We got sucked in again, didn't we? The rumour mill got us hoping that the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League would announce that the Acadia-Bathurst Titan would relocate their team to St. John’s. Instead, the Tuesday deadline has passed, and Growler fans are left with their heads in the sand.
Humans are naturally curious and social creatures, always seeking information and connection. It’s also unfortunate that rumours often tap into that. They play on emotions, whether fear, excitement, or curiosity, making them hard to ignore. Plus, if a rumour confirms what someone already believes or hopes, most people will likely accept it without questioning it.
One of the great things about journalism is that most reporters check official sources before running with a hearsay comment on anything. It's called fact-checking. Critical thinking and verifying sources are essential to not falling for them. This is where the credibility of this information should have been flushed down the toilet. The rumour was started on Facebook, and I will try to say this without laughing: We can trust news on social media, right?
Not! Yes, these rumours were reported on VOCM, but they were ripped from the posts of jilted Growlers and Titan’s Facebook groups. Is Jeff Marek a credible source? Yes, but even though he is a respected sports commentator, he can still be wrong. No one is perfect.
Growlers fans have supported the team but are becoming more bitter and jaded every day. They had their team ripped from them unjustly. We get it. But they have to understand and can't accept that professional, major junior, the AHL, and the ECHL don't work in Newfoundland anymore, and it’s due to several factors:
The first is logistical issues. We are a big, remote granite island competing against teams in what can be considered, for the most part, bus leagues. An ex-AHL ECHL player told me that comparison, but it carries a lot of merit.
One of the primary reasons why professional teams no longer work in Newfoundland is, no doubt, directly related to inflation. Not every business has bounced back from COVID-19; some are still dealing with staff shortages. Others have closed up shop altogether. Add in the difficulty of dealing with the City of St. John’s. Remember what happened in the '90s during the city workers' strike when they rocked the bus carrying the Baby Leafs like a paint bucket mixer at Canadian Tire? Some young people reading that sentence won’t understand what a paint bucket mixer is. Ask your parents.
Fast-forward to the Growlers' lockout in 2021 when
Danny Breen, St. John's mayor and chair of St. John's Sports and Entertainment, which then ran Mile One, said SJSE employees complained of “disrespectful workplace conduct" against Deacon Sports and Entertainment, the group that owned the Growlers.
We have had a love-hate relationship with our professional hockey teams. Municipal politicians and owners often fought like dogs. No pun intended, Growler fans. I always found it embarrassing. If that wasn’t enough attendance, buying a ticket to a game is not feasible when people can barely afford to eat. It’s not that people don’t want to support the team they can’t afford to.
Their priorities are not focused on extracurricular entertainment. I also think the younger generation's fixation on social media and cell phones has shortened their attention spans. Sitting in an arena watching a Baby Leafs game in the 90s was the hot ticket in town. There were not as many distractions as there are today. That might be a weaker argument, but it plays a role.
The only exception I will make is that the St. John’s Maple Leafs was a successful franchise. It lasted 11 years. The only difference was the cost-effectiveness of NHL teams having their minor league affiliates closer to home. We tried to rebrand and make the team more local, hoping to draw more support, similar to the Rochester Americans and Hershey Bears franchises. Did renaming our AHL franchise the IceCaps instead of copying the parent team names, Jets and Canadians work? Who knows?
Overwhelmingly, in difficult economic times, the huge jet fuel costs of flying a Newfoundland-based AHL, ECHL, or QMJHL team off the island to play a 72-game schedule and the exorbitant cost of flying visiting teams to Newfoundland put the nail in the coffin. Only an owner with deep pockets who could afford to lose a couple million a season can make it feasible. But that won't happen, no matter how many tires you kick.
Unfortunately, there are many unknowns. Many Growler fans will still argue today that they were not fully informed of whether the team's termination was due to owner mismanagement, the owner's and leagues' frustration working with the city, or tough economic times that ended the harsh relationship with the ECHL. I think most of us can draw our conclusions.
Listen, Growler fans. I know you are bitter. Spreading rumours is not going to help your cause. Professional hockey will not work anymore in Newfoundland. We were entertained, we had some fun, but you need to accept it and move on.
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