Music: {allcanada} Kelly Hrudey and group now part owners of Clippers

Thursday, February 3, 2011

{allcanada} Kelly Hrudey and group now part owners of Clippers

Hockey Night in Canada television commentator Kelly Hrudey is the new face of the B.C. Hockey League's Nanaimo Clippers.

Hrudey leads a group of investors who purchased a one-third share of the club on Wednesday morning. The former NHL goaltender says he wants to be heavily involved with team operations.

His national profile on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is expected to be a huge boon for the team, which has been jointly owned by Alberta businessmen Ken Wagner and Bill Gallacher, as well as current Clippers coach/general manger Bill Bestwick.

Both Wagner and Gallacher welcomed Hrudey, saying that he will be a tremendous boost to the B.C. Hockey League as well.

Hrudey is joined by Paul Colborne and David Moir in the new ownership deal that sees the three of them take over 33% of team. Bestwick has liquidated his investment, but will remain in both his head coach and GM positions.

"Hrudey is going to be heavily involved. He's written a cheque and he wants to see the Nanaimo Clippers do very well," said Wagner. "When I say well, I mean sending kids to school and getting back to winning championships."

Hrudey's stature in the hockey community will benefit the team, but all three investors have experience with professional sports. Colborne was instrumental in purchasing the Calgary Stampeders football club in 2006, while Moir has been involved in the NHL for 30 years.

Moir worked for the Calgary Flames in the 1980s and has been an important part of the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast team, as well as the TSN broadcast team in both the NHL and Canadian Football League.

"We are ecstatic about bringing on this great group of people with this calibre of experience in both hockey and sports in general," Wagner said.

The new owners want Bestwick to continue managing the team in Nanaimo. Bestwick has taken flak because of alleged conflict of interest allegations for his roles as a Nanaimo city councillor and part owner of the Clippers.

"He has liquidated his equity, and that's great for him," Wagner said.

"Billy's been a great partner. This is just an opportunity for him to do well and we're excited for him. Not once did he mention the conflict with the city. He's very loyal to Nanaimo."

Bestwick would not say whether or not the sale of his shares had anything to do with his role on city council.

"There's only been one allegation of conflict, which is behind everyone now, although it's not behind certain members of our community," he said. "I made a decision that was in the best interest of organization and my personal situation. Timing is a key part of this decision."