There are many ways to gauge the first-year success of the St. John’s Edge, most of them by using number-based measurables.
There’s the 25-15 regular-season record, third-best in the 10-team league, behind only the Halifax Hurricanes and London Lightning, who will face off in the league final.
There’s the prolific offence that produced almost 110 points per game, an average bettered only by the defending champion Lightning.
There are the 592 made three-pointers on 1,571 attempts by St. John’s, both league highs which produced a league-best 37.7 success rate.
There’s the 5-4 playoff record, created by a first-round sweep of the Windsor Express and the Edge’s loss, in six games, to the Lightning in a hard-fought Central Division final.
There’s the average attendance for the Edge’s 20 regular-season home games — a little over 3,400 — again second only to London. It was even better through five playoff games at Mile One, where the average post-season turnout was more than 4,200.
And here’s one that doesn’t have a number attached, but is still impressive.
Despite being brand-new to pro basketball, despite a front-office team that consisted almost exclusively of what might be seen as “hockey” people, despite having to establish an organization on the fly after late admission to the league, the Edge quickly became a model franchise, so much so that more established teams in NBL Canada were reaching out to St. John’s to learn more about the Edge’s approach.
“That actually happened, but in fairness, there was give and take, of sharing information about best practices,” said Trevor Murphy, St. John’s director of operations and assistant general manager. “We were learning the league and sought out help, but yes, after a while, we had teams reaching out to us, curious about the way we were doing things.
“So yes, I guess you could say that was flattering.”
The Edge arrived back in St. John’s Monday evening after dropping Game 6 of the division final Sunday in Lightning. Exit meetings will begin today with players, most of whom will be gone from the city by the end of the week.
Murphy and his staff will also have their debriefings, as they review their own work over the season. He acknowledges they benefitted from the fact almost all have had experience in a professional sports franchise — the American Hockey League’s St. John’s IceCaps — but also knows there can be improvement, especially since they were adjusting to the different dynamic that comes with working with a basketball team.
“We know we can make ourselves even better,” he said.
What Murphy can’t control is the makeup of the 2018-19 team.
There will be changes. Roster turnover is a given in the NBL Canada, which many players use at a springboard to the D League, the NBA’s development circuit, or to better-paying circuits overseas. It could be particularly jarring for the Edge depending on the plans of two men who will meet with the media at Mile One this morning.
Head coach/general manager Jeff Dunlap, named the NBL Canada’s executive of the year, told The Telegram’s Robin Short Sunday that he is at least considering opportunities to return to the NCAA coaching ranks from where he came. And league MVP, top Canadian and overwhelming fan favourite Carl English has made no secret he is eventually looking to move into a non-playing role with the Edge.
English, who will turn 38 before the end of next season, has never said this was his last season as a player, but the Newfoundlander has given clues that it could be. A couple of months ago, he told The Telegram his decision on whether he’d play again would be based on whether he was up to that challenge physically. This from a player who missed nine of 40 games this season because of injury or for rest/recovery purposes.
And although there is no certain way to know if it would make a difference in his considerations, it must be allowed that if English does move on from playing role, he would be doing so on a high note — even without a championship — what with league accolades and after being a catalyst for the quickly-baked popularity of pro basketball in his home province.
There is no indication English will make his decision known today — in a tweet to fans Sunday he said “Not sure what the future holds” — but if he doesn’t say he’ll continue to play, he’ll face some lobbying from fans this evening. The Edge are holding an open house/meet-and-greet with the players between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Mile One.
It could be said tonight will mark the actual end of the Edge’s inaugural season.
Murphy and his charges have already begun planning for the next one — season-ticket sales for ’18-’19 have started — and there still needs to be a sorting out of their role in the ECHL team that is setting up shop in St. John’s. The partnership deal between the Edge ownership group and the people behind the city’s new minor pro hockey team is believed to involve a shared front office.
“We’re still waiting on marching orders on that one,” said Murphy, who says he’s not fazed by the prospect of helping launch a new team for a second straight year all while preparing for the Edge’s return, pointing out that while the hoops team’s gestation period was measured in weeks, there are more than a few months before the start of both the NBL Canada and ECHL seasons.
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