Mark Chipman, (born 1960) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

hockey executive, businessman, and lawyer. Chipman is best known as the chairman of True North Sports & Entertainment, which owns the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

and

Canada Life Centre Canada Life Centre (formerly MTS Centre and Bell MTS Place) is an indoor arena in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. The arena is the home of the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. T ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. He is also the team's governor and currently a member of the National Hockey League Board of Governors' Executive Committee.

Education

Chipman attended St. Paul's High School in Winnipeg, graduating in 1979. From 1979 to 1983, he studied economics at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of N ...

, while playing football for the Fighting Sioux. He obtained his J.D. degree from the same institution in 1985.

Business career

Megill-Stephenson Company

After working as a lawyer in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, Chipman returned to Winnipeg in 1988 and joined Birchwood Automotive Group, a group of car dealerships founded in 1963 by his father, Robert Chipman. In 2001, Mark succeeded his father as president of Megill-Stephenson Company, the Chipman family's holding company, whose subsidiaries today include Birchwood (now managed by brother Steve Chipman), Longboat Development Corporation (a real estate development division run by brother Jeoffrey Chipman), and True North Sports & Entertainment (jointly owned with Osmington Inc). Megill-Stephenson's former subsidiaries include National Leasing Group (founded in 1977 and sold to

Canadian Western Bank Canadian Western Bank (CWB; french: Banque canadienne de l'Ouest), also operating as CWB Financial Group, is a Canadian bank based in Edmonton, Alberta. The bank serves clients both in Western Canada and in other provinces. The CWB Financial Gr ...

in 2009) and the Stevenson Group of companies (largely divested in 2015).

True North Sports & Entertainment

After the original

left for Phoenix in 1996, Chipman was part of a group that purchased the International Hockey League's

Minnesota Moose The Minnesota Moose were an American professional ice hockey team based out of Saint Paul, Minnesota that played in the International Hockey League from 1994 to 1996. History Following the departure of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Nor ...

and moved them to Winnipeg, renaming them the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a member of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre, the home arena of its parent club, Winnipeg Jets ...

. With the demise of the IHL in 2001, Chipman was instrumental in brokering a deal which saw six former IHL teams, including the Moose, accepted into the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

. Chipman and a group of local investors created True North Sports & Entertainment in 2001 for the purpose of building a new sports and entertainment venue in downtown Winnipeg. Originally called the True North Centre, the MTS Centre (now Canada Life Centre) opened in 2004 and became the new home of the Moose. Ownership of the Moose was transferred to True North in 2003 in order to consolidate the operations of the team and new arena. Chipman's ultimate goal was to bring an NHL team back to Winnipeg to fill the void left by the Jets. As early as 2009, True North was reported to be in discussion with the NHL regarding the purchase of the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

in order to relocate the club back to Winnipeg. At the same time, there were also rumors that the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

were also on the market. After two years of on-and-off-again discussion with the NHL regarding the Coyotes, Chipman and True North were presented the opportunity to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers. On May 31, 2011, Chipman and NHL Commissioner

Gary Bettman Gary Bruce Bettman (born June 2, 1952) is an American sports executive who serves as the commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice president and general cou ...

announced that a deal had been reached to purchase the Thrashers and relocate them to Winnipeg for the upcoming season. The NHL Board of Governors approved the sale and relocation a few weeks later. At the

2011 NHL Draft The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was the 49th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was the first time the Draft was held in the state of Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars host ...

held in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

, Chipman revealed the franchise's new name just before making its first-round pick. As chairman and principal owner of the Jets, Chipman represents the Jets at the NHL Board of Governors, and is currently a member of the board's executive committee.

Honours

In 2005, Chipman was awarded the

James C. Hendy Memorial Award The James C. Hendy Memorial Award is presented annually to an executive who has made the most outstanding contribution to the American Hockey League. The award is named after Jim Hendy, a long-time contributor to the AHL and the general manager o ...

as the AHL's top executive. He also received the

Thomas Ebright Memorial Award The Thomas Ebright Memorial Award is presented annually for outstanding career contributions to the American Hockey League. The award is named for Thomas Ebright, the former owner of the Portland Pirates and Baltimore Skipjacks The Baltimore Sk ...

in 2011 for his outstanding contributions to the AHL. In 2012, Chipman was made a member of the

Order of Manitoba The Order of Manitoba (french: Ordre du Manitoba) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Instituted in 1999 when Lieutenant Governor Peter Liba granted Royal Assent to The Order of Manitoba Act, the order is adminis ...

by the Honourable

Philip S. Lee Philip Siu Lun Lee Retrieved August 31, 2011. (born May 5, 1944; Chinese: 李紹麟) was the 24th lieutenant governor of Manitoba. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1999 and received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. ...

, the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. Later in 2012, Chipman was honoured by UND as the recipient of the Sioux Award, the highest award given by the university, for his accomplishments and community service.

Personal

Chipman serves on the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la renommée du hockey) is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) rec ...

Selection Committee and formerly on the board of the

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

Foundation. He is married to Patti; they have three daughters.

References

External links

Jets profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chipman, Mark 1961 births Businesspeople from Winnipeg Living people Lawyers in Manitoba Manitoba Moose Members of the Order of Manitoba National Hockey League executives National Hockey League owners Sportspeople from Winnipeg True North Sports & Entertainment University of North Dakota alumni Winnipeg Jets executives