The shots came fast and furious at Grace O’Malley’s Pub on September 23 in Toronto as an eager crowd heard an “off the record” discussion panel featuring Collen Jones, Rick Vaive, Mike McPhee, and Fred MacGillivray. Hosted by East Coast Connected with the support of FastLane, “Drop the Puck” targeted the challenges and advantages of advancing sports culture in the unique markets of the Atlantic provinces.

Moderated by the Globe and Mail’s Stephen Brunt, this dynamic group “faced off” over the substantive issues of professional and amateur sports in Atlantic Canada. Brunt wasted no time in bringing the tough questions to the line. Why the success of Junior Hockey in the face of the Atlantic Hockey League’s poor performance? What is the future for professional hockey in Atlantic Canada? With the sensational achievement of the International Ice Hockey Federation championship event in Halifax, why did the city’s Commonwealth Games bid collapse? And finally, what are the possibilities for professional expansions on the East Coast?

The Player: Stanley Cup champion Mike McPhee brought an “on the ice” angle to the discussion. His comments reflected the sense of emotional and community ownership that players and regions develop towards franchises. The success of junior sports, according to McPhee, comes from seeing “the fire in the eyes” of younger players, something he wished he had the chance to experience in Atlantic Canada as a youth. “When I was eighteen years old, the only opportunity I had to play hockey was in Quebec or out west,” McPhee said. Professional franchises have a future in the region, he said, but with “more than forty games” in an NHL season, the “eight games” in a CFL season remained a more viable option for a market with limited economic resources. His optimism for the region was high, however, as “per capita our star power is there.”

The Organizer: Olympic gold medalist and CBC broadcaster Colleen Jones raised several perspectives that reflected a desire for coordination. Her experience with international amateur sports was balanced by a sense of family involvement with professional leagues: she pointed out that “my son has been drafted by the Moncton Wildcats.” Educational systems offer both advantages and checks to youth sports success: while they prevent extended travel schedules, they do provide avenues for extended interest. “One of the big success stories right now is university hockey,” noted Jones, and she pointed out the market potentials linking junior teams and university teams (following the player movement between leagues). Still, lack of infrastructure hinders the popularity of amateur sports in the region, according to Jones, a problem exacerbated by government cuts to physical education programs.

The Coach: Hockey captain and coach Rick Vaive did not shrink from asking the hard questions. He challenged the audience and other members of the panel with several hard realities, from the economic capacity of target markets to the priorities of amateur spots in Canada as a whole. Ticket prices were a barrier to the success of the AHL, and this problem would persist in the expansion of any professional franchise. Amateur sports face a different set of problems in the region according to Vaive. Citing a relationship between poor Olympic performance and the failed Halifax Commonwealth Games bid, he noted the brand of amateur athletics is “just not known enough.” Economic factors for fans are too much of a hurdle to allow an NHL franchise in the region, and the sustainability of a team in the region would be subsequently limited, he claimed. Any city can be a viable franchise, “if you win.” Without a winning team, and with such prices, the risks for investment and ownership remain extremely high. “I hope I’m proven wrong,” he concluded.

The Builder: Bigger and better, onwards and upwards: this was the mantra of Fred MacGillivray. A successful businessman, community leader and sports promoter, the Halifax native demonstrated his experience in navigating the complexities of public and private interests in the advancement of sport. He praised the accomplishments of the QMJHL, and cited player changeover in the AHL as a barrier to audience sympathy. MacGillivray expressed his frustration that municipalities and provinces did not try harder to reach agreements on subsidies for struggling franchises. On why teams move away in the face of these difficulties, he noted that “the private sector owner has a right to make a profit at the end of the day.” Similarly, he remains baffled at why the Halifax region pulled out of the Commonwealth Games bid in the face of the tremendous organizational success of world and junior hockey events. These events “would have grown the municipalities...would have grown Nova Scotia.” Disappointed in the failures of the past, he remains positive about the region’s potential: “We have to step up and be bold, be courageous,” demanded MacGillivray. One of these potentials might lie in football. Citing the “strong corporate interest” in the CFL, he reiterated the need for government cooperation and support.

Despite the differing positions on the viability of high-level franchises in the Atlantic region, the panel agreed on three key points:

1. Sports infrastructure needs to be developed, particularly to service the amateur level. The failure of the Commonwealth Games bid in Halifax signalled the need for a shift in priorities towards sports development in earlier years for athletes.

2. All panelists articulated the unique role that community plays in sports markets in the Atlantic region. It was regarded as a strength, rather than a liability, that the audiences in Atlantic Canada enjoyed participating in the development of athletes over an extended period in their careers.

3. If professional athletic franchises are to succeed in Atlantic Canada, they will require the support of governments at all levels. Communication about long-term developmental goals is clearly a requirement for the region, especially if it is to raise its profile on the international stage.

Alexander J Willis is a Toronto-based writer, researcher and editor. He originally hails from Saint John, NB and is presently completing a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto.