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OHL: Are the Erie Otters heading to Hamilton?
One thing you learn covering the OHL -- or any junior hockey for that matter -- is where there's smoke, there's usually fire.
In the case of the Erie Otters, rumours of their potential move have been smouldering for quite some time now. That talk ramped up on Thursday afternoon when the Hamilton Spectator published a story stating that Hamilton city council would be voting next week on letting an OHL franchise -- reportedly the Otters -- move to town to play out of Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena.
The city report doesn't say who would own the team or which OHL franchise would move here. However, a source deep within the OHL says the team pursuing Hamilton is the Erie Otters, currently located in Pennsylvania. The same source says the team hopes to sell part ownership to Hamilton interests with the option to purchase it outright within three years.
If the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs were to leave — the city of Laval, Que. has just approved the construction of a new arena that will be operated by the Montreal Canadiens which is the Bulldogs' parent club — the OHL team would move into Copps Coliseum. The report councillors will debate Monday says if Copps is not available within five years, the owners will consider building their own arena.
The deal would require the provincial Jr. A Hamilton Red Wings to move from the Mountain Arena to another local rink, likely the Morgan Firestone Arena in Ancaster. In order to compensate for lost ice time for minor hockey groups, city councillors are being asked to spend up to $350,000 on renovating Spring Valley Arena, also in Ancaster. (The Hamilton Spectator)
This news comes less than a week after a report in the Erie Times-News regarding the Otters' current lease situation. Otters GM and owner Sherry Bassin, after a lengthy wait for renovations to the aging Tullio Arena to begin, said his team was only looking to sign a one-year extension. As of last Saturday (Feb. 18th) that lease had yet to be signed.
[Executive director of the Erie County Convention Center Authority Casey Wells] is concerned about the Otters' choice of a one-year extension, although he figures officials were concerned six months ago about what was a two-year delay in the $42 million arena renovation project.
As Bassin said in the fall, "In good faith, I'll get together with (Wells) on an extension. Obviously, it's difficult to get into the meat and potatoes (of an agreement) until you see some shovels in the ground."
Work on the 28-year-old downtown facility started earlier this winter. Wells said he hopes the progress on the project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2013, will convince club officials to pursue a longer agreement. Bassin didn't immediately respond to a telephone message Friday.
In the meantime, speculation has been rampant about a rumored move to Hamilton, Ontario, next season, even though Bassin has publicly stated many times he won't move the franchise while he's the owner.
"He has shared with me that he has no intention of moving the team," Wells said. "They told me that they are not looking to move." (Erie Times-News)
Calls left for Bassin by Yahoo! Sports were not returned.
For those of us around long enough to remember how the Niagara Falls Thunder were moved to Pennsylvania by Bassin in the first place -- this seems all too Erie-ly familiar.
Having said that, the move does make some sense, especially if the AHL Bulldogs end up in Laval, Que., a move that has also been rumoured for sometime. Since winning an OHL title in 2002, the Otters have been middling at best and their crowds have suffered.
As former Research In Motion boss Jim Balsillie has shown us, Hamilton has the potential to be an NHL town, but whether it would also a be a good junior hockey town remains to be seen. Hamilton has had chances before -- the Red Wings, Fincups, Steelhawks and most recently the Dukes who left town for Guelph in 1991.
If we've learned anything from the OHL's failed experiment in the GTA with Toronto, Mississauga, and Brampton -- NHL support and junior hockey support do not always share the same fanbase. There have also been rumblings that Mississauga St. Michael's Majors owner Eugene Melnyk is looking for a buyer. Brampton Battalion owner Scott Abbott has signed up for a final year at the Powerade Centre, but what happens to the team after their lease expires is anyone's guess.
The instability of franchises in the league -- whether they're perceived or not -- does nothing more than fuel the constant fire of a possible OHL return to places like Cornwall, Newmarket and North Bay.
Hamilton was a city that used to be in that mix too, though if these reports are true, we can cross that one off the list now.
Sunaya Sapurji is the Junior Hockey Editor at Yahoo! Sports.
Email: sunaya@yahoo-inc.com | Twitter @Sunayas
