Clarenville Caribous stop taking paycheques as team teeters on brink of collapse
The Clarenville Caribous will finish the senior hockey season without paying its players.
In a press release Monday afternoon, the team said its financial situation had placed it on the verge of not finishing the 2017-2018 season in Newfoundland's Central West Senior Hockey League.
"After subsequent discussions with all players on the team, Captain Russell came back with the team decision that players would continue the season without any pay or compensation to ensure that hockey remains in Clarenville," the statement said.
The CWSHL allows its players to be paid after each game, but the Caribous say declining fan support in recent years has put those paycheques in jeopardy.
The team says its finances are "extremely grim" and it has exhausted all options of cost-cutting.
Last year, the three-team league had its season cut short when the Gander Flyers said they could no longer proceed. The Flyers' players took a paycut, the regular season ended early and the playoffs began immediately.
The Corner Brook Royals ceased to exist after the 2015-2016 season, joining the Deer Lake Red Wings in the list of now defunct teams from the central and western parts of the province.
The Caribous hosted the 2015 Allan Cup — the premier senior hockey championship in Canada. They won the national trophy in 2011 and appeared in the finals in 2013 and 2014.
