He was a co-owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and was the president and coach of the Victoria Grizzlies of the British Columbia Hockey League.
On June 18, 2008, the NHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning to an investment group which included Barrie and movie producer Oren Koules.
[1] It was alleged that Barrie and Koules began to disagree on team management issues, that were believed to include NHL superstar Vincent Lecavalier being traded.
Neither exercised that option and the team was later sold to Jeff Vinik, a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox.
[5] In 2012, Barrie was the target of numerous legal actions and eventually parted from the Bear Mountain ownership group.