hockey

A former NHL hockey player is one of the investors behind a luxurious new spa. Vincent Damphousse is a part of the $8.5-million Scandinave Spa Whistler, opens this month just in time to ramp up for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Vancouver Sun reports that Damphousse owns a 25-per-cent stake in Quebec-based spa developer Gestion Riviere du Diable Inc. (GRD), which has spas in Montreal, Mont Tremblant, Quebec and a franchise spa in Blue Mountain, Ontario. Another player, former defenseman Eric Desjardins owns five per cent of the company.

The project has six separate buildings with green roofs and offers a spa experience that starts with a steam bath or sauna before a quick cool off in Nordic waterfalls or a cold bath or shower, a process that is repeated several times. The baths experience costs $55 and there are also packages that include massage.

Damphousse has been involved with GRD since 1999, when he was still actively playing. He was later the National Hockey League Players Association's director of business relations and is on the boards of four different companies.

Sometimes I wonder if a business card for Manhattan Beach real estate agent Ed Kaminzky comes with every professional sports star's welcome to Los Angeles package because so Los Angeles sports celebrities end up in Manhattan Beach townhomes. Of course once they leave the team there is some selling to do. And so Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tom Preissing has put his four-bedroom townhouse on the market after being assigned to the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League. The home has an enviable spot just a few blocks from the water and boasts some lovely ocean views. The Spanish style home doesn't have much going on in the way of decor but it is a blank slate for any future owners. As the listing puts it, the home is good as new. It has a reverse floorplan to maximize the views and access to the large deck. The main floor master suite has a private deck. There is a two-car garage plus a guest/beach car parking space. This home is listed at $2.15 million.

I decided to take this opportunity to see the trio of sports stars I covered that were selling in Manhattan Beach last fall. Baseball pitcher Derek Lowe has dropped the price on his home which we covered last September. It was then listed at $5.7 million and is now at $4.599 million. A bit of an ouch considering that Lowe bought for $5 million in 2006. Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez has kept his four-bedroom home at the same price of $3.999 million. He bought in 2003 for $1.575 million. Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jason Kendall took his $$7.3 million home off the market but doesn't appear to have sold it.

[via The LA Times Hot Property]

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Ten of the NHL teams are said to be losing money but a couple of billionaires may be in a buying mood.

Alexander Medvedev, the Russian billionaire and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Russian energy company Gazprom, shown in the top right, may become the first Russian billionaire with an NHL franchise. Medvedev is already the owner of Russia's Continental Hockey League and has said that he has narrowed his decision to just three possible teams. Medvedev likely wouldn't be welcomed into the NHL with open arms considering that several NHL players ending up playing for the Russian league. There isn't currently a player transfer agreement between the two leagues. Medvedev is set to meet with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly later this week at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.

Medvedev is hoping to develop European hockey and is meeting with Swedish teams. The Russian league did have some difficulties with teams paying player salaries in the first season but Medvedev says he will crack down on any teams with debts.

One team that Medvedev can't have is the Phoenix Coyotes. The co-CEO of Research in Motion, Jim Balsillie has been trying to buy a hockey team for several years including trying to buy both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators. Now the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes may be his for the taking. Reports say he has made a $212.5 million offer for the Coyotes and will move the team to Southern Ontario.

Dallas billionaire and sports team owner, Tom Hicks is able to do something a lot of other billionaire sports owners are not, he gets double duty from his new Boeing 757. Not only is his hockey team, the Dallas Stars using the plane but his baseball team, the Texas Rangers, will use the same plane once their season comes around. The plane probably won't be too much help for his other sports ownerships, Mesquite Championship Rodeo and 50 percent of the English football (soccer) team Liverpool FC.