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39-421: On November 13, 2012, National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) announced that an Ottawa expansion team would join the league for the 2013–14 season. At a news conference on November 21, 2012, Gus Takkale, President of Bytown Sports & Entertainment and the person heading up the ownership group, confirmed the franchise would put a team on the court in the fall of 2013. Following a name-the-team contest,

78-689: A capacity of 20,500 including standing room. The arena hosts ice hockey, basketball, music concerts, skating, and other entertainment events. It is home to the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, several restaurants, a fitness complex, and several businesses. The SkyHawks shared the arena with the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League . National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada ( NBL Canada ; French : Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada )

117-683: A charter member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). The Miracles played their home games at the Moncton Coliseum as a part of the league's Atlantic Division and were one of two New Brunswick teams in the league along with the Saint John Riptide . The team was founded and owned by Steven Conville but were now without an owner for three seasons. Their seasons in the NBL Canada had been highlighted by struggles, until

156-757: A domestic basketball minor league in Canada. Three franchises from the Premier Basketball League (PBL), the Halifax Rainmen , Quebec Kebs , and Saint John Mill Rats were the first to join the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). The teams had been unhappy with the officiating in the PBL. On May 12 of that year in Halifax, Nova Scotia , league CEO Andre Levingston held a press conference regarding

195-574: A person who was going to govern the league the right way." In June 2011, the league finalized rules for its first season. There would be seven teams, four of which qualified for the playoffs, and no divisions. It would follow FIBA rules and each team would play 36 games in the regular season. Team rosters could contain 10–12 players, at least two of them Canadian, and they had a salary cap of $ 150,000 Canadian . Players could earn potentially $ 70,000 in one season, and each game would draw an average of 3,000 fans, varying by location. Levingston envisioned

234-402: Is the same word in both French and English . Conville also commented on the team's logo, "Our team logo is meant to embody the strength that comes through when you rise above... the player in the logo carrying the ball is not wallowing in the past. He's heading towards the future and he's doing it ferociously." After three seasons of operations under the league management and without an owner,

273-784: The 2017–18 season , the league stayed at ten teams following the Miracles and A's folding and the addition of the Moncton Magic and St. John's Edge in the Maritimes. The initially announced a team in Greater Sudbury , but was forced to delay their launch leaving the league with four teams in Ontario and six in the Maritimes, leading the Edge to play as a member of the Central Division. The Lightning won

312-523: The Macquarie Group, at the time. A big basketball fan, Conville accepted an offer to start a professional team by Andre Levingston , who would be the co-founder of the NBL Canada. Following a failure to establish an NBL Canada team based out of Kingston, Ontario , Conville decided to create one in Moncton. He targeted the city because of its rapid growth and tight-knit community. Despite not having visited

351-468: The 2012 game, players Joey Haywood and Eddie Smith chose each team through a fantasy draft. The best performer in the game was named All-Star Game Most Valuable Player . Starting with the next All-Star game, the league began matching top players from the Central Division with those from the Atlantic Division. At least three Canadian players were required on each team. The NBL Canada discontinued

390-620: The 2016–17 season. The 2014–15 season ended in controversy as the Windsor Express were declared winners of the championship series after the Halifax Rainmen failed to show for the seventh and deciding game. The Rainmen organization claimed the reason for not appearing in the game that night because their players feared for their safety following a physical altercation earlier in the day with the Express. The Rainmen and its players were fined by

429-559: The Atlantic Division, while the remaining four competed in the Central Division. The league grew to nine teams in the 2013–14 season by adding the Brampton A's and Ottawa Skyhawks , while the Montreal Jazz folded. Two teams relocated within their same regions with Oshawa Power moving to Mississauga and Summerside to Charlottetown as the Island Storm . The league returned to eight teams

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468-524: The Central Division in the 2013–14 season, and failed to make the playoffs after losing a wildcard game against the Mississauga Power . The team struggled to sell tickets and required a loan from the league in order to finish the season. The team had failed to repay any of the loan by July 31, 2014, and NBL Canada's Board of Governors voted 8–0 to remove Bytown Sports & Entertainment from the league for failing to "adhere to league standards as set out in

507-550: The Central Division, but mostly played against Atlantic Division teams. Before the 2019–20 season , the league folded the Cape Breton Highlanders and Saint John Riptide as their respective owners tried to sell the teams and the league shrank to eight teams. During the season, the COVID-19 pandemic caused games to be suspended on March 12, 2020. The season was then entirely cancelled as the pandemic closed arenas and travel

