OHL’s Wolves Soon To Play In A Brand New Arena “Somewhere”

When Chatham-Kent announced a proposal to replace the existing Downtown mall with a new 4000 seat arena, the discussion of an OHL franchise in Chatham resurfaced yet again.

This weekend, fuel was added to those discussions following comments by Sudbury Wolves owner Dario Zulich at the unveiling of a new video board at the Sudbury Community Arena in front of season ticket holders and billet families.

“This is an old facility, I just wanted to give Sudbury something new, especially as we finish our last few years of our lease, I want Sudbury to come out enjoy the barn, relish it and remember it, because we’re not going to be here forever,” Zulich told media.

“I can tell you that. Soon we’ll be playing in a brand new arena somewhere.”

When asked if “somewhere” meant Sudbury, the Wolves’ owner would not elaborate.

The Sudbury Wolves have been in the city since 1972 when they relocated from Niagara. Their current facility, Sudbury Community Arena is one of the oldest in the province, opened in 1951, although it did receive a significant renovation in 2007.

Still, Chatham has been embroiled in OHL discussions several times in recent years, most notably in 2015 when the team narrowly missed out on landing the Plymouth Whalers, but the Municipality has also been linked to the Belleville Bulls, Niagara IceDogs, and Erie Otters in recent seasons, and prior to the Hunter brothers purchasing the London Knights, the family wanted to secure an OHL team for Chatham.