With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/740454
NOVEMBER 2016 BCBUSINESS 57 ADAM BLASBERG WEEKEND WARRIOR My parents were immigrants from Malta. There's no ice in Malta—it's very hot and warm. My father played soccer and some other sports growing up but not hockey. He used to watch it on television, so I remember watching on his lap. I grew up in Toronto—unfortu- nately the Leafs, tough team to watch, but I always wanted to play so I begged when I was four. My parents really wanted us to be Canadian kids so they were right behind that in terms of signing us up. I played defence until I was 10. Then one of my coaches moved me up to centre and I've been there ever since. What do I like about play- ing hockey? It's a fast game. It takes a lot of work. You're not going to have success in hockey if you don't go out and work, so I think there's just so many things that are appli- cable to life: a good work ethic; if you don't work as a team, you don't have a chance at winning; the harder you work and the more you practise, the better the results. Now I play with a team called the Vipers in Burnaby. I'm playing with the same group of guys probably since I moved out to British Columbia, about 16 years. It's a good group—bankers, different business people—and it's a lot of fun. At this point the level of skill drops every year, the level of competition drops every year, but we have a good time. It's as much about just getting out and having a few laughs and a little bit of social interaction, some competition, a little bit of exercise. It starts in September; usually the playoffs end up in April. A couple of times in the last five years we've gone to the regional finals, which has been kind of fun. These days, to be honest with you, with work and other obligations in my life I probably end up missing a quarter of the games. I coach my two sons' hockey teams, and I think that's a bigger prior- ity, so when there's a conflict, that's where I'll be, coaching. —as told to Felicity Stone The U.S. presidential election isn't the only Trump- related event in November: Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver is finally open for business. At 1161 West Georgia on the edge of Vancouver's Luxury Zone, the twisting 69-storey tower designed by Arthur Erickson includes 147 guest rooms, 217 condos and much, much more: a nightclub and bar, complete with swimming pool, run by Drai's of Las Vegas; a fine-dining restaurant operated by Mott 32 of Hong Kong; a Trump Champagne lounge; Canada's first Spa by Ivanka Trump; a ballroom and meeting rooms. Services include a chauffeured Trump Rolls-Royce Ghost II and personalized stationery or business cards upon request. "A couple of factors made me strike the deal with Trump," said developer Joo Kim Tiah, CEO of Holborn Group, when he launched the project in 2013. "He knows what he's doing when it comes to real estate, so almost all of his properties have been very successful– luxury real estate especially." The second was that Tiah wanted the business relationship to be a lasting one: "Because his name is on the line, his family name is on the line, his reputation is on the line, he's going to be around." –F.S. Everything's coming up Trump, including a splashy new hotel in Vancouver's Luxury Zone Power Player Rocky Mountaineer president Steve Sammut on how playing hockey applies to life and work EYE ON THE PUCK Rocky Mountaineer president Steve Sammut plays hockey at the Burnaby 8 Rinks Steve Sammut joined Rocky Mountaineer in 2012 as EVP and CFO, becoming president in December 2015. The company is expanding and has ordered 10 more glass-domed GoldLeaf cars from Stadler Rail in Switzerland. NEW + IMPROVED WARRIOR SPOTLIGHT