Chiefs move could be bad news for Storm

By MARK HUNTER
Daily News Sports Reporter
Barry Dewar, owner and general manager of the Kamloops Storm, will be sad to see the Chase Chiefs move to Kelowna, and so will his wallet.
Dewar, whose Storm lost a KIJHL first-round playoff series to Chase last month, was talking about the Chiefs’ potential move to Kelowna, which appears imminent. Chiefs owner Fred Pittendreigh said Wednesday that an announcement would be coming Friday.
Dewar said that some Chase fans may start to support the Storm if the Chiefs move to Kelowna, but he figured that the loss of Kamloops’ biggest rival would hurt the Storm.
“It’s a big hit economically,” said Dewar, who pointed out that he has yet to talk to Pittendreigh to confirm the move. “There are hoops that Fred has to jump through . . . but if he does move, it would have an impact on the Kamloops Storm.”
The Chiefs have only been in the KIJHL since 2007-08, but have created a terrific rivalry with the Storm. Most of that comes from the Chase fans, who drive into Kamloops for the games and routinely out-cheer their Storm counterparts.
Dewar said that the games the Chiefs play in Kamloops — Chase played here four times during the 2009-10 regular season, and twice in the playoffs — were “unquestionably” the most profitable of the season.
“It’s not even close to the next closest team,” Dewar said. “Chase has a great fanbase and it does support the team — I think if you talk to the Sicamous Eagles, they’d say the same things.”
The Chiefs’ move has been rumoured for a few weeks now, but Pittendreigh sounded as though it was a done deal. He said an announcement is coming Friday, and didn’t deny that it involved the team moving to Kelowna.
“That’s what it looks like,” he said. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know Friday.”
If the Chiefs do move to Kelowna, they would be the third junior hockey team in that region — along with the WHL’s Rockets, who routinely sell out the 6,007-seat Prospera Place, are the Westside Warriors, who play in the BCHL.
Dewar, meanwhile, said he doesn’t intend to look into moving the Storm to Chase — a move that may be more appealing than it seems when considering the solid community support in the town, plus relatively low costs of playing at Art Holding Memorial Arena.
“The nice thing about Kamloops is that, while it costs more to operate, it has a lot of benefits,” Dewar said, pointing to the community getting behind the Keystone Cup Western Canadian junior B championship, which is scheduled for April 15-18 at McArthur Island Sport and Event Centre. “We’re getting good corporate support.”
mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca