The Victoria Cougars . . . again?

There is much gnashing of teeth and a whole lot of buzzing in the west today after Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post dropped the bombshell in Saturday’s paper – the Pats are exploring their options, one of which is relocation.
And with Victoria really the only potential site because of the fact it has an arena large enough to meet WHL standards, while, perhaps the Victoria Cougars will live again.
Why Victoria?
Where else?
Forget about Penticton and Vernon, simply because both cities are located close enough to Kelowna that the Rockets own their territorial rights. Bruce Hamilton, the man who runs the Rockets, has said he isn’t about to waive those rights, not even in return for a veteran defenceman.
How about B.C.’s Lower Mainland? Forget it. There already are two teams there – the Vancouver Giants and Chilliwack Bruins – and the Bruins are hardly an established entity at this point in time. Besides, right now, there isn’t a readily available facility that is large enough for the WHL.
What about Wenatchee, Wash.?
The Wenatchee Wild is a first-year team in the junior A North American Hockey League. The Wild drew 3,700 fans to their first game – they play in the 4,700-seat Town Toyota Center – and I’m told by a source in that area that they drew 1,700 and 1,600 for their next games (on a Saturday and Sunday). . . . The source informs that his understanding is that the Wild has sold “around 800 season tickets at prices of $480 to $1,000 for 28 home games.” . . . He adds: “I will say they do a first class presentation of the game that can hold its own with any minor league or WHL team.”
Former Pittsburgh Penguins GM Craig Patrick is part of the Wild’s ownership group. The team is coached by former NHL defenceman Paul Baxter, who also played in the WHL (Winnipeg Clubs, 1973-74 – and, oh my, was he tough!).
A move to an American community would create a six-team U.S. Division, something WHL commissioner Ron Robison has said he really doesn’t want. He would much prefer to leave it at five teams and work on strengthening Portland, which certainly seems headed in the right direction.
What about Nanaimo?
The talk around the WHL has long been that it won’t go to Vancouver Island unless it can put two teams there. The reason being that it is just too expensive and too time-consuming to have a team travel to the Island to play against only one team. In other words, it makes far more sense to travel there and play a doubleheader in each of two cities, rather than to travel there and play twice in one city.
But, of course, Nanaimo doesn’t yet have a facility that meets WHL standards.
Which brings us back to Harder’s stories in Saturday’s Leader-Post.
Because of Regina GM Brent Parker’s noisy history with his Brandt Centre (formerly Agridome) landlords, a lot of people are going to want to write this off as him jockeying for position.
But I keep thinking back to something that Pats owner Russ Parker said to me on May 5 in Calgary immediately after Ed Chynoweth’s funeral.
First, some background . . .
Parker, who is from Calgary, is a baseball man. Always has been; always will be. He absolutely loves baseball and for years owned a pro team in Calgary, including the triple-A Cannons. But he wasn’t happy with the stadium there, wasn’t able to convince the city for one reason or another to build a new one or spend big money on the old one, and one thing led to another and the franchise was sold to interests in Albuquerque, N.M.
So . . . there is some history of the Parkers getting into a dispute with a landlord and the franchise disappearing.
Furthermore, Russ Parker now owns a baseball franchise in Victoria. The Golden Basesball League, an independent league with teams in California, Utah, Arizona and Canada (Calgary and Edmonton), announced recently that the Victoria Seals had come on board.
So . . . the Parkers have a sporting foothold in Victoria.
And back in May, Russ Parker told me that (a) his love affair with baseball was very much on, and (b) he was really tired – really, really tired – of the lease negotiations in Regina turning into a drag-‘em-out affair every single time the lease was up for renewal.
On top of that, I have been told that Parker actually looked at putting his GBL franchise into Kamloops, which is home to NorBrock Stadium, a gem of a baseball facility on the banks of the North Thompson River. But, in the end, Parker chose Victoria.
Now you don’t suppose he also was thinking hockey while looking for a home for his baseball team, do you? After all, Kamloops is home to the Blazers; Victoria hasn’t had a WHL franchise since the Cougars fled to Prince George after going 18-51-3 in 1993-94.
One thing is for sure, though – the WHL won’t leave Regina without a franchise. If this scenario begins to play out, perhaps the WHL would purchase the Regina franchise and then sell it (former Pats Mike Sillinger and Jamie Heward are said to be most interesting in getting involved at the ownership level) with the provision that it be kept in the Queen City. (Keep in mind that the WHL has twice taken over the Regina franchise, so there is precedent here). At the same time, the WHL could provide the Parkers with an expansion franchise.
The WHL and its governors, of course, have said they frowned on more expansion.
The Edmonton Oil Kings are the last expansion team to get in, joining in time for the 2007-08 season. The Oil Kings paid $4 million for the privilege.
Since then, the Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winter Hawks have changed hands, each believed to have been sold for between $6 million and $7 million.
For that kind of cash, you’ve got to think the WHL would cough up another expansion franchise.
Especially if by then the good folks in Nanaimo had a new arena and the WHL was able to put two expansion franchises on Vancouver Island.
Let’s see . . . $6 million times two divided by 22. . . .