- Aug 5, 2011
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Russo confirmed the deal is done and re-posted his previous article from August.
Craig Leipold:
I see positives & negatives to this...
1.) I'm glad Leipold allows Fletcher to do his job without interjecting; doesn't plan on changing that strategy moving forward.
2.) Sounds like Hulsizer pushed for our franchise to consider new-age analytics, etc. which might have not been a bad thing.
Thoughts? Comments?
Wild majority owner Craig Leipold has begun the process of buying out Matt Hulsizer’s 27 percent share of the team.
Leipold said he and Hulsizer are departing on friendly terms. The decision is driven by Leipold’s desire to keep the Wild in his family long-term and Hulsizer’s desire to eventually own a larger chunk of the franchise and be more involved in hockey decisions.
The transaction, which could take months to consummate, will bring Leipold’s stake of the Wild to nearly 95 percent.
Craig Leipold:
“He continued to have a higher interest level in being involved in the hockey side like the draft and trades, but I wasn’t willing to give that up,” Leipold said. “That’s not my style with [General Manager] Chuck [Fletcher], so I certainly wouldn’t let a minority owner have that kind of input to Chuck.”
“We would not be as far in the analytics if not for Matt Hulsizer,” said Leipold, referring to the recent hirings of war-on-ice.com co-founders Andrew Thomas and Alexandra Mandrycky. Leipold said Hulsizer “challenged our hockey ops to use analytics more in our play, scouting and drafting.”
I see positives & negatives to this...
1.) I'm glad Leipold allows Fletcher to do his job without interjecting; doesn't plan on changing that strategy moving forward.
2.) Sounds like Hulsizer pushed for our franchise to consider new-age analytics, etc. which might have not been a bad thing.
Thoughts? Comments?