OT: Former Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths tries to avoid declaring bankruptcy

[Wetcoaster]

Things are not going well for Arthur... he owes more than $2 million and bankruptcy is a possibility.

I have known Arthur for many years and he is a truly nice guy - sometimes too nice and not ruthless enough.

Arthur Robert Griffiths, the former owner of the Vancouver Canucks, has filed for creditor protection in an attempt to reach a settlement with creditors and get out of debt without declaring bankruptcy.

According to documents filed Monday with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada, Griffiths, the former local sports mogul and scion of a famed B.C. business family, has liabilities of $2,092,577 and total assets of $36,970.

On Tuesday, Griffiths told The Province that his current situation was largely the result of bad business deals.

“It’s mostly associated with a company I was involved with,†Griffiths said. “The directors of that company left me holding the bag, and they left the country.â€
...
Province sports columnist Tony Gallagher, who covered his first Canucks game for the paper in 1972, said Tuesday the Griffiths family’s sporting legacy in Vancouver is “phenomenal.â€

“It’s just so profoundly sad,†Gallagher said. “He just didn’t seem to have the same financial acumen as his dad.â€

Gallagher said Griffiths experienced financial troubles ever since the massive cost overruns associated with the construction of GM Place.

“To his credit, he never pandered for any public money (in the construction of the arena), he put it all up by himself,†Gallagher said. “It was a phenomenal endeavour that he did that. Very beneficial to the Vancouver taxpayer.â€​

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Art...couver+Canucks+tries+avoid/9812791/story.html

Click to read more...

 

[Wisp]

Building GM place has been a huge, huge boon to this city. I've always been impressed it was built wholly on private funding.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Nice guys finish last.

 

[Royal Canuck]

Nice guys finish last.

Sad but true.

Hopefully Griffiths finds a way out of this mess.

 

[carolinacanuck]

very sad story.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

It's been said already, but this is sad. Arthur and the rest of the Griffiths Family always seemed like nice, classy folks.

 

[Proto]

I don't really find it sad, to be honest. He seems like a nice guy, but a rich guy making bad business deals and going bankrupt doesn't really tick my emotional radar.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

I don't really find it sad, to be honest. He seems like a nice guy, but a rich guy making bad business deals and going bankrupt doesn't really tick my emotional radar.

I deal with a lot of folks who go through bankruptcy. Rich or not, it's not a pleasant process to go through.

 

[Barney Gumble]

I don't really find it sad, to be honest. He seems like a nice guy, but a rich guy making bad business deals and going bankrupt doesn't really tick my emotional radar.

A rich guy that inherited a - I assume - thriving business. Again, a nice guy but there's alot of nice guys that have gone thru tough economic times (thru no fault of their own) without the benefit of a "head start" like that.

Do admire that he didn't attempt to leach off public funds in building the arena like some clown that owns an Albertan hockey team.

 

[carolinacanuck]

A rich guy that inherited a - I assume - thriving business. Again, a nice guy but there's alot of nice guys that have gone thru tough economic times (thru no fault of their own) without the benefit of a "head start" like that.

Do admire that he didn't attempt to leach off public funds in building the arena like some clown that owns an Albertan hockey team.

it's true.

i remember when he was going through the planning of building GM Place. the details of this are sketchy to me, but when the canucks entered the league in 1970 there were some shares offered. my dad bought some and held on to them forever.

years later, arthur called a share holders meeting and bought up all those shares.

anyway, wish i knew how much my dad got. all i know is i didn't see any of it

 

[dwarf]

We would not have had our 94 run without Arthur ponying up to make that happen. After years of Frank making money off the fan, it was a nice payback imo.

I am surprised Golem did not give him some credit for that.

 

[Sharpshooter]

Was always a fan of the Griffith family growing up. Arthur seemed to have inherited the same endearing qualities as his mom, imo.

It's too bad, but bad business deals happen from time to time. Perhaps he was too trusting, or perhaps it was some other situation, but I do hope for the best for him. He's one of those guys that I genuinely think is a decent person.

 

[DL44]

I'm shocked to hear his assets are merely valued at $36,000!

Does that mean he owns Zero property in his name?

My car is valued more than the total value of Arthur's assets.

That's serious downfall from where he once was!

"His name" being the key point of course... probably under his wife or family.. but still.

 

[BrandonL]

I've had a couple of encounters with the Griffiths family and they have always been class acts, so this is definitely sad news. Hopefully Arthur can turn it around moving forward.

 

[thom]

So if Griffiths are so nice and finish last what does that make the Pattison family

 

[YouppiKiYay]

Gallagher said Griffiths experienced financial troubles ever since the massive cost overruns associated with the construction of GM Place.

“To his credit, he never pandered for any public money (in the construction of the arena), he put it all up by himself,” Gallagher said. “It was a phenomenal endeavour that he did that. Very beneficial to the Vancouver taxpayer.”​

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Art...couver+Canucks+tries+avoid/9812791/story.html

This will be whispered in country clubs and on polo grounds the world over as a cautionary tale. Never use your own money to build a stadium.

 

[LiquidSnake]

Not to be a jerk but this is probably a good time for Aquilini to buy the rights to the skate logo from Griffiths.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Not to be a jerk but this is probably a good time for Aquilini to buy the rights to the skate logo from Griffiths.

AFAIK that logo belongs to Aquilini already.

 

[Bure All Day]

He goes from building gm place out of his own pocket to owning $36,000 worth of assets... Something tells me there's more to this than meets the eye

 

[Fat Tony]

So if Griffiths are so nice and finish last what does that make the Pattison family

Jim Pattison made it a point to fire an employee a month at his car dealership just to keep his remaining employees on their toes.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Jim Pattison made it a point to fire an employee a month at his car dealership just to keep his remaining employees on their toes.

Urban legend and one that Pattison denied when asked about it a number of years back at a Vancouver Board of Trade speech that I attended.

 

[LiquidSnake]

AFAIK that logo belongs to Aquilini already.

I know as of 2 years ago that wasn't the case. Not sure about now though

 

[Wetcoaster]

I know as of 2 years ago that wasn't the case. Not sure about now though

How would that be possible?

Team logos (past and current) are team property (trademarked) and the team is the same legal entity that entered the NHL. In the case of defunct teams the trademarks revert to the NHL by agreement.

The Vancouver Millionaires logo was a completely different situation and it was subsequently acquired by CS&E in 2010.
http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539258#&navid=VAN-search

 

[LiquidSnake]

How would that be possible?

Team logos (past and current) are team property (trademarked) and the team is the same legal entity that entered the NHL. In the case of defunct teams the trademarks revert to the NHL by agreement.

The Vancouver Millionaires logo was a completely different situation and it was subsequently acquired by CS&E in 2010.
http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539258#&navid=VAN-search

I was at the Canucks store and they had that skate jersey for sale and the manager said it's limited time because Griffiths owns the rights and that he occasionally allows the sale.

Only thing I'm goin by

 

[Wetcoaster]

I was at the Canucks store and they had that skate jersey for sale and the manager said it's limited time because Griffiths owns the rights and that he occasionally allows the sale.

Only thing I'm goin by

I would not go by a sales clerk's knowledge of NHL intellectual property rights.