The story of Murray Gunty is about more than a hockey dad who took an interest in youth sports.

It's about a businessman who saw an opportunity and cashed in on it.

But a nine-month investigation by USA Today found that how Gunty built and ran his hockey empire

has raised serious concerns among legal

experts about abusing monopoly power and using non-profit teams for private game.

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Thursday, May 7, 26.

Joining me now for more on that investigation is USA Today investigative reporter Kenny Jacoby.

Good to speak with you, Kenny.

It's good to be here.

Kenny, first, tell me a little about Murray Gunty and his company Black Bear.

Murray Gunty is a hockey dad at heart,

and he's also a businessman.

Before he started consolidating the ice rink industry,

he had a three-decade long career in private equity,

where he was known to buy businesses

on the brink of financial collapse, inject them with

some cash, streamline the operations, and turn them around and sell them to other businesses

at a profit. Around 2016, he started to get into the youth hockey business.

So let's stay in the time before he came to dominate youth hockey and look at one of several public

controversies that have led some to argue that Gunty's unfit to lead youth sports.

What happened with this company, SFCA, Inc?

So back in 2008, one of Murray Gunty's private equity company's subsidiaries called SFCA, Inc., bought the

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