Erin Freeman: Welcome to Sweet Tea and Strategy, a podcast by Ackerman Marketing and PR, featuring business and community leaders throughout Tennessee talking about issues and trends of importance to our state and beyond. I’m Erin Freeman and on behalf of Ackerman, today I’m excited to be sharing a conversation and a glass of sweet tea with our guest Mike Murray, President and General Manager of the Knoxville Ice Bears, East Tennessee’s premier hockey team.
Known for his playing career in hockey, Mike has been an active member of Knoxville’s hockey community for three decades. A leader on and off the ice, Mike became the Ice Bears’ President and General Manager in 2006, the year the team won the Southern Professional Hockey League’s President’s Cup. During Mike’s tenure, the Ice Bears have also won the President’s Cup in 2008, 2009, and again in 2015. Most recently, it was announced that Mike will be inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
Clearly, Mike knows how to win, and we’re thrilled to have him with us today. Mike, welcome to Sweet Tea and Strategy.
Mike Murray: Thanks for having me. That was quite an introduction.
Erin Freeman: Well, you are quite the man. So, before we start talking about your background in sports, let's talk sweet tea. Do you like sweet tea and if so, where in East Tennessee can you find the best glass?
Mike Murray: Well, being from Canada, sweet tea wasn't really a big thing there. But, obviously, like you said, I've been here a long time, so I've dabbled in it. It’s not always my thing, but I’m told that Litton’s and Pal’s—I think Pal’s has one of the best sweet teas, that’s what I’m told. I drink it once in a while, not all the time, but down here in the South, I mean, I’ve tried a lot of things that I’ve never tried before. But it’s amazing. I know it’s a drink of choice for—when I was in the golf business for a long time, that was probably our top seller.
Erin Freeman: I’m sure it was, an Arnold Palmer especially.
Mike Murray: Yes, I will do more of those than just straight sweet tea, but that’s just probably the Canadian in me.
Erin Freeman: True. All right, so let’s talk business and strategy and sports. So, growing up in Canada, like you said, hockey is life. So talk about your start in hockey and who introduced you to the game. And did you ever imagine that your beginnings in hockey would take you where you are today? So share that story with us.
Mike Murray: Well, my dad is the oldest of eight boys and one girl. And obviously, growing up in Canada, you shake a tree and a hundred hockey players fall out. There was really nothing back in the day, there wasn't really much to do in the wintertime but grab a stick and play. I've been skating since I was like three years old. Obviously loved it. And you mentioned the Hall of Fame thing—I mean, usually I’m projected going forward, looking at the next best thing. But when I got that announcement or that nice phone call, it made me stop in my tracks and realize what amazing parents I had that let me do what I loved to do. They squeezed every last dime to be able to allow me to play travel hockey, which allowed me to be seen by more scouts and put me in a situation where I could fulfill my dream.
I was able to play in the NHL a little bit and travel the world—I played in Europe twice. And just to be able to get up every day, especially here in the South, and do what I love to do, it’s amazing and I'm very grateful.
Erin Freeman: So was there a point where your parents knew that you had something special where hockey was concerned?
Mike Murray: Yeah, there were a couple times during travel hockey where, one specific night, we played about an hour away from my hometown. It was a school night, so I was trying to do my homework in the car on the way back from the game. And I heard my mom say to my dad, "Should we tell him?" Of course, I'm right there, "Tell me what?" And then my dad turned on the interior light of the car, my mom handed me a card from a scout that was there to watch me that night. And that's when I realized that, wow, I could maybe do something with this.
About a year later, I was drafted at 15 years old, moved away from home, and all of a sudden playing in front of 5,000 people a night, going to a different school. And then more scouts, entertaining. And next thing I know, a year later, I'm 17 years old in Montreal at the NHL Draft and got drafted by the New York Islanders. At that time, I might still be the youngest draft choice they’ve ever had at 17. It was all a whirlwind at that time. But I signed my first NHL contract at 19. I had been traded to the Philadelphia Flyers at that point. But obviously, first and foremost, my parents are to thank because I didn't drive myself to the rink or get dressed in the middle of the night to get to practice at 5:00 AM before school. You have good parents that can support something you love—I mean, you’re a parent, you know—it's amazing and I'm very blessed.
