NBL Canada Looks to Rebuild the Atlantic Division (original) (raw)
When the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) launches its 10th season on February 5, 2022, it will do so without any of the four teams from the Maritimes and only be represented by clubs from Ontario.
- On August 12, 2021, the Moncton Magic announced that they would no longer continue playing in the league and elected to withdraw from play;
- Following that on October 7, 2021 the Halifax Hurricanes announced that it would also withdraw from NBL Canada and no longer play as well;
- The St. John's Edge will not be participating in the 10th season due to the fact that the club was unable to secure an appropriate venue to play their home games from and will take a leave of absence.
St. John's inability to play coupled with the departure of the Moncton Magic and Halifax Hurricanes leaves the Island Storm, who were intending on playing this season as the only remaining team in the Atlantic Division.
Playing as the only team in the Maritimes with no other regional opponents makes it cost-prohibitive and therefore the Storm organization has made the difficult decision of also taking a one-year leave of absence. The league intends on using that time to re-build the Atlantic Division.
Island Storm owner Duncan Shaw said, "Coming from the perspective of one of the league's NBL founding teams, the situation in the Maritimes is regrettable, however the Storm organization is in full support of the league proceeding and is excited that NBL Canada will celebrate its 10th season in an innovative partnership with the TBL and I look forward to participating as a partner and director in the league this season and be back the following year with new owners and teams in the Maritimes."
Vice president of basketball operations, Audley Stephenson added, "Its time to shift our attention on moving forward so that we can rebuild the Atlantic Division to make it even better than what it was."
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