GKJ
Global Moderator
- Feb 27, 2002
- 188,206
- 40,117
Well, that's very unfortunate. It sucks that Newfoundland can't hold on to their teams. Were they profitable before this ownership took over?
St John's is a pro sports graveyard. The enthusiasm is there but the geographic reality is pretty hard to overcome. Compound that with local political weirdness and the outlook for teams there is grim regardless of the sport.Well, that's very unfortunate. It sucks that Newfoundland can't hold on to their teams. Were they profitable before this ownership took over?
They tried junior hockey there too and it didn’t stick. Really seems like the ownership group itself came under financial hardship more than the burden of the team.St John's is a pro sports graveyard. The enthusiasm is there but the geographic reality is pretty hard to overcome. Compound that with local political weirdness and the outlook for teams there is grim regardless of the sport.
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Any Jr hockey teams there or around the area?St John's is a pro sports graveyard. The enthusiasm is there but the geographic reality is pretty hard to overcome. Compound that with local political weirdness and the outlook for teams there is grim regardless of the sport.
Used to be a QMJHL team there, but it failed tooAny Jr hockey teams there or around the area?
They should start their own league.St John's hockey fans keep getting jilted
So Terry Ryan's rant on local radio was aimed to this yesterday. Not only the staff, but the volunteers that take time out of their day to be around the team and give a helping hand and ask for nothing in return.This is horrible for everyone involved from the staff & players losing their job to the fan base
Pretty shitty treatment of the Newfoundland market by MLSE after having had AHL and ECHL affiliates there for such a long time. 1991-2005 for the AHL. 2018-24 (incomplete) for the ECHL. Not a good look the way this ended.So Terry Ryan's rant on local radio was aimed to this yesterday. Not only the staff, but the volunteers that take time out of their day to be around the team and give a helping hand and ask for nothing in return.
He really brought it down to it doesn't matter what league a team is leaving from it's always gonna be hard on fans as well. Unlike other Cities that lose a pro team he mentioned that for people of St.Johns/Newfoundland it's not as simple as jumping on a quick plane trip and going to watch another team somewhere else. Being on the Island it just isn't cheap to get on that plane and go watch a game in Toronto or wherever.
Pretty clear the business model that works for ECHL is small and mid-sized US cities where there are arenas and there isn't much of a history of local players making it to the NHL. If there is a player pipeline like there is in Canada, why wouldn't juniors work better there? ECHL towns need their local heroes, guys that may stay around after their careers end and have found a community.
I think people tend to think in idealistic terms with hockey and Canada, but the minor prom market has not been significant in Canada in many years, if it ever really was with modern day hockey.
Could Montreal and Toronto step in in some way? Maybe. Is that a good, sound business decision? I wouldn't bet on it. The financial travel costs for Newfoundland alone must be awful. The ECHL would probably prefer to have more stable teams in the contiguous U.S. anyway.