Wild adds new minority owner

Matthew Hulsizer has become a minority owner of the Wild, and Phil Falcone is out.

Hulsizer is CEO of PEAK6 Investments. He purchased 100 percent of Falcone's shares, which were less than 25 percent of the team after majority owner Craig Leipold purchased pieces of Falcone's original stake over the past few years.

Hulsizer has been part of bids to buy the Arizona Coyotes and the St. Louis Blues. He also kicked tires in Dallas and Carolina.

During a long, comprehensive process that actually delayed this transfer for some time, Hulsizer got revetted by the NHL even though he has been vetted many times during his previous purchase attempts. He met with the executive committee during the All-Star Game and was approved unanimously during a fax vote this week by the Board of Governors.

As a result of the agreement, there is no ability for any minority owner to obtain a majority stake in the team. That is different from the old agreement that did have a buy-sell clause, a mechanism for Falcone to eventually become the majority owner by buying Leipold out or Leipold buying Falcone out.

Leipold said he's in for the long haul. "I'm planning to keep this for generations. This is becoming now a family investment."

In a statement released by the Wild, Hulsizer said: "Craig and I share a commitment to winning and we look forward to bringing the Stanley Cup to Minnesota."

"He's just a hockey guy," Leipold said. "He loves hockey. He's a hockey fanatic. He watches all games at night. Now he loves the Wild. For the last four months, during almost every game, I get texts from him and we kibbitz back and forth during the games. He's got a pretty good eye for talent, and he's not shy to let me know what's going on with other players.

"He really believes in the analytical aspect of hockey. That comes from the business that he is in, in statistics and analytics of understanding stock markets and money funds and the value of international currencies. He's a numbers guy. He plays hockey today. He coaches his kids in hockey. He's going to be a fun guy to own the team with.

"He's made it very clear, he's only about winning. That's why we hit it off so well. Listen, he doesn't ask about the financials of the team. He doesn't ask about the revenue and expenses. He asks one thing: How are we going to win?"

Leipold said, laughing, "That's the kind of guy I want, because frankly I do ask about revenue and I do ask about losses."

Leipold said Hulsizer will probably make it to five games a year because he's not a fan of flying. "He drives over to [Des Moines] Iowa to watch the American Hockey League games."

"Given my New York City residency and schedule, I haven't been able to enjoy this asset and spend as much time involved in the organization as I would have liked, so I've decided to pursue a different path," Falcone said in a statement.