QMJHL team moving?

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844443204009304554

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844443547443073388

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[MeHateHe]

I think the only way that professional/major junior hockey works in Newfoundland is if they can play the games via VR, or Star Trek-style transporters become a thing.

 

[jetsmooseice]

 

[Takuto Maruki]

There is simply no way to get a team to work in Newfoundland, in any capacity if we're being realistic. Your nearest Quebec opponent is Baie-Comeau. Your Maritime brethren are a flight away, and major junior teams, especially out west, only really use those once (or twice, if it's a championship series like Prince Albert and Vancouver) to cut travel costs.

Realistically, since I doubt that this actually comes to pass, is there anywhere in the Northeast/Quebec that would even want a team? Would Granby be? interested, I have my doubts that the Q will go down south into Maine again.

 

[Melrose Munch]

There is simply no way to get a team to work in Newfoundland, in any capacity if we're being realistic. Your nearest Quebec opponent is Baie-Comeau. Your Maritime brethren are a flight away, and major junior teams, especially out west, only really use those once (or twice, if it's a championship series like Prince Albert and Vancouver) to cut travel costs.

Realistically, since I doubt that this actually comes to pass, is there anywhere in the Northeast/Quebec that would even want a team? Would Granby be? interested, I have my doubts that the Q will go down south into Maine again.

This post is sadly 100 percent accurate. Organized hockey is done in Newfoundland and Labrador, it's time to move on. There is not enough money on top of what you have said.

 

[jetsmooseice]

This post is sadly 100 percent accurate. Organized hockey is done in Newfoundland and Labrador, it's time to move on. There is not enough money on top of what you have said.

Mile One Centre (or whatever they call it now) just keeps enticing people to keep trying, in spite of the history of pretty well every team that has ever played there.

 

[Masked]

Realistically, since I doubt that this actually comes to pass, is there anywhere in the Northeast/Quebec that would even want a team? Would Granby be? interested, I have my doubts that the Q will go down south into Maine again.

Cornwall, ON since they're unlikely to get an OHL team again.

 

[Mike Jones]

Maybe Fredericton would be a better choice for a QMJHL team?

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I feel for Newfie fans, but the distance makes it really cost prohibitive for hockey teams to be economically viable given the scheduling demands, especially as the rest of their league wants compensation for the bad travel there, too.

I almost think that the only way a team could succeed there would be a once a week sport like football, though I'm not expecting someone to bankroll a CFL stadium there.

 

[Takuto Maruki]

I almost think that the only way a team could succeed there would be a once a week sport like football, though I'm not expecting someone to bankroll a CFL stadium there.

And even in that case, the CFL going back to even Mark Cohon vastly preferred Halifax, or at the very least Moncton, before going to St. John's. By this point, I just don't think there's a viable market for any sort of professional sport in Newfoundland that will ultimately last - the dollars needed for travel on the whole just kneecap efforts right there and then.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

And even in that case, the CFL going back to even Mark Cohon vastly preferred Halifax, or at the very least Moncton, before going to St. John's. By this point, I just don't think there's a viable market for any sort of professional sport in Newfoundland that will ultimately last - the dollars needed for travel on the whole just kneecap efforts right there and then.

I'd agree, with one tiny caveat. A benefit for Newfoundland is that if they're getting a team, it's obviously going to be in Saint John's. No debate there.

Maritimes, though? Nova Scotians want Halfifax, New Brunswickers disagree but can't agree between Saint John and Moncton, and the PEI is a drive away either way. They're kind of a segmented and spread out entity and make it really hard to get support from the rest of the region once they select a specific spot.

I'm not expecting either, to be frank. I half expect some Alaskan oil baron to get an itch and get a CFL team in Anchorage first, and even that's a way out in left field chance.

 

[ColinM]

Maybe Fredericton would be a better choice for a QMJHL team?

Typically I would agree however UNB owns and operates the biggest arena in Fredericton. In the process of going all in on their hockey program they made the decision not to share the arena with another tenant. From a business standpoint it seems to have worked well for them though. They have one of the most successful hockey programs in the country and routinely out draw some major junior teams in the Maritimes.

But I guess this poses the question, if you move the Titan where to if not St. John's? Maybe Granby but even then they would be going back some place where the league failed before. We all know that is catnip for this board.

 

[JMCx4]

A Canadian high-speed rail system would solve this issue just like that!