BREAKING NEWS AT BRAVO HOCKEY!

[bennyfrank 0]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bravo Sports acquires Factory Hockey.

June 3, 2005

Cypress, CA - Factory Hockey, a small cutting edge Roller hockey wheel company and Bravo Sports, a leading global manufacturer and marketer of branded and OEM hard goods, components, and accessories for the skateboard and in-line skating markets, announced today that Bravo Sports has acquired Factory Hockey effective today. As the leading manufacturer and marketer of inline accessory products in the world, Bravo will bring its 20 years of experience in the business to help grow the Factory brand.

Also as part of the transaction, Shayne Arsenault, the founder of Factory will join forces with Bravo and become its director of hockey operations. “We are tremendously excited about the growth prospects of the Factory brand and about Shayne joining the Bravo team. We have known Shayne for many years and we believe that he is the perfect person to lead the new Bravo Hockey group to new heights†said Tony Armand, Bravo Sports’ President.

Bravo Hockey now boasts a full line of inline hockey wheels, bearings, inline hockey pants and jerseys, soft goods and accessories under the Hyper and Factory brand names.

[bennyfrank 0]

I am pleased to announce that Shayne Arsenault has brought me aboard to work for Bravo Hockey and am extremely excited about the great potential that our brands have. I am confident that bringing together the cutting edge company of Factory Hockey with the first-class tradition of Hyper Hockey and BSB bearings will bring Bravo Hockey to new heights. I will be handling team sponsorships as well as assisting Shayne with product research and development. We are committed to developing the best products for the sport that we love. I will strive to be as available as possible and welcome all feedback in the goal to provide hockey players with the best products and the best experiences possible. Please feel free to contact me at any time.

Benny Frank.

bfrank@bravocorp.com

714.890.5500 ext. 5469

P.S. Check out our new and improved websites coming soon…

Hyperhockey.com, Factoryhockey.com

[shute 4]

big fish > small fish :(

[G.M. 0]

This is a big scam. This is old school Bravo marketing.

Shayne worked for you guys before and you guys were pouring his wheels. This is no different than when Chris Miller alledgedly owned Kuzak back in the day.

If we wanted you to stick your hand up our a** with this stuff, we would have asked for it. Try telling everyone the truth for once.

[Justin 1933 134]

Easy there guys...Lay off Benny....

[bennyfrank 0]

let me clear some things up...it is not our goal to lie or 'scam' anyone...We want to build a strong relationship and image based on trust with our customers and all of the hockey world...All of the information I have listed is true...Shayne operated and ran Factory as his own company...Since Shayne had previously worked for Hyper under Bravo, he had a strong relationship with them and yes Bravo did make the wheels for Factory. Therefore, Bravo did have a vested interest in Factory doing well. The reason Shayne went off and did Factory was because he wanted to do some new and creative things that Hyper did not want to do...Now, Bravo has purchased Factory Hockey and brought Shayne in to run all of the Bravo hockey brands...This is great because it now allows Hyper and BSB to stick to what has made them so succesful and improve on that, while allowing Factory the time and security to be as creative and extreme as it wants to be...I only have limited information on what has happenned in the past with Kuzak and Hyper, but I do know that Bravo did not own Hyper at that time and this is now a different company run by different people...I hope and expect that we can gain your trust in the future through quality product development and credible business practices.

P.S.

Thanks for the support Justin...You the man.

[Justin 1933 134]

Welcome to world on Message Boards Benny...Be careful out there...People sometimes make untrue statements....I think that's why there is not a lot of other Manufacturers on these boards..

[Eazy_b97 1]

Is this why Factory wheels are not on the new Mission lines while Hyper wheels are? Will this the name "Factory" still be used on wheels or will they all become Hyper, ie. Hyper Halo?

[Revision Hockey 0]

Hey Ben,

Just one question now that has popped in my head...if Shayne started Factory all by himself and only used Bravo to pour his wheels, then is he also responsible for designing/creating the Factory wheels?

Nick

[bennyfrank 0]

thanks Justin...I can see the risk involved...However, I still think the positives outweigh the negatives to be able to consistently have 2-way communication with potential customers...In response to Eazy_b97, Factory will still remain its own brand and there will be a new line of Factory wheels different from Hyper...Factory will not 'be' Hyper...To tell you the truth Nick, I am still learning about much of the specifics of wheel design and development as this is not my area of expertise as of yet...I am not entirely sure if Shayne completely designed Factory wheels on his own from scratch or not...If he had a physicist and/or chemist help him or what...perhaps he can better answer that question when he returns from meetings in Colorado next week.

[#96 0]

Now that Ben is asscociated with Factory/Hyper/Bravo, does that affect his name being on the Revision Gold "Ben Frank" Variant wheel? I don't see how it could, seems like a conflict of interest...two different wheel companies.

Nick, I'd be happy to let you use my name on the Gold wheel. Just call it, "The Nunzman". Haha.

[Revision Hockey 0]

Benny has a great opportunity at Bravo and I really am happy to see him accel.

We did have to take Ben's name off of our Bronze wheel. We moved Boyd Sutton from the Gold to the Bronze to take Ben's place. The Gold wheel is now a "Milan Hejduk" Signature Series model.

We currently make custom wheels that are sold in Europe that are Avalanche colors and come with a re-print of Milan's actual signature on the wheel.

