ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997 TAG: 9703120048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
It shouldn't pass quietly that the only Gagnon involved with the local pro hockey franchise now is the one wearing a mask.
Dave Gagnon's goaltending may help the Roanoke Express to a club record for victories. Coach Frank Anzalone's fourth Roanoke team needs six victories in its final nine games to surpass the 39 triumphs of two seasons ago. Gagnon's contribution to the franchise's history is significant, but it pales to that of another man with the same surname.
Vinton's Henry Brabham not only kept hockey afloat in the Roanoke Valley but also personally saved what would become the very prosperous East Coast Hockey League. However, it was Quebec native John Gagnon who not only brought about a new ice age at the Roanoke Civic Center, but also put the plan in place for the most successful pro sports franchise in this region.
Gagnon, the ex-club president, may have been all but run out of town on an Express rail once he decided to open a second expansion franchise on Mississippi's Gulf Coast. It shouldn't be forgotten, however, that without him, there would be no Express.
Whether rooted in acrimony, jealousy or both, the move of fellow investors to impeach Gagnon 11 months ago brought the club its first real trouble. There could have been more, but Express general manager and Gagnon's buddy, Pierre Paiement, was scolded and threatened, then apologized for dabbling in the Mississippi start-up operations.
When Gagnon wanted to keep the ECHL here after the demise of the rotten Rampage regime, he invested $250,000 for the franchise fee four years ago. He needed twice that, and quick. So, he brought in several other investors for fewer bucks but equal voting strength. The move that saved Roanoke hockey eventually became Gagnon's undoing.
It was a power struggle he eventually lost last week, when he sold his 50-percent stake in the club to four other original investors and three new ones, for a figure believed to be in the $750,000 range.
You could say he turned a profit on his original investment. You also could say he'd prefer to still be running the team. However, in selling his shares, Gagnon again helped the franchise.
He could have fought for what he half-owned. Those who know Gagnon kept waiting for him to try and regain control. To blast his old buddies through the media. To go to court. Surely, Gagnon could talk and buy his way back in charge.
It didn't happen. Gagnon, a trucking company owner of considerable wealth, knew that to create more rancor would only damage an investment in which he was a half-owner. He could have destroyed what he created, what he still loves. He still lives in Botetourt County. He continues to attend Express games.
Had the club's ownership become a more public squabble, what would have been left? While the internal struggle has frozen more than a few feelings, it hasn't had much effect on the ice, because the owners, while tangling behind closed doors, were smart enough to not diminish what they've been selling. The club is within 200 per game of its record attendance of 5,679 last season.
Under the restructuring, Blacksburg lawyer and club corporate spokesman Joe Steffen has the largest stake in the club, at 25 percent. He remains the club's corporate spokesman, and Roanoke restaurateur Richard Macher (15 percent) is still president. Those two and Galax furniture executive Mike Stevens own a combined 60 percent.
The ownership group, Steffen said last week, is ``unified.'' That's welcome news. It's taken almost a year for that to happen. And like he did in putting the game on solid ice here, John Gagnon did more than anyone to make it happen.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB