Will they stay or will they go?
That’s the bottom-line question following news that the B.C. Hockey League is attempting to purchase the beleaguered West Kelowna Warriors.
“I can confirm that the BCHL has purchased the West Kelowna Warriors, but we will not comment further until the deal closes,” Jesse Adamson of the BCHL told Global News in an email on Wednesday morning.
In an interview with Global News, team owner Kim Dobranski said “for all intensive purposes, it’s a done deal. I don’t see any reason why it won’t complete; we’ve all shook hands on everything and our plan is to move forward.
“The transaction will occur hopefully in the next 10 days, and then I’ll move on to other parts of my life.”
Dobranski purchased the team in 2018, and the team has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Last season, the players performed a minor walkout when former coach Geoff Grimwood was fired. The team is also being sued, and it appears to be under financial hardship, with Dobranski having gone public earlier this year for more fan support.
While relocation may seem far-fetched, it’s possible the Warriors could move.
In 2017, the Warriors seem slated to move to Delta, but that relocation effort eventually failed.
Further, earlier this month, the BCHL announced the addition of a new franchise, the Cranbook Bucks, so there is interest in other markets throughout the province.
But whether the Warriors stay or go, whoever becomes the next owner will be inheriting a franchise that’s had middling success since relocating to the Okanagan from Langley in 2006 – good seasons, but not consistently great.
For example, while the team won a national championship in 2016, it has never claimed first place in Interior Division standings, finishing second three times in 13 seasons.
During that same time span, Penticton has 10 first-place finishes, including the last eight, plus three league titles, while Vernon won the league title three consecutive times (2009-11).
Dobranski said when he acquired the team, he felt it was a travesty that it was going to disappear.
“There’s no secret it was in a lot of financial trouble,” said Dobranski. “There was a lot of debt.
“I’m passionate about the game and I understand the direct impact that these community organizations have on the community. I just felt that if there was something I could do to help preserve it in West Kelowna, then I would put my effort in and I would try.”
In deciding to sell the team, Dobranski said “it’s time for someone to take the torch.”
“It was never my intent to be a long-term owner,” he said, adding he planned to be “a stop-gap owner” and that this week’s sale “happened a little quicker” than he expected.
Dobranski said selling the team is complex, and that the BCHL isn’t in the business of owning teams, so he expects them to eventually sell it.
Asked about the possibility of relocation, Dobranski said the league absolutely wants a team in West Kelowna.
“They have no desire to see it leave,” he said. “Obviously it is the league’s decision if a team decides to leave; that has to be voted on by the board of governors.
“I have no reason to believe that the intention is not to keep it here. I think I would resist a sale if that was the case. I wouldn’t spend two years of my life, and take the bullets I’ve taken, only to see the team leave.
“So I’m confident that the team will be here for the long term.”
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