Habs Owner to be Honoured

By Fred Walker

Sports Media Canada is pleased to announce that George N. Gillett Jr., owner of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, has been named Sports Executive of the Year. The award will be presented at SMC’s annual Sports Awards Luncheon to be held on Thursday, October 16, 2008 in the main ballroom of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

George Gillett Jr.

George Gillett Jr.


George Gillett bought the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club and the Bell Centre in 2001 and this year the storied franchise is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Mr. Gillett is also a member of the NHL’s Board of Governors. Among his other sports interests is ownership of the NASCAR team, Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and a 50% share of the Liverpool English Premier League Football Club.

A number of other awards will be presented during the October 16th luncheon including Lifetime Achievement Awards to Brian McFarlane and Bob Elliott. McFarlane, a broadcaster and author was a fixture on Hockey Night In Canada for a quarter century and Elliott is the baseball columnist at the Toronto Sun. He has covered major league baseball for 25 years.

The annual Sports Media Canada Awards luncheon recognizes excellence in sports journalism with awards for writing, broadcasting and photography. The CBC’s Ron MacLean will receive the Outstanding Sports Broadcasting award for the second time; Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette, the award for Outstanding Sportswriting and the Toronto Star’s Lucas Oleniuk will be presented with the award for Outstanding Sports Photography.

Sports Media Canada is the Canadian chapter of A.I.P.S. A.I.P.S. is the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive and has chapters in 130 countries, one of which is Canada.

Tickets for the luncheon are available and may be obtained from Dick Bradbeer at (905) 855-2666 or at: dickbradbeer@sympatico.ca.