CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The P.E.I. Rocket’s rebrand took an unexpected turn Wednesday with the confirmation the team is for sale and will be sold to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League if a local group can’t step in to save the franchise before an April 26 deadline.
Serge Savard Jr., who owns the team along with his siblings and his father, the former iconic defenceman of the Montreal Canadiens’ Serge Savard Sr., said at a press conference on Wednesday the financial state of the franchise, and offer received, is forcing his hand. He repeatedly said he would be willing to remain on board to keep the team in Charlottetown, but after losing more than a million dollars in the past two and a half to three years, it’s time to bring in new partners or sell the team completely.
“I’m ready to be minority (owner), majority, sell it all,” Savard Jr. said. “I don’t think you guys can expect me to put in $300,000 a year over and over and over again. It’s been three years in a row now. I don’t feel guilty. I think I’ve done my share financially.”
His main objective is to keep the team in Charlottetown, but only under the circumstances that a new, local ownership buys in, whether as sole, majority or part owners. Asked what minimum amount he would need to remain on board, he said $1 million, or approximately one-third of the franchise value, was required.
“If I have to do my part to keep the team in Charlottetown, I will,” he said. “But I can’t be the only one at risk.”
The offer came from the league late Monday afternoon, Savard Jr. said. Several times he mentioned the league’s offer was firm, and intimated throughout that it was in the $3.5-million range. He hasn’t spoken with the league with regards to their plans once sold, but the speculation amongst Quebec-based media is that a group consisting of Francois Beauchemin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Marc Denis is putting pressure on the league to purchase and relocate a team to Sorel-Tracy, Que., for next season.
Rocket vice-president of business operations Trent Birt is working diligently to find new shareholders, either as majority or co-owners with the Savard family. Among the people he confirmed reaching out to is New York Rangers forward and P.E.I. native Brad Richards.
The plan now is for a group to find a sustainable future for the team in Canada’s smallest province.
“The mandate has to be, let’s not just save the team here for the summer and next year,” Birt said. “Let’s make sure there’s longevity here to this group.”
It’s no secret the Rocket haven’t been one of the more successful teams on the ice. Since arriving in P.E.I. 10 years ago, the franchise won just one playoff round in its existence. Fan interest waned and attendance dwindled throughout the years, all while Savard Jr. remained fiercely committed to the province.
The timing may never be better than now for a new ownership group to emerge. The team experienced its most successful season in franchise history with 41 wins — good enough for seventh overall in the 18-team league standings.
Although the team lost in the opening round of the playoffs in six games to Val-d’Or, the interest the team created over the course of the season could make this an ideal time for a new local investor to take over. Second-year head coach Gordie Dwyer guided virtually the same players as the year before, when it finished dead-last with only 19 wins, and won over a somewhat pessimistic crowd that showed their team love with several standing ovations prior to the commencement of periods in Game 6’s triple-overtime loss to the Foreurs.
“I talked to a lot of hockey people older than me that had never seen standing ovations for their team coming out in the third period, first, second and third overtime,” Birt said. “There was a buzz … sometimes turning the corner isn’t always reflected in the immediate bottom line.”
The Rocket’s rebrand was supposed to culminate on Thursday with the unveiling of a new logo and team colours following the decision to change the name to the Islanders next season. Until the offer arrived on Monday, it was business as usual for the Rocket and their staff.
“I’ve said all the time, if somebody comes to your door and wants to buy your house, you’ll listen,” Savard Jr., said. “I always said everything’s for sale.”
Last week, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan were purchased by a group of local investors that kept the team in the small, north-eastern New Brunswick town. The emerging threat of relocation was real then, as it is now in P.E.I.
Such is life for a small-market team in the junior hockey landscape where the gap between rich and poor grows wider with each passing year, which begs the question whether some form of revenue sharing model would save small-market franchises from perishing altogether.
“I really believe that we can’t compare ourselves to (big-market) teams because the rules are not perfect and why teams like Quebec are always on top, it’s because they get the best European players and they cost over $200,000 each to bring in,” Savard Jr., said. “(Quebec) can afford that because they put in 12,000 people a game.
“The guy that’s a free agent in Ontario has a choice to go to Quebec or Bathurst or P.E.I. will choose Quebec because, I don’t know what the parents get, or they choose a big market. You know London, why are the London Knights always on top with the Hunter brothers? They have the facility and they have the revenues. I wish I could do that, but you can’t.”
The thought of revenue sharing, however, is mostly a pipe dream according to Savard Jr.
“All the small markets would love that,” he said. “The big markets don’t want to because there’s no rule in place that prevents the big market to be the best all the time. They don’t want to share.
“The league has been trying to get rich owners in the past 10 years instead of looking at some of the problems in small markets and trying to have a healthy league.”
Savard Jr. is confident a new ownership group could make Canada’s “green province” a success.
“I’m not from Charlottetown, even though I like to say I am — I’ve been here 10 years,” he said. “I really believe it can work … It just can’t be somebody from away coming here and saying, ‘just buy tickets.’ It’s not the way it works.”
