Thunder’s future may lie in hands of KC Bulldogs

It seems the Borderland Thunder are playing the waiting game.
There was talk at the end of their season that the team would be taking Hockey Northwestern Ontario to court to try and get approval to jump ship from the Superior International Junior Hockey League to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
But new developments within the SIJHL has caused the Thunder to hold back on filing such a case.
You see, the Thunder Bay-based KC Bulldogs want to play out of the Port Arthur Arena and say that if they can’t, then they would be in a position where they almost surely would fold.
The Bulldogs have played all of their home games at the Fort William Gardens, but have been steadily losing more and more money, which they attribute to the fact all of the advertising revenue goes to the Lakehead University Thunderwolves.
The team told Thunder Bay city council a little while ago that it cannot survive unless it gets some kind of shared revenue at the Gardens, or move to Port Arthur, which would need at least $11,000 in renovations to accommodate the Bulldogs.
Thunder Bay council, which has recommended the idea of the Bulldogs playing out of the Delaney Arena, renewed Lakehead U.’s lease after the university balked at the idea of shared revenue.
“The league is very unstable right now,” said Thunder general manager Brent Tookenay, who noted the team has not yet presented anything to the court system but did say they have their lawyers “working on things.”
“I don’t see them [the Bulldogs] folding,” said SIJHL vice-president Ron Whitehead. “I don’t see anything changing. I think they’re trying to get the best deal with the city they possibly can.”
So why is the Thunder waiting and not acting?
Well, if the Bulldogs were to fold, that would leave the SIJHL with only two teams that definitely are coming back next year (the Fort William North Stars and the K&A Golden Variety Golden Hawks).
The chance of the Thunder and Dryden Ice Dogs returning to the league is about as slim as the U.S. pulling its troops out of Iraq anytime soon.
And if a league doesn’t exist, that could pave the way for a Thunder move to the MJHL.
“We have asked them [the league] to reconsider their decision with giving us a release,” said Tookenay.
So given the present state, what are the chances there will be a junior team in Fort Frances next year?
“There is so much happening within the league and with the Thunder, and I just can’t answer that question,” Tookenay replied. “We want to tell people to be patient and we’ll know what’s going on soon.”
But Whitehead, who said the SIJHL has not received any court papers, believes the issues the teams have been arguing about have been exaggerated to the point where it serves only their own organizations and not the league as a whole.
“Everyone is telling a story that suits their purpose for the moment, and both Fort Frances and Dryden say that they’re going to Manitoba and everyone knows that is not going to happen [the league and HNO denied them permission to move and the MJHL has not looked at their applications because of that denial].
“The problems have been nowhere near as bad as are being let on,” added Whitehead. “But if you’re trying to make a case in wanting to leave the league, then obviously you’re going to overstate how bad things are.
“All the teams are posturing to do whatever is best for their team and until we all sit down and put our cards down on the table then, we won’t know what’s going on,” he remarked.
The date for the SIJHL’s annual general meeting has not been set yet since the league is waiting on the North Stars and how they fare at the Dudley Hewitt Cup, which is being held this week in Georgetown.
“It wouldn’t be fair if the top team in the league for the past two years didn’t have representation there,” said Whitehead.
But say the North Stars win the Dudley Hewitt Cut. Then they would advance to the Royal Back Cup and that would mean a meeting with all the teams might not be held until at least the middle of next month (the national Junior ‘A’ championship is slated May 7-15 in Weyburn, Sask.)
So until then, the Thunder will wait to see what unfolds with the Bulldogs. Then depending on how that unfurls, they either will present a case to the courts or not.
That does not sit well with Whitehead and the SIJHL.
“My honest opinion is that I’m quite fed up with all of these teams, not just Dryden or Fort Frances, threatening to take their bat and ball and go home,” said Whitehead.
“If they would put half the effort to make this league work instead of putting their efforts into trying to leave and break the league, then we wouldn’t have any problems,” he argued.
A problem that has risen from teams threatening to fold if they don’t get a particular arena, or teams leaving for different leagues, says Whitehead, is that it has inhibited the SIJHL from trying to pursue expansion into other areas.
“With people sitting on the fence, we have had a problem with expansion,” he explained. “How do you convince someone to join a league when everyone is trying to get out of?
“All they read and hear is nothing but negative.”
There is talk that six new teams may be joining the SIJHL. “However, those connections are being held by teams that may or may not be here themselves, so where do we go?” Whitehead asked.
“If those teams fold or leave, do these teams go with them? Can we then build a league around the new guys and forget the old guys? That’s why we must have a meeting and get this all on the table,” he stressed.
It’s always been the Thunder’s stance that if the SIJHL “could add two or three teams, they we would stay,” said Tookenay.
“We kind of understand where those guys [in the league] are coming from, but they don’t understand our perspective,” he added.