Avalanche to go nonprofit

WASILLA — The Alaska Avalanche Junior A hockey franchise has battled through its fair share of growing pains during its three years in the Mat-Su Valley.

In an effort to stabilize the franchise and help ensure the team stays in Wasilla, the Alaska Avalanche have become a nonprofit organization, Avalanche head coach and general manager Jamie Smith said on Wednesday.

“This is the best possible scenario for this team to make it financially,” Smith said.

The Avalanche had operated under the control of an ownership group managed by Mark Lee, a local realtor.

Smith said a board of directors, in which he is president of, will now oversee the daily operations of the franchise. The new nonprofit will lease the team from the old ownership group for the next two years. In two years the nonprofit group will have complete ownership of the team.

“The lease-to-own is to pay off the existing debt,” Smith said.

Smith praised the efforts of Lee and his partners, but called the move to nonprofit imperative.

“I have to give credit to Mark Lee,” Smith said. “He kept this thing going. Financially, he took a hit. But he has a passion for the game and wanted [the team] to be here.

“Mark Lee definitely needs some credit for what he did,” Smith added. “He set us up for this situation. He definitely deserves credit for that.”

Reached on Thursday, Lee agreed it was the right move.

“It gives them an opportunity for other different avenues of income,” Lee said.

Smith said the move to nonprofit is something people close to the organization have discussed for quite some time.

“We’ve talked about it for the last two years,” Smith said, noting the primary reason for the move is the opportunity to find more ways to generate revenue.

“There’s a lot of different revenue streams as far as nonprofit,” he said.

As a nonprofit, the organization can now apply for federal grants and pursue a state gaming permit. With such a permit, the Avalanche could venture into the pull tab business. Revenue from pull tab gaming has become crucial to the survival of other local nonprofit organizations, such as the Alaska Baseball League’s Mat-Su Miners.

Also as a nonprofit, any donations made to the Avalanche organization is tax deductible for the donating business.

Before this process was finalized, Smith gauged the reaction of potential advertisers and businesses that work closely with the Avalanche.

“It’s been well-received in the business community,” Smith said. “People are more apt to give to a nonprofit. It’s 100 percent tax deductible.”

The Alaska Avalanche have always had a nonprofit arm, Smith said, the Avs booster club. To get this deal done, Smith and the Avs put a six-member board of directors together, finalized the lease agreement and got approval from the North American Hockey Association.

Smith said the NAHL has been very supportive of not only the Avs, but all three league franchises in the 49th state. The league has also worked to tremendously reduce travel costs of the state’s three franchises — the Avalanche, Kenai River Brown Bears and Fairbanks Ice Dogs.

The Ice Dogs are also a nonprofit organization.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

JUNIOR HOCKEY TIMELINE

June 2005

Led by the efforts of Fairbanks Ice Dogs president Jack Tragis, an Outside ownership group purchases the Springfield (Mo.) Spirit and officially moves the team to Wasilla. The franchise becomes known as the Wasilla Spirit. Former Anchorage Aces standout Dean Larson and NHL veteran Corey Millen are hired to run the team as head coach and general manager.

July 2005

The Wasilla City Council approves a lease of office space in the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex to the Junior A franchise. The Menard Memorial Arena, inside the sports complex, becomes the official home of the team.

September 2005

The Wasilla Spirit make their debut. The team scores a 4-2 win over North Iowa in the franchise’s first official game in Alaska. Fairbanks native Rob Thomas scores the team’s first goal.

April 2006

A local ownership group led by realtor Mark Lee agrees to purchase the franchise. The purchase agreement states the new ownership group buys the team debt free, Lee told the Frontiersman in April 2006. A business plan is created to support an estimated operating budget of $600,000-$700,000.

May 2006

The franchise is renamed the Alaska Avalanche.

November 2006

Former UAA assistant coach Keith Morris is named the team’s general manager.

November 2006

Head coach Dean Larson and assistant Corey Millen abruptly resign after an overtime loss to the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Morris, the general manager, is named interim head coach.

March 2007

Former Houston High School head coach Jamie Smith is named Alaska’s head coach and general manager. Smith served as the team’s marketing director prior to the hire.

April 2008

The Alaska Avalanche become a non-profit organization. Control is transferred from the ownership group managed by Mark Lee to a board of directors in which Jamie Smith is the president of.