Profile by Jim Atheson, Edmomton Sun
Thirty years ago, Ron Chipperfield was the first NHL captain of the Edmonton Oilers. And while he lives in Vancouver now and runs a hugely successful European hockey agency, the former centre still has a connection to the Oilers.
"(Associate coach) Tom Renney is renting my house in Glenora this year," said Chipperfield in a recent interview.
Chipperfield, who wore the C until he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques on March 11, 1980, for goalie Ron Low, runs the Optima World Sports agency along with another ex-Oiler, winger Brett Callighen, and Gary Seigo. They find European teams for North American players and coaches who've been in the NHL or American Hockey League. Optima has landed one-time Oiler defenceman Don Jackson a coaching gig in Berlin for Los Angeles Kings billionaire owner Philip Anschutz, among others.
Chipperfield would rather not say how many players they funnel to European clubs, but they're the largest provider of players overseas and have been for the last 15 years. They don't seek out clients; NHL agents call them with players who want to try Europe.
"We have deals with probably 15 or 20 NHL agents. Took a while but it works pretty well," said Chipperfield, who attends to clubs in Italy (he was a coach and manager over there, working in Milan and Bolzano) and Austria and parts of Germany while Callighen is heavily involved with Swiss teams, along with Germany.
Optima also gets players to Sweden (ex-Oiler Josh Green plays with Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund in MoDo now), Finland, Russia, you name it, they can get players to teams there.
Chipperfield and Co. also negotiate the contracts. "The agents hand the players over to us and it's comfortable for them to do that because many don't know Europe that well. It's a pain in the butt for them to get out there and market their guys properly but they want their clients looked after," said Chipperfield.
There are only 30 NHL teams for agents to get their clients jobs, but there are scores more teams in Europe. Chipperfield, Callighen and Seigo know the lay of the land.
"If a team's looking for, say, a right-side defenceman, we don't have to push just one on them because he's the only one we've got. We can give teams two or three players to look at. A lot of agents who are smaller push a player who's maybe not right for the job because he's the only one they've got," said Chipperfield. "We haven't had too many players over the years fired because we can match a player with a team pretty well.
"Everyone who goes over to Europe is different, but the first year is always a bit of a struggle for them. It's a bit of a culture shock, but the guy who gets through the first year, plays well and gets a second contract ... they end up loving it.
"The guys who get the best experiences don't jump around every year just because they may get a little more money. You stay in one spot, you build friendships that later in life can be beneficial."
Russia may have been a last resort for many North American players in the past, but not now, according to Chipperfield.
"The money's too good," he said. "They can make $1 million if they're a former NHL player. Goalies and defenceman seem to do better over there, not forwards.
"I don't know how long they can really work in Russia because the people (fans) are paying rubles and the players are taking out American dollars, but as long as the owners are willing to use it (teams) as a write-off, it'll work. But in the long term, they'll have to find ways to bring salaries down and find new ways to bring in money."
Moscow and St. Petersburg are prime destinations for North American players because they're bigger cities. Omsk (Siberia) and Magnitogorsk (a dreary Buffalo-type city), might be harder places to live, plus the travel is a hardship.
"But the players who go to Russia are chasing the money," Chipperfield said. "They don't care. If they don't want to be there, they wind up in Switzerland for half or a third of the money. Some consciously make that choice."
Chipperfield's longest-serving client might be Ralph Intranuovo, who played 22 games with the Oilers from 1995-97.
"He's in Italy in Asiago. We've had him as a client since '98. He's 37 years old now. He's winding down, with maybe a year or two left."
Chipperfield was the 17th player chosen in the 1974 NHL entry draft after a brilliant junior career in Brandon with the Wheat Kings. He had 162 points in his draft year, but opted to sign with the World Hockey Association. He played in Vancouver and Calgary, plus two WHA years in Edmonton before the NHL-WHA merger in 1979. He finished his NHL career with the Nordiques, then went to the Italian Alps to play in Bolzano. He had a whopping 128 points in 30 games his first year in Italy, then stayed in Europe before leaving hockey management in the mid-1990s.
He last played a meaningful game (sort of) when he was here for the Heritage Classic in 2003, with the Oiler legends playing the Canadiens in a trip down memory lane.
"Montreal had seven guys who'd played in the NHL the year before. That was enough for me. I was 49 years old. I knew I wasn't going to play anymore after that," said Chipperfield. "We had a lot of fun back in that first NHL year, with Gretz and Mess. That didn't hurt. It was new for all of us."
Chipperfield hates seeing the Oilers in the NHL cellar today but wonders if it was only a matter of time.
"I watched all the games last year and came away thinking it could have happened last year if it hadn't been for (Dwayne) Roloson," said Chipperfield. "He was so good. They got dominated every second game last year and they never dominated anybody, but that's as good a goal-tending (performance) as I've seen. He went to New York and he's been great there."
jmatheson@thejournal.canwest.com
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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1969-70 Dauphin Kings MJHL 34 39 40 79 18 -- -- -- -- --
1970-71 Brandon Wheat Kings WCHL 64 40 43 83 62 -- -- -- -- --
1971-72 Brandon Wheat Kings WCHL 63 59 53 112 29 -- -- -- -- --
1972-73 Brandon Wheat Kings WCHL 59 72 41 113 63 -- -- -- -- --
1973-74 Brandon Wheat Kings WCHL 66 90 72 162 82 -- -- -- -- --
1974-75 Vancouver Blazers WHA 78 19 20 39 30 -- -- -- -- --
1975-76 Calgary Cowboys WHA 75 42 41 83 32 10 5 4 9 6
1976-77 Calgary Cowboys WHA 81 27 27 54 32 -- -- -- -- --
1977-78 Edmonton Oilers WHA 80 33 52 85 48 5 1 1 2 0
1978-79 Edmonton Oilers WHA 55 32 37 69 47 13 9 10 19 8
1979-80 Edmonton Oilers NHL 67 18 19 37 24 -- -- -- -- --
1979-80 Quebec Nordiques NHL 12 4 4 8 8 -- -- -- -- --
1980-81 Rochester Americans AHL 6 3 2 5 6 -- -- -- -- --
1980-81 Quebec Nordiques NHL 4 0 1 1 2 -- -- -- -- --
1981-82 Bozen Italy 30 78 50 128 40
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WHA Totals 369 153 177 330 189 28 15 15 30 14
NHL Totals 83 22 24 46 34
