Home away from home is new home
Thorold Blackhawks franchise staying in Port Colborne
So long, the Battle of Burleigh Hill. Welcome back, the Battle of Highway 58. And, hello, the Battle of Highway 3.
The loss of one rivalry in junior-B hockey in the Niagara Region, between the Thorold Blackhawks and the St. Catharines Falcons, opens the possibility for two others now that the Blackhawks are staying in Port Colborne.
Since the beginning of the 2021-22 Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs and all through last season, Vale Centre had been the
Golden Horseshoe Conference team’s home away from home while Thorold Arena was undergoing renovations.
Scott Barnes, the owner of the Blackhawks since 2017 as well as its general manager and head coach, doesn’t intend to retain the Blackhawks name, and a change in the team’s colours is also likely.
There won’t be a name-the-team contest as junior-B hockey returns to Port Colborne for the first time since the then Pirates relocated to Pelham at the beginning of the 2014-15 season.
However, promoting their new home’s nautical history and location at one end of the Welland Canal and along the north shore of Lake Erie will play a role in coming up with a new name and team colours.
“That is something that we are working on,” Barnes said. “I think definitely, being in Port Colborne, we would like to be something that has a water theme. I think we should have everything settled here in the next few weeks. I’d like to have everything going. Obviously, time is of the essence in getting jerseys and equipment.
“We want to have that done here fairly shortly.”
He feels “devastated” leaving Thorold, his hockey home since acquiring the team six years ago.
“It’s tough with the rich history behind it, and all the fans and locals who support it. It’s terrible, honestly,” Barnes said. “It’s not an easy decision.”
Nor was it made overnight. “We’ve basically been in talks starting in January with both Port Colborne and Thorold, trying to figure out where we were going to be this year.”
A lot of things went into the decision, including the fact the team had been playing out of Port Colborne since the beginning of the 2021-22 playoffs.
“A lot of factors came into play. Just working with the city and having the ability to have a rink and a room and everything,” Barnes said. “And the city kind of making things easy for us to run a successful franchise.”
Vale Centre, a $32-million, multiuse facility that opened in February 2013, trumped 49-year-old Thorold Arena in terms of offering facilities sought by a junior hockey team.
“You have your own room, you have your own access into your room. Thorold is an aging arena, obviously, everyone knows that,” Barnes said. “We needed to do some updating to kind of get with the times. We talked about renovating the room, a coaches room and things like that in Thorold.”
Staying in Thorold but playing out of Canada Games Park was not considered a viable option.
“It was something that was discussed last summer but there were a lot of obstacles in making that happen. It’s not just city-run by the City of Thorold,” he said.
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I think we should have everything settled here in the next few weeks. I’d like to have everything going.
SCOTT BARNES BLACKHAWKS OWNER, GENERAL MANAGER AND HEAD COACH
“It’s kind of shared with St. Catharines, Thorold and Brock University all having a piece of it.”
Preferred nights for the team’s home games in their new permanent homes will remain.
“I think we’re going to stick with those for the time being,” Barnes said.
Barnes was worried fans wouldn’t follow his team to Port Colborne when it had to leave Thorold Arena “so they could start maintenance on the arena.”
“That was tough, we were the Thorold Blackhawks playing in Port Colborne. It was a tough sell,” he said.
However, the Blackhawks wound up drawing “fairly well” in their temporary home. “We were the Thorold Blackhawks, but the city of Port Colborne supported us,” he said.
Barnes, who played three seasons in junior-B with the then Port Colborne Sailors in the late 1990s before going on to play pro hockey in Britain and the U.S., hopes a rivalry with the Welland Jr. Canadians can be renewed now that Port Colborne is back in the GOJHL.
A rivalry with the Fort Meteors likewise is a possibility.
According to the league website, the Blackhawks averaged 221 fans in 24 home games last season, more than Welland, at 174, and the Pelham Panthers, at 165.
The Caledonia Corvairs, St. Catharines
and Niagara Falls topped the eight-team division in average attendance in league play with 450, 425 and 333 fans, respectively.
Pacing the 26-team league in attendance were the Sarnia Legionnaires, at 805 fans per game, and the eventual Sutherland Cup champion Leamington Flyers, at 783.
The last Golden Horseshoe junior-B team rebranded following a change in arenas was the Ancaster Avalanche, who began the 2018-19 season as the Hamilton Kilty B’s.
Scott Barnes hopes a rivalry with the Welland Jr. Canadians can be renewed now that Port Colborne is back in the GOJHL