Former NHLer sells majority ownership of Halifax Mooseheads to American businessman

After 20 years of owning the largest stake of the Halifax Mooseheads, Bobby Smith has sold the team. The former NHLer, who was a 1st overall pick and won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1986, announced Tuesday that his 85 percent of the team now belongs to American businessman Sam Simon of Atlas Oil and Simon Holdings Group.

"I'm definitely going to miss it," Smith said of being the Mooseheads majority owner. "I get up in the morning and there's a game that afternoon and (my wife) Beth will yell back to the office 'What are you doing?' I'll say 'Well, we're thinking about a trade so I'm watching Val-d'Or play Blainville and (Josh) Lawrence and (Alexandre) Doucet are out there. I'll be out in a couple of hours.' I've loved it and there's no question I'm going to miss it. Since I was 17 years old junior hockey or the NHL has been a big part of my life."

Smith will be kept in the fold as a consultant for the team. Simon said this is a dream come true for him and his family.

"We'll be listening to our coaches and we're going to listen to our GM; nothing's going to change," Simon said. "The only thing I will change is 'How can we add more into making it better?' With my business strategies and my ideas, they will see there's a lot more we can do here."

Simon and his two sons are major Detroit Red Wings fans and catch as many home games as they can, while also meeting up elsewhere to take in road games. Simon's son Peter just completed a degree in Sports Management and intends to be heavily involved in the Mooseheads.

"We'll be back and forth but I think that the city will see and the community will see and the team will see that we're very hands-on people," said Peter to reporters.

The Halifax Mooseheads started playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 1994. The team was sold to Smith, a native of Nova Scotia, in 2003 by the Moosehead Brewing Company. Halifax has appeared in the President's Cup final four times, winning the championship once, in 2013.

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