CEBL disputes cancellation being a black eye for league

One day after the first game of its nationally televised inaugural championship series was cancelled owing to unsafe court conditions, the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s president and CEO refuted the idea that the circumstances are a black eye on the league.

Ty Mazereeuw stood by the league’s decision to allow Wednesday night’s Game 1 of the CEBL Finals between the Winnipeg Sea Bears and Brampton Honey Badgers to go forward at the CAA Centre in Southern Ontario, even though it was kiboshed before the contest was two minutes old due to condensation on the court.

The bizarre and abrupt ending to what was supposed to be a best-of-three series came nine days after a bench-clearing brawl broke out in the regular-season finale between Brampton and the Scarborough Shooting Stars, which led to five players being suspended and six players fined — another situation in which the league was criticized for its handling.

“I would just say (I’m not) sure I fully buy that the league has fallen flat. I think what we’ve seen is a couple of significant situations that have been amplified, whether it was through a celebrity, or in a case like (Wednesday) night when you have more people than we’ve ever had in Brampton, and it happens to be Game 1 of the Finals, and that situation happens — wish it could have been in the regular season — everything is just amplified. And because those two things have happened in a short period of time, I think it’s magnified for sure, and especially amongst our most passionate fans, and it invites conversation,” Mazereeuw told the Free Press Thursday.

“But I can tell you, as the president and CEO, and having joined about 14 months ago, I’m committed to ensuring the health and safety of our players, to ensuring we understand what our fans want and listening to them.”

While the initial belief was that the condensation on the court was caused by a sheet of ice that was installed beneath the court earlier this week for a charity hockey event, the City of Brampton, which owns the land on which the arena lies, said in an emailed statement Thursday evening that the water stemmed from natural factors.

“The dehumidification unit serving the arena was not a contributing factor to the condensation on the playing surface, nor was the installation of ice below the surface,” the statement read. “Significant rainfall and high humidity, combined with warm, humid outside air entering the facility while doors were open for spectator entry, contributed to the conditions.”

“There are no known structural issues with the CAA Centre and no impacts to future events are expected. As part of Brampton’s commitment to being a leading destination for high-quality professional sport, the City will continue to maintain its facilities and equipment in good working order to continue providing safe, welcoming experiences for athletes, teams and fans.”

Honey Badgers senior director of revenue generation, Blake Duffy, said the club had known about the plan to make the ice for about a month before the contest and had repeatedly expressed its concerns during weekly operational meetings between the two sides.

Duffy said the team expressed its unease with the situation for the final time on Tuesday morning, but were assured “there would be no issues, and that they had done this before.”

“We haven’t heard of any steps that are being taken to clarify what the actual source is, and frankly, we aren’t experts in facility management. We’re not claiming to be,” Duffy said.

“However, there is a common denominator here. We played 14 home games up until (Wednesday night), including a game on July 14, where it was 45 degrees with 2,700 kids coming in and out of the facility, and we didn’t have any issues. So we’re trying to remain professional, and we understand that circumstances and live events do happen; however, to completely disregard the large slab of ice underneath, and that being the only catalyst, the only thing that has changed game over game, and to not acknowledge that, we’re quite disappointed.”

Duffy said the team had yet to hear from any management at the CAA Centre as of Thursday afternoon.

The Honey Badgers are one of two tenants in the arena alongside the Brampton Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League.

Players and coaches of both teams immediately noticed the slickness of the playing surface upon taking the court for pre-game warm-ups and met to discuss the conditions before tip-off. During the game, several players skidded around the surface despite running with caution.

So how did the game reach tip-off if players and coaches noticed the floor was questionable?

“Well, I can’t speak to that,” said Mazereeuw. “What I can tell you is the officiating team and our head of basketball administration believed that it was safe to play by tip-off. Whether that meant they had looked at the court, brought on the sweepers or whatever, then I feel confident that our team, who is prioritizing player health and safety, allowed that game to be tipped off.”

If there’s one fortunate part, it’s that no one got hurt.

While the league has changed this year’s championship back to its original format of a single-game, winner-take-all that is set to take place at Canada Life Centre on Saturday (2:30 p.m.), Mazereeuw said the CEBL plans to continue the best-of-three series in future seasons.

“We had every intention, as you know, to play that game,” he said. “It’s very disappointing for our fans, for our players, (media), for the whole community.”

As for the Honey Badgers, Duffy said Wednesday night’s blunder will “without a doubt” potentially affect the future of the franchise in the CAA Centre. Perhaps even its future in Brampton.

“Frankly, it’s been very challenging. There’s no way around it,” Duffy said of playing at a facility that has been under construction the entire season.

“It’s paramount in this league that the integrity of the game is managed and that we are keeping our players safe. To recruit and to try to bring players back, I don’t want to sound too severe, and I don’t want it to be dramatic, but if you’re a player, why would you want to come to Brampton in the future if there are legitimate concerns that the safety is not being taken as paramount?

“We’re very conscious that people are angry right now. They’re frustrated, it’s embarrassing, and we share that with them, and there’s no hiding.”

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