Erin Freeman: Well, I know they are very, very proud of you. No doubt. All right, so sport is a major economic driver not only for Knoxville but our entire world. It brings camaraderie, and for so many, watching or playing sports is a therapeutic hobby. And COVID-19 put sports on pause. So talk about how the pandemic has affected the Ice Bears and your thoughts on how it could impact the future of sport.
Mike Murray: Oh, that's a great question. It impacted us tremendously. Obviously, we were gearing up for the postseason run. We had five regular-season games to go and most likely three playoff games. So at that point, I think for seven straight games, we had been averaging over 4,500 people in that 5,000-seat arena. Everything was clicking as well as it could be. Obviously, it was devastating to us financially. It was just—when we got that word, it was just as quick as I could to get the players back home and across the borders. That was a feat in itself. Closing up the player housing and all of that stuff—it was pretty traumatic, not just for us, obviously all the other teams in the league and all other minor sports that need fans to function.
So going forward, it obviously seems like it changes day by day. Things are getting a little looser. We’re five months out from drop of the puck here in Knoxville. There's talk of whether we push that back a month, because in our league, in the SPHL, we have 10 teams but in eight different states. So it’s not going to be dependent on our Board of Governors to determine when we start; we’ve got to have cooperation from the other states to see what limitations they have. Like I said, we don't have television rights, so we need fans. And if we don't have fans, then we just don't play. And that’s some sleepless nights right now. But you can only control what you can control. Right now, I was able to keep my staff with the PPP loan and just kind of see what's going to happen here. This is the time when we’ll start going out and looking for community support from corporate partners and season ticket holders. We’ve retained 90% of them, which is amazing. They're very good to us, they want to see hockey. I’m very optimistic about how this is all going to turn out because I think once time passes, we'll be able to have people in the building. Obviously, we're going to follow the city guidelines and do all the right things.
For every business, it's obviously a gut punch. But for this one year, we're going to have to get through this. One thing I love about being in this city is just the people. I'm even amazed at how long I've been here. My agent asked me to come down here and play 20 games to help the Knoxville Cherokees make the playoffs, and I've been here ever since. It's a great place, I love the people, I love our fans. It’s shocking but not shocking that we have that kind of retention for our season ticket holder base because they just love the Ice Bears, they love hockey. We're one of two professional hockey teams in the entire state. I know the Preds love us because for Fox Sports South, when they’re aired, the biggest viewership is over here in East Tennessee, which is good to know.
Erin Freeman: That's incredible. You spoke of your work to get your players back home. So how have you kept their morale up? What have you been hearing from your players?
Mike Murray: Well, I mean, first and foremost is their health. This isn't about hockey anymore; this is about getting home safely across the borders. To be honest, two of them didn't make it. One was from the Czech Republic and they’d already closed their border. So we had to keep him around for a little while, but again, keep him healthy. As far as morale goes, I think the guys that my head coach Jeff was piecing together for the playoff run—I think they all feel like there's unfinished business because we really had something special going down the stretch. So I think all of them will be back. We hear from them every so often. We were having them send videos of where they're from and what they're doing. It’s a true test as a leader to be able to lead right now because fear of the unknown is always over your shoulder. You don't know what it's going to look like when we open the doors—are we only going to be able to be at half capacity? Then the financial impact of that—how do we write a budget and slash everything to be able to make it work?
I try not to watch the news too much because sometimes it’s just enough. With everything that's going on in the world right now, you just want everybody to be okay and we’ll all get through this together. That's no different from our front office. We have a staff of five right now, and to get them motivated to come in and prepare for next season as if next season is going to be just like normal—that's the only thing we can do until somebody tells me different. We’ve already done our big meeting for fun promotional things. We’ve already had that meeting where it’s just a fun day, everybody comes with five or ten new ideas and we just throw them on the wall and see what sticks. One thing about this area: people love to get dressed up and people love to see races. Whether we put dinosaur races out there—last year we were at capacity to see people run down the ice and back in a dinosaur costume. Just fun stuff that we do. We’ve probably added nine new promotions to all the ones that are already great, the wiener dog races and such. We’re already in go-mode for that for next year.
