Bublés celebrate a decade and counting in a Giant family affair

Call Me Irresponsible, Michael Bublé’s third studio album three-plus years in the making, hit the shelves on May 1, 2007. Permeated with jazz and traditional pop oldies, the compilation of covers led off with his version of Cy Coleman’s “The Best is Yet to Come.”

Given its timing, perhaps this was an early premonition of the Bublé family’s involvement with the Vancouver Giants, their hometown major-junior hockey club.

The best was soon to come for the team. Within 26 days of Call Me Irresponsible’s release, the

Giants were Memorial Cup champions. As the tournament’s host at the Pacific Coliseum, they vanquished the Medicine Hat Tigers, avenging their Western League final loss and capping a stellar major-junior career for local favorite Milan Lucic.

“I remember the series of plays involving Lucic now known as ‘The Shift,’” Michael’s father, Lewis Bublé, told Pucks and Recreation, citing his favorite moment as a Giants fan.

This series of plays still features prominently among the most memorable moments in Vancouver hockey history. Within the first five minutes of the 2007 Memorial Cup title game, Lucic lived up to the team name.

Culminating in a fight, Lucic’s hit-heavy shift showcased his versatility en route to tournament MVP accolades. It marked a triumphant ending to the power forward’s pre-NHL days, as he moved up to The Show the next autumn.

“I was there when they won the Memorial Cup in 2007,” reflected Bublé. “Lucic led the way for that team, which really set the tempo.”

Although he did not own the team when Lucic played, Lewis enjoyed watching him from 2004 to 2007. He helped build more memories at the historic Coliseum, where the Bublé family had grown up cheering for the Canucks from 1970 to 1995. (The local NHL team subsequently moved into GM Place, now Rogers Arena.)

Not long after Lucic moved on, the Bublés got directly involved with the junior club. In December 2008, Ron Toigo approached Lewis and Michael about becoming partners in owning the Giants.

“When we were initially asked to become co-owners of the team, we were excited,” said Lewis. “We have always enjoyed the sport and had Canucks season tickets. Since Michael and I love sports, especially hockey, we came on as minority partners.”

Fast-forward 10 years, and Michael and Lewis co-own the Giants with three other minority partners. However, Lewis noted that Toigo has been the driving force in assembling the ownership group.

Toigo, the Managing Director of Shato Holdings, Ltd., is the Giants current president and majority owner. He brings a wealth of experience to junior hockey, having previously run the WHL’s Tri-City Americans from 1991 to 2000.

Later this year, the BC Sports Hall of Fame will honor Toigo for his accomplishments, including bringing the 2006 World Junior Championship to Vancouver, with the W.A.C. Bennett Award.

Besides Toigo, the Bublés are joined by Sultan Thiara and Bruce Allen. Thiara works as an accountant and is currently a high-ranking executive at Shato Holdings Ltd., a privately held company owned by the Toigo family. Meanwhile, Allen gained notoriety managing such musicians as Bryan Adams, Martina McBride and Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

The late Gordie Howe and Pat Quinn (a one-time Canucks coach) were also co-owners of the Giants, and the elder Bublé said their contributions to the organization cannot be overlooked.

During each man’s involvement with the team, the overlapping Bublé and Giants family emphatically demonstrated its appreciation. The month Howe turned 85 in 2013, Michael drove a cake-bearing pickup onto the Coliseum ice and serenaded the legend.

 

Vancouver’s young players have offered their own homages to Michael. In December 2016, the team uploaded a music video of the Giants lip-syncing to one of his Christmas covers. The club dedicated the performance to Michael’s then-three-year-old son, Noah, who had started undergoing treatment for cancer at the time.

Of his personal highlights in his first decade of Giants co-ownership, Lewis says, “There are too many moments that stand out.”

While the Bublés have been involved since 2008, the Giants have existed since 2001-02. In that time, they have won one President’s Cup as WHL playoff champions in 2006 plus the next year’s Memorial Cup.

Some of the distinguished moments of the Bublé era include back-to-back conference finals in 2009 and 2010. For that first run, current San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane was still with the Giants for the second half of his third and final major-junior season when the Bublé era began.

Beyond their on-ice involvement, Lewis marvels at how the ownership group and front office instills strong values to their teenage players.

“Ron sets the tone,” he said. “He believes in them not just as players, but as people. He views them beyond their hockey talent, which is important especially watching the team grow.”

While Toigo is the majority owner, President and WHL governor, Lewis also focuses his time as the president and chairman of the board of the Pacific Coast Fishermen’s Mutual Insurance Company, which insures commercial fishing vessels.

Naturally, Michael is traveling the hemipshere as part of the tour promoting his latest album, Love. He started in Tampa on Feb. 13 and will continue through Nov. 10 in Munich. He will have covered 20 countries within that nine-month window.

Even with this busy concert schedule, Michael still finds time to devote to his favorite childhood sport.

“Michael loves the sport,” said Lewis about his son’s involvement with the Giants. “He watches every game that he can, even when touring 45 countries.”

Back when he first came on as a minority partner, Michael shared similar sentiments.

“I’ve done lots of amazing things in my life, but this is easily the most prestigious for me,” he told The Canadian Press at the time. “It’s a dream come true to be a part of this club.”

The Bublés’ fascination with hockey extends to their personal lives. Lewis noted that Michael has a rink in his basement and requests a team puck of any city he visits where applicable.

In extreme cases, Michael’s hockey obsession can even cut into his day job. In June 2011, he postponed a concert to fly cross-continent and catch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, which pitted the Canucks against Lucic and the Boston Bruins. As it happened, that concert was supposed to take place in New England, so crossover fans were likely forgiving.

In another Cup-related anecdote, Michael kissed the legendary trophy when it visited him backstage. Witnesses to that display told reporters of the singer’s childlike enthusiasm, and his father has similar takes on similar stories.

“During his life, in fact, he has met a bunch of professional hockey players, and rather than act nervously, he grins like a kid,” laughed Lewis. Those players have come from all over the world, even from as far away as Sweden.

For the Bublés, the Giants have become a metaphorical extended family. The Giants have become that for each other too. According to Lewis, Toigi inspires that mentality in all players that pass through the organization.

“At times it is certainly challenging to have to trade players,” he said. “However, you are trying to do the best you can for the player at that time. That is what truly stands out about being involved with the Giants. The emphasis is on the game, but it is also on providing quality support to the players and their families.” 

-           John Morton