Caples: Breaking news on Jack Johnson’s financial troubles a scary story for hockey players

By @MichaelCaples –

The Columbus Dispatch has broken a scary story involving an Ann Arbor fan favorite.

According to an article released this morning, former University of Michigan star and Ann Arbor native Jack Johnson has filed for bankruptcy, due to a string of questionable financial decisions.

A source in the Columbus Dispatch article, however, says the blame rests on Johnson’s parents.

See the full article here.

According to the report, Johnson signed a power of attorney that put his mother in charge of his finances just before he signed his first big NHL contract in 2011 – to the tune of $30.5 million over seven years.

What happened next, from the report:

Tina Johnson borrowed at least $15 million in her son’s name against his future earnings, sources told The Dispatch, taking out a series of high-interest loans — perhaps as many as 18 — from nonconventional lenders that resulted in a series of defaults.

The tangled web is one that The Dispatch has been investigating since the spring, and — according to court documents, NHL sources and sources with knowledge of the situation — involves a U.S. congressman from Iowa, the son of an oil baron in Texas and a former University of Michigan basketball star.

Because Johnson’s name is on the loans, he has been sued at least three times for more than $6 million for defaulting, as in the case of the mortgage on a house in Manhattan Beach, Calif. In court documents, Johnson says his parents bought the house with his money but without his knowledge.

Johnson’s parents allegedly each bought a car, spent more than $800,000 on upgrades to the Manhattan Beach property and traveled, often to see him play NHL games for the Kings and Blue Jackets.

“Jack would ask (his parents) questions: ‘What’s this? What are these guys calling about?’  ” a source said. “And they would tell him not to worry about it, just worry about playing hockey.

“These were his parents, right? He trusted them. It wasn’t until last spring or early summer that he understood there was a significant problem.”

If all this is true – and it certainly appears to be due to the depth of the reporting – it’s a terrible, terrible thing to have happened to the Michigan native, and a cautious tale for all professional athletes.

The report says that Johnson has cut off all contact with his family. That part is especially sad for this writer, as I had recently spoken with his younger brother, Kenny, about his verbal commitment to Red Berenson and the Wolverines.

Kenny Johnson spoke fondly of his experiences with his much-older brother.

The worst of it, of course, is that Johnson – a superstar from his teenage years on – needed to be able to trust people close to him. Hard to think of people closer than those who drove you to the rink for all your practices and games growing up.

Johnson’s father, Jack Sr., is no stranger to the hockey community in Ann Arbor, either. Here’s a video the Dispatch dug up of him entertaining the crowd at Yost Ice Arena.

Hopefully the situation will work itself out OK for the talented defenseman. This was certainly some terrible news to start a Thursday morning.