Some news:
Yesterday, the Patriotes revealed their plans to the city council. Some of the events we learned of:
- Obviously, the home games of the university team. They play about 18-20 home games. So already there, they won't be occupying it much.
- Preseason games that would also include games against NCAA teams. Those are just a few games.
- The Canadian University hockey tournament that IF they get selected, they can host it for the next two years. Again, a short tournament and it wouldn't be long-term as it would only be for the next two years.
- They also want to host a few exhibition games during the holidays against NCAA teams when the regular seasons are on holiday breaks.
So all in all, they would need the arena for a total of about 35-40 games, give or take.
Now the city will wait to meet with MacDonald to share his plan. Again, the fact the Habs made it official that they want to get involved, has changed some of the narrative.
The man who is heading the Patriotes is Daniel McMahon, spoke after the meeting and said that he is not opposed to sharing the arena.
However, another member part of the Patriotes group, Jean Lamarre of Cirque du Soleil, said that he doesn't think sharing is a possibility at the moment. He explained that the arena is made for one major team and isn't built for sharing. He mentioned that to accomodate two teams, they would need to make certain renovations in the facility, particularly regarding dressing rooms. And he estimates it would cost about 2-million$.
He did say that he does a lot of business with the Groupe CH as they rent the Bell Center for Cirque du Soleil about 21 dates a year. And that if they were interested and the city voted for it, he wouldn't stand in the way. He thinks highly of the organization. He just shared his belief that modifications will need to be made to the facility to accomodate both.
Council members also gave statements and they pretty much echoed that their priority is to find a way to have both teams share the facility.
They said they were impressed with the Patriotes vision and plan. And they believe they will be equally impressed with MacDonald's, but that they will need to hear his proposal first before making their final decision on February 7th.
Regarding the ECHL, I remember reading that the real deadline the league gives a team is mid-March. So if that is true, then if the ECHL there becomes a reality, then chances are they'll be ready to start playing next season.