Players and employees with the St. Thomas University Men’s Hockey team have started cleaning out their lockers.
Players were told Monday the team was being cut.
University administration says the move saves the school $245,000.
“It’s a financial decision, it’s not a decision based on the on-ice performance or the commitment of the players,” says St. Thomas spokesperson Jeffrey Carleton.
The university’s deficit has reached about $1 million.
“We’ve got a budget deficit that we have to address. Our revenues are constrained so we’ve got to look at our expenditures side and men’s hockey was one of those programs we looked at,” says Carleton.
The decision isn’t sitting well with the players.
“I didn’t really want to believe it at first,” says team captain Brendan Childerley. “Obviously everyone was pretty disappointed, and some anger obviously came in too.”
“I think it was a pretty rash decision and I think it’s a bandaid on something that’s a much bigger issue than just athletics,” he added.
St. Thomas isn’t alone with its financial worries. The University of Prince Edward Island has also had to lay off some of its top administration to save money. They also merged some positions.
Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau was at the University of New Brunswick Tuesday, talking to students about his first-budget.
Included in the financial blueprint, $2 billion earmarked for new post-secondary labs and research facilities.The money isn’t meant to bail schools out of their financial struggles.
Meanwhile, Childerley says he believes most players won’t be coming back to STU. He’s now looking to transfer to a school with a hockey program for his final year of university.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown
