After 49 games, 30 wins, and untold hardwood thrills, the dream is over for the city’s newest sporting sensation.
The St. John’s Edge’s first season in the National Basketball League of Canada drew to a close Sunday afternoon at the Budweiser Gardens in southern Ontario, as the London Lightning moved a step closer to defending their league championship with a 106-101 victory over the visitors from Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Lightning took the best-of-seven second-round series 4-2, and will face the Halifax Hurricanes in the final.
This first season of Edge basketball, however, won’t be measured by wins or losses, or how close the team came to playing for a championship.
Rather, it will be judged by a new crop of basketball fans in St. John’s, many of whom now number in the hundreds if not thousands, in a town that was all hockey for 23 years with the American Hockey League, sandwiched by a few winters of the Canadian major junior brand.
Many — check that, the vast majority — knew little of the NBL Canada when it was announced late last summer St. John’s had been awarded an expansion franchise.
And really, the basketball was only a filler, 20 regular season nights at Mile One Centre this winter until a hockey team could be found.
It’s a safe bet that nobody expected this crowd to take the city by storm.
The Edge drew 68,028 fans to Mile One during the regular season, an average of 3,401 per night. During Game 3 of the Lightning series last weekend, 5,398 spun the turnstiles at Mile One.
Each of the players — with the exception of one — arrived in St. John’s as unknowns, as foreign to the locals as St. John’s and Newfoundland was to them.
Players from California, Florida, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Almost all were former NCAA players. One — Ryan Reid — had some NBA experience.
There were favourites like Charles “Chuck” Hinkle and, of course, Jarryn Skeete, who initially didn’t quite understand what all the fuss was about when “Skeeeeete!!” would rain down from the stands.
The meaning was later explained to him, and Skeete ran with it.
And then, of course, there was Carl English. Who says you can’t come home again?
The best basketball player this province has ever produced — a title he’ll have for a long, long time — the pride of the Cape Shore had plied his trade everywhere but home, but locals finally got to see what all the hubbub was about.
And they loved it. So, too, did English.
He quickly became the man in town, the Mayor of Mile One, the league MVP, a social media magnet, the rock star who was surrounded by young fans clamouring for his signature after every game at home.
Come to think of it, everybody wanted all the players autographs.
“It’s fun to play in front of 3,000 fans, not 300,” said Edge coach Jeff Dunlap. “The players loved that.
“They embraced the city, and the city embraced them. It was a lovefest, and that’s not normal in pro sports.
“Hopefully, we’re the model for future expansion teams in the league.”
Dunlap, a Californian, did a masterful job as the architect of the Edge, piecing together a team literally from scratch.
Collateral damage in Mark Gottfried’s firing from NC State last year (he worked as Director of Basketball Operations for Gottfried in Raleigh), Dunlap seized the role of head coach and GM, starting with a cell phone and an empty office inside Mile One.
“It’s miraculous, really,” he said of building the Edge from nothing. “We had no team name … we had no team. No players, no coaches … nobody in place.
“But we hit a home run with the players. Desmond Lee and Alex Johnson, who I had at NC State. Charles Hinkle was a grand slam. And, of course, Carl, and all he brought to the team.
“But in all honesty, what played a big role in this team doing so well was how everybody got along so well in the room, and that’s different in pro sports. We had young guys, and some seasoned veterans, married guys and single guys. But despite the disparity in age, there was a brotherhood. They all rooted for each other, and they all accepted their roles. Nobody pouted or went rogue on me.”
Dunlap expects a number of players will be back again next season, unless they find a better offer elsewhere. As for his immediate future, Dunlap does have an offer on the table from Cal State-Northridge University in his native L.A., where Gottfried recently signed, though Dunlap hasn’t yet put pen to paper on any contract.
There could be other NCAA opportunities, as well, but Dunlap’s also quick to note how much he enjoyed this season in St. John’s and with the team, although he missed his wife and two kids who remained home in North Carolina.
“I’ll be anxious to talk to the owners (Irwin Simon and Rob Sabbagh),” he said. “Really, I would not be surprised if I’m back next year.”
Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor. He can be reached by at email [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @TelyRobinShort
