Giants general manager leaving once replacement is found
Bonner accepts position with sports management agency
Scott Bonner, the only general manager the Vancouver Giants have ever had, is leaving the Western Hockey League team.
The club announced Tuesday that Bonner has accepted a senior management position with The Sports Corporation, an Edmonton-based management agency that counts NHL stars Carey Price, Ryan Getzlaf and former Giant Milan Lucic among its clients.
Bonner intends to stay with the team while it searches for his replacement. Under his watch and former longtime head coach Don Hay, the Giants captured back-to-back WHL championships in 2005-06 and 2006-07, winning the Memorial Cup title as Canada’s top major junior hockey team in May 2007 at the Pacific Coliseum.
The Giants have since fallen on tough times, missing the playoffs in two of the last three seasons. They’re now in the basement of the five-team Pacific Division with 20 points (eight wins, 18 losses and four overtime/shootout losses) in 30 games, and are in last place in the 10-team Western Conference.
“Scott and I have worked together for 26 years in the WHL with both the Tri-City Americans and Vancouver Giants,” Giants majority owner Ron Toigo said in a release. “We have had many more great years than we’ve had down ones. We’ve won a Memorial Cup, Ed Chynoweth Cup, and many B.C. Division banners. To say Scott will be missed is an understatement.
“Scott will stay on for the rest of the season and will be there to assist with the transition, once a replacement is found. We all believe that this group of players can have a good year, and our goal is to have a winning season and have success in the playoffs to have Scott leave on a winning note.”
Bonner has been the Giants’ GM since their inaugural season in 2001-02. Before that he served as a scout for both the New Westminster Bruins and Tri-City Americans, who were also owned by Toigo.