I was planning on writing more, but some things came up and lost the urge to post. I guess reading too many message boards and other blogs that have people loving the players and coaches and staff one minute and then despising them the next took a toll. I consider myself highly opinionated but I try to keep my opinions to a minimum as much as I can especially on the internet where it can be used against you time and time again. Maybe that's why I stopped blogging. I really don't know. All I have to say is that I'm back (for now at least). I'll be blogging later today.

Kevin