Bulldogs owner could buy Otters
By Scott Radley
http://www.thespec.com/sports/local/...uld-buy-otters
The owner of the Hamilton Bulldogs says he’s interested in acquiring an Ontario Hockey League franchise and helping finance a new arena in which it or the Bulldogs could play.
Bulldogs’ owner Michael Andlauer says he likes the OHL brand and has spoken to league commissioner David Branch about his interest.
“There’s no doubt the league knows I’m desirous of having a team,” he says. “It’s definitely on my radar. It’s all a matter of timing.”
Whether than means now or some time in the future is unclear. That said, Andlauer talked with Erie Otters’ owner Sherry Bassin about his franchise as recently as last week at the OHL Cup.
According to numerous sources, the Otters were the unnamed junior team behind a bid to get a lease with Copps and move here several months ago. As a result, they might still be mobile. However, Andlauer wouldn’t say if the two ever got a far as discussing a price.
“At this point, it’s just talks,” he says.
Bassin says the same thing. Casual conversations, he calls them. No serious proposal was offered. But he adds that at least two possible owners have made inquiries about buying the team. So that means he would sell under the right circumstances?
“The only thing I wouldn’t sell is my dog,” he laughs.
At least one OHL owner says there would be no issue with infringing on other teams’ boundaries if one were to set up shop here. A Hamilton team would be close to Mississauga, Niagara, Guelph, and Kitchener, but that proximity would actually be seen as advantageous rather than detrimental.
That aside, making all the pieces fit might be a little complicated.
First of all, there’s the issue of an arena. Andlauer believes Copps is too big for both the AHL and the OHL. Plus, it’s worn down. A new rink — likely downtown — with somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 seats would be far better for either level of hockey.
A while back he researched the idea. The 5,800-seat Hershey Centre in Mississauga was built 15 years ago for around $22 million. Meaning $40 million might get you something similar today. Off the top of his head, he throws out the Sir John A Macdonald school site as a possible location. It’s scheduled to be closed within the next few years.
But the chances of the cash-strapped city paying for a facility seems rather unlikely. So he says he’d put up his own money for part of it in a private-public partnership.
“That’s something I would definitely entertain,” he says. “I would put my money in. I wouldn’t put all my money in.”
There’s also the issue of having two teams in the city. Andlauer believes the AHL and OHL might cannibalize each other. They’re in the same price point and could split the audience.
There’s a wrinkle here, though. Andlauer’s new lease and his affiliation deal to be the farm team of the Habs each run for another three years. There is endless speculation that the Canadiens will eventually draw their prospects to a yet-to-be-built arena in Laval leaving Andlauer with an organization but no team.
An OHL team could adopt the Bulldogs’ name and keep hockey in town.
If he bought a team while still owning the AHL team, he says he could possibly have them play nearby for a few years then move them into Hamilton if the baby Habs left town.
Play in Brantford, for example, at the Civic Centre that’s undersized, but might work in the short term.
“I think it’s proven itself in Niagara, so I don’t know why it couldn’t (work there),” he says.
He says his staff could service both teams in the interim.
As for Bassin, who’s been around junior hockey for decades, he’s a little coy when asked whether an OHL team would work in Hamilton.
“There’s a lot of people who think that,” he says.
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