Wednesday afternoon, in the Verdun Auditorium, took place the unveiling of the new Montreal professional basketball team of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (LECB), “L’Alliance”.

Over the past few months, more than 1,500 people took part in the survey to find a name for the team. In all these suggestions, some had proposed “the Alliance”. The final choice was really made one day in May by Annie Larouche, the vice president of the team.

 “It has to be called the Alliance. When I was young, I played outside. That’s my youth, basketball, and it didn’t matter what gender, age or gang you were in, everyone was on the court. It’s community and inclusion, it brings people together,” Larouche told La Presse.

The logo of the new Montreal team is represented as a blue and white wolf surrounded by a red line. It also has a fleur-de-lis that adorns the animal’s forehead.

The logo colours are blue, white and red which are similar colours to the Montreal NHL team “The Canadiens”.

They chose the wolf as their representative animal because they move in packs. “They form a group to hunt their prey, like a team that comes together to win games,” pronounced Mike Morreale, LECB commissioner.

“We want local players, so people can say, ‘I went to school with this player’ or ‘He lived on my street. We want to grow the community,” said Mike Morreale.

Three Quebecers currently play in the NBA and no less than 30, including 24 Montrealers, play in NCAA Division 1. Perhaps future prodigies of “L’Alliance”. Local talent is 

not what is missing.

Also, note that “The Alliance” has named former NBA player Joel Anthony as the team’s general manager. The last thing they need to find is a coach.

The Alliance will play its first game in May 2022. The Scottie-Bowman rink will be transformed into a gymnasium until the end of their season.

It is already possible for future supporters to purchase a season pass on the Alliance’s website.