Edge forced to postpone home games against Sudbury
The Five couldn't make it to storm-ravaged St. John's
After waiting almost two weeks to resume their 2019-20 National Basketball League of Canada season, the St. John’s Edge are going to have to wait a bit longer.
The Edge, who last played Jan. 8, announced today that games scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at Mile One Centre against the Sudbury Five have been cancelled, citing the state of emergency created by the weekend winter storm that lambasted eastern Newfoundland as well the Five’s inability to fly to Newfoundland in time to begin the series.
The Five had originally been scheduled to fly out of Toronto Monday night, but that flight — as were all commercial flights to St. John’s — was cancelled
Edge head coach Steve Marcus said his Sudbury counterpart, Logan Stutz, who is also the general manager of the Five (5-5), had been looking at the possibility of rebooking to travel on game-day Tuesday, even if it had meant using multiple flights to relay the players to Newfoundland.
But that didn’t pan out. It means the next scheduled games for the Edge (4-4) are Friday and Saturday, when they are to host the Halifax Hurricanes at Mile One.
The Edge did do some roster business Monday, re-signing guard Ahmad Thomas.
Thomas, who turns 25 in early February, had originally been signed by the Edge in November, but was released just before the start of the new season in late December.
The 6-3, 230-pound
Thomas, who was once described by Marcus as ”a Swiss army knife of a player,” was the Big South Conference defensive player of the year and a conference all-star in both 2017 and 2018, while playing for the Unc-asheville Bulldogs.
He is the first player in the history of the Big South to finish with more than 1,500 points (1,626), 700 rebounds (705), 250 steals (251) and 250 assists (256).
Thomas is the second roster addition for the Edge in the last week. St. John’s signed forward Olu Ashaolu as the injury designate for Murphy Burnatowski, who is sidelined with a knee injury. The team also released Elijah Macon.