Beardy's makes bid for Minot Top Guns

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The Beardy's First Nation may soon become the second Native owners of a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League club. They're talking to the owners of the Minot Top Guns, who are looking to sell the club, "if the price is right," said Top Guns president and Regina businessman Kim McDougal.

"Until we get a signature and a deposit-and right now we've got neither-we still own the Top Guns," he said.

George Cameron, who is leading the Beardy's bid for the team, said that a deal may be in the works by the end of March.

"We've talked to them, and in the next couple of weeks, we'll see whether we'll have a deal," Cameron said.

McDougal said that officials from Beardy's First Nation talked to him last summer about selling the team. Cameron also led a failed bid for an SJHL expansion club for Beardy's last year.

"The league didn't want to expand," Cameron said. "There was the worry that there wasn't enough good players to go around, and there were one or two teams in the league in trouble. "

The Top Guns are one of those troubled teams, though they play in the league's largest market. Though the team, formerly known as the Minot Americans, was formed eight years ago, they've never been able to win either games or fans in the North Dakota city of 40,000.

Due to booked dates at its home arena, the Top Guns played their first 14 games of the 1995-96 season on the road. In the midst of a 20-game losing skid, the club fired its coach, only to have the United States Department of Immigration threaten to deport not only the new coach but also a Canadian-born teacher who had offered to volunteer as coach.

League observers say that the SJHL won't stand in the way if a suitable buyer wants to move the team, citing problems in getting Canadians clearance from the U.S. government to play in the United States.

If a deal is reached, the SJHL would have to approve the sale at its next general meeting, to be held May 31 to June 2, said league president Wayne Kartush.

Beardy's Band organizers have told the Regina Leader-Post that a formal announcement will be made on March 25. They say that they are at the stage of crossing the t's and dotting the i's.

The Lebret Eagles, owned by the Star Blanket First Nation, are currently the only First-Nation-owned hockey club in the 13-team SJHL. Beardy's is located near Duck Lake, approximately 80 km north of Saskatoon.