The encroachment policy and what it means for both ownership groups going forward. The junior “A” bid is headed by Howie Campbell and Dave Steele. The junior “B” bid is spearheaded by Terry Geddes and Andy Pritchard. The two teams are subject to complying with the encroachment policy as it has been stated by the OHF.
Both sides could have the rule enforced on them should they get approved. The junior “B” bid will have the junior “C” Stayner Siskins and others applying for encroachment. The junior “A” bid will have teams from the GOJHL Midwestern Conference applying for encroachment on the club should they get approved. Here is a clip from the report filed after the March 4th council meeting.
This report has been filed on the Collingwood town website and gives you an idea of how things will play out for both sides. They GOJHL encroachment plea will likely not hold up as it is stated the closest team is well outside the limits of 50 kilometers.
Do the junior “C” group have a case with the encroachment penalty if they chose to enforce it?
If it goes by the rule then I feel they have a strong case, with the junior “B” bid needing to build an entire squad it’s likely that any surrounding junior “C” teams may loose some key players to the junior “B” squad.
The junior “A” bid has the ability to pull from a larger area of players and not needing to rely just on the surrounding area for players. They do want to develop within the town of Collingwood and begin promoting players from the Collingwood minor hockey association. This will be done over time and will not require an immediate impact on hockey teams in the area. They also acquired an existing roster when purchasing their new team.
It was also talked about in a recent podcast episode about who was the first bid into the town of Collingwood. The duo agreed the Junior “B” bid was in first and suggested that they should be given approval because of that. Let me clear that up as well because if that is the case the junior “A” bid would be given approval. A clip from the same report states:
Reported by the chairman himself that the junior “A” bid was the first to apply for tenancy at the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena. If they want to award it based on that then this battle would have been done long ago.
It has been a long road for both of these teams and this will only make things harder for both as things go forward. It seems the junior “B” ownership group will have the most scrutiny as the proceedings progress.
The council is set to finally vote on the junior hockey tenancy bids on Monday March 11th and give one of the two ownership groups a lease to the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena.
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