Its kind of a funny story how we came in contact with Milan: Milan's brother has a distribution company in the Czech Republic and he got a hold of our wheels. Milan plays inline hockey in Europe and his brother gave him a set to skate.

Milan's brother called us up shortly after they skated the wheels and wanted to know how Milan can get more. So we decided to make a custom wheel for him. They loved the idea of it but more importantly they loved the performance of the wheel and thats what really sold the idea.

Benny - I'm sure there is someone at Bravo that can confirm with you if Shayne did infact come up with the idea of his Factory wheels? I know he didnt do the chemistries and stuff...but was the original idea his?

[whit64 0]

If I remember correctly, the original idea was Boyd Sutton's and Shayne bought the patent off of him.

[mrciv 0]

so now that ben frank and shayne r with hyper does that mean we will see a star studded hyper pro team at narch or torhs??? like the old days when boyd and shayne ran the pro team.

[#96 0]

Wow that's a cool, Nick. I'm surprised he plays roller to be honest with you. Alot of ice guys swear off roller. Throws timing, low quality, not as developed team game, etc. It's kinda like baseball guys that won't play wiffle ball, haha. I used to know kids that wouldn't go near a wiffle bat or ball, saying it was too light and would throw off their swingspeed...hey whatever gets you the through the night.

Have you started producing the Milan wheels yet? You said they were custom for him. Any specs on how you made them custom, and if those custom wheels are available for retail?

[Jim A 4]

does this mean Gus has been canned??

Benny, you're a good guy..but I think Hyper's past history of actually owning overseeing companies is going to always have people ask questions..they've done it in speed and hockey and likely other genre's as well..

[Revision Hockey 0]

96,

I was surprised too when I found out not only does he play roller, but that he likes our wheels!

The wheels we made for him had a Navy Blue hub and a Maroon TORUS (Avalanche colors). We made a slight modification in the urethane for him and then sold a whole lot of them over into Europe.

We had plans of next year to bring out the Milan Hejduk avalanche wheel next year as a limited edition, but now that we have him on our Gold wheel, I dont think we need the avalanche colored one anymore. We will see though...anything can happen.

Nick

[#96 0]

Good stuff, Nick.

By the way. I've popped on my Platinums, LOVE THEM. First time I used them, I wasn't too sure. But now! I dunno, maybe I was too heavy. I was about 170, now I'm trimmed down to 160ish. Speed, grip, PERFECT. I'm anxious to get on the new variant series though, as I have the last year's model. Is there a big difference performance wise? I think you mentioned the torus is different or something like that.

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

Nick, which wheel would you suggest to a "silver" level player, 6'2" , 215 LB?

[Revision Hockey 0]

Yeah there is a big difference between last years and the new Variant. Changes in the TORUS, the hub, the urethane...everything!!! You gotta get a set..seriously. They are way faster and even more tighter in turns than before.

Frisbee--- you should skate all bronze. Our wheels are designed by weight and skating style, not by skill level so it doesnt matter how good you are. Good luck!

[dynasty1 0]

I play hockey in Detroit my buddy saw Derian and Kevin Hatcher with the new Hyper Formula G's on. He plays over at the Fieldhouse. Pretty cool.

[bennyfrank 0]

Thanks Jim...I am comfortable dealing with issues that may have happenned in the past and I hope that over time those questions will not need to be asked...Gus has not been 'canned', he is moving on to pursue a career outside of hockey but still cares very much about the success of Hyper and has offerred to help me in any way possible to ease the transition...As far as the Pro team, Gus and Mishka will still be running that team for TORHS and NARCH and I think they have made a few nice additions to that team...I will definately be involved more with the Pro team in the future, as will Shayne.

[teamhyper 0]

Jim,

Just to put a few things to rest. No I did not get "canned". I made the decision to accept a position outside of the hockey industry. After 7 years with Hyper, it was a tough decision, but the offer was too good to pass up. I'll definitely miss the relationships and the people in the industry. Lots of great people!!! But with that being said, it's nice to leave knowing that when the new line is introduced this fall, it will be the best Hyper line from top to bottom ever. 4 new wheels, a new pant line/concept that will blow everyone away, new bags and new accessory products. I'll leave it at that. Like I said, I'm positive that the new products will speak for themselves. I'll continue to stay involved in roller hockey, but from now on, only as a player. Benny Frank has all of the tools to continue to make Hyper successful and I'm very happy that he is now on board. To everyone else, including Hyper's competitors, I'd be a fool to not consider you a friend. We are all trying to spread the passion that we all have for roller hockey to the rest of the world and I hope that we can all be successful. Joe, Justin and Riles, Evan and Tim, Nick and Neil, Rob and the Labeda boys, Chad, Bradley and Walter, Mike and Gerry, Daryn, Tony, Patty, and to everyone else in our little roller hockey community, Thanks for everything. I wish you all nothing but the best. Keep doing what your doing!! I'll see you at the rink!!! Gus

[Jim A 4]

sorry for the poor choice of words..a late night out.clouding the mind there...

Gus good luck with your future endeavors.. sure we'll still cross paths in Vegas and at other places across the US....

Jim A

[notorious#29 0]

I play hockey in Detroit my buddy saw Derian and Kevin Hatcher with the new Hyper Formula G's on. He plays over at the Fieldhouse. Pretty cool.

Dynasty1, Do you know What divison Derian plays in?