The Florida Panthers held a press conference on Friday at BB&T Center in Sunrise with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance to introduce the new owners of the franchise. The new ownership will consist of Vincent Viola as principal owner, chairman and governor along with Douglas Cifu as partner, vice chairman and alternate governor.
Michael Yormark will remain as president of the team and adds the title of CEO. There will be no changes in hockey operations with executive vice president/general manager Dale Tallon, head coach Kevin Dineen, director of scouting Scott Luce and director of player development Brian Skrudland staying.
The National Hockey League Board of Governors approved the sale of the club Friday morning from general partner Cliff Viner and his 13 limited partners which included Wayne Huizenga, Jordan Zimmerman, Michael Maroone, Bernie Kosar and Alan Cohen. Huizenga was the original majority owner of the team when it began in late 1992 and kept a minority share when Cohen became the lead owner in June 2001. Viner moved up to the principal owner and general partner position in 2009 and Cohen was relegated to a limited partner role.
The Panthers will be celebrating their 20th anniversary during the 2013-14 season. The campaign begins next week on October 3 in Dallas and the Cats will play their first home game on October 11 against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Florida will be playing in the Atlantic Division this season along with the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment