Rumour spread this morning that the sale of the Merritt Centennials to Brent Stark and a group from Whitecourt, Alberta has fallen apart. Stark owns the Junior B team in Whitecourt and new Cents Coach and GM Joey Bouchard was his coach. I reported on this blog on June 25th that there was officially an application to buy the team. It was widely assumed Stark's approval as the new owner was merely a formality. Now that he has walked away from the deal the re-organized Merritt society is left holding the bag. What does that mean for the future of Merritt hockey? Here's BCHL Commissioner John Grisdale:
John Grisdale on Merritt Sale
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Grisdale plays it cool and positive, but you have to think some of the investments made in the Merritt society this spring were made under the assumption that the private ownership was coming. How long can they hold things together? Is there another white knight on the way? Keep an eye on Brian's Making Cents blog as I'm sure he'll have an update soon.
A really promising situation in Merritt just took a huge hit... and so far we don't know why.
EDIT: Here's Brian's update with Cents Governor and Director of Hockey Operations Brian Barrett. Sounds like this was an absolutely last second move by the Stark group.
EDIT: Think there's a lack of interest in the Cents or the BCHL? Yesterday was the biggest day in my blog's history. I've never had more traffic.
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