MIKE BARNETT

A Canadian ice hockey executive currently serving as Senior Advisor to the President-General Manager of the New York Rangers. He is best known in the world of hockey as a former agent representing sports icon Wayne Gretzky for two decades. He was listed among the “100 Most Powerful People In Sports” by The Sporting News on six occasions from 1994 to 2000. During his 12 years as President of International Management Group’s hockey division, Barnett represented a who’s who of the National Hockey League. Barnett negotiated the playing and marketing contracts for Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr, Sergei Fedorov, Paul Coffey, Joe Thornton, Mats Sundin, Lanny McDonald, Grant Fuhr, Marty McSorley, Alexander Mogilny, Owen Nolan, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin and numerous others. In finding products and companies for his clients that were groundbreaking in their launches, and his perpetual attention to the public relations of his clients, were all hallmarks of his career in athlete representation. Barnett went on to become the General Manager of the Phoenix Coyotes from 2001 to 2007.

Barnett formed his own sports management company, CorpSport International, based in Edmonton, Alberta. Modeled after Mark McCormack’s International Management Group, CorpSport became the Canadian industry leader in representing a wide variety of Canada’s top athletes. Wayne Gretzky and Lanny McDonald (hockey), Jim Nelford and Richard Zokol (golf), Kurt Browning (ice skating), Willie de Wit (boxing), Matt Dunigan (football), Cody Snyder (rodeo), and Steve Podborski, Brian Stemmle, Rob Boyd and Karen Percy (skiing) were all Canada’s premiere athletes in their respective sports. CorpSport also represented Karen Baldwin, who was Canada’s first ever Miss Universe in 1982.

In July 2008, Barnett joined the New York Rangers, as Senior Advisor to the President-General Manager, Glen Sather. He remains in that capacity today.

Barnett’s creativity was not limited to the hockey world. In 1990, Barnett took his concept for an animated television series to DIC entertainment in Los Angeles. Not long after, the Saturday morning series ProStars, featuring Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Bo Jackson, began airing on NBC.