Just 18 months after the West Kelowna Warriors reached the pinnacle of Canadian junior A hockey, the BCHL franchise faced the prospects of leaving the Central Okanagan for good.
In January 2017, Mark Cheyne said significant financial losses every season since he assumed ownership of the club in 2009, forced him to consider his options, including moving the Warriors to another city.
With an RBC Cup championship run in 2016, Cheyne hoped the club乌鸦传媒檚 financial fortunes would have finally taken a turn for the better.
But with community support for the team and attendance remaining stagnant, Cheyne said the writing was on the wall.
乌鸦传媒淲e were never even close to breaking even once and after awhile it乌鸦传媒檚 just no fun anymore,乌鸦传媒� Cheyne said. 乌鸦传媒淭he last few years, you look for that light at the end of the tunnel乌鸦传媒ut the light at the end never came.
乌鸦传媒淚t was difficult,乌鸦传媒� said Cheyne, 乌鸦传媒渁 long, hard decision. It hurts me and I know some people will be hurt this. But there乌鸦传媒檚 not much else we can put into it.乌鸦传媒�
With the threat of the Warriors leaving town, a group of loyal fans stepped up to rally behind the team.
In the end, a consortium of new investors came forward to help keep the club in West Kelowna for the 2017-18 season and, if all goes as planned, well beyond.
乌鸦传媒淚 appreciate these guys stepping up,乌鸦传媒� said Cheyne. 乌鸦传媒淭his was the easiest and best of the options I had and I think it乌鸦传媒檚 good for the community that it stays here,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 nice for me to still be a part of it and see how we can make things work down the road.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 happy we乌鸦传媒檙e going to continue to have hockey in West Kelowna.乌鸦传媒�
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