The Dallas Stars have a new owner.
Tom Gagliardi, President of Northland Properties Corporation, purchased the hockey team Friday.
Gagliardi named Jim Lites as the President and CEO of the Stars. Lites previously served the team in that role from 1993-2002 and 2003-2007.
“Jim Lites is the right guy at the right time to reposition and lead the franchise forward,” said Gaglardi in a press release. “I like his vision, resilience, marketing expertise and his total energy for this job ... and he and I share a huge love of this game. “
That huge "love of the game" has kept the 43-year-old Gagliardi playing hockey since he was 5-years-old, including currently playing on a Canadian competitive team.
Northland Properties Corporation, Gagliardi's company, is the largest family-owned hospitality company in Canada.
With Friday's purchase, the Stars become the second Dallas-area professional sports team to be sold by Tom Hicks in the past 17 months after the Rangers were sold to the Greenberg-Ryan group in Aug., 2010.
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In April of 2010, Hicks' company defaulted on loans related to the Stars and the American Airlines Center.
The Stars have won seven Division Championships, two Western Conference Championships, two President's Trophies, and the 1999 Stanley Cup. The returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2000.
Gaglardi will be formally introduced in a Monday news conference.
