Steven brothers buy Wichita Thunder hockey team

Wichita businessman Rodney Steven and Thunder hockey coach Kevin McClelland met at a River Festival event in early June, and their first conversation was warm and pleasant but seemingly uneventful.

They found immediate common ground, unexpectedly, because Steven's wife Juliette, who grew up near Chicago, was an accomplished figure skater and played hockey on a boys team in high school.

"He was a real nice dude," McClelland said of Steven. "It was an easy conversation. Real nice."

McClelland had no idea how nice.

Rodney Steven, along with brothers Brandon and Johnny, are the new owners of the Wichita Thunder, which will open its 20th season in October. The brothers purchased the Central Hockey League franchise for an undisclosed price from Chicago businessman Horn Chen, the team's only previous owner.

Prior to meeting McClelland, Rodney Steven had decided against pursuing any ownership in the team. The "nice" conversation with McClelland, an NHL veteran who won four Stanley Cup championships, changed everything.

"He's a striking guy, pretty intense," Rodney Steven said. "That kind of drew me to the team."

From there, Thunder general manager Joel Lomurno began having formal meetings with the Steven brothers. The deal was signed on Monday and announced during a news conference attended by media and about 50 fans at the Thunder's home, Intrust Bank Arena, on Tuesday afternoon.

The brothers co-own Genesis Health Clubs and Brandon Steven Motors. Genesis recently assumed operations of the city-owned Wichita Ice Center, where the Thunder plays exhibition games and sometimes practices.

Lomurno said that Chen has been interested in selling the team for about a year; Rodney Steven said that a primary motive for purchasing the Thunder was the brothers' fear that someone else would buy the team and move it out of state.

"Horn, at one point, owned all the teams in the league and, one by one, he's sold them," Lomurno said. "It (the Thunder) seemed like something he wanted less and less to do with. Having the Steven brothers buy the team was by far the best thing to insure the longterm longevity of the franchise. It's like a breath of fresh air."

The brothers expect to be actively involved with the team; in fact, Rodney Steven said at least one of the trio expects to be at every game next season.

"We're about winning and doing what it takes to win," Brandon Steven said at the news conference. "We're definitely going to be hands on and we're excited to be here."

With the Thunder sale, eight of 14 CHL teams have majority local owners, commissioner Duane Lewis said. Lewis, who gave a nod of thanks to Chen's contributions, said that CHL teams typically benefit from local ownership.

"Overall, it's usually a better situation because the owner is there on hand to watch the business, and they usually have strong connections in the community," Lewis said. "Everything we've heard about the new owners has been positive. We always look at Wichita as a perfect minor pro hockey market for us. Hopefully, with this, they'll be solid for a long time to come."

The topic of a possible sale has been a hot topic on the Thunder's message boards for weeks, with the majority hoping for local owners.

Matt Allred, a Thunder season-ticket holder the past six years, says he "bleeds blue through and through." He is excited about the Steven brothers buying the team.

"I think having an owner who actually comes to the games and is involved in the process and cares if the team is winning is going to be huge," Allred said. "The players will feed off that, the coach will feed off that and the fans are gonna feed off that."

Grant Norris, who has owned season tickets for 16 years, was equally pleased.

"I think this is exactly what the Thunder needed," Norris said. "We've got the arena, we've got the coach and we've got the fan base. It seemed like the only thing missing was an owner who cared about the team and was hands on. I can't thank the Steven family enough for stepping up and giving us local ownership."

McClelland, the man whose presence drew Rodney Steven's attention, turned the franchise around in his first year last season, leading the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

He said he has worked with local owners before and loves the support — for the most part.

"They (the Steven brothers) are hardworking guys, and they want this to be Wichita's team," McClelland said. "It's gonna be great working beside people of this caliber.

"I can tell you, it's nice to look up at a booth during a game and see your owner cheering your team on. I'm not gonna look up if we're losing 5-1."

Contributing: Tony Adame of The Eagle

This story was originally published August 9, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Steven brothers buy Wichita Thunder hockey team."