Erin Freeman: I have no doubt that when spectators and your fans are able to return, it’s going to be incredibly loud. Just everyone will be so happy to be back and cheering for the Ice Bears.
Mike Murray: Optimistically, I think that as well. I love our fans, I love hearing from them, even now in the summertime. They just call and see how we're doing. We'll be ready to go.
Erin Freeman: Well, beyond COVID-19, we’ve witnessed some tragic events. Talk about being a leader during these challenging times.
Mike Murray: Well, it’s just gathering the facts, staying true to what we are. Obviously, we’re a community-driven sport. It doesn't matter race, color, anything—we're the Ice Bears, we're going to lead and always do the right thing. It’s terrible what’s going on right now, but in a weird way, it’s going to bring everybody together in a better way. As a leader, the people that work for us—I want them to be successful and project a positive attitude about the way we're going. Right now, no one’s told me any different, so October 23rd, we’re going to light it up and be ready to go. I’m not going to go into this offseason without a Plan B because that could easily happen as well. We’ve already re-signed corporate partnerships for next year that are just as optimistic as we are.
Erin Freeman: It’s incredible. So, as I mentioned at the beginning, this summer you are going to be inducted in the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, part of the class of 2020. For our listeners, here’s a rundown of some of your accomplishments: You’ve played in more than 820 professional hockey games, achieving a career high of 424 goals and 484 assists. You’re admired not only in our community for your athletic prowess, but also for giving back. I know that the Change Center in particular is near and dear to your heart. So talk about your induction and what that means to you.
Mike Murray: Well, it's incredible. When I got that phone call, it just kind of made me go numb for a little bit because a Hall of Fame in any situation is eternal. It’s like being in a movie. I just, like I said, it made me reflect back on all the people that helped me even get to the position I’m in right now. I have great co-owners, my parents, my family—just great opportunities that I was able to take advantage of. It’s quite an honor.
As for the Change Center, being in this position, I'm able to be on pretty cool boards and different things that I feel passionate about. In this situation, it was an ice skating rink. I've never designed one before, and I was right in the mix of designing that arena. It was a very cool process, but at the end of the day, it's what it's about: it's for underprivileged kids to keep them off the streets. Again, it doesn't matter what color—the fact that if they feel like this is a safe place and we’ve collectively built it as a board and a community, I'm very passionate about it. Growing up in Canada, it was just a lot of hockey stuff—it wasn't stuff that would get us into trouble. In the different places I’ve lived, I’ve seen different things, and anytime you can be a part of something like this, obviously I want to be a part of that. I’ve come from great parents—always do the right thing kind of thing. It’s neat to see the kids come there and just know that they're in a safe place and it's a fun place for them.
Erin Freeman: Well, we are proud that you're in our community. You are definitely a leader and a good example for our kids to look up to. So, thank you for coming to Knoxville those 30 years ago. And we look forward to hockey being back October 23rd. Do you know off the top of your head who your opponent is?
Mike Murray: Not yet. I just know that that's our date and I know the city will be ready for us to get back at it. There’s a lot of taxpayer money there that we contribute as a result of our games, and we're working very closely with them at what that looks like when we do open. This is a time not to be quiet; this is a time to communicate, over-communicate as to what expectations will be. I love that about the Ice Bears, I love that about our players. One of the things—whenever I hire a coach, and I've hired five of them now—is to do a little bit more research on the player’s ability off the ice. Because I live here 24/7 and our staff does, so he might be a great player on the ice, but if he's trouble off the ice, it will ruin everything that we've worked so hard for in this community. To this day, my coach especially right now, he goes the extra mile to make sure, because if we're asking people to come and talk to you or go to a school and talk to kids, we want people that are good character people that are great on the ice for the product, but even better off the ice that can help the product grow in the community.
Erin Freeman: That's awesome. Well, Mike, thanks so much for sharing your story with us. Thank you for the impact you have in our community. Ackermann appreciates the opportunity to work with you and your team.
Mike Murray: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Erin Freeman: We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Sweet Tea and Strategy podcast. To hear more conversation about business strategy and communication, visit https://www.google.com/search?q=thinkackerman.com. We appreciate you listening. Cheers to the next edition of Sweet Tea and Strategy.