Queens Place ice surface. Photo Ed Halverson

The team announced on June 29 that they would be leaving Liverpool and a week later staff at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre posted to social media that Jim Bottomley is bringing Junior B hockey to the LCLC.

Owner Jim Bottomley says travel time for the coaches and players and the opportunity to increase the fanbase were the main reasons for moving the team from their home at Queens Place in Liverpool.

Bottomley encourages his hockey players to be student athletes which means most of the team lives in and around Halifax to be close to their universities. He says relocating to Bridgewater will make a big difference in the amount of time the players need to spend on the road, especially during the winter months.

For the past ten years the Liverpool Privateers have built a competitive team and a devoted fanbase and Bottomley hopes that support will follow the team a half an hour up Highway 103.

“That’s our biggest loss is the fans were so supportive down there and since they announced the move, I’ve heard from a number of fans that said you can still count on us coming up [to Bridgewater] so I’m looking forward to that,” said Bottomley. “But we had the best fans in the junior, Nova Scotia junior Hockey League over the last number of years and we’re just hoping that it will continue right there in Bridgewater. It’s going to be a South Shore team so hopefully everybody along the shore there will come and support us.”

Head coach Ryan Faulkenham and the rest of his staff will be staying on.

Bottomley says a few players from Bridgewater have suited up for the Privateers. He plans to expand those ranks by making his players and staff available to minor hockey organizations across the South Shore.

“If they want the players or coaches to come out anytime to work with their teams we’ll be there. We want to be involved in the community; we want the players out around the community.,” said Bottomley. “We want to basically a community team that’s well representitive throughout the whole South Shore, not just right in Bridgewater.”

One of the things that will remain constant in the move from Liverpool to Bridgewater is Bottomley’s desire to win.

“I think what Bridgewater lost in the last number of years was a quality hockey team that was competitive. You know I’m not in the business just to put a hockey team on the ice. I want to win every year I love winning and we’re going to try as the year goes on, we’ll continue to build our team,” said Bottomley.

The name of the new Bridgewater team is being kept under wraps until the official kick-off event at the LCLC on Thursday July 13 at 6:00pm.

Bottomley says there’s a great deal to organize and many plans to make before the hockey season opens September 15.

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Queens Place ice surface. Photo Ed Halverson

The Liverpool Privateers will not be returning to Queens Place in the fall.

The team made the announcement on their Facebook page Thursday afternoon and no reason was given for the sudden departure.

The news comes as a surprise after the Privateers announced on May 30, they would be back in Liverpool to play another season.

Screenshot of Facebook announcement by Liverpool Privateers Hockey Club. The post was taken down shortly after the team announced they would not be returning to Liverpool.

The Junior B hockey club has called Queens Place home for the past eight years.

The Region received notice from team owner Jim Bottomley late Monday night indicating they would be terminating their ice rental agreement effective June 27. Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman was surprised by the decision as the Region had recently come to terms with the team for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

Norman says there is plenty of demand for the weekly ice-rental time, but losing Junior B caliber hockey will be felt by the fans.

“It’s an unfortunate loss for the hockey fans that have supported that team. It was good hockey, certainly was well supported,” said Norman. “I think the players have always said they had the biggest fanbase they’ve ever had in this rink. So good luck to the team wherever they go.”

The Liverpool Junior B Hockey Association hosted the Don Johnson Cup in April, welcoming some of the best Junior hockey teams across the Atlantic provinces to Queens Place. By all accounts the event was a great success.

QCCR attempted to contact team officials for comment but did not receive a reply before publication.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.