Maine Nordiques face thousands of dollars in debt, will not return to Lewiston Colisée

LEWISTON (WGME) – The Maine Nordiques will not return to the Colisee next season.

The new managers of the Colisee announced they could not come to an agreement with the hockey team.

Officials with Mill Town Sports and Entertainment say they would only agree to welcome the Nordiques back if the team paid off their debts, which include employee wages.

“We couldn’t bring Shift Sports back,” Nate Bostic of Mill Town Sports and Entertainment said.

A Lewiston city spokesperson says Shift Sports and Entertainment, the company who owns the Maine Nordiques, owes the city nearly $24,000 in unpaid bills for various services including water and sewer and security.

Bostic, the new co-manager of the Colisee, claims the Nordiques also still owe Colisee employee salaries.

According to Androscoggin County court documents, Shift also owes nearly $26,000 to Northeast Charter and Tour Company, which is a Lewiston bus charter.

“It’s two-sided,” Bostic said. “We want tenants to pay their bills, but it’s also very important for us to pay their bills outside of the Colisee and that they’re paying local hotels, vendors, buses, employees.”

The owner of Shift is based out of South Carolina.

CBS13 tried giving him a call Wednesday, but he didn’t answer, and his voicemail box is full.

Bostic says he wanted Nordiques ownership to agree to pay off their bills, as well as put a payment down to rent the ice for the upcoming hockey season, but he says an agreement could not be reached.

“Hard decision, which was not to invite Shift back,” Bostic said.

The building’s new managers announced the return of another junior hockey team: the Lewiston Maineiacs.

The mayor says that’s all that matters.

“The Colisee is our only sheet of regulation ice here in Lewiston, and I’m beyond excited we still have hockey in Lewiston. Really excited about the Maineiacs,” Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline said.

The mayor also says the city administrator is working with Shift Sports and Entertainment to resolve the unpaid bills. CBS13 also reached out to the general manager of the Nordiques, but he has not responded to requests for comment.