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MAY 2014 www.pgfreepress.com | newsline: 250.564.0005
PROVINCE:
Changes to the Agricultural Land Commission debated
A THORO-LY-GOOD SHOW Teresa MALLAM/Free Press
George Thorogood and the Destroyers gave 2,600 fans at CN Centre the real deal, rock n’ roll concert April 30. Their 40-year-strong tour took Prince George by storm and Thorogood – who last visited with his band nine years ago – promised to come back. Review on Page 6.
Cougars sale OK’d by WHL Allan Wishart allanw@pgfreepress.com It was a 15-year journey, it was a seven-month journey, or maybe it was a four-month journey. “I’ve mused about it with buddies for maybe 15 years,” Prince George businessman Greg Pocock said on the afternoon of April 30 from Calgary. “The process itself took about seven months, which was much longer than anyone anticipated.” Earlier that day, the Western Hockey League board of governors unanimously approved the sale of the Prince George Cougars to a group led by Pocock. Pocock is the leader of EDGEPRO Sports and Entertainment Ltd, along with Ernest Ouellet, Raymond Fortier and John Pateman. Current NHL players Dan Hamhuis and Eric Brewer, both former Cougars, are also members of the new
ownership group. The transfer marks the end of the Rick Brodsky ownership era. Brodsky brought the team to Prince George in 1994 and had owned it since. Pocock said the key moment came in December. “We commissioned a business evaluator to determine a fair price for the franchise. This was a guy I had worked with in the past, and I trusted his judgment. “He came back and said, ‘Greg, you’ve got to do this deal.’” WHL Commissioner Ron Robison said there were no surprises at the governors’ meeting. “They had a very solid plan in place. They have a lot of work to do, though. “We’re always looking for prominent local businessmen to be the owners, and having a pair of former Cougars in the group as well is great.” Although Pocock doesn’t expect the transfer of ownership to be complete until sometime next week, he and his
partners are already being involved in the team’s future. “We’re going to be meeting with the scouting staff tonight (Wednesday) for the Bantam Draft, which starts Thursday morning. They’ve done a real nice job of including us in their operations already.” The Cougars’ first pick in the May 1 draft was fifth overall and head scout Todd Harkins announced the team had chosen centre Justin Almeida, who played last year with the North Shore Winter Club. Speaking to Shaw TV after the selection, Harkins said: “We’re very excited to have him. He likes to get to the net.” The new ownership group has scheduled a media conference and public welcome for May 13 at the CN Centre. There will be free refreshments outside the arena from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. At 12:15 p.m., the media conference will take place, followed at about 1 p.m. by a cake-cutting ceremony and a meet-and-greet with the new owners.
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