WNE to host lecture by NHL agent Jay Grossman

Date: 1/16/2013

SPRINGFIELD – The Western New England University Center for International Sport Business (CISB) will host a talk by President of Puck Agency, LLC, and NHL sports agent Jay Grossman.

The lecture will take place on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in Sleith Hall.

Grossman will address the implications of the NHL's extended lockout and how the hockey agency business has evolved, with an influx of players from outside Canada and the United States, especially Eastern Europe.

His talk is part of the CISB's "For the Love of the Games" speaker series. The event is free and open to the public.

As president of Puck Agency, LLC, Grossman has represented some of the most familiar names in the NHL, including New Jersey Devils' left wing Ilya Kovalchuk; Edmonton Oilers' goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin; and one of the NHL's all-time top defensemen and Hall of Famer, Brian Leetch.

Grossman played hockey and then served as a graduate assistant coach at Union College, obtained his law degree from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law.

He got his start in the sports agency business after working with Herb Brooks, the legendary coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Ice Hockey Team, who referred Grossman to an agency when Brooks was coach of the New York Rangers.

The CISB' "For the Love of the Games" distinguished speaker series brings prominent personalities from sport and business to Western New England University.

Past speakers include World Anti-Doping Agency Chairman Dick Pound, Olympic long jump champion Bob Beamon, former Major League and Japanese baseball manager Bobby Valentine, and women's sports pioneer Dr. Donna Lopiano.

The speaker series is made possible in part by a grant from the Western New England University Alumni Association.

For more information, visit www.wne.edu/cisb.