Blake Cullen, who made Admirals hockey games the place to be on Friday nights at Scope and who helped spark the revitalization of downtown Norfolk, died early Monday at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.
Cullen, 85, was surrounded by friends, said Al MacIsaac, the former Admirals player and long-time assistant coach who is the senior vice president of hockey operations for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League.
“Blake was Mr. Hockey in Hampton Roads,” MacIsaac said.
“Blake had a master plan of how he was going to run hockey in Hampton Roads. He knew how to run a business, to run a team. For the duration of his ownership, the Admirals were the envy of the ECHL and the envy of most of minor league hockey.
“Blake was my mentor and he provided me with the skills and acumen to allow me to be at the level I am in the NHL. Without him, I’m not sure what my career path might have been.”
Said Mark Bernard, a goaltender on the Admirals’ first two championship teams: “There aren’t enough kind words in the dictionary to define Blake Cullen. The man was the epitome of class. He played such a huge role in the lives of Al MacIsaac and myself as a mentor and friend.”
After serving two decades as an administrator with the Chicago Cubs and the National League, Cullen brought an East Coast Hockey League exhibition to Scope in 1988 to gauge hockey interest in the area. He was drawn to the region after seeing a photograph of Norfolk boxer Sweetpea Whitaker on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The exhibition drew a crowd of more than 6,300 and Cullen purchased an expansion franchise he christened the Hampton Roads Admirals for the 1998-99 season.
He hired the flamboyant and fiery John Brophy, who had just been fired as coach of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Admirals became an instant success story on the ice and at the turnstile.
Brophy’s teams were hard-working and physical and Brophy was a showman who, at times, threw sticks on the ice, tried to climb over the plexiglass surrounding the bench get to an opposing coach and once shoved a player from an opposing team after a game.
Fans instantly loved Brophy and the Admirals, who won three championships in their first seven seasons.
John Rhamstine, director of cultural facilities, arts and entertainment for the city of Norfolk, including Scope, said that “hiring John Brophy as coach was a stroke of genius. He was such a character and bringing an NHL coach helped sell tickets and legitimize the franchise.”
“Blake Cullen,” Rhamstine added, “was kind of a throwback to the old days. He always wore a tie and jacket. And he was such a gentle soul. Blake had no ego. He was a very self-effacing guy.”
Bernard, the former Admirals goalkeeper, now is Chicago’s vice president of hockey for minor league affiliates.
“As I continue to grow as an executive, I think of the things Blake did. I try to follow the lessons I learned from him,” Bernard said.
“I’m just glad he’s at peace. The last thing I would want for him is to suffer. I’m sure right now he’s paying fines to someone for John Brophy.”
Friday night games regularly sold out the 8,900-seat Scope, and the Admirals led all of minor league hockey in attendance in 1991-92 with an average of 7,904 spectators per game.
Cullen sold the Admirals in 1996 for an estimated $2.5 million and did so because city officials were pressuring him to move the franchise to the American Hockey League.
The team had a long-lasting impact on downtown. Admirals’ fans packed nearby restaurants with fans and helped spark a downtown renaissance.
By the time Cullen sold the Admirals, Granby Street was booming, the Harbor Park baseball stadium had opened and downtown was beginning to become a residential location.
The late Dave Rosenfield, the longtime executive vice president of the Norfolk Tides, said years ago that “you have to wonder if all of the things that happened downtown, the residential construction, the restaurants, would have happened without Blake and the Admirals.”
Cullen was a quiet man who was known as sensitive and was exceedingly generous.
“In the early years of the ECHL, teams were running on shoestring budgets,” MacIsaac said. “Blake was never that owner. How we traveled, where we stayed, our post-game meals, he made sure everything was first class.
“If the players had a car problem or issues with their apartments, he took care of it. No questions asked and it wasn’t an IOU. He paid it and didn’t ask for anything in return.”
Cullen was an avid runner who in 2011 suffered a devastating stroke minutes after completing a three-mile run. He struggled to walk and his health deteriorated in recent years.
A Chicago native and lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, Cullen graduated from Cornell University and followed his father into the hotel business. However, his heart lay in sports and in 1965, the Cubs hired him as their traveling secretary. The other finalist for the job was Brent Musburger, who went on to a long career as a sportscaster.
Within a decade he was in charge of many of the duties accorded a general manager, including negotiating contracts, but when the Cubs hired a new GM in 1976, it was not Cullen.
Months later, he was named administrator of the National League. Among his tasks was managing the umpires and drafting schedules. He would have remained with the National League for the rest of his career. But in 1996 new commissioner Bart Giamatti fired him.
That’s when he began searching for opportunities to own minor league franchises and settled on Norfolk.
After selling the Admirals, he did consulting work in several cities on arena projects and sports leagues and teams. He founded the Outer Banks Daredevils baseball team for a year before selling.
He also sponsored the Jazz on Granby, a series of jazz concerts at the Roper Theatre, and wrote a couple of books, including a textbook on sports management.
Cullen was part of a weekly lunch group that included longtime area sports personality Jack Ankerson, former head of the Hampton Roads Sports Commission and GM of the Virginia Squires who is the public address announcer for many area sports teams.
“It goes without saying that he resurrected hockey here,” Ankerson said. “That franchise was all Blake Cullen.
“Things have been difficult for Blake ever since he had the stroke. He really struggled. But his mind was as sharp as ever. He could remember things and tell stories from decades ago. The stories he told were so fascinating.
“Blake was more than just a great businessman and sportsman. He was the consummate gentleman. Her personified that term. He was just such a good man.”
source pilotonline