In hockey, there's eliminated - and ELIMINATED

The Brampton Battalion (OHL) are no longer in Brampton.  They will be the North Bay Battalion next season.

I went through a similar ordeal, when the Kansas City Blades did not survive a merger between the IHL & AHL - that team taught me that going to games was a lot of fun, and there is hockey other than the NHL level that can still make for great entertainment.

Steve McLean loved the Battalion.  He evolved into their #1 fan over time.  As most guys in Toronto, he was primarily a Leafs fan but Brampton's 2005 playoff run changed that:

When Brampton lost that series I was just as upset as I had been whenever the Leafs had been knocked out and the Battalion took over as my favourite team bar none. When the NHL came back that fall I simply didn’t care nearly as much.

 Its long, but you should read Steve's departing letter to the Battalion here.  Reflecting on my KC experience, in addition to the idea that we came very close to loosing the Winterhawks here in Portland during the 'dark ages' about 4 years ago - there's reason to be thankful that not only do we still have our team, but they have developed a winning culture.