Montreal’s newest sports franchise, the Jazz

[Malek]

CTV Montreal

Published Monday, Nov. 12, 2012 11:42PM EST

 

MONTREAL--The Matrix, the Royal, the Sasquatch and now the Montreal Jazz. This city just can’t seem to hold onto professional basketball teams, but players hope this new squad will stick around.

 

“One of the big differences is the league. The league is so legit. When you play away games, you can tell the league is serious. So, it's a big difference,” said Jazz forward Louis-Patrick Levros

The Jazz have replaced the Kebs as the province's only team in the National Basketball League, the current owners of the franchise until a proper ownership group is put in place.

 

“Every game was played last year, you got the website, everything was very serious which is the first time that I saw a league at that level to be so serious. All the players have to be cleared through Basketball Canada which means our league is well respected,” said Jazz General Manager Pascal Jobin.

 

“They put in hard work to get a team here in Montreal and hopefully we can continue doing it. So this year is very important for the city and the team,” said Jazz centre Sani Ibrahim.

 

With the exception of two players, the team is comprised entirely of Quebecers, something the league surely hopes will finally attract a loyal following.

 

“We are really happy with a group of hard charging Quebecois players,” said head coach Alejandro Hasbani

 

“For me it's definitely just a blessing. After I left Concordia, it's been three or four years since I haven't gotten anything. I've just been working. I miss the game of basketball and to have this opportunity I’m just blessed and I work every day just to be in this position,” said point guard Damian Buckley.

 

As for the product, fans will be pleasantly surprised, the Jazz have a good mix of speed, size and talent—something that will complement the team’s blue collar mentality.

“I think we're going to come out and play hard,” said Ibrahim. “That’s the most important thing. We’re probably not the best talent in the league but for sure we're going to play hard and get some wins.”

 

 

Read more: http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/sports/montreal-s-newest-sports-franchise-the-jazz-1.1035875#ixzz2CADHMg7d

[MtlMan]

Intéressant. Un premier pas vers, un jour lointain peut-être, la NBA......

[FlyboyMTL]

Where will they be playing?

 

Timing is very good for this to start, with the NHL lockout going on, ALS out of the Grey Cup, and the Impact coming off a good start to their MLS year. People looking for other forms of sports entertainment and could be a good solution for the winter blues. I think it depends where they play, and how good the league is. Montreal like winning teams, and strong leagues, so we'll see.

 

Hopefully this can be a success, and lead the road for future NBA thoughts...

 

GOOD LUCK!

[FlyboyMTL]

Has anyone been out to see the Jazz? How are they doing?

[AlexGagne]

2-38 (yeah, 2 wins and 38 losses) and there's nobody in the stands... average of 450 per game, by far the worst attendance in the league, which average 2000 per game.

[AlexGagne]

Le sport mineur (ou des ligues de second rang) ne fonctionne définitivement pas à Montréal... Junior de Montréal, Roadrunners (roller hockey), Express (Lacrosse), ...

 

L'Impact et les Alouttes n'arrive même pas à remplir leurs stades de 20 000 spectacles alors qu'il y a seulement 1 à 2 parties par semaine.

 

Montréal s'impose de plus en plus comme étant une ville d'événements.