NL

Newfoundland Growlers fans gather for final goodbye to their favourite team

Around 20 people came to the Mary Brown’s Centre to commemorate the Newfoundland Growlers. The St. John's-based hockey team was terminated from the ECHL last week, and some superfans wanted to show some team spirit one last time.

Around 20 people come to the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John's to commemorate the hockey team

Newfoundland Growlers fans bid last farewell to now-defunct team

8 months ago
Duration 2:04
About 20 Newfoundland Growlers fans gathered in front of Mary Brown's Centre in St. John's Sunday, showing their support for the former ECHL team one last time, with jerseys, flags and honking.

The Newfoundland Growlers may be no more, but the team will live on in the memories of fans who rallied Sunday to say goodbye.

"I was totally, totally devastated, disappointed. And I felt very hurt that we supported this team and yet they couldn't work it out to keep the team here," said Heather Courage, a self-proclaimed diehard fan reflecting on the end of the hockey team.

"If they had played the last few games, we would have had a chance to properly say goodbye. But we had no chance at all."

Courage's shock motivated her to attend a rally to commemorate the former ECHL team that brought about 20 fans to the Mary Brown's Centre in downtown St. John's on Sunday afternoon to show their appreciation for the players.

The league's board of governors terminated the Growlers' membership in the league last week, citing what they described as "failure to fulfil its obligations under the ECHL bylaws."

Deacon Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the Growlers team, had been looking for a new buyer for the franchise but failed to find one in time.

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With files from Henrike Wilhelm