Senior Comets withdraw from EOSHL due to dispute over travel
Senior Comets withdraw from EOSHL due to dispute over travel
The head of the Pontiac Senior Comets team, who talked about the team playing in an Ontario hockey league in the spring, just announced that they had to withdrawal from league.
Team owner Sébastien Bonnerot confided in CHIP 101.9 after breaking the news, “it broke our hearts to have had to give up on the coming season.” Bonnerot was reluctant to discuss any specifics about the decision, but he was however visibly disappointed with the news and stated that many of team’s fans reacted.
“We can say that despite our herculean effort to join the league (Eastern Ontario Senior Hockey League), there was very little-to-no effort to accommodate us,” Bonnerot said. The team’s management tried to join the league in the same division as Arnprior and Ottawa, however, the EOSHL was only willing to provide the Comets with a spot in its Western division. The change would have added several hundred kilometers between the Comets and the other teams within the same division. Bonnerot said the added travel costs would have made it impossible for the team to remain financially stable. As of 9 a.m. Friday, the Comets were still listed in the West Division on the EOSHL website.
With the EOSHL’s plan, the Comets players would have had to travel to the Greater Toronto Area a few times for away games. “This is not a real possibility with our current finances and resources,” he underlined.
Bonnerot said another layer to the unfortunate news is that the team’s full roster was signed and ready to go this fall.
This marks the second organization this summer that plans to see a Pontiac hockey teams play in Ontario have fell through. Before, the Fort-Coulonge Minor Hockey Association had their request denied by the league, causing many problems for the Association and the parents.
“It is sad for the development of our national sport,” he said. “For me, it’s a question of fairness and all stakeholders will have to look into the issue to ensure greater accessibility to our sport.”
The news is all the sadder given the amount of supper for the teams in the community. “We had incredible support and we already had several sponsors and season ticket holders. I would also like to thank our local partners for believing in this project,” concluded Bonnerot.
The semi-professional senior hockey project still seems to be of interest to the Fort-Coulonge businessman, but he must skip next season for the time being.
