When Kent Hughes recounts his career as an agent, we make a connection with the film Jerry Maguire. Like the character played by Tom Cruise, Hughes experienced a journey through the wilderness in this work. Competition is fierce in this environment. You have to rush headlong to find your place there.
Like any agent just starting out, Hughes had humble beginnings. Upon leaving Boston College with a law degree, he joined the firm of Jay Fee, who was associated with the legendary Bobby Orr. He then joined the ranks of the American Sports Management firm established in Florida, a company representing mainly NFL and NBA players.
Hughes received the mandate to start a hockey branch. Bilingual, he focuses his efforts on the Quebec market.
His very first client with what will be called “Impact Hockey” is Gregor Baumgartner, an attacker of Austrian origin playing with the Laval Titan who will be drafted by the Canadian in the second round of the 1997 draft. The Habs, however, do not offer him a contract and he will be claimed by the Dallas Stars in 1999, this time in the fifth round.
Alex Tanguay is also part of his team. But things go wrong when Hughes fails to reach a deal with Pierre Lacroix, the former agent converted general manager of the Colorado Avalanche.
Tanguay left Hughes and retained the services of Robert Sauvé, Lacroix’s first client, whom he succeeded when the latter left the agency he founded in the mid-1970s for the position of GM of the Nordiques.
Lecavalier arrives at the right time
In the early 2000s, Hughes was at a crossroads. He asks himself questions. He and his wife, Deena, began starting a family that would include three children. Hughes approaches Vincent Lecavalier, but time passes without him giving him a response.
“I didn’t tell him about it until we were having a party to celebrate his retirement, but the day he finally called me, I told my wife that maybe the time had come to reorient towards the law,” says Hughes.
That’s when the door opened wide. When he joined the ranks of the Canadiens organization in January, his agency counted Patrice Bergeron, Kris Letang and Anthony Beauvillier among its clients.
Deena accompanied and supported her man through all this meandering.
“We met in fifth grade at school,” says Hughes.
“She lived in Saint-Laurent, me in Pierrefonds then in Beaconsfield. Before our marriage, we went six years without living in the same country. We started dating my fourth year at Vermont.”
Specifically while Hughes was studying at Middlebury College. Deena knows her husband inside and out.
And how does she deal with her stubborn side?
«Jeff [Gorton] says she has the patience of a sister!” says Hughes, laughing.
Had he been in his place, his father would not have changed jobs
Kent Hughes’ father had mixed feelings when his son was appointed general manager of the Canadiens. Emerson Hughes was happy for his boy. He believed that the Canadian could not have found a better candidate than his offspring to occupy the position of GM in Montreal.
However, he wondered why his son was abandoning a business that had brought him everything in life. Two beautiful properties, one in Boston and the other with sea views on Cape Cod, where he is a member of a chic golf club. He is also a season ticket holder for a Boston club.
Everything to be happy and fulfilled.
Had he been in his boy’s shoes, Mr. Hughes would not have abandoned this lifestyle. This is what we read in a daily article The Gazette published four days after his son joined the Canadiens.
“My father was always different,” continues Hughes.
“He didn’t want my brother to become a professional hockey player. He wanted him to continue his studies.”
Hockey and studies
Ryan Hughes reconciled the two. He was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the second round – 22nd in the NHL – of the 1990 draft.
After four seasons with the Big Red of Cornell University, he played two years with the Cornwall Aces, the Nordiques’ farm team in the American League. He was then hired by the Boston Bruins as a free agent.
Kent also played hockey. He wore the colors of the West Island Royals in the Bantam AA category, before playing with the Saint-Louis Lions of the midget league, of which he was later to be coach. His path then led him to the Cégep de Saint-Laurent, with which he won the AAA College League championship.
From there he moved to Vermont, where he was captain of the Middlebury College team. Finally, he played a year in Sweden. It was there that he found that, despite his desire to pursue a career as a professional player, he didn’t have what it took.
Mr. Hughes saw his two sons more in the business world, an environment in which he had spent his life as the owner of a headhunting firm, a profession he practiced himself.
“My father told us that the guys he found positions for had more life experience than us. He doesn’t care about hockey, says the CEO of the Habs.
“The last time he saw a National League game was in Boston for a clash between the Bruins and the Dallas Stars. Above all, he came to see my daughter and my youngest son in a children’s meeting before the Bruins game for which he only stayed for one period.
“I asked him that evening when he had been to a National League game before that. He told me it was from my brother’s first NHL game. It was at the time of the Forum.”
Looks like it’s been a while!
