Andy Pritchard along with former Principal, Mayor, Terry Geddes have been working on bringing a junior hockey team to the town of Collingwood. It has been widely reported that the duo has gained permission from the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) to create and operate a hockey club in Collingwood that will begin play for the 2019-2020 campaign.
This coincidentally announced in the wake of Majority owner and President of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Barrie Colts, Howie Campbell and his partner David Steele a manager of the Stayner Siskins in the Junior “C” hockey league announced that they had secured the rights to purchase a team within the Ontario Junior Hockey League(OJHL).
It was also reported that the newly formed group had obtained the permission from the league and governing body, the Ontario Hockey Association, to relocate the purchased team to Collingwood.
It seems the council of Collingwood has an issue, as two teams in two different leagues want to obtain the seal of approval to play in the historic Eddie Bush Memorial Arena. The Collingwood Council will vote March 4th to decide which team is granted approval.
First off, the logo that has been presented as the future logo for the Collingwood Admirals. The team spearheaded by Andy Pritchard and former Mayor Terry Geddes propose a logo that looks awfully similar to the logo of current Ontario Junior Hockey League team the Brampton Admirals.
Now to my knowledge the owner of the OJHL Brampton Admirals Junior “A” hockey club owns the rights to that name and logo. Let me give you a visual to compare.
Now the logo above is the current Ontario Junior Hockey League team the Brampton Admirals logo.
This logo is the one “created” by Andy Pritchard and Terry Geddes. They hope it will be their team crest once the 2019-2020 season commences. Notice any similarities?
Is there not trademark rights being violated by the use of a current OJHL’s team name and logo? Does that mean any team can use whatever logo and name they want without having to purchase the rights to do so? I highly doubt it.
Andy and Terry hope to fund the team by community fundraising per recent articles. Also referring to the Owen Sound Attack and how they’re able to maintain the OHL team in a similar market.
Hardly comparable in my opinion, does the community want to be responsible for all the funding and maintaining of a hockey club? This will all be answered March 4th.
In the meantime Howie Campbell and David Steele have an approved business plan with secured funding for the team, also reported that the ownership group bidding for the OJHL team will be financially contributing to the arena and surrounding area.
I struggle to truly find issues with the proposal for the OJHL squad, the same can’t be said for the ownership group wanting to expand the GOJHL. Something tells me the GOJHL bid is a recipe for disaster.
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