Viva Las-Wallaceburg?
The new Las Vegas NHL expansion franchise named George McPhee as their first-ever general manager on Wednesday.
The new team is set to begin playing in the 2017-18 NHL season.
Although McPhee grew up in Guelph, he was actually born in Wallaceburg.
QMI Agency reports that McPhee moved away from Wallaceburg when he was three years old and his mother, Patricia Sherwood-McPhee-Horn, was inducted into the Wallaceburg Sports Hall of Fame as a skater.
According to vegasishockey.com, McPhee joins the new Las Vegas team after spending 17 years as general manager for the Washington Capitals, where he was responsible for all decisions for hockey operations.
During his time with the Capitals, McPhee transformed it from a non-playoff team, selling just 2,900 season tickets in 1997, to a team that consistently ranked first in its division; won the Presidents’ Trophy, which the NHL awards the team that finishes with the best record in the League during the regular season; and sold out every game for the last eight seasons he was with the team.
Most recently, McPhee served as a special advisor to the general manager for the New York Islanders, where he was responsible for advising on complex decisions regarding players, trades, entry draft and other strategic business and legal decisions.
Additionally, he was an integral part of this team when they entered the post-season playoffs in 2015 and 2016.
Prior to his time leading hockey operations, McPhee was a professional hockey player for the New Jersey Devils from 1987-1989 and the New York Rangers from 1982-1987.
“I am very excited to announce that George will be the General Manager of our franchise,” stated Bill Foley, majority owner of the Las Vegas NHL franchise.
“George is well respected around the league. He is a leader who knows every aspect of the game, both as a player and as a hockey operations executive, having been the GM for 17 years with the Capitals, a well-managed and successful franchise. It was important to me that our General Manager be someone that I know I can work well with and someone who is as committed to building a winning franchise for the people of Las Vegas.”
BREAKING: We have officially named George McPhee was our first general manager in team history! pic.twitter.com/Lirkzla6BM
— Vegas Is Hockey (@VegasHockeyNHL) 13 July 2016
“We’re going to build a treasured team. People are going to want to be here, and that starts tonight.” –McPhee pic.twitter.com/WW8ChiKUzv
— Vegas Is Hockey (@VegasHockeyNHL) 13 July 2016
Do you know our new GM’s connection to the Miracle on Ice? Learn more at #VegasIsHockey.com> https://t.co/mML9uzttvE pic.twitter.com/XmWIdts3NQ
— Vegas Is Hockey (@VegasHockeyNHL) 13 July 2016
Learn more on #VegasIsHockey.com of what George McPhee was like before becoming a GM>https://t.co/6TgagDfwPR pic.twitter.com/xf5DxBA416
— Vegas Is Hockey (@VegasHockeyNHL) 13 July 2016
READ: Now that George McPhee has been introduced as GM, he’ll start building our identity> https://t.co/mMaHySP5ET pic.twitter.com/OV5qzgH0JG
— Vegas Is Hockey (@VegasHockeyNHL) 14 July 2016
