Mississauga candidate For Mayor promises bid for NHL & PWHL teams
Photo credit: The Globe And Mail
In an ambitious, but uncertain political proclamation, Mississauga mayoral Candidate Peter McCallion says he will fight to bid for pro Hockey in the city, attempting to bring prominence to the city despite it's close proximity to Toronto.
McCallion is the son of longtime Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, the longtime leader of the city, having served from 1978 to 2014. The mayoral seat was opened after the resignation of Bonnie Crombie, McCallion's successor, Crombie announcing her departure following a successful run for leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Peter McCallion ran unsuccessfully for a seat in Mississauga's city council elections in 2022, finishing 6th in Ward 9 with 5.92% of the vote.
In a statement, McCallion said he would use his strong mayor powers to force the rapid development of a new arena to fund a pro Hockey team. McCallion claimed that Mississauga is ready to welcome a professional Hockey team. «Our city can support a team and we are hockey crazy", McCallion said.
Mississauga's Odds At Pro Hockey
Currently, McCallion is polling in 4th place among candidates, with 8% of the vote share from pollers if the election was held today, with 14% for decided voters, according to polling from Mainstreet Research. Former Missisauga city councillor and MP Carolyn Parrish leads with 20% of voters polled, 34% of decided voters.
McCallion said he'd like to potentially name a Mississauga NHL club the 'Mississauga Hurricanes' after his mother, Hazel, who was nicknamed "Hurricane Hazel" during her lengthy mayoral tenure. As the Carolina Hurricanes already exist in the NHL, that makes the likelihood of that name unlikely in the league.
Currently, Mississauga hosts the OHL Steelheads, although the team is pending relocation to Brampton for the 2024-25 season. Similarly, Hamilton has been mentioned in potential talks for a NHL franchise, have also gone without an OHL team since the Bulldogs left for Brantford for the 2023-24 season.
Mississauga's population of 717k would be the lowest in the NHL, with Buffalo currently in last with 1.2 million. Mississauga would also need financial backing to keep Hockey in the region, which hasn't come to fruition, or with a plan on how McCallion plans to create funding for a pro team. The PWHL has not discussed expansion.
Mississauga's mayoral election is set for June 10, 2024.
| POLL | ||
22 AVRIL | 120 ANSWERS Mississauga candidate For Mayor promises bid for NHL & PWHL teams Can Mississauga handle a pro Hockey franchise? | ||
| Yes | 54 | 45 % |
| No | 66 | 55 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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