Bruckheimer’s hockey dream comes true in Seattle

JOSHUA CLIPPERTON

Jerry Bruckheimer says he’s had a camera in his hand since the age of six. Around the same time, the future Hollywood producer also got a first taste of hockey.

“My dad took me to a Red Wings game and I sat in the rafters there and looked down on some of the great players who were playing in those days,” Bruckheimer recalled of growing up in Detroit watching Gordie Howe and his teammates.

But, as the years passed and the movie mogul’s career took off, Bruckheimer drifted away from the game until the trade that shook hockey brought the Great One to California.

“When Wayne Gretzky came to Los Angeles I started taking skating lessons and have been playing ever since,” he said.

A frequent attendee of Kings games, the 75-year-old will soon be even closer to the action as a minority owner with Seattle’s new National Hockey League team after the league approved the city’s expansion bid at this week’s board of governors meetings.

The league’s 32nd team will start playing in the untapped

U.S. Pacific Northwest beginning in 2021-22.

Bruckheimer could barely contain his excitement ahead of Seattle getting the official thumbs-up from the NHL, snapping pictures of the media with his digital camera before commissioner Gary Bettman’s official announcement at a packed news conference.

He said afterwards that joining billionaire majority owner David Bonderman’s group pushing for a team in Seattle was a no-brainer.

Seattle team president and CEO Tod Leiweke said there was incredible anticipation before meeting with representatives of the league’s other teams following the unanimous vote.

While the NHL’s expansion to Seattle seemed like a slam dunk from the outside, Bruckheimer said he wasn’t counting on anything until getting the official word.

“I don’t believe anything until it’s done,” he said. “When they called us in that room and said ‘congratulations,’ then I knew we were there.”

Seattle’s NHL team is expected to begin the process of filling its hockey operations staff as early as next spring or summer.

Nylander dispute

Negotiations between William Nylander and Toronto GM Kyle Dubas on a new contract went down to the wire on Saturday. The restricted free agent’s impasse with the team finally ended with a deal that carries an average annual value of US$10.2 million this season and $6.9 million for years two through six. With a number of young stars all set to hit restricted free agency next summer there could be more holdouts on the horizon. But Bettman’s announcement this week that the salary cap is likely to jump next season should give teams a little more wiggle room.

Barkov’s Bing chase

Second in voting for the Lady Byng Trophy in 2015-16 and third last season, Florida captain Aleksander Barkov is taking another stab at becoming the league’s most gentlemanly player. The 23-year-old has drawn an NHLbest 19 minor penalties so far this season without being whistled for a single infraction himself in 26 games. Barkov also sits tied for third on the Panthers with 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists).