Dear MBHL community,
Today, we have some very sad news to announce about Club Dome. We were told a week ago that the owners of the land under the Dome are no longer interesting in continuing the sports facility there. We spent the last week working intensely with the current Dome business owners to try and broker some kind of short term deal to keep us playing but those attempts went nowhere. We cannot start scheduling our Fall games amid this uncertainty and we decided that now was the time to let our community of players know.
What does this mean ? A lot of short term uncertainty. We have a group interesting in buying the land to keep us there but it’s not looking like they are interesting in selling either. We have also starting looking into short term alternatives to host games – Le Rinque 4×4, DDO Sunnybrook outdoor rink, Jean XXIII outdoor rink, John Abbott College gym and excellent ice 3×3 outdoor surfaces.
Update – We have been in contact with a West Island hockey arena that could be a short term option for MBHL. Stay tuned for this exciting development as maybe we can keep our current schedule playing there! I will give news by the end of the week.
We also have some other concrete plan B locations/times in place-
- Masters style draft league playing approx. 1-6pm Saturdays at the outdoor rink behind Jean XXIII.
- Legends league 2-5pm Sundays @ Le Rinque 4×4.
- Happy Hour league 530-730pm Fridays @ Le Rinque 4×4.
- Saturday afternoon @ Le Rinque 4×4 league for teams Coed or cap TBD based on demand.
- Daytime league Wednesday afternoon @ Le Rinque 4×4. Time TBD based on what people need.
I’ll be organizing some details on those options soon once it’s all 100% official. If you have interest in these choices, please reach out. If you have given a fall deposit, it will be refunded as soon as all this is official and if you don’t like our alternates.
Assuming nothing changes, we have the Club Dome facility until September 6th. If you were registered for the Fall and feel like having a free game (well, you have to pay $25 to cover referees) next Tuesday or Wednesday, please let Jeff or I know. We are also thinking of hosting some kind of masters tourney next Thursday and a coed Tourney next Friday. Stay tuned.
We have been offering a pretty full slate in fall/winter seasons since 2007 when the first Le Rinque facility opened. We are so sorry that we may not be able to provide the leagues we advertised this fall. Just 2 short weeks ago, both the land owners and the current business assured us that the Dome would remain open for at least another 8 months. We are still trying to figure out what changed! On a personal note, I am deeply depressed about this tragic turn of events. Beyond running this business, my life has revolved around playing this great game and the friendships with so many of you, the players , that I have built over the years.
It’s going to be a fun week, NOT! If I don’t answer your texts/emails on this subject, I do apologize. Stay tuned for news on possible new playing venue!
Tks,
Norm.
