For as long as Brandi Brodsky can remember, WHL hockey ownership has been a part of her family.
It started in 1977 when her father Rick teamed up with his father, brothers and sister to buy the Saskatoon Blades. Then in March 1992, Rick went out on his own and bought the Victoria Cougars. Two years later, he moved the team to Prince George, where the franchise has been based for the past 20 seasons.
Now, those family ties are about to be cut.
On Wednesday, for the first time since the initial rumblings about the team's pending sale to a group of local businessmen, Cougars vice-president Brandi Brodsky spoke about what the team has meant to her family and why it was such a difficult decision for her dad to sell the Cougars.
"My family has had a WHL hockey team since I was three years old, and we've been in Prince George for 20 years and we've had some amazing times," said the now 40-year-old Brandi Brodsky.
"It's not just about the hockey but the people we've met. We've had a team for a lot of years and it just seemed like it was time to try something else. It has been so fantastic for our family to be able to do this all these years but there comes a time where it was time to move on. It's a family decision that it was time to move on."
A fan base that was once the envy of the league for its full-house rowdiness at home games has dwindled to the smallest in the league the past three seasons and no doubt that played a part in the decision. Ultimately, with an average 1,693 paying customers each night, the Brodskys could no longer afford to keep operating at that pace and decided it was time to sell.
On the ice, the team's struggles are well-documented. The Cougars have missed the playoffs the past three seasons and managed very little success for the majority of their time in Prince George. Fans are still waiting to hang the first banner from the CN Centre rafters.
Brodsky, a University of Saskatchewan economics graduate, uses a different gauge to measure the positives that have come her way since she took over the team's business operations from Dane McKinnon on Jan. 31, 2003. She's reminded of those success stories when she hears from former players who have gone on to become solid citizens, raising families and developing careers in hockey and beyond.
"So much about the hockey team is off the ice that we were very successful at -- giving back to the community has been paramount in what we're doing," she said.
"These families send their young kids up to us to become hopefully better hockey players but also better citizens. It was my job to have them out in the community so they would take the skills they learned with them to wherever they would go and see how easy it is to make things better for other people by taking an hour out of your day to do some volunteer work."
As the team's business manager, Brodsky has seen the impact the Cougars have had in directing nearly $1.5 million to local charities and non-for-profit groups through the team's 50/50 society. She says the family owes a debt of gratitude to the fans, team staff, the players, the billet parents, the team volunteers, the minor officials, the doctors, dentists and physiotherapists who have contributed to the Cougars.
"The people we've had the opportunity to touch over the last 20 years have been a real privilege," she said. "You can't do it without all that help. The community welcomed us with open arms and stepped up to help us."
Brodsky has a second home in Phoenix but considers Prince George her permanent home and has no plans to leave. She expects the new owners to replace the team's staff but is confident Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson will remain connected to the WHL. She said Thompson and Todd Harkins, the director of player personnel, will lead the Cougars through the May 1 bantam draft.
"We don't know where we're going to land yet," she said. "The ownership group wants a fresh start and that is perfectly acceptable and good for them to have a fresh start to see where they'll take things."
She also said she wouldn't be surprised to see her father stay involved in the game.
"He's getting to be the age of retirement and slowing down a bit," she said. "He loves hockey and if he had the opportunity to keep his hand in with scouting, that might be of interest to him. He's always loved heavy equipment and that might pique his interest. Being open to adventure is important and we certainly are."
The new EDGEPRO Sports & Entertainment Ltd. ownership group headed by Greg Pocock includes two former Cougars defencemen, Dan Hamhuis and Eric Brewer.
"I think they will be fantastic and we wish them all the best," said Brandi. "We couldn't hope for two better former players to want to be part of the team and it says something about the Prince George Cougars and their time here and that they want to come back. It's a great group stepping in and fans have a lot to look forward to."
The Cougars deal is subject to a vote of the WHL board of governors next Wednesday in Calgary. Rick Brodsky and Thompson, the alternate governor, will represent the Cougars at that meeting.
"I assume it will be approved but I won't be at that meeting myself," she said.
