St. John's Edge

St. John's Edge
St. John's Edge logo
LeagueNBL Canada
Founded2017
HistorySt. John's Edge
2017–2020
ArenaMile One Centre
LocationSt. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Team coloursNavy blue, gold and grey
     
General managerCarl English
Head coachSteven Marcus
OwnershipAtlantic Sport Enterprises Ltd.
(Irwin Simon, Robert Sabbagh)
Websitesjedge.ca

The St. John's Edge were a Canadian professional basketball team based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador,[1] that competed in the National Basketball League of Canada. From 2017 to 2020, they played home games at Mile One Centre. They were given a leave of absence from the league in 2021 due to not having a suitable home arena after not being given a new lease for Mile One Centre.

History

[edit]

On September 18, 2017, the city of St. John's approved the team to play at Mile One Centre.[2] The team is owned by Atlantic Sport Enterprises Ltd, then consisting of John Graham with Irwin Simon and Robert Sabbagh.[3] On September 28, 2017, St. John's named Jeff Dunlap head coach and Doug Plumb assistant coach.[4] Due to a couple of teams in Ontario dropping out for the season causing a divisional imbalance and the lateness in the addition of the Edge, the team played its inaugural season as a member of the Central Division with the teams from Ontario.[5]

The Edge signed Newfoundland native Carl English, who then finished second in the league in points per game and was named league MVP for the 2017–18 season.[6][7] The Edge finished the 2017–18 season second in the division and advanced to the division finals in the playoffs before losing to eventual league champions London Lightning. Head coach and general manager Jeff Dunlap departed after the season to take an assistant coach job at California State University, Northridge[8] and was replaced by assistant Doug Plumb.[9] In June 2018, Carl English took over general manager duties for the Edge, while remaining a player on the team.[10]

Prior to the 2018–19 season, the NBL Canada added another team in Ontario called the Sudbury Five, but lost another in the Niagara River Lions, creating another divisional imbalance and keeping the Edge in the Central Division. The league decided to play as a single table for the regular season to ease the Edge's travel, but still used the team's overall record in the divisional standings for playoff qualification.[11] At the start of the season, head coach Doug Plumb was suspended two games for tampering, and was temporarily replaced by assistant Steven Marcus.[12] On March 19, 2019, Plumb resigned and Marcus was again named the interim head coach.[13] Marcus was retained as head coach for the 2019–20 season.[14] The Edge were placed in the Atlantic Division for the 2019–20 season after the division lost teams in Cape Breton and Saint John, but the season was curtailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic while the Edge were in second place in their division and no playoffs were held. The league did not hold a 2020–21 season due to the ongoing restrictions during the pandemic.

On July 15, 2021, the Edge were unable to secure a lease with St. John's Sports and Entertainment (SJSE), the group that owns Mile One Centre, and were announced as not returning to the venue for the 2022 season.[15] The Edge's ownership had been negotiating with the arena alongside Deacon Sports and Entertainment (DSE), the majority owner of the arena's hockey tenant Newfoundland Growlers, where DSE would have taken over as primary owner of the Edge upon the lease renewal. DSE chose not to sign the lease as SJSE had included terms that the Edge's debts for the installation of a 360 LED board must be rectified or taken on by DSE.[16] SJSE instead awarded a lease to an outside ownership group, 2001 Investments Limited, and their American Basketball Association franchise.[17] On September 10, the sale of the Edge to DSE was approved by the league if an arena deal could be settled.[18] DSE stated they were committed to keeping the Edge in the region, but no home arena was announced at the time.[19][20] The Growlers were also evicted from the arena in October 2021 leading an on-going lease dispute between SJSE and DSE. The Edge were granted a leave of absence by the league in November 2021 in order to obtain a new lease[21] and the sale of the team to DSE was not finalized.[18] After the deal for the Edge fell through, DSE instead struck a deal to operate a new basketball team in the Canadian Elite Basketball League, which they also named the Newfoundland Growlers. The team folded shortly after the conclusion of their only season in the CEBL.[22]

Personnel

[edit]

Current roster

[edit]
See also: St. John's Edge all-time roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

