The St. Stephen Aces hockey team will not be playing in Charlotte County next season.
The Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) team has been sold to a Fredericton ownership group and will relocate to New Brunswick’s capital for the 2019-20 season.
Monday’s announcement put an end to weeks of speculation about the future of the franchise.
Dave Ritcey, the league’s interim president, said the decision all came down to finances.
“Attendance is one thing and making the playoffs, but there’s other things that come into factor when it comes to a franchise,” said Ritcey. “We’d hate to see a team fold and have no back-up.”
The St. Stephen Aces joined the MHL in the 2014-15 season as the County Aces and changed to their current team name in time for the 2016-17 season.
But after operating on a deficit budget since the beginning, Aces governor Mike Horne said they could not longer afford to keep the franchise in St. Stephen.
“Over the course of the past two seasons in particular, we found ourselves in the unfortunate position where our executive had to make a very difficult decision and that was we needed to sell the franchise in order to meet the financial obligations owed to all of our creditors,” said Horne in a statement.
“The decision to sell the franchise was extremely difficult and heart-wrenching for the club’s directors and executive.”
The league’s board of governors heard a presentation from Global Centre Ice Inc. in March and unanimously approved the sale.
The new team will be known as the Fredericton Red Wings and will play out of the Grant-Harvey Centre.
Roger Shannon, president and co-owner of the Red Wings, said he is optimistic about the team’s future.
“I look at it as a whole new business … From a financial perspective, it’s two separate markets, one really has nothing to do with the other,” said Shannon.
Shannon is one of eight people from across North America who make up the new ownership group.
He said they hope to keep Aces head coach and general manager Emery Olauson, as well as most of the players.
“I like their speed, I like everything about them, I love their work ethic, they fought and they made the playoffs, and there’s no reason to think that those kids aren’t going to get every opportunity to play here.”
(Fredericton Red Wings president Roger Shannon (left) and several other members of the new team during a news conference in Fredericton on April 15.-Acadia News photo)
story by Brad Perry
perry.brad@radioabl.ca
