Growlers cease operations
Team won’t finish season
The Newfoundland Growlers will not finish the 2023-2024 season.
On Tuesday, April 2, the team announced it will cease operations after an 11th-hour proposal to the ECHL was voted down by the league’s board of governors.
Both the future of the Growlers and the Troisrivières Lions were the subject of Tuesday’s ECHL meetings after the league imposed an April 2 deadline for the sale of both teams by owner Deacon Sports and Entertainment (DSE).
While a buyer could be found for the Lions, there was no such luck for the Growlers, as the league voted to shut down the Newfoundland team.
“Due to unforeseen challenges, and while a discussion was put forth to salvage the future of both teams, only the continuation of the Troisrivières Lions was approved by the ECHL, and as a result, the ECHL board of governors has voted to terminate the league membership of the Newfoundland Growlers,” the team said in a prepared statement.
The move comes as the Growlers were locked in a three-way race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the ECHL’S North Division. The Growlers had six games, all at home, remaining in their schedule.
“Deacon Sports and Entertainment extends sincere gratitude to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens for their support over the past six seasons,” the statement read.
LEAGUE STATEMENT
In a statement, the ECHL indicated the termination of the Growlers comes because they “failed to fulfill its obligations under the ECHL bylaws.”
“We are saddened to lose ECHL hockey in the Newfoundland market,” ECHL commissioner Ryan Crelin said in a statement. “We’d like to thank the Growlers fans and partners for their support of the team throughout their existence and are hopeful that hockey can return to the region for their dedicated and passionate fanbase.”
The league said players on AHL or NHL deals, of which the Growlers have several, are not eligible to sign with other teams in the ECHL. It is believed those players will end up with the Marlies or the Maple Leafs.
The league said players on ECHL deals are free agents and can sign to play elsewhere.
TIED TO LIONS
News of possible problems for Deacon Sports and Entertainment, which owns both teams, emerged last December with reports of a rumoured sale of the Lions to Canadian businessman Steve Leal, owner of Fix Auto World.
At the time, it was believed any sale of the Lions would possibly include the Growlers.
The sale of the Lions was purported to wrap up early in 2024, according to reports in Le Nouvelliste, a newspaper based in Trois-rivières, last week, but a deal never materialized in a timely manner. It’s been reported that Deacon Sports and Entertainment owes $1.1 million to the City of Trois-rivières after it stopped paying rent for the city’s arena, Colisee Videotron.
Things got more complicated when the city voted on March 25 to cash a bank letter that would see it recoup $650,000 to help settle the debt. That was cashed on April 1.
The lack of a sale also triggered the league’s board of governors meeting to decide the fate of the Lions, along with the Growlers by association, on Tuesday.
PASSIONATE FANS
In more than five years in St. John’s, the Growlers carved out a passionate fanbase.
Fans watched their team win the Kelly Cup in their first season and reach the Eastern Conference finals each of the last two years. As a franchise, the Growlers have won 271 games and been a partner to many in the community.
Even leading up to the official announcement, there were still pockets of fans holding out hope that their team would be saved.
“It’s been the highlight of our winter,” said Steph Conway, who has been a season ticket holder since 2018. “Having good hockey in Newfoundland, it’s not something that we’ve had for a while.”
Conway and her family went to as many games as they could, were a part of the Kelly Cup celebrations, followed the team to C.B.S. when the Growlers played a handful of games there and have been to many of the team’s fan events.
They’ve become a part of a Growlers’ fan community that has been steadfast in their support since that inaugural year.
Conway said she still remembers the Kelly Cup final, the environment at the Mary Brown’s Centre and the feeling that came with watching the players’ gear fly into the air after the final buzzer.
“I would like to say thank you for bringing hockey back to St. John’s and the province, and just everything that they’ve done for Newfoundland, for hockey,” said Conway. “It just means so much to us as hockey fans.”
HEARTBREAKING DECISION
As news of the Growlers’ shutdown started filtering out, Evan Purcell, another Growlers fan, started thinking about the team.
He was a regular fixture at the games and even became a part of the team’s presentation when he’d wear his money suit in the arena.
“This team has done so many great things over the five years that they’ve been here and to see them go like this is truly heartbreaking,” said Purcell.
The closure means the Growlers’ last six games of the season in St. John’s will not be played. It also means fans won’t get the chance to say goodbye to their team.
That might be the hardest thing for Purcell and others.
“That makes it really hard,” he said. “I think the league should let the Growlers at least play the rest of the season so we can give the team a proper sendoff. Not like this.”
As part of its statement, the team announced refunds for the last six home games were going to be processed through the Mary Brown’s Centre box office.