City Belleville, Ontario Conference Eastern Founded 1972 Arena Yardmen Arena | League American Hockey League Division North Home arena Yardmen Arena Location Belleville, Canada | |
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Belleville senators concept goal horn
The Belleville Senators are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) announced to begin play for the 2017–18 season as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ottawa Senators. Based in Belleville, Ontario, the Senators will play their home games at Yardmen Arena.
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Currently, the franchise is playing based out of Binghamton, New York, as the Binghamton Senators.
History
In July 2016, Broome County officials stated that the Ottawa Senators intend to relocate their franchise, then known as the Binghamton Senators, closer to the parent club in Canada for the 2017–18 season, but that the "AHL has committed to staying in Binghamton and Broome County" due to the B-Sens having three more years left on their lease as of 2017. On September 26, 2016, Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk confirmed that he had purchased the Binghamton team and will be relocating it to become the Belleville Senators for the 2017–18 season. In order to accommodate an AHL team, the City of Belleville approved more than $20 million in upgrades to Yardmen Arena once the Senators agreed to an eight-year lease.
