Central Division Champions, Bobby Orr Trophy Winners, the home of Owen Tippett, Nathan Bastian, the McLeod brothers, Spencer Watson, Matt Mancina, Nick Hague. Milestones and household names in the OHL that put the Mississauga Steelheads back on the OHL map of many around the league. Unfortunately, local television stations were not convinced. On May 2nd, 2017, following the long playoff run of the local Steelheads, fans were left asking a lot of questions when Rogers Peel announced it was closing its door. Fans were left wondering what this meant for the broadcasting of their Steelheads. Were Kyle Liberto, Matt Cullen and Aly Munro out of a job? Were the games going to be on TV the following season? The answers were not the ones the fans wanted. 
At the start of the 2017/2018, fans were still left in the dark, as nothing was said regarding the Steelhead’s broadcast possibilities. On September 27th, the Steelheads posted on their website a broadcast schedule, where 18 of the teams 34 home games were to be broadcasted dependent on the visiting teams broadcast team’s availability. This meant that 16 of the team’s home games were unavailable to be viewed without being at the Hershey Centre in person.
With a quick look, one may think that this would increase the low attendance averages of the team out of Mississauga, as it decreases the ways of seeing the game, increasing the importance to be they’re in person. What many people forget, is that a lot of attendance is dependant on how the team is doing. If someone can view a few games on TV, notice they are playing well, they are likely to put out the cash to see it in person. Another underlying factor is the emotions and feelings of the players themselves. With a generally low attendance as it is, the Steelhead players always knew there were people watching on TV. Despite the potential of only 1800 in the seats, the players knew there were fans watching on Rogers TV. I spoke to former play by play man of the Mississauga Steelheads Kyle Liberto on what he felt the impacts of no television broadcast has meant to the team:
“I know the work I did made an impact on the OHL community and it may sound weird but I think not having their TV crew has made an impact on their start to the season… [the broadcast] gave them a brand and a bit of swagger”
Of course, Liberto was referring to the slow start of the Steelheads this season, where in their first 10 games there were winners of only 2 games. While the Steelheads have now improved to 5-9-0-0, Liberto believes that if there was a consistent TV presence in Mississauga, the team would have more to show. Dedicated fan, and videographer, known as HardcoreSteelheader on YouTube, Darius Domingues also had some input on the difference that having no broadcast has meant to the team:
“The broadcast team, Kyle, Matt and Aly, they were the voices, it gave the team an image and a swagger”.
Darius and myself later had a conversation about the impacts having a broadcast team, and what working for the team means in general,
“Now that I am with the Steelheads, its like a dream come true. I am very happy”
By saying that Darius really puts a spotlight on what the OHL community means to so many people, especially within the realm of the Mississauga Steelheads. As everyone was witness to it, the passion that was emulated from Kyle Liberto, Matt Cullen, and Aly Munro as the leads of the broadcast team, could never be replaced, and passion that cannot be learned. Kyle Liberto wishes that everyone takes to social media to continue showcasing how important a broadcast team is for Mississauga as it is known to make a difference to the players! It is with a lot of hope from myself, and many Steelhead fans that the team can in fact regain their image and swagger, and remain on the map of the OHL in the “Chocolate Centre of beautiful Mississauga Ontario”.
While the city, the team, and the league are of course not responsible for such actions that took place, I just felt it was important to highlight the consequences of these unfortunate decisions made it the world of television.
Here are a few videos to spotlight the few dedicated fans discussed above:
Kyle Liberto and his play by play world is delved into a little deeper, explaining the real significance of his former position, courtesy of Elie Cobain “Play by Play Feature”
Darius Domingues is starting to be known as one of the better producers of OHL highlight packages, and here is a clip of what I feel is his best work, 2017-2018 Season Promo “Vengeance” . Also, be sure to check out his weekly Steelhead Fan React videos, posted on his channel that you can find right here, HardcoreSteelheader
GENS LENS 