Acadie-Bathurst Titan hockey team relocating to St. John's, N.L.

NB hockey team leaving for Newfoundland The Acadie-Bathurst Titan hockey team is moving to Newfoundland in the next season.

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) announced Friday the team has been sold to a trio of investors and will relocate St. John’s, N.L., at the beginning of the 2025-26 season.

Serge Thériault is the president of the Titan and one of the 11 shareholders of the team. He said the team has been an integral part of the community for 27 years.

“The team gave us great moments and rallied the population,” Thériault said in a news release from the team. “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.”

The details of the sale were finalized Thursday and the agreement was signed with the team’s new ownership group. The sale process began in January 2024.

Mario Cecchini is the commissioner of the QMJHL. He said the objective was to keep the team in Bathurst but prospective buyers had other plans.

“My heart goes out to the Titan fans,” Cecchini said. “I sympathize and understand their pain and frustration. ″

The new owners of the Newfoundland hockey club are John Harvey Patten, John R. Steele and Jason Sharpe. Their team will play at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s, N.L. which accommodates almost 6,300 fans.

Bathurst Mayor Kim Chamberlain says it is a sad day, but she hopes the community will continue to support the team to the very end.

“Let’s take that pride, you know what they’ve brought for the economy to the region, the restaurants, the bars, everything, hotels. They’ve given to us, let’s give it back,” said Chamberlain.

The City of Bathurst owns the arena and Chamberlain says they’ve already received numerous calls about the vacancy and hope to have a new tenant in the near future. The K.C. Irving Regional Centre, which has been home to the Titan since 1998, has a spectator capacity of 3,524 for on-ice events.

The QMJHL will hold a press conference with the new team in January.

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