Airfare, rink size challenges for possible team

An Ontario-based junior A hockey league is eyeing Iqaluit as the home of a possible expansion franchise.

The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League is a 12-team circuit with teams based mostly in north-central Ontario and western Quebec. League administrator Dan Garneau was phoning around the capital June 8, to test the waters for a possible team.

"We're pretty serious," he said. "This is our second year, we went from seven teams [last season] to 12 teams now, and we're going to be expanding more next year. So we're looking at a couple of possible locations."

Garneau, who's also the owner of the league-champion Bradford Rattlers, said an Iqaluit franchise would start play in the 2008-09 season. He's in the process of finding information about city arenas, airfares, and Iqaluit's capacity to support a team.

The idea sprang from a few Nunavut-born players who trained at the World Hockey Centre in Shelburne, Ontario.

"We though it would be a neat idea, especially with Nunavut really picking up, to go all the way up to Nunavut… I'm sure the rink would be sold out pretty much every game," Garneau said.

"We're just doing some research right now."

But before a franchise could hit the ice it needs an owner. Garneau said no one has yet come forward, but suggested the city might look at owning the team.

That's not going to happen, said city recreation director Mike Courtney. While he said he'd like to think Garneau's idea could work, Courtney noted an attempt a few years back to start a pan-Arctic junior C hockey league never got off the ground. But he'd welcome GMHL teams to Iqaluit for an exhibition game.

"It would be nice if we could work something out, maybe have a hockey night in Iqaluit, and have different teams come up but (as for a franchise in Iqaluit) these guys need to come up and have a look at our real world," he said.

An Iqaluit team would certainly have its logistical challenges. The Arnaitok Arena, the only working hockey rink in the city, is well over capacity during the winter months and only holds about 400 spectators.

Then there is what would likely be the astronomical cost of flying teams back and forth between Iqaluit and Ontario. But teams based in remote northern Ontario towns like Espanola and Elliot Lake are likely used to long travel times.

And Garneau is optimistic the government of Nunavut would step up with funding for travel.

The GMHL isn't sanctioned by Hockey Canada, so 15-year-olds can play and teams are allowed to bring in players from all over the world. In fact, said Garneau, the league helps teams scout international players. But he added the team would likely carry several local players.