Acadie-Bathurst Titan to announce future on Monday

The fate of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan will be known Monday afternoon, as the owner of the major junior hockey team will announce whether he will sell the team to investors in Bathurst or move the club to St. John's.

Leo-Guy Morrissette has scheduled a press conference for 2:30 p.m. on Monday at the K.C. Irving Arena in Bathurst, the same facility that the Titan have called home since they moved to the northern city for the 1998-99 season.

'As you know, Bathurst has gone through some real crisis over years, and we always have hope here and we never give up.' — Daryll Stothart, Bathurst business operator

Although Morrissette is not talking about his decision, the two groups of investors interested in taking over the team are holding out hope that the Titan will be lacing up their skates in their local community next season.

Daryll Stothart, who is with the Bathurst group of business owners that wants to buy the team, said they're disappointed by the prospect of losing the Titan to Newfoundland. But on Sunday, Stothart said the investors are not giving up on keeping the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team just yet.

"As you know, Bathurst has gone through some real crisis over years, and we always have hope here and we never give up," Stothart said.

The Titan have been struggling this season with poor attendance.

St. John's council approved tentative deal on Saturday

The sputtering Canadian economy and poor attendance aren't deterring the group of investors from St. John's, a city that lost its Fog Devils major junior hockey team last year.

On Saturday, the city approved a tentative agreement to move the team to St. John's.

Gerry Smith, the chairman of St. John's Sports and Entertainment, said his understanding is that as long as the league approves the transfer, which needs two-thirds approval of the 18 teams, the Titan will be going to St. John's.

"We did all the things through negotiations, and all issues were resolved and agreed to," Smith said.

"So I guess really then the ball goes to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and to the Bathurst team to get approval from the Q."

Former Fog Devils president warns of costs

Brad Dobbin, the president of the former club, said hockey in the Newfoundland and Labrador capital is bound to be a challenge — if the team does take to the same ice that the St. John's Fog Devils abandoned.

"It's certainly a little tougher economic climate now then when I operated the team," Dobbin said.

"Sponsorship contributions would be a serious concern of mine right now. But the single biggest concern about operating a team in Newfoundland is the travel, not only our own outbound, which is significantly higher than other team, but also we have to pick up the cost of the inbound teams ... That's a very sensitive issue for some of the smaller teams."

Dobbin said he's not convinced the move to St. John's is a done deal.