Acadie-Bathurst Titan sold to local steel businessman in efforts to keep the team on the North Shore

The QMJHL relocation wheel may have to take another spin as it looks like one maritime possibility has been sold.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan owner and general manager Léo-Guy Morrissette has reached an agreement with local businessman Léopold Theriault to keep the team in northern New Brunswick. The sale is pending league approval.

CBC reported earlier this month that Theriault is looking for as many as 35 investors to join him in keeping the team in Bathurst. It was announced Wednesday that Theriault is the guy, and he was able to convince Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo to come along for the ride.

Each investor would contribute $100,000 or more. Theriault also talked to former Titan player Patrice Bergeron hoping to have him on board as an investor.

The sale ends the Morrissette era in the QMJHL. Morrissette, a long-time outspoken owner and representative of the league, moved the team to Bathurst in 1998 from Laval. The team won the QMJHL’s President’s Cup in 1999, their first season in Bathurst. He sold the team to his daughter in 2009, citing a desire to stay closer to home, but bought back the team in 2010.

Bathurst is one team that has been mentioned in relocation rumours for the last few years. Morrissette has had the team on the market looking to sell. He cited that small market size and declining attendance make it hard to be successful on the North Shore.New owner Theriault earned his wealth in the steel industry in northern New Brunswick.

Mikael Lalancette reports that Sylvain Couturier will become the team's new general manager, and Danny Dupont will be kept on as the team's head coach.

The Titan were eliminated from the playoffs by the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs in March.