{ "blocks": [ { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Yesterday, Alex Bill -- a St. John's based journalist -- reported that a group was interested in buying the QMJHL's Acadie-Bathurst Titan, in the hopes of moving the team to Newfoundland." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "This group would be led by Glenn Stanford, who had been an ice hockey executive at the professional level since the 1990s. " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "He has held major roles with the AHL's St. John's Maple Leafs (1991-2005), ECHL's Idaho Steelheads (2005-06), AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs/St. John's IceCaps (2006-2016), ECHL's Newfoundland Growlers (2018-2024), and the ECHL's Trois-Rivieres Lions (2021-24)." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "If successful, this would be the second time the QMJHL has brought a team to Newfoundland. The first, being the St. John's Fog Devils in 2005 via expansion." } }, { "type": "header", "data": { "text": "The devil was in the details", "level": 4 } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The Fog Devils only lasted three seasons, making the playoffs each season -- even winning an impressive 46 games in their last season on the island." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The team also featured a couple of future NHL talent in defenseman T.J. Brennan and most notably, Jake Allen." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "What killed the team wasn't performance. It was logistics." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The arena itself was built for the St. John's Maple Leafs, but after they left, the city was still in the hole financially from the arena." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The high rent, combined with the higher travel costs, and low attendence figures, cemented the team's fate before it could really take off." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "This led to the team's move to Montreal, and eventually Boisbriand." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The logistical issue has been the front-and-center plaguing Newfoundland hockey." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "It has been the death knell of the St. John's Maple Leafs, the Fog Devils, the St. John's IceCaps, and most recently the Newfoundland Growlers." } }, { "type": "header", "data": { "text": "Has the ship sailed on the Titan in Bathurst?", "level": 4 } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "As for Bathurst, they averaged 1627 spectators a game last season -- the second lowest attendance in the league." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": " According to the team's owner Leopold Theriault, the team hasn't been profitable since the 2002-03 season, only breaking even in the Memorial Cup winning 2017-18 season -- where the team only averaged 1903 fans a night, for third worst in the league." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "In fact, the team hasn't held an average attendance of above 2000 since the 2007-2008 season and they haven't been in the top half of the league in attendance since 2003-04." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Citing financial issues that only worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic, the team was put up for sale in January. " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Commissioner Mario Cecchini said at the time that he promised that the league will keep the team in Acadie-Bathurst in the short-term, and would veto any attempts to buy and move the team." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The team is owned primarily by Leopold Theriault, who purchased the team alongside QMJHL legends Roberto Luongo and Patrice Bergeron from former owner and general manager Leo-Guy Morissette in 2012." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "This isn't the first time the team has been rumoured to move to St. John's, as the Titan were linked to \"The Rock\" under Morissette in 2008." } }, { "type": "header", "data": { "text": "Other options", "level": 4 } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Just two seasons ago, the Titan were linked to the Montreal-region as the team's finances took a larger hit during the pandemic." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The team nearly closed a deal with Steve Leal, who had publically expressed wanting to move the team to south Montreal." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "In a last ditch effort, the team was saved thanks to a bailout deal from the city." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Now, just two years later the team's future is in jeopardy once again." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "Leal, who has since dabbled in potentially acquiring the ECHL's Trois-Rivieres Lions, Newfoundland Growlers and the OHL's Barrie Colts, may return to procure the Titan organization and prime it for a move out of Acadia." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "There is also a local grassroots initiative to keep the team in Bathurst. The initiative hopes to start a co-operative to buy the team -- essentially making it a community owned team. " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "The idea is that people can buy thousand dollar shares in the team, and they would receive privileges such as deals on season tickets and access to special events." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "During Cecchini's June address, there were two serious contenders to purchase the team and the hope was that the deal would be complete by July, although nothing has come to fruition publicly just yet." } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "As of yet, it still seems as though the intention from Cecchini and the league is to keep the team in Bathurst. " } }, { "type": "paragraph", "data": { "text": "With each passing year, however, the odds of the Titan staying feel slimmer and slimmer as the team seems like its nearly exhausted every opportunity left." } } ] }

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