High-level hockey is returning to St. John’s, N.L.
A local ownership group has acquired the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan, and will move the New Brunswick-based team to the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador next season, the league announced Friday.
The relatively remote location of St. John’s has made it challenging for hockey teams to stay afloat in Newfoundland. The city has had AHL, QMJHL and ECHL teams. The ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, a Toronto Maple Leafs affiliate, were the most recent team to give it a go. They folded earlier this year.
The St. John’s Fog Devils played in the QMJHL from 2005-08 before relocating to Montreal and then Blainville-Boisbriand, Que.
St. John’s also has been home to AHL affiliates for the Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets.
The Bathurst-N.B.-based Titan play in one of the smallest markets in the CHL and have faced attendance challenges over the years.
The Titan, who moved to northern New Brunswick from Laval, Que., in 1998, won the Memorial Cup in 2018 after capturing the QMJHL title. The Titan also were QMJHL champs in 1999.
″It’s a sad day, Titan president Serge Thériault, one of the 11 Titan shareholders, said in a statement. “The Titan has been an integral part of the Bathurst community for 27 years. The team gave us great moments and rallied the population. Unfortunately, we were playing in the smallest major junior market in Canada, and attendance dropped over the years. This made it impossible for us, the owners, to continue. I’d like to thank the Titan fans and corporate partners for their support since 1998.″
Before this announcement, Newfoundland and Labrador was the only Canadian province without a major-junior team in one of the CHL’s three leagues.
from Sportsnet.ca
via i9bet
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