Hockey fans in West Kelowna will soon know the ultimate fate of their B.C. Hockey League team.
Warriors乌鸦传媒� owner Mark Cheyne said an official announcement regarding the club乌鸦传媒檚 future will be made during Friday night乌鸦传媒檚 playoff game at Royal LePage Place.
With a potential deal to move to the Warriors to North Delta recently taken off the table, Cheyne is holding discussions this week with potential ownership groups in two other B.C. communities.
However, if a local group in West Kelowna can come up with the necessary funds, Cheyne is all for seeing the Warriors remain right where they are.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檇 preferably like to see local investors take over the team,乌鸦传媒� said Cheyne, who took over sole ownership of the club in 2009. 乌鸦传媒淚 want to give the locals every chance, a lot of blood, sweat and tears has gone into this team over the years. Nobody wants to see it go, so will give these guys every opportunity to keep it here.乌鸦传媒�
In January, Cheyne had negotiated a deal which would have seen the Warriors move to the Sungod Arena in North Delta for the 2017-18 season.
But Cheyne said it quickly became apparent the Delta group wasn乌鸦传媒檛 prepared to take the franchise over.
乌鸦传媒淚t wasn乌鸦传媒檛 going to pass by the BCHL,乌鸦传媒� Cheyne said of the potential move to North Delta. 乌鸦传媒淗ockey operations would have been fine, but the business side wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 have worked乌鸦传媒hey just didn乌鸦传媒檛 have the ownership in place they needed.乌鸦传媒�
Warriors director of business operations Alex Draper said word that the team is not moving to North Delta is positive, but the community still has plenty of work to do to save the franchise.
乌鸦传媒淚t is positive news but we are so far from being out of the woods,乌鸦传媒� said Draper. 乌鸦传媒淭he whole thing is Mark is losing money and whether the sale fell through or not, does not mean we are still in operation next year. We have to find local investors. We dodged a bullet but there are more coming.乌鸦传媒�
Draper said since news broke of the Warriors potential sale, crowds have grown and the community has rallied, but added the big thing is finding local investors to help keep the team in West Kelowna.
乌鸦传媒淥ur last four games have been our biggest gates of the year and I would assume most people are coming out to help keep the team here,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淓ven a full arena, as critical as that is, is not going to save the team.
乌鸦传媒淧lan A is getting local investors and it sounds like we have until Friday.乌鸦传媒�
Based on the developments of the last several weeks, Cheyne believes there乌鸦传媒檚 still a 乌鸦传媒�50-50 chance乌鸦传媒� the Warriors will remain in West Kelowna.
Regardless of where the Warriors are located next season, Cheyne said he will continue to be involved with the club in order to help the new group through the transition.
The last and least desirable option for Cheyne would be to simply fold the team.
