The Lewiston MAINEiacs are borrowing a page from the Chicago White Sox.
Less than two months after the team filed a relocation request with the Québec Major Junior Hockey League, the MAINEiacs announced before Tuesday’s home playoff game against Drummondville that the team would remain in Lewiston.
Team majority owner and CEO Mark Just, who lives in Chicago, Ill., is hoping there won’t be any hurt feelings as the team moves forward in Lewiston next season. Just draws upon the situation the White Sox underwent two decades ago when team owner Jerry Reinsdorf threatened a move the White Sox to Tampa Bay, Florida.
“Everyone got over the resentment of Mr. Reinsdorf looking at Tampa, Fla., to move to when the White Sox stayed because they loved the White Sox,” Just told Sportsnet.ca Wednesday. “I’m of the belief that the people love the MAINEiacs enough there that we have a sound base of fans that will win over the other 800 or so — which is not a tremendous amount that we will need to win over — to make us successful in Lewiston. That’s why we’re back.”
In a previous release, Just stated his team has operated “substantially in the red” in the franchise’s six years in Lewiston after he relocated the team from Sherbrooke, Que. Their business model, the release stated, was built around an average of 3,000 fans. The MAINEiacs averaged 2,281 fans per home game this season.
When news first broke the franchise was looking at relocating, the destination was Boisbriand, Que., a community in the northwest of Montreal. In the deal, the team was going to have a brand new 3,500 seat facility.
“I was presented with a tremendous offer to move the team to (Boisbriand) which any businessman would have to be a fool to have turned down,” Just said. “It just included everything. However, that thing, for various reasons, the league did not approve.”
The main reason the move to Boisbriand was not approved is the location. The Montreal Juniors, who are in their first season of existence after Farrel Miller bought and relocated the St. John’s Fog Devils, likely vetoed the move. With the Juniors franchise being new to the city, the team held the right to deny the MAINEiacs’ request as it bordered on their territorial grounds.
Another option the team pursued was a move to Fredericton, N.B. The junior team would have had to share the rink with the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds. While exploring the option of Fredericton after the deal to move to Boisbriand fell through, it became clear to Just the team’s best option may be a return to Lewiston.
“When you’re dealing with a University, with a public institution, it’s more than one individual (making a decision),” Just explained. “It’s also the timeframe. When we started getting involved with Fredericton it was after the Boisbriand thing disappeared and we really didn’t have a lot of time.
“I just felt that when we put all of it together and could have put it together that maybe our option in Lewiston was still a better option than Fredericton.”
One of the reasons Lewiston made more sense than Fredericton, Just said, is that the team would not have to share the rink with another patron. He feels that correcting the problems in Lewiston, mainly a lack of exposure and marketing in the community, was easier to correct than to start fresh in Fredericton.
The relocation request the team issued to the league office included more destinations than Boisbriand and Fredericton. Although Just would not confirm the other destinations, rumoured locales were St. John’s, N.L., and Trois Rivieres, Que.
Among the news the team would be staying in Lewiston, president and governor Matt McKnight issued his resignation Wednesday. McKnight had been with the team in all six seasons in Lewiston, including the previous two in Sherbrooke. Just was not surprised with the decision.
“Unfortunately, sometimes changes have to be made and Matt himself felt that this might be something that can help get us over the hump, which I respect him for, and we’ll see if it is,” Just said.
The team knows it has its work cut out for them as they try to re-establish the faith of the community. Just said the team will examine some new marketing strategies at the conclusion of their playoffs in order to build the fan base beyond the level seen two years ago when the team won the President’s Cup as league champions.
“There might be some hurt feelings on both sides but not enough to stand in the way of us getting together for the common good to keep the team (in Lewiston) to be successful there to get back to where we were two years ago when we went to the Memorial Cup,” he said.
“We’re going to try as hard as we can — you can quote me on that.”
Lewiston is the league’s only American-based franchise. The only other previous attempt the QMJHL made in the U.S. was in 1984 when Plattsburgh, N.Y., received an expansion team, the Pioneers. The team lasted just 17 games before becoming defunct.
