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Hockey HistoryFlights of Fancy – Hamilton could have been new
home to Colorado Rockies According to one of the principles at the time, Hamilton was a mere telephone call away from acquiring an NHL club. In a Hamilton Spectator story of October 1982, this mega deal included the purchase of the Colorado Rockies for $9 million, a $48 million arena trade-center complex adjacent to Lloyd D. Jackson Square, and a $42 million stadium near Limeridge Road and Upper Wellington Street on the Mountain, or a $12 to $16 million refurbishing of the existing Ivor Wynne Stadium. But, as with many proposals to bring NHL caliber hockey to the city, this endeavor was cloaked with secrecy, politics, and confusion among the important parties. One of those parties was ex-Hamilton Tiger Car quarterback Bernie Faloney who was involved with the deal along with former Hamilton mayor Jack MacDonald and Toronto’s Harold Ballard, who not only owned the Maple Leafs, but the Tiger Cats of the CFL at the time. And according to them, Hamilton’s new mayor Bill Powell deep-sixed the deal. “The three (MacDonald, Ballard, Faloney) say the shock of the November 1980 election of Mayor Bill Powell scuppered the venture because the deal to buy the hockey team had to be completed quickly, triggering the other developments, and Powell had vowed to go slow on arena developments,” according to the report. While the mayor may have had his reasons, the then-owner of the Rockies, Armand Pohan, said he did not recall dealing with anyone representing this high-profile group over the purchase of his team. “I dealt exclusively with Peter Gilbert at that time,” Pohan is quoted as saying. Gilbert did buy the franchise for $7.5 million in 1981. The team eventually settled in New Jersey. One of the main keys to the plan was the approval of Ballard in waiving the territorial rights for another NHL club so close to Toronto. The new or rebuilt stadium for the Tiger Cats was also a big part of the deal. MacDonald said he briefed Powell of the deal just before the election, but Powell denied that happening. “Powell says that is not so, he does recollect the briefing with MacDonald and says he did not allow Ballard to speak confidentially about it,” mentioned the story. “Ballard put his arm around my shoulder and said he wanted to speak confidentially,” Powell stated. “I said if he wanted to say something he could address council as a whole. I don’t like secret deals.” Hamilton parks and recreation chairman Ken Edge said he knew something was going on, but had little information. “There seemed to be a program,” Edge said. Unfortunately we don’t know the details.” Faloney said the conditions for Hamilton getting an NHL club was never better, adding the purchase of the Rockies was as close as a phone call away. So another effort to get a major league hockey team was not pursued to its fullest, as Hamilton’s civic leaders wanted to wait until the proposed arena-trade complex (Copps Coliseum) was complete before going shopping for an NHL club. And football fans in the city did not benefit at all either, as editorialized in the Spec: “The city is forging ahead with plans for the arena-trade center while Ivor Wynne, a facility that would shame many US high schools, quietly ages some more. “And while city fathers may fancy a hockey franchise for the facility, Boss Ballard, owner of the city’s only pro team, holds a powerful veto, territorial rights of his Maple Leafs. “What’s that old saying about a bird in hand being
worth two in the bush?”
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