Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

This study documents the history of attracting and maintaining a hockey franchise for the City of St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador over the period 1991-2018. During that time the city has been granted four franchises, three of which have been relocated from the city, with the fourth scheduled to begin to play during the 2018-19 season. The study examines the St. John’s Maple Leafs (1991-2005), the AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs; the St. John’s Fog Devils of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (2005-2008); the St. John’s IceCaps (2011-2015 as the farm team of the Winnipeg Jets) and (2015-2017 as the farm team of the Montreal Canadiens); and the, as yet unnamed, St. John’s franchise in the ECHL to begin in fall 2018. The study focuses on the economic, strategic planning and business modeling for a franchise within the setting of three different leagues, the AHL, the QMJHL, and the ECHL. The study draws research from several sources, including the public domain, archives, and interviews with key personnel from the various franchises. Its successes and failures with each previous team and speculate on the future direction of the current franchise.