QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan sold, will relocate to St. John’s, N.L.

By The Canadian Press on December 20, 2024.

BATHURST, N.B. – The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan are relocating to St. John’s, N.L., starting next season, the league announced Friday.

The QMJHL said the sale of the team to investors, John Harvey Patten, John R. Steele and Jason Sharpe has been approved, concluding a sale process that began in January.

The team will play at the Mary Brown’s Centre, which opened in 2001 and can accommodate nearly 6,300 hockey fans.

The team had played in Bathurst, N.B., since moving from Laval, Que., in 1998.

The Titan, founded in 1969 as the Rosemont National won six QMJHL titles and a Memorial Cup championship in 2018.

St. John’s was home to the QMJHL’s Fog Devils from 2005-08. The provincial capital also hosted the American Hockey League’s St. John’s Maple Leafs (1991-2005) and St. John’s Ice Caps (2011-17) as well as the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers (2018-24)

“³It’s a sad day,” Titan president Serge Thériault said in a release. “The Titan has been an integral part of the Bathurst community for 27 years. The team gave us great moments and rallied the population.

“Unfortunately, we were playing in the smallest major junior market in Canada, and attendance dropped over the years. This made it impossible for us, the owners, to continue.”

QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini said in a release that the league and owners had wanted to find investors to keep the team in Bathurst but were unable to do so.

The QMJHL and the Titan are scheduled to hold an press conference in January.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2024.