Those lengthy NHL free-agency specials that run on Canadian sports networks require a lot of time-fillers.
On Monday, one of TSN’s downtime features saw host James Duthie asking panelists Ray Ferraro, Jeff O’Neill, Pierre McGuire and Dave Poulin which they thought was the team that best-represented Canada in 2018-19, with the ECHL champion Newfoundland Growlers being one of the choices.
The Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues, with a roster almost made up entirely of Canadian players, prevailed by getting the votes of O’Neill and McGuire. Ferraro went with the Memorial Cup champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, but Poulin opted for the Growlers, publicity that should make the Kelly Cup champions happy even if Poulin didn’t have all his facts correct as he made his supporting arguments, largely based on local resiliency after St. John’s lost three AHL affiliations.
“Whatever they’ve been dealt out there, it just hasn’t mattered,” said Poulin, a former NHL players and assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. “They were a great affiliate in the American Hockey League. Danny Williams and Glenn Stanford have done a great job out there. First year in the (ECHL), they go out and win a championship … that building (Mile One Centre) has supported their pro hockey team no matter what their affiliation was. They’ve been dealt some tough blows along the way. They answered and they won.”
But while Williams was the man behind the operations of the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps, he has nothing to do with the Growlers. Dean McDonald is the primary owner of the Newfoundland ECHL franchise and it is he and Stanford, the Growlers’ chief operating officer, who will have their names inscribed on the Kelly Cup.
