THUNDER BAY – Despite the Winnipeg Jets moving their farm team home, a city official insists the team will come to Thunder Bay if the proposed event centre is built.
The Jets, who had agreed in principle to move their American Hockey League team to Thunder Bay in the new arena, announced on Thursday they were moving the farm team from St. John’s to Winnipeg.
That move is part of a shuffle that sees the Montreal Canadiens move their affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, to the Newfoundland capital.
Michael Smith, city general manager of community services, said he believes the relocation has no direct impact on the city’s hopes of hosting the team.
“All indications are if we get the funding for this particular facility we would see the AHL team here in Thunder Bay starting on Sept. 1, 2017,” Smith said at city hall on Friday.
A letter of intent signed with Thunder Bay Live, a consortium put together to help bring a team to the city, expires on March 31.
The first report on the funding applications will be brought to council at a March 23 meeting with a special meeting scheduled for March 26 for councillors to debate and make decisions about the future of the 5,700 seat arena.
The city has not yet received a firm commitment from either the provincial or federal governments that they would contribute matching funds for the $114 million project.
“At this point all indications have been very favourable. The intergovernmental affairs liaison committee, the mayor and city manager have all been at various conferences and meetings with ministers,” Smith said.
“We’re very confident the funding will be forthcoming. However, until we have a formal announcement the plan will not go ahead unless there’s a funding commitment from those other levels of government.”
The city had been told by Ottawa the project would not be eligible for the Building Canada Fund and would likely have to get creative to access federal funds.
That prompted city officials to quietly explore a downscaled model that would lower seating capacity to 5,200 and reduce or eliminate the planned 50,000 square foot convention centre, though Smith insists the focus is still on the original plan.
While the relocation was not a surprise, as the Jets agreement with St. John’s had been renewed one year at a time to allow the city the opportunity to seek another NHL affiliation, talk out of Winnipeg indicates it could be more of a long-term arrangement than anticipated.
When announcing the relocation on Thursday, Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said it would definitely be for more than one season.
“If other markets do open up that’s something you’re always keeping a mindful eye on,” Cheveldayoff said in a Winnipeg Sun story. “But we’re approaching this, from my standpoint anyway, is that we’re going to dig in and try and make this a home that lasts for a long time.”
Cheveldayoff also told Winnipeg reporters that Thunder Bay was still in consideration.
While Smith did not want to speculate about the comments, he suggested they might just be setting up a contingency plan in case the event centre does not become a reality.
“Should this facility not get built obviously there’s no relocation here,” he said.
