Face-off over Mile One: Local group seeks ECHL franchise for St. John’s
The day after Edge ownership outlines its plans to acquire a QMJHL team, Dean Macdonald confirms he’s been working on getting a minor pro club for city
Mile One Centre in St. John’s may be without a hockey tenant this winter, but the facility has become a face-off dot for two groups looking to change that status.
On Thursday, the ownership group of the National Basketball League’s St. John’s Edge restated its desire to own a hockey team that would play out of Mile One, saying it is focused on the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
On Friday, a group headed by St. John’s businessman Dean Macdonald revealed it had begun the process of acquiring an ECHL franchise for St. John’s, one that would hit the Mile One ice in 2018-19 if their efforts are successful.
If the American Hockey League, which had teams in St. John’s for two decades, is considered “AAA,” or the highest rung of minor-league hockey, the ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League, is seen as a “AA” circuit.
Nevertheless, Macdonald believes fans here would take to the brand.
He has.
“I have been a big fan the East Coast league for a while,” said Macdonald, who has a home in Naples, Fla., home of the ECHL’S Florida Everblades.
“It’s really, really fun, exciting league, and with the (AHL’S) Icecaps moving, I felt they’re was an opportunity. I began working on it and I recently reached out to Glenn a little while ago and asked him if we could partner to bring (the ECHL) in.”
That would be Glenn Stanford, the former chief operating officer of the St. John’s Icecaps, whose run in the AHL ended earlier this year when the Montreal Canadiens moved the franchise to Laval, Que. Interestingly, Stanford had also been working as a contracted consultant for the Edge, helping the new pro basketball team get established in St. John’s.
Macdonald wouldn’t specify whether the plan was to start a brand-new ECHL team or acquire an existing one, although he did say that the acquisition wouldn’t involve the Everblades.
However, he added that his group would own the franchise outright, something that was never the case with AHL clubs in St. John’s, which were owned over the years by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Canadiens.
“St. John’s has had a great history with the AHL, but whenever (NHL) teams wanted to move their farm club closer to them, we ended up losing our teams,” said Macdonald.
“In this case, we’ll own it and it won’t go anywhere.”
ECHL teams have affiliations with National Hockey League teams, although most are not as firm as those with AHL teams.
“We can’t say who we’re affiliated with, other to say there
“The league is excited. They know it is a great hockey town. The next phase for us is to get confirmation from the (City of St. John’s) is that we’re good to go, and on that basis, we’ll start working having a club here next season.”
Dean Macdonald
is an NHL club involved and it will be pretty exciting for the city,” said Macdonald, who has begun the ECHL’S formal application process.
“The league is excited. They know it is a great hockey town. The next phase for us is to get confirmation from the (City of St. John’s) is that we’re good to go, and on that basis, we’ll start working having a club here next season.”
But here’s a big question. The lease agreement reached earlier this year that put the Edge in city-operated Mile One included a clause providing the owners of the basketball team with 18 months of exclusivity when it came to bringing a hockey team too the building.