Hosting the Telus Cup national midget hockey championship is a major score for Prince George organizers, but it may be an even bigger assist on the ultimate goal.
Host committee members finally uttered the words so many hockey fans and economic cheerleaders have been quietly hoping for, for more than 20 years: Memorial Cup.
A contingent from the Telus Cup committee went before mayor and council last week, asking for financial support towards the upcoming midget hockey tournament. They also dropped the puck on the much bigger and more impactful Memorial Cup tournament being a part of the vision.
"We did not apply for the 2017 Telus Cup. Hockey Canada came to us," said host committee member John Morrison. This rare gesture of confidence was based on Prince George hosting the tournament once before in 2001 (it was called the Air Canada Cup that year), and also the Canada Winter Games, plus various other hockey events of provincial and national proportion, all within the well-appointed CN Centre/Kin Centre complex.
"We have the luxury of being one of the very few communities in Canada to host (this national midget tournament) twice," said fellow committee member Shawn Rice. Prince George joins only Calgary, Moncton and Oshawa in that club.
Morrison added that, like the previous hosting opportunities, this event represents a stepping stone to the future.
"We need to make a good show of this Telus Cup," said Morrison. "We will be in heavy contention for hosting the Memorial Cup probably in 2020."
City staff noted that there was room in the municipal budget to provide the amount being requested for Telus Cup support. The committee was asking for about $58,000 but almost all of it will likely be categorized as in-kind donation, not taxpayer cash. Waiving the icetime fees, tasking municipal staff to help do some of the physical work like applying the official logos to the ice, and items like that were built into the request.
Mayor and council voted unanimously in favour of providing that support.
Since the tournament's organizers need to raise approximately $500,000 to ensure the hockey happens as it should and a strong legacy is left behind for future generations, the commitment from city hall was also helpful in setting a sponsorship example. It adds to the $30,000 seed money provided to the organizers by the provincial government in September during the Vancouver Canucks training camp visit to the city. Premier Christy Clark called Prince George "Hockeytown" for all its recent success in the sport, and noted that the host team Cariboo Cougars were in a strong position to win the tournament based on recent on-ice results.
Hockey Canada estimated that each Telus Cup tournament adds about $2 million to each host city's local economy, on average, and that total could go higher depending on the organizational choices made. With the Canada Winter Games experience so fresh, economic generation ideas could easily multiply for Prince George, and part of that expanded benefit could be a strong bid for the 2020 Memorial Cup.
