MOSCOW—David Soderquist leaned forward in his seat and scanned the hockey rink.

He studied the waves of mostly Russian hockey players as they charged from end to end of the ice at Sokolniki Arena, home of the Moscow Spartak pro hockey team.

The players were battling in a recent Continental Hockey League game and were dressed head-to-toe in equipment made by North American manufacturers Bauer and Reebok. A few carried Mission Itech hockey sticks, another North American offering.

Soderquist shook his head.

“Russia is going to be the largest hockey market in the world, based on numbers and the passion for the sport here, and it’s amazing that there’s not one local brand,” he said.

“I’m absolutely positive there’s room and demand for a Russian hockey company.”

For the past seven years, the American businessman has been on a quest to elbow his way back into the $950 million hockey equipment industry. A recently dormant brand that was popular 30 years ago and an underserved but growing hockey market are central in his plans.

In 2004, Soderquist began pursuing the rights to a hockey company called Torspo.

Founded in Finland in the 1970s, Torspo became popular in the 1980s when its sticks and equipment were used by the likes of Montreal Canadiens forward Mats Naslund and numerous Soviet stars.

During the 1987 Canada Cup tournament, at least 14 Soviet players, including future hall of famer Igor Larionov, used Torspo sticks and equipment.

In the 1990s, hockey equipment shops were chock-a-block with brands. The Hockey Company churned out brands including Canadien, CCM, Jofa and Titan, battling against other large companies such as Bauer Nike Hockey Inc. and Easton Hockey. Smaller rivals like Louisville Hockey and Sherwood found success as niche players.

But towards the end of the decade, the industry’s large companies such as Reebok and Bauer began buying up their smaller rivals and closing them. Torspo slipped into obscurity.

“It was a real jigsaw puzzle trying to find out who owned the rights to Torspo,” Soderquist said. “In the end, the rights were owned by seven different groups around the world. By 2007, I bought the North American rights from the Kitchener Stick Co. and I had them all. It cost me about $500,000.”

In 2008, Soderquist relaunched Torspo and now that the company has found reliable manufacturers, he said the company is poised to take off, particularly in Russia where he’ll have a valuable ally in the former Soviet star Larionov.

A hockey legend, Larionov is a part-owner of Torspo and his name will be used to market the brand in Russia, a country where hockey is on the rise.

With a population of 140 million (eight times the size of Canada’s), Russia has just 300 indoor rinks (Canada has ten times as many) but many more are on the way, particularly since Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics and the world hockey championships two years after that.

A Minnesota native, Soderquist worked in public relations with the former World Hockey Association’s Minnesota Fighting Saints in the 1970s, bought a junior hockey team in Minneapolis, and later worked for a hockey company called Northland. His job was to coax pro players to use Northland sticks.

After Soderquist started an inline skate company called UltraWheels, he turned to a former client to help spur business.

For about half his rookie season, Wayne Gretzky had used Soderquist’s Northland sticks in his games. By signing Gretzky up with his inline skate company, Soderquist was able to put the hockey superstar’s name on its products.

“Parents would go into the store and see our packaging and see Wayne Gretzky was endorsing them,” Soderquist said. “That was the difference.”

Over 14 years until he sold the company in 2001, Soderquist’s UltraWheels sold 14 million pairs of inline skates.

He’s counting on a similar edge with Torspo in the Russian market.

“The 13-year-old might not think Igor Larionov is cool, but their parents grew up watching him and they’ll see his name on our skates and equipment and that’s the one they’ll choose,” Soderquist said.

Three years after Torspo started offering sticks and equipment in Russia, where it labels its items in Cyrillic, 65 retailers are now selling Torspo. In 2012, that number will jump to about 300 as new agreements are signed, Soderquist said.

Since Torspo began selling to retailers in 2008, the company has recorded about $9 million in sales, including $1.5 million in Russia. This year alone, Torspo is anticipating $6 million in sales and $2 million in Russia, Soderquist said.

“This is not a country where a lot of marketing is done,” he said. “When Wayne and I were in business selling UltraWheels we were on cereal boxes and 7-Up cans. We want to get to a point where Torspo is on Snickers bars here.”

Helping Torspo build brand awareness, the company has agreements with Russian players including NHL goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. Larionov, now a player agent, is opening the door to many more young prospects.

Among the young players using Torspo is Leo Lazareth, a 14-year-old goalie with Moscow’s amateur White Bears club. Lazareth plays in a league for 16-year-olds and is already turning heads. In one game, he made 73 saves, and he leads his league in shutouts, even though his team is in last place.

“We tell players that if they get an offer for $20,000 or something to wear Bauer they should take it,” Soderquist said. “We’re not going to get every kid, but we are getting attention out there.”

Even with a compelling story, it won’t be easy to break Bauer’s grip on the hockey business.

Bauer, too, is excited about its prospects in Russia.

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While the company’s share price is down about 8 per cent since a March 2011 IPO, the company said in its 2011 annual report that player registrations in Russia and Eastern Europe have increased 61 per cent between 1999 and 2009.

“We’re excited about the opportunities in a country where hockey is part of the culture, a significant part of national identity,” said Bauer chief executive Kevin Davis.

Bauer recently signed Russian hockey star Alex Ovechkin and the company has plans to use him in its marketing plans in Russia and North America alike in coming months. Davis declined to elaborate.

Dan Polkinghorne, Torspo’s director of international sales, said the upstart may have an edge of Bauer.

Retailers typically are forced to buy Bauer equipment and sticks if they want to stock the company’s popular line of skates, Polkinghorne said.

“I think with the economy the way it is, retailers want more choice about what they stock,” he said. “They don’t want to be forced.”

Davis said he was unaware of such demands on retailers. Instead, he said retailers are often given sales goals and rewarded with in-store promotions if they reach those targets.

Fiorenzo Arcadi, owner of Toronto Hockey Repair, an independent Bloor St. retailer, said Torspo faces steep odds.

“I’d love a small company taking market share from the big boys but it’s going to be tough,” Arcadi said. “The key in this business is to win over the NHL players first, but they have to pay the NHL more than $50,000 so their sticks can be used. Then you have to pay players to use them. Ultimately you have to sell a ton of sticks to recoup your money.”

Soderquist said he’s realistic about Torspo’s prospects.

“We hope to eventually get just 10 per cent of the market,” he said. “In my heart I know Bauer is a Canadian hockey company and is going to be the market leader. But as for the others, Reebok is a basketball brand and Easton sells bows and arrows and baseball bats. There’s room for us.”

Polkinghorne said Torspo is now touring investment banks trying to raise about $5 million. The company wants to use $500,000 to pay off debt and plans to spend the balance on marketing and promotions.

Torspo already has a deal in place with several pro teams, including the Finnish club TPS Turko. Torspo pays $45,000 a year to outfit the team and its amateur affiliates. In exchange, Torspo gets advertising space in their home rink and sells some amateur players discounted goods and equipment.

Torspo’s Cyrillic language hockey sticks have gained a cult following in America, where, Polkinghorne said, “Russia is cool.” Last year, Torspo sold 1,000 of the sticks through retailer Total Hockey, and hopes to sell 5,000 in 2012.

During a recent trip to Russia, Soderquist sat next to a popular Russian rap music singer named DJ Hobot.

Hobot is now working for Torspo to secure the rights to a 1970s Russian song called Cowards Don’t Play Hockey that the singer will re-record and modernize.

“It could be such a great hockey anthem,” Soderquist said.

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