546-588: The Kebs defeated the Miracles at the Colisée de Laval . Within a week, every team in the league had played at least one game. The NBL Canada's opening season brought in marquee players such as Gabe Freeman , Anthony Anderson , and Lawrence Wright. Amid the 2011 NBA lockout , six players with past experience in the National Basketball Association (NBA), including Eddie Robinson and Rodney Buford , joined

585-503: The NBL Canada as a more stable alternative to other North American minor basketball leagues with players living close to home while playing professionally. The NBL Canada held its first draft on August 21, 2011, at Rogers Centre . The Power selected Morgan Lewis of the University of Findlay with the first overall pick . Jerome Brown, who was picked fifth overall by the Mill Rats, was

624-544: The NBL Canada's inaugural year, Canadian sports analyst Alex Walling claimed it was a success, commenting, "The NBL could hold its head up high. It has been a great season and they've gained a great deal of creditability. They've earned the kudos." Levingston touted the league because it "played a full schedule on every set date and never had a problem." Shortly after the season, in April, the NBL Canada held its first All-Star Game at Halifax Metro Centre . For its second season,

663-465: The NBL Canada. The London Lightning, coached by Micheal Ray Richardson , soon emerged as the top team in the league, going 28–8 by end of the regular season, which lasted until March 4, 2012. The team defeated the Halifax Rainmen, 3–2, in the best-of-five NBL Canada Finals series to claim the championship. They drew a league-high 5,106 fans to the John Labatt Centre for the game. Following

702-510: The Year . In addition, the top player in the NBL Canada Finals wins Finals Most Valuable Player . After the 2015–16 season , the league started announcing Commissioner's Awards to groups that helped support it, including ownership groups, teams, and referees. These awards were first handed out by Dave Magley . Until the 2013–14 season , the NBL Canada held All-Star Weekend every year. In

741-525: The championship in both seasons, having won four of the first seven titles up to that point. Following their delayed start, NBL Canada expanded into Northern Ontario with the addition of the Sudbury Five for the 2018–19 season . However, the league lost another Ontario team when the Niagara River Lions left to help found the rival Canadian Elite Basketball League . St. John's was again a member of

780-458: The city before becoming the Miracles' owner, Conville gained a perspective of Atlantic Canada during business trips to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island . He said, "So when I did my research on Moncton, I found out how much they loved basketball out there." At a press conference in August 2011, Conville was officially named team owner. He also announced his hiring of Norris "Bo" Bell as

819-584: The creation of the NBL Canada. By the end of the summer, the London Lightning , Moncton Miracles , Oshawa Power , and Summerside Storm were established and had announced that they would join the league. There had also been unsuccessful attempts to start up teams in Fredericton, New Brunswick , and Kingston, Ontario . John Kennedy, a native of Windsor and a sports executive based in Los Angeles ,

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858-498: The event after the 2014 game . The commissioner of the NBL Canada is the league's chief executive and is elected by the board of directors and a group of representatives from each team. Since Magley's resignation in 2017, Audley Stephenson has been acting as deputy commissioner. Moncton Miracles The Moncton Miracles were a Canadian professional basketball team in Moncton , New Brunswick . Established in 2011, they were

897-459: The finals. Statistics below are for all-time leaders at the end of the 2022 regular season. The NBL Canada annually announces the winners of eight awards. Players can be named Most Valuable Player , Canadian of the Year , Defensive Player of the Year , Rookie of the Year , Newcomer of the Year , Sixth Man of the Year . The league also awards the Coach of the Year and Executive of

936-440: The first Canadian to be taken in the draft. The event was viewed by more than 6,000 people online from 93 countries. 180 players from across the world attended the preceding NBL Canada combine. The first player to be signed into the NBL Canada was Canadian Yannick Anzuluni , who joined the Kebs on a three-year contract on August 17, 2011. On October 29, in the first game of the NBL Canada's inaugural 2011–12 NBL Canada season ,

975-751: The first head coach for the Miracles. Bell ran a basketball academy in Atlanta , Georgia in the United States. A former player, he also had experience in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in France and Switzerland . Bell faced the likes of Micheal Ray Richardson , Dražen Petrović , and Billy Knight during his playing career. He also became fluent in French through his years in Europe, which

1014-478: The following season due to Ottawa falling below league standards and failing to repay a loan to the league. Prior to the 2014–15 season , the league announced its first national broadcast deal with beIN Sports . Starting with the 2014–15 season , two regular season games were scheduled to be aired each week with special coverage for playoffs and special events such as the All Star Weekend. The deal ran through

