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New Bolts Owner Takes Reins, Looks Ahead

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 23, 2008

For the better part of 11 months, Oren Koules had to bite his tongue. As part of the original ownership group that attempted to purchase the Lightning in August, Koules expended a tremendous amount of time and energy in his pursuit of the team.

With the difficult part of the purchase behind them, Koules and his partner, former NHL player Len Barrie, are looking forward to taking care of business with the hockey team. They will formally announce the other six partners in the ownership group at a news conference today in Tampa, including a pair of area investors, and look forward to introducing a new head coach in the coming days.

Koules had to remain silent while being sued by his former partners in November and having to pay an undisclosed out-of-court settlement. He was quiet while entering an exclusive negotiating process and purchase agreement before struggling in a sluggish economy to secure the necessary financing to realize his goal.

Now, however, with the sale of the team having been approved by the NHL Board of Governors last week and the closing of the sale coming June 30, Koules now is officially in charge of the Lightning. He and Barrie were involved at this past weekend's NHL entry draft, having sat at the team's table while Koules introduced Steven Stamkos as the top pick in the draft Friday evening.

The pair flew to Tampa on Sunday following a lunch with Lightning center Vinny Lecavalier in Montreal in preparation for the week's activities leading up to the start of the free agency period.

Koules and Barrie were able to take a few minutes to speak with The Tampa Tribune to discuss why they wanted to venture into the business of owning an NHL franchise, how they met and shared some of their ideas on what kind of a team the fans can expect to see on the ice.

Q: How difficult of a process has this been to go through the past year and how rewarding is it now that the end is here?

Oren Koules: "It's all really worth it, and I'm just focusing on looking forward and not real interested in looking back."

Q: How exciting was it to be at the draft during the weekend and do something in an official capacity?

OK: "I'm walking on clouds."

Q: What are some of your initial thoughts on what you want to do with the franchise moving forward now that you have your hands on everything?

OK: "I know that we are going to have a very simple motto this year, we're going to win."

Len Barrie: "We're both getting into this because we are both passionate hockey fans, we love this market, we have a great fan base, we have a great building and it's a fun place to come, to come watch a hockey game. And one thing, they are going to be entertained, the team we put on the ice is going to be entertaining. We are going to be an offensive team, we are going to be a tough team, we're going to be big. I think we're going to surprise some people. We finished 30th and we got Stamkos coming in who couldn't have a better guy in front of him coming in than Vinny Lecavalier. We're going to entertain and we are going win."

Q: So does that mean you have a pretty aggressive game plan put together in terms of free agency when it opens July 1?

LB: "We might be camping out at two different spots selling our team, selling our city and selling our passion."

OK: "We are probably going to be in certain players' backyards with a tent, seriously, the day of. The day the clock strikes we will probably be at their home. And I don't want that written because I don't want anybody stealing our ideas. But we are serious, we are seriously talking about doing that."

Q: Do you have a payroll in mind of what you want to spend or will you wait to see how that plays out?

OK: "We are going to shoot for the moon and see how everything fits."

Q: How about the coaching situation? There's been plenty of rumors out there, how will that be addressed?

OK: "That will clear itself out probably this week and you'll get to see some bright and shining faces."

Q: Having gone through the process of buying the team, why do you want to own a franchise?

OK: "We just love the game and love the opportunity we have here in Tampa with the amazing fans, and amazing building and by far the best opportunity for us."

LB: "Mine is one simple thing, I didn't win the Stanley Cup as a player and now we're going to win it as an owner and part of an organization and a team."

Q: Both of you guys have major outside business; how will the time and energy be split up between the two interests?

LB: "We are going to put good people that we have and use them and lean on them and put good people around us just as we have in our business. Oren is moving here and I'll probably be here in the wintertime probably about 80 percent of the time."

OK: "It's the perfect schedule, really for both of us because our busy times are in the summer. I make 'Saw' in the summer, like we are just finishing up right now. It works out timing-wise well. For Len the golf resort isn't as busy in the wintertime as it is in the summer so in the summers he'll spend more time there and I'll spend more time here."

Q: Have you thought about any other changes you might make in terms of front office personnel?

LB: "We are going to be owner/operators. We're passionate about the game and the players and being involved in the day-to-day decisions both on and off the ice. And the one thing is, with all the financing coming through and getting that all done, now it's time to turn our focus there and we'll make all our evaluations in all departments of our operations."

Q: With the reported financial losses of the team, do you see a way to maybe at least break even with this team?

OK: "Our goal as an organization is to break even in the regular season, just like my Junior A team in Montana, we like to break even in the regular season and get rewarded with a good playoff run."

Q: How did the relationship come together for you guys to form an ownership partnership?

LB: "A guy we both knew in L.A., Rick Monroe, then I phoned Luc Robitaille who knew Oren and he gave the thumbs up and Luc said I would like the situation in Tampa because of the real estate play. ... We both picked the right horse and here we are today as 50/50 partners looking forward making decisions. It's already been a lot of fun and it's only going to get more fun."

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