Trading Hits On The Ice For A Hit On The Green

By Jeff McDonald
Tartan Public Relations

It is no secret that professional hockey players have a passion for the game of golf, but few retired National Hockey League players have completed the transition from the ice to the fairway with quite the flair that Len Barrie and Joel Savage have accomplished.

Attributes Leading To Sports Success
Translate Into Entrepreneurial Success

Retirement didn't go so well for boxer Jake La Motta, as seen in the 1980 classic film Raging Bull, but many athletes do translate the leadership, commitment, drive and innovation required for success on the field or in the rink into success in the boardroom.

The Martin Scorcese-directed film chronicled La Motta's forlorn attempt at owning and operating a New York nightclub after he hung up his gloves. If movie cameras followed former NHL player Len Barrie around – which he laughingly admits is unlikely – the story of a professional athlete's career after retirement would have a much different ending. Barrie has taken his vision for an upscale golf course near Victoria, BC, far past the idea stage.

In 2001, after retiring from the NHL's Florida Panthers and 14 years in pro hockey, Barrie returned home to Victoria, British Columbia to create a world-class golf course and resort community. He's now the president, CEO and major shareholder of the Bear Mountain Master Partnership, and he's sitting on top of the largest residential/resort/commercial construction project being built in Canada today – Bear Mountain Resort.

"I don't think it's worthy of a movie, but it has been an amazing journey, and I believe my commitment and training on the ice has translated to a successful entrepreneurial business career,” says Barrie. "One thing I do know from hockey is I would not have gotten here without an incredible team, which I have at Bear Mountain.”

With no background in land development or construction, Barrie used natural entrepreneurial skills to attract financial partners – including current and former NHL players -- and assembled a team that has made The Westin Bear Mountain Victoria Golf Resort & Spa an international destination, 20 minutes from downtown Victoria, BC. With one 19-hole Jack & Steve Nicklaus co-designed golf course and another, Nicklaus designed, 18 holes opening in 2008, restaurants, spa, custom homes and high-rise luxury condominiums being snapped up by local and international investors, Bear Mountain is a thriving community that will be home to a population of 10,000 in the next 15 years. Once complete, Barrie anticipates that the build-out value of Bear Mountain will approach $2.5 billion.

Barrie is not the only hockey 'sportspreneur' in western Canada. His long-time friend and former teammate Joel Savage also hung up the skates for the world of business. Barrie and Savage played junior hockey together for three years. Savage was a first-round draft pick of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres in 1988, and went on to play briefly for them. He was captain of the Canadian National team and played in the American Hockey League, as well as in the International Hockey League with professional teams in Germany and Switzerland.

Like Barrie, since hanging up his skates in 2004, Savage has put his stick handling skills to work in the resort real estate business as president of Havaday Developments. The company is buildingWildstone, a master-planned development featuring various real estate offerings, two 18-hole Gary Player-designed golf courses – the first in Canada – with hotel, spa and village in southeastern BC's Rocky Mountains, near the town of Cranbrook.
Savage says pro sports in general, and hockey in particular, prepared him for the business challenges he's now facing.

"I think it's really about vision and team work. Hockey at the professional level teaches you to think ahead; you always need to be thinking not only about what you're going to do, but also what your teammates and your opponents are going to do. As a player, my goal was to anticipate the other player's moves, and plan ahead for how I would react. A development of this size, with so many components, needs that kind of thinking and strategizing and planning ahead of the game,” he says. "Pro sports also teach you how to deal with adversity; you can't get down on yourself or your teammates when things don't go exactly right. You have to have a positive attitude, and believe that you can stay in the game, be ready, and capitalize on your chances when they are there. Resort development is the same game.”

If early sales are any indication, Wildstone (www.discoverwildstone.com) is benefiting from Savage's positive attitude. In June, the first 76 building lots on offer sold in one day, and construction is set to start this fall. Havaday Developments plans for a soft opening of the first of the two golf courses in summer 2008, and a grand opening in spring 2009.