I'm writing this prior to a New Britain Bees broadcast, so I'm trying to be succinct. But I couldn't wait.
The news out of Portland that the Pirates are moving to Springfield is certainly a shock to me, and many of my peers. When the Arizona Coyotes, the Pirates old affiliate, announced that they were purchasing the Falcons, I wasn't surprised - the same talks had happened with Pirates ownership while I was with the team - but was still interesting as the 5th longest tenured AHL franchise was moving.
Now Portland is following suit.
I owe my professional career to the Portland Pirates - that's where I got started, went from an intern to the Director of a department in the span of two months, worked through the last NHL Lockout, met and worked with an Olympian in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, all in my first season. I did my first interviews, took a crash course in PR and crisis management, worked 20 hours days, and was the in-arena host in front of 7,000+.
With the team, I met some of my best friends in the world - Jonathan Jick, my former intern, and Jake Moore, the former Game Operations Director and my roommate in Portland. I worked with some incredible people, including Ben Locke and Alex Romanoff, in the ticket department, and Ron Morin and Mike McSweeney, the team's photographers, as well as a host of fantastic interns, one of whom took my place a year after I left. I would have never had this opportunity had it not been for the Pirates.
I will freely admit that my leaving the team was not a pleasant experience for me, and that one way or another I was not going to make it through to a third season whether the choice was mine or not. The divorce was very messy, and in the long run, it needed to end. But my experience with the Pirates was certainly an important one, and I'm forever grateful that they gave me a shot.
Today, I feel for the fans, who in the past 7 years have lived under the threat of the team moving constantly, and who have endured the season in Lewiston. I feel for the staff, especially my former intern Whitneigh Kinne as well as Ben Locke, the director of ticket sales. I feel for the media, especially Chris Roy, Paul Betit, Dave Eid, and the others who covered the the team as often as they could. The city of Portland deserves far better than this as an end result.
The fans in Portland are special - their commitment and their dedication to the team is second to none, and they were the best part of my time there, bar none. Through thick and thin, trials and tribulations, they were always supportive of the players, as well as the front office staff. The Section T crew in particular was nothing short of great to me. This is not the ending to the franchise that they expected, nor the one they deserved.
Farewell, Portland Pirates. Thanks for the memories, and for my career.