Since convincing Bill Davidson to take back a big mortgage and sell them the Tampa Bay Lightning last June, former hockey players Oren Koules and Len Barrie have been making audacious gambles in a league where gamblers usually crash and burn.
Jettisoned amidst a controversial run of hirings and firings were team president Ron Campbell, general manager Jay Feaster, head coach John Tortorella and a large group of front-office personnel, scouts and players (the most unpopular of which was fan-favourite defenceman Dan Boyle being shipped off to the San Jose Sharks).
Former first-overall NHL draft pick Brian Lawton was given his first management job as the Lightning's executive vice-president of hockey operations, and Barry Melrose was hired as head coach even though he had not been behind an NHL bench in 13 years.
In a three-month span, Koules and Barrie committed a whopping $194-million (all currency U.S.) in guaranteed contracts — nearly equalling the $206-million purchase price of the franchise.
Inside hockey circles and in media reports, they've been bashed as brash upstarts, with their financial wherewithal questioned and hockey acumen lampooned. And most of those critics haven't yet heard of the real-estate scheme that underpins the financing.
During a radio interview this month, Tortorella referred to them as a "couple of cowboys." Adding: "I have zero respect for them."
Stung by the jabs, both men dearly want to see the critics eat their words.
"With every breath I take," Koules said. "Every breath."
The Lightning owners made their fortunes in movies and real estate.
Koules, 47, who played junior hockey in the WHL and a bit in the minor leagues, made his big score in Hollywood by producing the successful TV sitcom Two and a Half Men and the Saw franchise of horror movies, which is reported to have generated $400-million in profits.
After failing to buy the Lightning a year ago in partnership with former Columbus Blue Jackets president Doug MacLean and South Florida developer Jeff Sherrin, Koules was introduced to Barrie by former NHL player Luc Robitaille. That's when the next Lightning ownership group was born.
Barrie, 39, played 184 NHL games over 12 years as a professional hockey player before making his name in real estate with the 1,300-acre Bear Mountain golf resort and housing development near Victoria.
The project, already at a reported $400-million in sales, may have potential sales of $2.5-billion.
"My biggest issue is that in all the press we got, there is this misconception that we are two guys in a candy store," Koules said. "We actually planned this down to every position, down to every player.
"We really took our time. But we keep reading we're kids in a candy store or playing fantasy hockey. It's the opposite."
They hope the on-ice moves will quickly turn the Lightning into a playoff team, which in turn sparks a surge at the gate in the Florida sun-belt market, where the club's season-ticket sales fell to 9,800 from 13,000 last season. The additional revenue is needed to make the team a consistent contender and pay off about $106-million in loans.
The sale of the Lightning, approved prior to the 2008 NHL entry draft, included 51/2 acres of waterfront land next to the St. Pete Times Forum.
Koules and Barrie plan to develop the land, although Davidson, who also owns the NBA's Detroit Pistons, never managed to get started on the project in the nine years he had the NHL team — and that was before the current crisis in the U.S. financial markets.
Similar plans to build around arenas and stadiums have been drawn up in Ottawa, Anaheim, Dallas, Phoenix and other centres with uneven success at best.
"We don't have the luxury of making enormous mistakes," Lawton said.
Neither Koules nor Barrie give the impression of being smooth boardroom operators with the knack of persuading sponsors and politicians to climb aboard, but they have a track record of taking risks and having them pay off.
