Interview with agent Gareth Chalmers

With ever increasing demands on clubs and players to succeed, agents continue to have a major role to play within the sport with recruitment the difference between a possible championship season or a wooden spoon season. I recently caught up with British agent Gareth Chalmers who owns 9 Hockey Management and represents clients such as Newcastle head coach Rob Wilson and English Premier League hotshot Jaroslav Cesky.  

JB: How long have you being a hockey agent for?

GC: I have been an agent for three years now and still enjoying the day to day challenges that it brings.

 

JB: Who do you support?

GC: I started off a Durham Wasps fan and following all the upheveal in the mid 1990’s in the North East I’ve supported the various Newcastle franchises all the way through to the present Vipers. I have been heavily involved in Newcastle Ice Hockey since the Riverkings days and continue to be with the Vipers. It’s been an extremely difficult couple of years for the club but the determination and focus from everyone involved with light at the end of tunnel should ensure the club has a positive future.

 

JB: As an agent of players in both the Elite league and EPL is there any particular club who you get the most business from?

GC: I have a good working relationship with all the clubs in both the EIHL and the EPL, but right now Newcastle in the Elite (because of my connections there) and Bracknell / Swindon in the EPL have been very good customers. In Newcastle I have Jerramie Domish, Ryan Mahrle, Brent Hughes and Ryan Jorde. Swindon I have Jan Krajicek, Jozef Kohut and Jason Cassells.

 

JB: Does it work in a similar way to football. Do you earn a percentage of a players contract or do you have a set fee a player must pay for your representation?

GC: Football is a different market altogether but it certainly works in a similar manner. Unlike Football in most European hockey leagues there are rarely transfer fees involved, however like football agents earn there fees via a percentage of the players contract / or set fee from the club. It’s on a case by case basis but all overseen by the Professional Hockey Players Association.  

 

JB: Who has being your highest profile client?

GC: Ukrainian international Sergei Varlamov who plays for Dinamo Minsk in the KHL. Sergei finished as top points scorer in the Spengler Cup back in December. A very high profile player that I am very lucky to represent considering the infancy of the agency.

 

JB: What would be a rough figure you would expect for a top line elite league forwards salary for one season?

GC: Unfortunately one thing as an agency is that I must treat details such as this with high discretion. A point I would like to make is that a lot of Elite League clubs do very well being competitive in the market. When you take into consideration that they’re competing with leagues like the Danish AL Banken Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Norwegian GET Ligaen etc where the money is sometimes double even treble what teams can offer in the EIHL they do a very good job. Right now the EIHL has found a niche in the market with the schooling opportunities and that is becoming a major selling point for a lot of guys heading to Europe.

 

JB: Ryan Mahrle the Vipers d man is a client of yours. Presumably you played a part in him signing there. When a player has played for club are you involved in negotiating a new contract between the player and the club?

GC: That’s right, Ryan played with the Bakersfield Condors in the ECHL last season, he contacted me about coming to Europe and was looking to combine playing with schooling. I setup a deal with him in Newcastle which includes an MBA course at Northumbria University. If players do decided to return to a club sometimes I am involved in negotiations, sometimes I am not, it all depends on the circumstances.

 

JB: There is a lot of speculation on fans forums that there could be a new elite league team in Glasgow next season. As a figure in the game behind the scenes can you make any comment about that?

GC: I’ve seen the speculation and I am aware of plans for next season, however I believe this is for the Elite League to comment on rather than myself. One thing I will say is that the EIHL has made some major step forwards recently in my opinion, the clubs are fully aware that things need to improve and I know they have been working hard looking at every possible avenue to improve their product and service. Little improvements like the new league website, the All-Star game, the introduction of the 20/20 Hockeyfest are all small steps, but certainly positive improvements.

 

JB: Hypothetically, at the end of the season I win the lottery and buy an Elite League club. I want you to recommend me a top line player who will score points and excite the fans for me to sign next season. Who on your current client lists fit the bill?

GC: Josh Prudden, I don’t think he’d be a top five points scorer but he’s a winner, a Ryan Finnerty type player. Good at both ends of the ice, a leader on and off it, a coach’s player and would more than likely be a championship player.

 

For further information on 9 Hockey Management, visit: www.9management.co.uk/hockey.php.

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