Some people spend years dreaming of becoming a hockey agent.

Wayne Logan became one by chance – and in a matter of minutes.

The year was 1986. Logan had just finished playing a game with the University of Calgary’s Law Alumni Hockey Association and was taking off his equipment in the dressing room.

Art Breeze, who had also been playing, announced that he was starting an agency to represent hockey players. He figured he needed a lawyer to help him and wanted to know if anyone wanted to join him.

David Lazarowych photos, Business Edge
Wayne Logan’s life changed after meeting Gordie Howe and his wife in 1997.

“I was literally sitting next to him in the dressing room,” said Logan, adding nobody else seemed interested. “So it wasn’t any big desire to become an agent.”

Logan, a Calgary lawyer, teamed up with Breeze, then an insurance agent, and Dr. Frank Sutton, a Calgary plastic surgeon and the father of National Hockey League player Ken Sutton, to form Pro Rep XXX.

Today, Pro Rep acts for several NHLers, including Washington Capitals’ goaltender Olaf Kolzig, and many Western Hockey League players who dream of big paydays.

Breeze is the face of the company. With his son Brent, he recruits players – starting as young as 14 – and handles most of the negotiations. Logan provides legal advice and deals with any legal problems – many of which could arise between now and 2004, when the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between NHL owners and players expires.

Many observers fear that the new CBA will spell a revolution for the game – and agents such as Logan and Breeze will likely be a key part of it. The fear is that the owners will lock out players for a protracted period, possibly the entire 2004-05 season. Such a scenario could be disastrous for small-market teams including the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, which depend largely on ticket sales for their survival.

The negotiations on the new CBA will centre on two fundamental issues: a league-wide salary cap, which the owners covet, versus expanded free agency, which the players want.



(If the owners get their way, all players – not just rookies, as is the case now – will face a hard salary cap. If the players get their way, the age at which a player automatically becomes an unrestricted free agent – and able to sign with the highest bidder – will be lowered to somewhere in the range of 27-30 from 31.)

“Rather than an adversarial situation, I think they have to become partners,” said Logan.

Small-market teams such as Calgary and Edmonton fear looser free-agency rules because, according to the conventional theory, teams that can afford to pay the biggest salaries enjoy the most success on the ice – a theory that has been rocked by the success in this spring’s playoffs of the low-budget Minnesota Wild.

“The owners have to be protected from themselves,” said Logan, referring to the fact that many teams have doled out huge contracts, despite the league’s concerns about skyrocketing salaries.

Although players are often perceived as being overpaid, said Logan, they earn their money because they are the ones who bring in the fans – not the owners. The problem for stars, he said, is that in most cases, they cannot reap the benefits of lucrative endorsement deals until their playing days are over.

Ironically, a retired player – Gordie Howe – has probably paid the biggest dividends for Calgary native Logan, who represents the hockey legend independently of Pro Rep.

By landing Howe as a client, Logan was also able to represent former members of Team Canada 1972, which defeated the former Soviet Union in the hockey summit series.

“My life changed in 1997 when I met Gordie and (his wife) Colleen Howe,” said Logan, sitting in a room adorned by Howe jerseys, his book, After the Applause, and other memorabilia.

“It (the relationship with the Howes) has attracted a lot of clients,” said Logan, who also represents authors (the bulk of his clients), entertainers and amateur Olympic-calibre athletes.

His work for amateur athletes is pro bono – free of charge.

“Why? They need help,” said Logan. “They just cannot afford legal help.”

He also works for free as a board member of the Calgary Booster Club and the Parks Foundation.

Which just goes to prove that you never know what might happen after a chance encounter in a hockey dressing room.