R. Thomas Gaglardi (born December 7, 1967)[1] is a Canadian business executive, and the owner of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League.
[1] He also serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Sandman Hotels, Inns & Suites and Moxie's Grill & Bar.
[2] Gaglardi first showed interest in buying a National Hockey League team in 2004, when he and business partner Ryan Beedie made a bid to purchase fifty percent of the Vancouver Canucks from then-owner John McCaw, Jr. A competing bid by a former partner of both Gaglardi and Beedie, Francesco Aquilini, was accepted by McCaw; Aquilini would acquire full ownership of the Canucks in 2006, but a high-profile legal battle would ensue between the former business partners over the ownership of the team, with the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruling in Aquilini's favour in July 2009.
In April 2010, Gaglardi proposed purchasing the Atlanta Thrashers and relocating the team to Hamilton, Ontario.
He first expressed an interest in buying the Stars in 2009 and spent more than a year going through the process of completing the deal for the team, which went through a bankruptcy proceeding.