CEBL Finals opener put on ice

BRAMPTON — The Canadian Elite Basketball League’s new Finals format lasted one minute and 46 seconds.

And it’s possible even that was too long.

What was supposed to be a historic best-of-three series between the Winnipeg Sea Bears and the Brampton Honey Badgers will now return to the league’s previous format of a single-game elimination. Wednesday’s Game 1 at the CAA Centre in Southern Ontario was cancelled shortly after tip-off due to condensation on the court, which made the playing surface unsafe for competition.

The championship will flip to the Manitoba capital for a single, winner-take-all contest at Canada Life Centre on Saturday (2:30 p.m.).

“The decision was made by the League in consultation with both clubs,” a statement from the CEBL read. “With the best-of-three series unable to be completed within the scheduled window, a one-game championship was determined to be the fairest and most practical path to crowning a champion.”

Asked for further comment onsite, one league official said that the league’s statement would be all it was willing to share at that time.

The best-of-three series was to feature Game 1 in Brampton, Ont. before going to Winnipeg for Games 2 on Saturday and a deciding Game 3 on Sunday, if necessary.

The Honey Badgers are one of two tenants inside the CAA Centre along with the Brampton Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League.

Sources told the Free Press that the Honey Badgers practised at the Mississauga Sports and Entertainment Centre while the CAA Centre, against the wishes of the basketball team, installed ice in preparation for the Steelheads training camp and built the hardcourt on top.

The arena attempted to prevent the ice from affecting the court by lowering the temperature of the building drastically, but that failed miserably.

Sea Bears head coach Mike Raimbault said it was clear from the moment he stepped on the court that its condition was poor. He had a feeling this would be the outcome.

“To be honest, there was a moment at the end of warm-up when both teams actually got together to talk about the conditions,” he said. “So we were a bit concerned right from the start.”

Even with that foresight, the wave of disappointment didn’t soften when the game was officially cancelled. Officials delayed the nationally televised contest for several minutes before concluding the game would not continue.

“For sure. I mean, obviously, there was a huge buildup, huge level of excitement about what this game was going to be like. But ultimately, it’s just about player safety and what’s best for everybody’s health,” Raimbault said. “So it’s disappointing that the game couldn’t get played, but it’s very much out of our control.”

It’s yet another black eye for the CEBL after its questionable handling of the fallout from a mid-game brawl that broke out during the regular-season finale between Brampton and the Scarborough Shooting Stars that led to five players being suspended and six players fined.

Sea Bears chair David Asper masked his disappointment in levity.

“At this stage of the season, given what we’ve been experiencing as a team, half of me wants to say, ‘What’s next?’” said Asper, whose club overcame losing three starters, including MVP front-runner Teddy Allen, before the playoffs began.

“But it is very disappointing, for both teams. Both teams were very pumped to get this going, and very quickly, both teams knew that that wasn’t going to happen.”

The Sea Bears, who won their first playoff game in franchise history this post-season, are playing in their first CEBL Finals. The Honey Badgers are searching for their first championship since 2022.

The league said that it would refund all tickets for Wednesday’s game, but that doesn’t begin to cover the expenses of the large contingent of Sea Bears fans who drove and flew to the Greater Toronto Area for the contest.

Asper said he feels for the Sea Bears faithful.

“We had our whole office staff, our gameday staff; we had a huge contingent from Winnipeg. They were super excited,” he said. “I know there were people here; I talked to them, ex-Winnipeggers who were here. I talked to lots of Honey Badgers fans that were super pumped about this. So I get it. I understand why people are disappointed and mad. I’d be mad too.”

winnipegfreepress.com/joshuafreysam