The Newfoundland Growlers are ceasing operations immediately after their ECHL membership was terminated Tuesday by the league’s board of governors.
This decision comes after the Toronto Maple Leafs affiliate experienced financial difficulties. The Growlers were owned by Deacon Sports and Entertainment, which was behind on its payments and facing a Tuesday deadline imposed by the ECHL where it had to find another operator for the team.
When that did not happen, the ECHL Board of Governors ended the Growlers’ regular season with six games remaining.
“We are saddened to lose ECHL hockey to the Newfoundland market,” ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin said in a statement. “We would like to thank the fans and partners of the Growlers for their support of the team throughout their existence, and we hope that hockey can return to the region thanks to their dedicated and passionate fan base.”
The St. John’s market faces unique challenges due to its location on the easternmost part of the continent. This required the Growlers to subsidize the airfare costs of visiting teams traveling to and from Newfoundland and Labrador.
On the ice, the team has enjoyed success – winning the Kelly Cup in 2019, along with three North Division titles and appearances in the conference finals each of the last two years. The list of players who reached the NHL after making a stop in Newfoundland includes Timothy Liljegren, Bobby McMann, Mac Hollowell, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Justin Brazeau.
This season, the Growlers were among the lowest performing teams in the ECHL averaging 3,724 fans over 30 home games. That places them 22nd on the 28-team circuit.
Newfoundland players under contract with the ECHL immediately became free agents and are free to join rival teams for the remainder of the year. Those who signed contracts with the NHL or American Hockey League will no longer be able to play in the ECHL this season.
“We extend our sincere gratitude to our fans, sponsors, partners, staff and the hundreds of players who have proudly represented the Growlers, whose unwavering resilience and support have been instrumental to our on-ice product,” reads a statement. press release from Deacon Sports. and entertainment.
The Growlers are the third professional hockey team to fail to succeed in Newfoundland and Labrador in the past two decades, following the relocation of the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps in 2017 and the Maple Leafs from St. John’s of the AHL in 2005.
The St. John’s Fog Devils of the QMJHL moved to Montreal in 2008.
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