HALIFAX – Basketball fans, prepare for Hurricanes, because that’s what you’ll be seeing at the Scotiabank Centre this December.
“Halifax Hurricanes” is the new name of the Halifax Professional Basketball Club (HPBC) team announced on Tuesday. The Halifax Hurricanes are the newest team in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL).
The ‘Halifax Hurricanes’ name was greeted with a round of applause, despite bad memories of Hurricane Juan in 2003, which left the city in schambles.
The HPBC, who owns the Hurricanes, also revealed the new logo and launched its season ticket campaign. Season tickets are down as much as 25 per cent when compared to previous NBL ticket prices.
“We think it’s kind of an appropriate name from where we’re located and from a sports team’s point of view. What it really says is energy and power, so some of the descriptions of hurricanes sort of suit the kind of team that we want as well,” said investor and spokesman for the team Don Mills.
The owners also introduced new head coach Hugo Lopez to the public, after it was announced he would join the team last month.
“Coming to Canada is kind of exciting,” Lopez said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to be responsible for a good club like this and try and make it succeed.”
READ MORE: New Halifax national basketball team gets first head coach
He has more than 15 years of coaching experience in the Spanish professional basketball circuit.
Fans also got a peek at the sharp new jerseys with Hurricanes will be sporting when they hit the courts this season.
’68” forward player Mike Glover was also introduced as a newcomer to the team. He’s played in Argentina and Turkey. Now, he’ll be a Hurricane.
The team will fill a void left by the Halifax Rainmen, which filed for bankruptcy in July.
READ MORE: Halifax Rainmen file for bankruptcy
A group of business and community leaders announced in September that it had come together to operate the new team.
It’s expected that the squad will hit the court at the Scotiabank Centre in late December. The team will play 20 home games and one pre-season match up.
With files from Ray Bradshaw, The Canadian Press.
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