The Halifax Hurricanes were a Canadian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. The Hurricanes were founded as members of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; ) 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 franchis ...

(NBLC) to replace the Halifax Rainmen, who filed for bankruptcy in July 2015 ultimately leading to the club folding. In 2021, the organization left the NBLC.

History

Following steadily declining attendance and fallout from the 2015 NBL Canada Finals brawl the Halifax Rainmen folded in July 2015, with owner Andre Levingston citing bankruptcy with the franchise falling into a debt of nearly $700,000. The Rainmen's folding left a void in the Halifax professional basketball market and the league had lost one of its founding franchises and second largest market. Soon after, efforts began to replace the Rainmen. On September 3, 2015, a new Halifax team was announced by the league. The new ownership group was expanded from just Andre Levingston to a 25-member investor group from the Halifax business community to stabilize ownership and reduce

financial risk Financial risk is any of various types of risk associated with financing, including financial transactions that include company loans in risk of default. Often it is understood to include only downside risk, meaning the potential for financi ...

. Andre Levingston was named general manager of basketball operations. Hugo López was hired to be the franchise's first head coach on September 30, 2015. On October 20, 2015, the franchise unveiled its name and logo. The Hurricanes also announced their first two signings, former Rainmen player Cliff Clinkscales and newcomer Mike Glover. In their first season, the Hurricanes won both preseason games before winning their first regular-season home game 129–113 against the Moncton Miracles in front of approximately 2,000 fans on December 26, 2015. Coach López and the Hurricanes were unable to come to terms for a second season and Kevin Keathley was hired as head coach and general manager for the 2016–17 season. Unfortunately, coach Keathley had to leave the team before his first season for personal reasons. He was replaced by Mike Leslie. After three seasons, Leslie moved up to be the Hurricanes' president and general manager, with Ryan Marchand taking over as head coach. The 2019–20 season was then curtailed in March 2020 due to the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The league subsequently cancelled its 2020–21 season due to continuing restrictions during the pandemic. In October 2021, the Hurricanes announced they had left the league.

Home arena

The Scotiabank Centre is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The arena has a basketball capacity of 11,093. The Hurricanes share the arena with the Halifax Mooseheads of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

, and The Halifax Thunderbirds of the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

. The building is next to the World Trade and Convention Centre in Downtown Halifax, at the foot of Citadel Hill and it is the largest arena in the maritimes by seating capacity.

Current roster

Season-by-season record

Notable players

:To appear in this section a player must have either: - Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time. * Coreontae DeBerry

References

How a Brawl and Sleazy Owner Killed the Halifax Rainmen
, Vice Sports, 23 December 2015

Marca, 4 February 2016

Mundo Deportivo, 3 February 2016

External links

{{Nova Scotia Sports 2015 establishments in Nova Scotia Basketball teams established in 2015 Basketball teams in Nova Scotia National Basketball League of Canada teams Sports clubs and teams in Halifax, Nova Scotia