Hockey seems to be one of the main staples in Grand Falls New Brunswick and now with their new hockey team, life will certainly be more fun and exciting.

Our Community Spotlight segment this week highlights a hockey team who moved from Woodstock to Grand Falls.

We caught up with Mayor Marcel Deschenes of Grand Falls to share with us the details of the move and what he hopes to expect.

According to Deschenes,

"Grand Falls has always been a hockey town. This year, in the senior league, our Cataracts are no long, they folded last season. So, to keep our nice E & P Senechal Center, we needed something to give our community something to do."

At this time, another hockey team in Woodstock (Slammers) decided to close shop, and different media outlets began to press Deschenes about a rumor that the hockey club was going to make a move to Grand Falls.

They understood that a group of investors was going to bring the hockey club to the Grand Falls area, which Deschenes thought was a good idea. However, he had not heard of any investors committing to such a thing.

The mayor took it upon himself to communicate with the president of the Woodstock Slammers about the details and found out that he had 48-hours to make a decision and to seal the deal.

The league had set up the stringent 48-hour rule because of the draft that was coming up and they needed to know right away in order to approve the deal in time.

This didn't give Deschenes much time to move, but he committed and then became the sole owner of the hockey club.

After a very busy summer, there are now about 60 investors, volunteers, and shareholders that have ownership in what is now known as the Grand Falls Rapids.

The city of Grand Falls does not own the hockey team, however, Deschenes is the president of the club and the team is owned by many members within the community.

Best wishes to the Grand Falls Rapids this hockey season.

Community Spotlight is a Townsquare Media production and sponsored by Cary Medical Center and Pines Health Services.

If you have an idea for the program, contact us at spotlight@townsquaremedia.com

 

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