What’s on the Hockey Horizon?

What's next? Skyhawks officials Al Campbell (left) and Guy Blanchard (right) talk to the media at an early May press conference discussing the teams future with University Hockey on the horizon. Photo by Jazz Mathon.

The new millennium has been a rollercoaster ride for hockey fans of the Gateway City.

Ah, we’ve seen it all haven’t we, from losing an OHL team, to watching a pair of NOJHL championships, to anticipation of another OHL team, to winning Hockeyville, to being snubbed as a World Junior pre-competition camp host - never a dull moment.

So it’s no surprise that things aren’t simple when word came out in early May about Nipissing University looking to bring CIS hockey to the city in the fall of 2009.

At this point, it appears the North Bay Skyhawks may be playing their last season in North Bay. The University group which includes private investors have met with the Skyhawks brass to try and iron out a way to share the marketing dollars. So far - from what we understand - the two sides are still very far apart.

The city has always had an out clause in its lease deal with the Skyhawks which allows higher caliber hockey like Major Junior, Professional, or College Hockey to override a lease deal with the Junior ‘A’ franchise.

Polls

The BayToday poll and other media polls appear to indicate that North Bay hockey fans want to enjoy both Skyhawks and University Hockey. Close to 50 percent (48.05%) of the 616 votes were in favour of Skyhawks and University hockey sharing the ice at Memorial Gardens. Skyhawks only garnered less than 15 (13.3) percent of the votes, while University only finished with just over 25 (25.97%) percent of the votes.

What’s Next?

It’s not a secret that Skyhawks G.M. Guy Blanchard is tough guy to negotiate with. Just ask the folks in Sturgeon Falls and Powassan. So finding a compromise could be difficult. But here are some options to think about:

Option 1: Skyhawks Sale – a Skyhawks sale of to the private ownership group with Nipissing University may be the best option. They own the lease deal and Blanchard owns a junior team that, at this point, has no rink to play in by the fall of ‘09. Still, don’t expect Blanchard to give his team away. A sale could be great news as sharing marketing dollars with yourself is easier than doing it with another group. It would be great to have the junior team re-named the North Bay Jr. Lakers and perhaps that Laker name could be picked up by West Ferris Minor Hockey – finally giving the city a consistent hockey nickname.

Option 2: Share the Wealth - The two sides come to a deal and share the marketing revenue and work out a lease deal with the city that works for both sides.

Option 3: Bye Skyhawks - Unfortunately, I may be leaning towards this one. Guy Blanchard has already said he will shut down the franchise in the fall of 2009 if the two sides can’t make a deal between themselves and with the city. What Blanchard could do is fold the team and try to re-create a franchise in the fall of ’10 – perhaps re-locating the Skyhawks to the Ontario Provincial league where Blanchard has wanted his team to play for years. With the North Bay hockey fans having only the 14 University Hockey home games and a team that will likely struggle in year one the Skyhawks G.M. may see an opportunity in 2010 to re-visit negotiations and maybe a better deal.

The Costa Factor

No matter what happens it seems very clear that University Hockey will take the ice in 2009 – with or without a junior team to share the ice with. Ironically, the man many hockey fans here believe was responsible for the Cents leaving the city predicted University Hockey would arrive in the Bay.

“I think it would work,” former Centennials G.M. Costa Papista suggested about Canadian University Hockey in an interview with BayToday in March of 2005.