CANUCKS' OWNERSHIP QUIETLY CHANGES HANDS
by Carol Schram, Vancouver Correspondent
On Tuesday, Nov. 12, Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment held a press conference to announce that longtime Canuck head Arthur Griffiths had sold his remaining shares in the organization to his business partner, John McCaw of Seattle. The McCaw family now has complete control over GM Place and the NBA Vancouver Grizzlies, as well as owning 86 percent of Northwest Sports Enterprises, which owns the NHL Vancouver Canucks and Winning Spirit sports clothing and accessory stores. The other 14 percent of Northwest is publicly held stock. Suddenly, for the first time in more than 20 years, the Griffiths family does not control NHL hockey in Vancouver.
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This past summer, Arthur's sister Emily decided to sell her 10 percent interest in Orca Bay. Because Arthur didn't have the cash to buy her out, she sold to the McCaws. With only his 10 percent stake remaining, Arthur saw the writing on the wall. On Nov. 12, he too sold out to McCaw, becoming nothing more than another salaried employee at Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment. He may have aimed too high in the end, but Arthur succeeded in realizing his dreams of building a beautiful downtown arena, bringing the NBA to Vancouver, and turning the Canucks into perpetual contenders. He is still just 39 years old, and while the family obviously misses Frank Sr.'s shrewd business dealings, for now their fortune remains relatively intact. Arthur will continue working in the industry that he loves, but from here on out, as a sports executive, he is at the mercy of his so-called silent partners', the McCaws.