The St. Louis Blues have a new owner.
The NHL's Board of Governors approved the sale of the team to a group headed by former minority owner Tom Stillman, the league announced on Wednesday.
Stillman leads a group of local investors believed to be paying $130 million for the Blues, their Peoria Rivermen affiliate of the American Hockey League and "significant interest" in the Peabody Opera House, a performing arts venue that is attached to Scottrade Center. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Monday that the sale would close on Wednesday, and it did.
One outstanding question is Brett Hull's involvement with the management group; the Post-Dispatch reported that the franchise's all-time leading goal scorer was expected to have a role.
Commissioner Gary Bettman, in his state-of-the-league address at the All-Star Game in January, was confident about Stillman and the deal.
"Fans of the Blues have reason to be comfortable and excited about the future of the club," Bettman said.
A bid by Chicago-area businessman Michael Hulsizer, who also tried to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, collapsed in Decemberâ€"coincidentally, the league was also prepared to announce on Monday evening an agreement to sell the Coyotes to former Sharks CEO Greg Jamison.
Stillman had been a minority owner of the Blues since March 2007, with a 10 percent stake.
The sale removes current chairman Dave Checketts from the equation. Checketts' group was part of Hulsizer's bid and would have had a 30 percent stake in the team, but the NHL terminated that bid in January because of concerns over its financing structure.
The next ownership issue the league is looking to settle: the longstanding issue of who will buy the Coyotes. Bettman said earlier this week that he hopes a deal with a group led by former Sharks CEO Greg Jamison, which would keep the team in Arizona, is done in weeks.
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