When Jamie Schreder and Dana Matheson discovered they were both interested in buying the 91原创 91原创 hockey team, it made sense to form a partnership, they said.

鈥淭he previous ownership group, I鈥檝e known for seven years,鈥� Matheson explained during a Saturday, June 3, interview with the 91原创 Advance Times to discuss their joint purchase of the BCHL franchise.

鈥滻 actually sat on a board with John Henderson, the previous owner,鈥� Matheson recalled.

Schreder had been chatting with Henderson about buying the team for a few months and then, during a lunch with Matheson, he discovered he wasn鈥檛 alone.

鈥淲e thought we should do this together. It鈥檒l be a lot more fun,鈥� Schreder remarked.

鈥淲e thought that two halves would make a perfect whole,鈥� Matheson said.

Matheson owns a logistics company, and Schreder co-owns a real estate company.

鈥淲e get along well,鈥� Schreder said.

鈥淗e鈥檚 [Matheson] a big sports guy, I鈥檓 a big sports guy. 鈥�

It took a while to close the deal, however.

鈥淚t was probably a year in the making,鈥� Matheson estimated.

They had to clear an extensive vetting process with the league that included criminal record checks and a look at their ability to make a long-term financial commitment, before they won approval for the deal, on May 24, in a unanimous vote by the league board of directors.

On Monday, June 5, the sale and transition of ownership took effect.

The partners are unable to say how much the deal cost, because of confidentiality provisions, but 鈥渋t鈥檚 a lot,鈥� Schreder said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a hefty budget,鈥� Matheson agreed.

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The partners support the recently-announced BCHL decision to exit Hockey Canada, a move that will allow teams to bring in talent from the U.S. and overseas.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a step away from bureaucracy,鈥� Scheder commented.

Matheson stressed the priority will remain developing local talent.

鈥淲e want the best 91原创 kids.鈥�

They are not planning big changes, saying their aim is to raise the team profile, to have more interaction with fans, and to add to what the previous owner achieved.

鈥淲e want to build a strong presence in the community,鈥� Matheson said.

鈥淲hen the home opener hits, the arena is going look a little different,鈥� he predicted.

鈥淲e want to really make these games a community event,鈥� Matheson elaborated. 鈥淭he hockey is wonderful, these athletes are top notch, but we feel it should be more than just a hockey game when you come to the [George Preston arena]. So let鈥檚 have family nights, let鈥檚 have bouncy castles, facepainters, live music, lots of giveaways, and just do it up to so that we get families in the community engaged and coming out.鈥�

Schreder said they aim to create a family-friendly environment.

鈥淒ana and I both have young families, we live down the road 鈥� we鈥檙e our customers here,鈥� Schreder said.

鈥淲e want an event that we can go to, that has a lot of opportunity for our kids, and for us as residents in the community, to have a good time and we鈥檙e going to be leaning in on that.鈥�

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