1053-687: The following year. The final league champions were the London Lightning , who defeated the Windsor Express 3–2 in the 2023 NBL Finals. Following the conclusion of the 2023 NBLC season the four remaining NBLC teams, the KW Titans , London Lightning , Sudbury Five and Windsor Express , broke away from the NBLC and helped found the Basketball Super League along with president of The Basketball League , David Magley . In mid-2011, discussion began of

1092-488: The franchise was finally folded following the 2016–17 season when a new ownership decided to start a new franchise in Moncton called the Moncton Magic . The Miracles were founded in 2011 and made their debut in the 2011–12 season of the NBL (National Basketball League). The team was primarily established by Steven George Conville;Steven Conville, who was the vice president and portfolio manager for Macquarie Private Wealth, part of

1131-642: The league and the team ultimately filed for bankruptcy and folded. The following 2015–16 season , the league replaced the Rainmen with the Halifax Hurricanes . The new Halifax team returned to the championship game, defeating the London Lightning to win the title in their first season. The league expanded to ten teams in the 2016–17 season by adding the Cape Breton Highlanders and KW Titans . In

1170-596: The operating agreement, and deadlines set forth to prepare for the season." The SkyHawks will not play in the 2014–15 season, but NBL Canada affirmed their commitment to have a team in Ottawa again as early as the 2015–16 season but it never happened. Originally opened in 1996, the Canadian Tire Centre is a multi-purpose arena, located in the western suburb of Kanata , in Ottawa , Ontario . The arena has seating for 19,153 and

1209-452: The remaining NBLC teams were merged along with teams from the TBL into the new Basketball Super League . The London Lightning have the most championships with six wins, the Windsor Express are second with two wins. The Halifax Rainmen and the Island Storm have appeared in two league finals failing to win the trophy. The Sudbury Five are currently the only active team to have never reached

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1248-487: The season as it was the only remaining member in the Maritimes ready to play in the 2021–22 season, leaving the league with only the four active teams in Ontario. In order to fill the schedule, the league agreed to inter-league series play with the US-based The Basketball League (TBL), run by former NBLC commissioner David Magley and his wife Evelyn. Following the conclusion of the 2022–23 NBLC season,

1287-472: The team salary cap remained at $ 150,000, with the possibility of an increase in the future. The NBL Canada also considered several cities in the Maritimes , Ontario , and Quebec , including Sydney, Nova Scotia . The league soon welcomed the Windsor Express after an ownership group from Windsor, Ontario , and Detroit , led by Dartis Willis Sr., began investing in the expansion team in June 2012. The team, which

1326-629: The team unveiled their nickname, the " TomaHawks ", a logo, and colours on February 26, 2013. However, just hours after the announcement, social media erupted with people upset over what they felt to be a culturally insensitive nickname. After an outcry, the Ottawa NBL team will no longer be called the TomaHawks. It was announced at an event on April 4, 2013, that the team would be named the Ottawa SkyHawks. The SkyHawks finished in fourth (of five) place in

1365-573: Was a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketball League teams joined with four new franchises for the league's inaugural season. The league changed in size multiple times and had four active teams in its final season, all in Ontario , but historically the NBLC had several located in the Atlantic provinces . The league's season typically ran from November to April of

1404-569: Was approved into the league in late July, would play out of WFCU Centre . On the other hand, the Quebec Kebs, who had relocated to Laval, Quebec , in the offseason, left the league after experiencing challenges in their first year. By November, the Kebs were replaced with the Montreal Jazz , who would compete at Centre Pierre Charbonneau . In the 2012–13 season , the league consisted of eight teams separated into divisions: four teams competed in

1443-529: Was named the first commissioner of the NBL. He previously had experience working with the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). League president Andre Levingston spoke on his expectations of the commissioner, saying, "We wanted to make sure we had a person who was going to be committed and was willing to roll up his sleeves and work very hard, someone who understood business, had business relationship and

1482-415: Was part of the reason he drew Conville's attention. The Miracles' nickname was inspired by the term Moncton Miracle , which referred to the city of Moncton's comeback from recession in the 1980s. Conville described it by saying that it "connects with Moncton's history and symbolizes the strength, courage and toughness that this city has shown over the years." The nickname was also chosen because "Miracle"

1521-448: Was restricted. The league initially delayed the start to the 2020–21 season as the pandemic continued into 2021. On March 4, 2021, NBL Canada announced there would be no 2020–21 season. During the hiatus, the Halifax Hurricanes and Moncton Magic both withdrew from the league while the St. John's Edge were not granted a new lease for their arena. Subsequently, the Island Storm withdrew from

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