Halifax Hurricanes

Halifax Hurricanes
2016–17 NBL Canada season
League NBL Canada
Founded 2015
History Halifax Hurricanes (NBL)
2015–present
Arena Scotiabank Centre
Arena Capacity 11,093
Location Halifax, Nova Scotia
Team colours Navy blue, sky blue, white
              
Head coach Mike Leslie
Website HalifaxHurricanes.ca
Uniforms
Home
Away

The Halifax Hurricanes are a professional basketball team playing based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The team competes in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL) and are a part of the Atlantic Division. The Hurricanes were founded to replace the Halifax Rainmen, who declared bankruptcy in July 2015 ultimately leading the club's folding.

History

Following steadily declining attendance and fallout from the 2015 NBL Canada Finals brawl the Halifax Rainmen folded in July 2015, with owner Andre Levingston citing bankruptcy with the franchise falling into a debt of nearly $700,000.[1][2] The Rainmen folding disappointed fans and left a void in the Halifax professional basketball market, and the league had lost one of its founding franchises and second largest market. Soon after, efforts began to replace the Rainmen.

On September 3, 2015, it was officially announced that professional basketball would be returning to Halifax. The new ownership group was expanded from just Andre Levingston to a 25 member investors group from the Halifax business community to stabilize ownership and reduce financial risk.[3] Andre Levingston was named General Manager of Basketball Operations. Hugo López was hired to be the franchise's first head coach, as announced on September 30, 2015.[4] On October 20, 2015, the franchise unveiled its name, logo, and introduced their head coach. The Hurricanes also announced their first two signings. Former Rainmen member Cliff Clinkscales would be returning to Halifax with newcomer Mike Glover.[5][6]

In their first season, the Hurricanes won both preseason games, before winning their first ever regular season home game 129-113 against the Moncton Miracles in front of approximately 2,000 fans on December 26, 2015.[7]

Coach López and the Hurricanes were unable to come to terms for a second season and Kevin Keathley was hired as head coach and general manager for the 2016–17 season.[8] Unfortunately, coach Keathley had to leave the team before his first season for personal reasons. He was replaced by Mike Leslie.[9]

Home arena

Main article: Scotiabank Centre

The Scotiabank Centre multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The arena has a basketball capacity of 11,093. The Hurricanes share the arena with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The building is next to the World Trade and Convention Centre in Downtown Halifax, at the foot of Citadel Hill and it is the largest arena in Halifax by seating capacity.[10]

Current roster

Halifax Hurricanes roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 14 United States Bennerman, Cameron 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 205 lb (93 kg) 32 – (1984-05-08)8 May 1984
F 2 United States Bowdry, Brandon 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 220 lb (100 kg) 28 – (1988-04-25)25 April 1988
G 12 United States Clinkscales, Cliff (C) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 184 lb (83 kg) 32 – (1984-03-11)11 March 1984
F 22 Canada Dixon, Renaldo 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 210 lb (95 kg) 26 – (1990-09-20)20 September 1990
G 5 Canada Friesen, Joel 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 195 lb (88 kg) 26 – (1990-08-13)13 August 1990
G 25 United States Gibson, Shane 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 180 lb (82 kg) 26 – (1990-01-05)5 January 1990
F 1 United States Glover, Mike 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 216 lb (98 kg) 29 – (1987-01-09)9 January 1987
C 24 United States Hunt, Kyle 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 229 lb (104 kg) 27 – (1989-10-31)31 October 1989
G 7 United States Johnson, Justin 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 175 lb (79 kg) 28 – (1988-11-04)4 November 1988
F Canada Loiselle, Kevin 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 220 lb (100 kg)
G 4 Canada Nurse, Ty 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 185 lb (84 kg) 26 – (1990-07-30)30 July 1990
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Spain Raúl Rodríguez Pérez
  • United States Phil Park, Jr.
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: March 21, 2016

Season-by-season record

SeasonCoachRegular Season Post Season
WonLostWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
2015–16Hugo López2911.7251st 11 3 .786 League Champions
Totals2911.7251 Regular Season Pennants113.7861 League Championship

See also

References

  1. ↑ Joseph, Rebecca. "Halifax Rainmen file for bankruptcy". Global News. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Lipscombe, Kristen. "Return of pro basketball to Halifax 'looks promising'". Metro Halifax. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Professional basketball returning to Halifax for 2015-16 NBLC season with local ownership" (PDF). HalifaxHurricanes.ca. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Halifax NBL Canada team names Hugo Lopez as Head Coach" (PDF). HalifaxHurricanes.ca. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Lipscombe, Kristen. "'The storm is coming': Local pro basketball club renamed Halifax Hurricanes". Metro Halifax. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Zaccagna, Remo. "Halifax's new NBL team dubbed the Hurricanes". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Hurricanes open season with split". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Hurricanes Appoint New Coach/GM". OurSports Central. 28 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Hurricanes Welcome New Head Coach and General Manager". OurSports Central. 28 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Facility Information". Scotiabank-Centre.com. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.