A Royals' withdrawal: Team sponsor pulls support, blames league response to nasty hit
Fallout from a nasty incident in senior hockey this past season has become a contributing factor as to why the Corner Brook Royals will not ice a team for the upcoming 2016-17 Central West Senior Hockey League season.
Springdale businessman Terry Croucher was not happy with how the situation was handled by the league, and subsequently pulled his financial support for the team, and resigned his management post with the Royals.
"This guy was actually struggling just to breathe out on the ice, and anyone that actually seen it — it was pretty ugly," Croucher told CBC News.
Croucher was referring to a hit that occurred during a playoff game last spring.
Royals' forward Ryan Salvis crashed heavily into the boards following what many felt was a questionable hit by Rodi Short of the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts.
The collision caused an uproar in provincial hockey circles, with Salvis suffering seven broken ribs and a concussion.
Short was suspended for three games, but Croucher felt the league wasn't taking player safety seriously enough.
"They weren't that swift in dealing with it. They were dragging their heels for almost a week on this incident, and it just showed me that this league has not put a lot of time and effort into looking out to such incidents as this," Croucher stated, adding he had voiced concerns over bad hits before, but they had fallen on deaf ears.
$100K in sponsorships gone
Croucher would not say how much he was bankrolling the team, but a member of the booster club said roughly $100,000 in sponsorships have disappeared for the upcoming season.
Dennis Waterman estimated the team required about $350,000 to operate, of which only $140,000 could be generated through revenues at the gate, with the rest needing to come from sponsorships and fundraising.
That's too much of a shortfall to manage, he said.
Combined with the departure of the team's former president and several other executive members, Waterman said there was really only one option.
"We were unable to put together a reasonable operating plan for the current year without leaving us with a massive deficit at the end of the year," said Waterman.
The hiatus could be a short one, however, with Waterman suggesting the intent is to return to the league for the 2017-18 season.
"I think that one year will do us good from a financial perspective."
Three team league
Now, three teams — Clarenville, Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor — remain for the upcoming season.
"Obviously it puts the league in a difficult situation. Running a three-team league is not easy," said Gary Gale, chair of senior hockey for Hockey NL.
"Basically what fans say is you're pretty well watching the same team play all the time."
Despite the loss of his financial support, Croucher will also miss attending games.
"I would've loved to have seen the Royals continue on to play. I'd like for this league to be successful actually, but they've got some work to do," he said.
