Island Storm's future better with playoff run

Prince Edward Island's professional basketball team, the Island Storm, starts its playoff run Thursday night against the Saint John Mill Rats amid questions about the future of some teams in the league.

Storm coach Joe Salerno was upbeat at practice on Wednesday.

"It's excitement. It's excitement," he said. "We actually took a big sigh of relief once that regular season came to an end."

Forward Mike Martin says they are ready.

"It's no holds barred for us. We're extremely focused, defensively we're extremely focused and ready to go out and just handle business," he said.

The Storm's owner Duncan Shaw is feeling good too after corporate sponsorship dollars were up in the team's second regular season in Charlottetown.

Attendance is up slightly as well, averaging 1,600 fans per game.

"We're pleased. Always striving to do more," Shaw said. "Up a tiny amount in attendance, but had to suffer through lots of snow storms, including cancelling Islander day, which is really our busiest day."

Shaw says the team is in it for the long haul.

Different story in Halifax

It's a much different story in Nova Scotia where rivals the Halifax Rainmen, finished on top of the Atlantic Division, but still saw their attendance slump this season and there are serious questions about the team's future.

Don Mills, is part of the Rainmen corporate advisory board and wonders about the future.

"It's a real question of whether this team can continue in this marketplace, because it may not be suitable for professional basketball," he says.

The Rainmen still drew more fans than the Storm this season, but Shaw points out that the Halifax team also plays in the much larger Metro Centre.

"It's a high cost operation in a building like that," he said. "So we're very different, and the league overall is in very good shape."

Shaw expects a playoff run will payoff for the Island Storm.

"A playoff run's very important, both for the cash day to day of running a successful event, and building equity in your brand," he said.

He says the team has set their expectations high.

"Anything that's not us going to the final will be bit of a disappointment for us," he said.