Alliston Ontario will be the home of yet another GMHL expansion franchise.
Leading the way for the expansion franchise will be owners Nikita and Igor Vasilyev, who also own the GMHL’s Shelburne Redwings.
While GMHL expansion is not normally something that suprises anyone, the situation in Alliston is just a bit different.
Alliston already has a junior team. Yes, the GMHL is going to compete with a Hockey Canada sanctioned program, the Alliston Hornets.
The Alliston Hornets have been in exitance since 1971, winning twelve regular season league Championships in that 42 year history. Most recently the Hornets completed a 35-3-2 season in 2012-2013 winning their 12th championship.
In the general area, the league also has two teams in Bradford (The Bulls and the Rattlers), the Bracebridge Phantoms, the Lefroy Wave, the Orangeville Americans, the Rama Aces, and the South Muskoka Shield from Gravenhurst. An oversaturated market? Not when you can get import players to pay upwards of twenty thousand dollars a year to play in the GMHL.
The community of Alliston is not getting behind this new venture according to TJHN sources. Many community members fear that the GMHL team will attempt to “steal sponsor dollars” that would otherwise go to the Hornets. A grass roots movement to “boycott” the team is said to be getting organized.
The Alliston Coyotes of the GMHL are said to be playing home games on thursday nights. Not exactly a traditional hockey night for fans.
While most would consider trying to compete with a local team and its sotried history foolish, the GMHL certainly has shown it is not afraid to go into any market.
