OHL Team Makes Another Chatham-Kent Visit

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fter much speculation, the next meeting between an unnamed Ontario Hockey League franchise and Chatham-Kent officials occurred Monday afternoon in Chatham, Ontario.

The organization, which has been identified by multiple parties as the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers, visited Chatham again Monday on a fact finding mission that according to Municipal sources, aimed to decide the viability of Chatham-Kent as a possible destination in their franchise. The meeting involved multiple members from the Whalers’ management, as well as Chatham-Kent officials. Those CK officials will now continue to gather information for the OHL organization in hopes they wish to continue discussions in the near future.

This meeting occurred following multiple conversations between Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope, CAO Don Shropshire, and private Chatham-Kent citizens with the Whalers organization. Plymouth is one of multiple OHL organizations in recent seasons who have visited Chatham-Kent as a possible relocation option.

Although not many details became available following Monday’s meetings, it was made clear that the Whalers organization would also be exploring other markets, and that no future meeting was immediately scheduled.

As well, as expected, Chatham-Kent officials were asked to again examine their plans for a new arena.

A community frenzy was sparked following Plymouth Whalers owner Peter Karmanos’ statement almost a month ago that he hoped Chatham would be the destination for his Whalers in the future.

This weekend, a Facebook group titled “C-K For The OHL” launched looking to show interest from the community regarding the OHL, and quickly accumulated over 2600 likes.

While interest remains high, discussions are not likely to reach any firm resolution before the OHL’s December 31 relocation deadline.

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