NHL unveils new owners for St. Louis Blues after deal overcomes regulatory hurdles-NHL News
The National Hockey League (NHL) has formally unveiled the new owners of its franchise, St. Louis Blues, who happened to be the eighth owner of the side since it was inducted into the league in the 1967-68 season.
Apparently, the deal has gone through all the regulatory challenges successfully, and commissioner, Gary Bettman, formally introduced a group of local investors led by Tom Stillman, CEO of Summit Distributing in St. Louis, on Thursday, May 10, 2012, as the
new owners.
Bettman said that the sale process was completed on Wednesday, May 09, and expressed excitement over the success in finding new owners for the side. The commissioner called it a big day for the team in its franchise history.
Bettman said:
"We think this is a monumental, historic and really terrific day for St. Louis and for the Blues.”
He added:
“We know how important St. Louis is to the NHL as a hockey market and we also know how important the Blues are to St. Louis as evidenced by the fact that there are so many active alumni from the Blues who choose to stay here and live in retirement here.”
The new owner, Stillman, who himself has played college ice hockey, also expressed excitement over the deal’s success and spoke of his ambitions of developing the side more in future.
Stillman said:
"To have the opportunity to lead this organisation, to be stewards of its present and future, is way beyond my wildest dreams. It's an honour that I take very seriously, as will the rest of our group.”
The new owner has also received endorsement from St. Louis Mayor, Francis Slay.
The mayor has spoken high of the new investors’ commitment towards promotion of the game of ice hockey, and development of the St. Louis Blues organisation.
He hopes that the new owners will continue working for the success of the club in future.
Bettman had broken the news of finding new owners for Blues a couple of weeks ago. However, he had declined to disclose details then, calling it to be in the premature phase.
However, the value of the deal still remains unknown.
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