BRAMPTON BEAST A CASUALTY OF COVID-19

It is with regret that the Brampton Beast, of the ECHL, will be ceasing operations, effective today.

In early 2020, the Beast were in the midst of a run at the playoffs and momentum was strong both on and off the ice. However, because of Covid-19, the club, in its seventh year, was forced to shut down its 2020 season.  Subsequently, the team was also forced to suspend its entire 2021 season, and more recently had been unable to announce a 2021-22 schedule because of further uncertainty related to Covid-19. 

“Three seasons of Covid was just too much for our modest hockey team to sustain,” said Cary Kaplan, President and General Manager.

During seven plus years in Brampton, the Beast welcomed 680,000 cheering fans to the CAA Centre where they could find affordable, high quality entertainment.

The Beast attended over 1,000 community events where team mascot, Boomer, led players at countless schools, hospitals, festivals, events, and civic gatherings.   

The Beast had NHL affiliates over its seven years namely the Tampa Bay Lightning in year one, and three-year stints with both the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators.  

Kaplan summarized it this way:

“From the bottom of our hearts, we want to offer an enormous thank you to the City of Brampton, Mayor Patrick Brown and Brampton City Council for supporting us with open arms, to the hundreds of thousands of Fans and sponsors who we truly worked for and tried our best to exceed your expectations, to all the amazing players, staff and coaches who gave their blood, sweat and tears for the Beast, to our three owners who invested in our Vision, we are very proud of the lasting memories that we provided”

For media inquiries please email GM Cary Kaplan directly carykaplan@gmail.com