Trouble Out East

I can't say there are many similarities between the cities of Trois-Rivières, Quebec and St. John's, Newfoundland outside of both being next to bodies of water and both having ECHL teams. The first of those two similarities doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon as both the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean seem to be quite watery. The second similarity, though, could make both of these cities have another fact: both may be former ECHL locations by next season based on the news today.

I'm not sure anyone was expecting this news, but, according to a report from Matthew Vachon and Paule Vermot-Desroches of Le Nouvelliste, both the Newfoundland Growlers and Trois-Rivières Lions may not finish this season and could fold before the season ends. For a league like the ECHL who was patting itself on the back a couple of months ago for announcing two new expansion franchises in Lake Tahoe, Nevada and Bloomington, Indiana, this news tempers any excitement one may have had for teams competing for playoff spots for what looked like a competitive Kelly Cup postseason.

As per Vachon's and Vermot-Desroches's reporting, both the Growlers and Lions have Deacon Sports and Entertainment as the majority owner, and it seems Deacon Sports and Entertainment is nearing insolvency when it comes to paying its bills. Their reporting found that Deacon Sports owed the city of Trois-Rivières $650,000 while the team sits close to $1.1 million in debts. The Growlers seem to be somewhat better off, but they too are nearing the point of no return with their majority owner on the brink of financial disaster.

They reported that the ECHL has set a deadline for DSE to sell the clubs by April 2 - that would be the Tuesday after Easter weekend with Quebec having a stat holiday on Monday! - so it's almost certain that the sale of the majority share held by Deacon Sports won't happen. If there is no sale, there will be a meeting of ECHL governors on April 2 to determine the fate of the two clubs, and it seems very clear that the ECHL will take over the operation of these two franchises at that time. What happens after that is anyone's guess.

The ECHL could find buyers for the majority share of both franchises or sell the two shares individually. With ten or fewer games on the ECHL schedule for the two clubs, the race for the playoffs will remain the day-to-day focus, but I have serious doubts that the ECHL and the other owners will want to fund a playoff run by either team, especially the Growlers where flights into and off Newfoundland are quite costly. Again, they could opt to have the teams in the playoffs, but why would any other team in the North Division want these two teams in the race if it causes other teams to miss the playoffs?

As it stands, the Growlers and Lions are both tied with 64 points along with the Worcester Railers as all three are technically in third-place at the time of writing this article, and Maine sits one point back of the trio with games in-hand. In terms of point percentage, Trois-Rivières sits at .508 with one game in-hand on both Worcester and Newfoundland who have a .500 points percentage. Maine, as stated, has two games in-hand and sit at a .508 points percentage as well. In short, the race for playoff spots is extremely tight, so the ECHL's decision on April 2 will have ripples throughout the division and conference.

In 2008, the Fresno Falcons folded on December 22 in the middle of the season, and head coach and GM Matt Thomas wasn't pleased that his team was essentially shuttered by the ECHL, stating, “I think it's disrespectful to have teams fold mid-season, whether they're in first place or last place. You work so hard as a group to create and develop a winning environment. To have it taken away right in the middle of it all is tough for everyone.”

One has to wonder if the ECHL will the players on both teams to sign with new teams and remain eligible for the playoffs. With the trade deadline having come and gone on March 21, it's not like these teams can deal away their higher-priced talent to other squads. They clearly can't do a dispersal draft because a handful of teams are already out of the playoff race, so that would be unfair to the players selected by those teams. Again, this whole insolvency is a major pickle that hasn't been seen before this late in the season, so it may take some real creativity to solve the immediate problems of folding two teams with a few weeks left in the season.

This is an ugly mess which the ECHL has to solve, so I'll be keeping my ear to the ground next week following the weekend. ECHL commissioner Ryan Crelin's in a sticky situation with this financial problem shared between the teams, and I don't envy him based on what he may decide to do. For all the momentum that the ECHL was building with their expansion plans, this is entirely deflating when two Canadian teams are on the verge of collapse.

I guess we'll find out the fate of the Growlers and Lions on April 2. I have a feeling it's going to be a dark day in the ECHL.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!