St. John's Edge roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G/F 3 United States Brandon, Montay 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 31 – (1993-09-03)3 September 1993
PG 15 United States Broome, Cane 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 29 – (1994-11-29)29 November 1994
F 13 Canada Burnatowski, Murphy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 229 lb (104 kg) 34 – (1990-07-18)18 July 1990
PG 55 Canada Cadougan, Junior 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 34 – (1990-05-07)7 May 1990
C 7 United States Edwards, Mike 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 27 – (1997-05-20)20 May 1997
PG 2 United States Jones, Jesse 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 31 – (1993-01-10)10 January 1993
PF 22 United States Macon, Elijah 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (110 kg) 31 – (1993-11-03)3 November 1993
SF 9 Canada Moffat, Noel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 31 – (1993-08-09)9 August 1993
SG 4 United States Richardson, Ryan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 29 – (1995-11-14)14 November 1995
G/F 14 United States Thomas, Ahmad 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 29 – (1995-02-08)8 February 1995
G/F 20 United States Ward, Karrington 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 31 – (1993-03-14)14 March 1993
F 1 Canada Watson, Tyrone 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 34 – (1990-07-12)12 July 1990
Head coach
  • United States Steven Marcus
Assistant coach(es)
  • Canada Jeff Morrison
  • Canada Glen Sooley
Team manager
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (I) Inactive
  • Injured Injured
Updated: December 23, 2019

Franchise leaders

[edit]

Statistics (regular season) as of the end of the 2017–18 season[23]

Statistic Leader
Points Charles Hinkle (817)
Rebounds Charles Hinkle (248)
Assists Alex Johnson (225)
Steals Charles Hinkle (44)
Blocks Charles Hinkle (21)

Notable players

[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Season-by-season record

[edit]
Cited from NBLCanada.ca[23]
Season Coach Regular season Postseason
GP Won Lost Win % Finish GP Won Lost Win % Result
2017–18 Jeff Dunlap 40 25 15 .625 2nd in Central Division 9 5 4 .556 Lost in Division Finals
2018–19 Doug Plumb
Steven Marcus		 40 21 19 .525 2nd in Central Division 15 7 8 .467 Lost League Finals
2019–20 Steven Marcus 20 11 9 .550 Season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic
Totals 100 57 43 .570 — 24 12 12 .500 —

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "NBL Canada approves team for St. John's, but there are still hoops to go through". The Telegram. July 14, 2017.
  2. ^ "St. John's city council approves agreement to bring pro basketball to Mile One". CBC News. September 18, 2017.
  3. ^ "Who is Irwin Simon and why did he buy a basketball team in St. John's?". CBC News. September 23, 2017.
  4. ^ "NCAA veteran to be head coach of St. John's pro basketball team". CBC News. September 28, 2017.
  5. ^ "St. John's Edge shows off jerseys ahead of pro-basketball debut". CBC News. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  6. ^ McCarthy, Brendan (April 7, 2018). "Carl English of St. John's Edge named NBL Canada's most valuable player". The Telegram. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  7. ^ "Edge Sign Carl English". St. John's Edge. November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  8. ^ "Jeff Dunlap Accepts New Coaching Role". NBL Canada. 23 May 2018.
  9. ^ "Doug Plumb Named Edge Head Coach". St. John's Edge. July 5, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  10. ^ Brockerville, Ryan (July 30, 2018). "Carl English signs himself to 2nd season with St. John's Edge". CBC. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  11. ^ "NBLC's 2018-19 Schedule Features Strong Rivalries & Classic Matchups". NBLCanada.ca. September 10, 2018.
  12. ^ "Edge drop home-opener to Magic at Mile One". The Telegram. November 23, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  13. ^ "Edge Head Coach Doug Plumb Steps Down, Steven Marcus Named Interim Head Coach". St. John's Edge. March 19, 2019.
  14. ^ "Marcus officially named Edge coach". The Telegram. September 27, 2019.
  15. ^ "Tentative Deal Reached for New St. John's Basketball Franchise". VOCM (AM). July 15, 2021.
  16. ^ "FAST FACTS ON THE NEW BASKETBALL DEAL". Newfoundland Growlers. July 16, 2021.
  17. ^ "City 'Edges Out' Dean MacDonald with New Tentative Basketball Deal". VOCM. July 15, 2021.
  18. ^ a b "St. John's Edge won't be part of National Basketball League of Canada when it resumes play". Saltwire.com. November 4, 2021. However, the deal was never finalized amid the difficulty in finding a suitable home court, meaning Simon and Sabbagh still officially own the Edge.
  19. ^ "NBL Canada Tentatively Approves Sale of the St. John's Edge to Deacon Sports". OurSports Central. September 10, 2021.
  20. ^ "The question moves from 'will the St. John's Edge play?' to 'where will they play?'". Saltwire.com. September 10, 2021.
  21. ^ "NBL Canada Looks to Rebuild the Atlantic Division". OurSports Central. November 4, 2021.
  22. ^ "Meet Newfoundland's new pro basketball team, the … Growlers? Yep, the Growlers". CBC.ca. November 26, 2021.
  23. ^ a b "NBL Canada Postseason Media Guide 2017-18" (PDF). NBL Canada. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
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