Shirley Bond got to the rink early Saturday morning for a hockey-rated matter and, for the occasion, she was not wearing her hat as B.C.'s Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skill Training.
She was there to watch her seven-year-old grandson play a game.
The MLA for Prince George-Valemount returned to the Kin Centre Saturday afternoon for an official duty and this one was dear to her heart. Bond announced the province is providing $55,000 to share the cost of the city's role as host of the 2017 Telus Cup midget hockey national championship. The province has already contributed $30,000 through the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development's major events program.
"One of the important things that's a growing phenomenon in British Columbia is the whole issue of sport tourism, so we set up a fund to support great sports and cultural events right across the province that have national significance," said Bond.
"I'm very delighted today to be able to deliver an extra $55,000 to the organizers of the Telus Cup. We know it's going to make a difference not only on the ice but off the ice when it comes to the economy. We're going to see people come and visit and when this is broadcast on TSN, that's really important for Prince George. In total, the province will invest $85,000 and we think there's going to be a great return on investment for that."
The 19-game, six-team tournament, April 24-30, will include the Cariboo Cougars, Northern B.C.'s major midget team, either as the host team or as the Pacific regional champion. Teams representing the Atlantic, Quebec, Central and West regions will also be coming to Prince George for the event, which starts on Monday, April 24 with games at noon, 4 and 7:30 p.m.
The final game will be televised live on TSN.
Tournament co-chair John Morrison, who heads the organizing committee with Shawn Rice, said the cost of putting on the seven-day event will be between $400,000 and $450,000, most of which will be raised through corporate sponsorships and ticket sales.
Morrison anticipates there will be a legacy fund after the tournament to help local minor hockey teams. He was part of the organizing committee in 2001 when Prince George hosted the tournament, then known as the Air Canada Cup. That week-long event left a $30,000 legacy.
Morrison welcomed the additional provincial government funding and wasn't surprised Bond was on hand to make the announcement.
"I see her at the Spruce Kings games, the Cougars games and the Cariboo Cougars games – so she's not doing it for political gain, in my opinion, as much as she really loves the sport and the zone that she's representing," said Morrison. "It doesn't hurt to have a connection."
Tournament passes are now on sale for $79, which includes the gold- and bronze-medal games on Sunday, April 30. That works out to about $4 per game. Single tickets will be made available at a price yet to be determined but the price of each ticket will be substantially more per game as compared to the entire package price.
All Telus Cup games are scheduled for CN Centre. However, if the WHL Cougars advance to the third round of playoffs, the Cougars would get priority over the midget tournament and on days the Cougars are at home, Telus Cup evening games would instead be played at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena. WHL playoff series begin with two games at the home of the higher-seeded team. Until the third-round matchups are determined, the Telus Cup committee won't know which days could be affected. Morrison said the WHL dates that would conflict with the tournament would either be Tuesday and Wednesday or Wednesday and Thursday.
"In one scenario (the WHL) Cougars will have one game here and in the other scenario they'll have two games here," said Morrison. "We're working with Hockey Canada and they're working with the WHL to try to get the best possible schedule."
A change of venue also creates additional costs for the committee if rinkboard advertising has to be moved from one rink to the other. Morrison said there's no possibility of playing games at Kin 1 due to the fact that rink is hosting a home show that week and the ice will be taken out.
Currently the frontrunners in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League, the Cariboo Cougars are intent on winning the Pacific regional championship, which means they would have to win their league playoffs then defeat the Alberta champion in a best-of-three series.
"It does put pressure on us because we have the team to do it, but it's pressure that we all want," said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague, on hand for the announcement with his team and some members of the Thompson Blazers, who were in town for a weekend doubleheader with the Cats.
"Every year I'm saying we want to go to the Telus Cup and we have to be Team Pacific to do that and this is no different than any other year. We want to go to the national championship and represent British Columbia."
