City council has given its approval to sign a contract that will return senior hockey to the Ed Lumley Arena.
Councillors voted Monday night to enter into a lease agreement with Bernie Villleneuve, the head of a group that plans to bring a team from the Ligue Nord Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) to play in Cornwall beginning this fall.
The league had already confirmed the Windsor Wild has been sold and will move to Cornwall for the 2012-2013 season.
The last time Cornwall had a senior-level hockey team was 2006 when the Cornwall Comets won the Quebec senior league title.
Negotiations had been proceeding since the league announced its plans to set up in Cornwall a month ago. With the Cornwall Colts already taking up Thursday evenings, the new team is expected to play Saturdays.
Details of the team’s name, logo and colours will be released in the coming days. The Wild recently lost the 2012 league championship to the Thetford Mines. Other teams are based in Sherbrooke, Trios-Rivieres, Saguenay, Sorel-Tracy, and Riviere-du-Loup.
Each team will play 40 games this season, with any Ontario players expected to have experience in the provincial junior A program.
