Spirit's Goslin named OHL's top executive

The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Saginaw Spirit Managing Partner Craig Goslin is the OHL Executive of the Year for the 2005-06 season.

Goslin, a 45 year old native of Bay City, Michigan, has been instrumental in the success of the Saginaw Spirit franchise during their first four years of operation, setting and maintaining an atmosphere of first class quality sports entertainment.

Goslin joined the Spirit prior to their inaugural season in 2002, as Vice-President of Sales, following a distinguished 19 year career with Hilti Corporation where he set national sales records and was awarded “President’s Sales Council” honours for leading a top 5 sales region in North America, for 17 of his years with the company. Craig was named part owner, Managing Partner and Alternate Governor of the Spirit, in 2005.

During his tenure, Goslin has created a pair of groundbreaking relationships between the community and the Spirit. In 2004, and in cooperation with building manager SMG, he managed the sale of naming rights to the Spirit’s home to the Dow Chemical Company, changing the former Saginaw County Event Center into the “Dow Event Center”. Goslin also pioneered a ‘Presenting Sponsor’ relationship with Mid-Michigan Meijer stores. This was the first team presenting sponsorship of its kind in the CHL.

Building a fan and corporate sponsorship base from scratch Goslin has led the Saginaw Spirit business team to sales of 2,600 season tickets and an average of over 4,300 fans per game, both of which rank close to the top of the Ontario Hockey League. He has also led the Spirit in the creation of a corporate sponsorship base that is near the top of the entire Canadian Hockey League.

In June of 2005, Goslin was one of the individuals who spearheaded the creation of an OHL Business Development Committee. Subsequently in August of 2005, the committee was approved by the Ontario Hockey League Board of Governors and Goslin was named as chairman of the committee. Under Craig’s leadership this group is working to encourage cooperation among OHL member teams and leverage each team’s marketing strengths in order to raise the level of business operations of the Ontario Hockey League and all of its constituents.

Goslin was also instrumental in securing the 2007 OHL All Star Classic for Saginaw. The Saginaw Spirit business team has already begun preparations in order to make the game a first class event. When the game is played on January 31, 2007, it will mark the first time in the event’s history that the two day festival has left Ontario.