Cary Kaplan was president in AHL
The Canadian Professional Soccer League has turned to a top hockey man to help move the CPSL business forward.
Canada’s only professional soccer league with 14 teams in membership, has retained Cary Kaplan, the former president of the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League, in the capacity of Management Consultant.
Kaplan left the Bulldogs recently following the Bulldogs affiliation change
from Edmonton Oilers to the Montreal Canadiens.
The CPSL is undergoing rapid expansion in Ontario and Quebec and strong interest in joining the CPSL has been shown by several communities in other parts of Canada and New York State.
Cary Kaplan was president in AHL
The Canadian Professional Soccer League has turned to a top hockey man to help move the CPSL business forward.
Canada’s only professional soccer league with 14 teams in membership, has retained Cary Kaplan, the former president of the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League, in the capacity of Management Consultant.
Kaplan left the Bulldogs recently following the Bulldogs affiliation change
from Edmonton Oilers to the Montreal Canadiens.
The CPSL is undergoing rapid expansion in Ontario and Quebec and strong interest in joining the CPSL has been shown by several communities in other parts of Canada and New York State.
“We need help in this area and jumped at the opportunity to bring Cary Kaplan on board as soon as we realized he was available,” explained Vincent Ursini, president of the CPSL. “We are delighted he has agreed.”
Kaplan, 33, is considered one of bright young hockey executives in Canada and the U.S. In 1999 he won the Ken McKenzie Award for ‘the most outstanding contribution to an American Hockey League (AHL) team by a marketing or public relations executive.’
For three years, in 1998, 1999 and 2001, Kaplan was responsible for the Bulldogs winning the Tourism Award for Excellence—the best promotion/marketing campaign for any Hamilton event or attraction.
Kaplan managed the Bulldogs to achieving a 32 per cent increase in attendance over a six year period.
The increase in attendance to Bulldogs’ games in the six years was also the largest of the 36 AAA teams, with the exception of St. John’s and Rochester--both of which expanded their arenas.
Cary Kaplan is not new to soccer. In 1995 he became known to the Canadian soccer community for his impressive promotion of the highly successful visit of Parma of the Italian Serie A to play an All Star team from the Canadian National Soccer League. 17,000 tickets were sold to Toronto’s Varsity Stadium—the highest attendance for a non-national team game in 25 years.
