Titan owners want to keep hockey team in Chaleur region, despite pending sale

The owners of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League are trying to reassure fans that they are "working hard" to keep the team in the Chaleur region.

That follows a tumultuous week in which more reports surfaced about the team's possible relocation to the Montreal area, some pointed comments from the mayor of Bathurst and the departure of the team's head coach and general manager.

"It is important for us, the Titan owners, to offer you our deepest apologies for the various outbursts in the traditional media and social media over the past few days," team president Serge Thériault said in a statement addressed to fans, season ticket holders, sponsors, partners and citizens.

Thériault said he was aware of some possible misunderstanding and uncertainty, and the team wants to be as transparent as possible, as it continues negotiations with a potential new majority owner — Fix Auto Canada Inc.

"Fix Auto Canada Inc. has assured us that Titan hockey will remain in Bathurst," said Thériault.

"Fix Auto Canada Inc. will partner with the Titan shareholder group," he said, "and together, they will work to the best of their abilities to keep the Titan operating and growing in Bathurst."

In recent years, the Titan ownership group has included a dozen shareholders. Besides Serge Thériault, they include: Léopold Thériault, Marc R. Guignard, Lévis Roy, Neil Branch, Ronald Losier, Jeannot Sivret, André Cyr, Steven White, Daryll Stothart, Bernard Kenny and Sean Couturier.

The Titan have been struggling to attract enough fans to their home games in Bathurst to be profitable.

Average attendance last season was about 1,750, said Thériault, while the target is about 2,500.

The team moved to Bathurst in 1998 and made