Memorial Cup A Good One

I'm sure many of you have caught a game or two from the Memorial Cup being held in Brandon.

From watching on T.V. it doesn't seem like there are many empty seats at the Keystone Centre. A very good friend of mine from Lethbridge is at the event and has been in the Wheat City watching every game. Here's an email he sent me, from a fans perspective about the tournament:


"Hats are off in salute to the Brandon WheatKings Organizing Committee of the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup. They have done an incredible job of putting together a very polished ten days of hockey and events. It started at Shilo Forces base with a re-dedication of the Memorial Cup. Which led up to the opening game last Friday.

With Shilo so close to Brandon there has been an "honour the military" theme to this Memorial Cup. Rightfully so.

Every one you talk to is impressed with structure and organization of this event. Chairman Jeff Cristall has a great staff working with him and they inturn have amassed an army of over 700 volunteers.

The Keystone Center has a new video score clock, renos to the dressingrooms and 8 new luxury suites. All welcomed additions.

It is really great to see the reaction of each of the former WheatKing players who have returned to drop the puck to start the game. The fans love the touch.

Yes the hockey has been good and it was nice to see the WheatKings rebound from their loss to Windsor and stay in the hunt. Calgary also were shipwrecked by Taylor Hall and the Spitfires who have now won all three games. Hall has been a standout as expected. Oilers GM Steve Tambellini said to me and the other guys I was with, that he was here just to see Hall one more time.

There will be no tie-breaker and that is likely a huge relief to both the Hitmen and the Wheatkings who will face each other in the semi-final on Friday."

There may have been those who disagreed with Brandon getting the Memorial Cup, but this past week has proven that the right choice was made. A city of just over 41,000 has shown the CHL that the Memorial Cup does belong in the smaller (roots of hockey) markets.

Despite who you may be cheering for, I hope for Kelly McCrimmon and the people of Brandon that it is a Brandon-Windsor Final on Sunday."

My friend makes a good point about Brandon getting the Memorial Cup. Personally I think it's great. I had been hearing a lot chatter for the past few years that smaller communities, like Brandon or Lethbridge for that matter couldn't host "the big tournament" for various reasons, but I think Brandon has really opened the door and the playing field for future bids from some of the smaller market teams in the WHL. As many people in Lethbridge know, there has been a lot of talk over the course of the past number of months that the Hurricanes will take a shot at bidding for the 2013 Memorial Cup, which is the next time it will be hosted by the Western Hockey League. With the renovations currently going on at the ENMAX Centre, which should be complete in late 2011 and early 2012, the building would be ready to go to host the event.

There is no doubt this event is bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Brandon economy. When I was in Brandon earlier this season I spoke with one of the organizers of the local Memorial Cup bid there. I was told then this could generate upwards of between 5 to 10 million dollars into the economy in the Brandon area. Everything from hotels, resaurants, busing companies, etc will benefit. It's clear from those that I've talked to that the Wheat Kings have done a bang-up job putting this event on and kudos to them. I truly hope that this will be a template for the Hurricanes organization to follow if they plan to bid for the 2013 event, which I assume they would give big consideration to. My friend talked about the number of volunteers that have stepped up in Brandon. With Lethbridge having more than double the population of Brandon, I don't think finding people to volunteer here, if the Canes' got the tournament would be a problem at all. Again, a big hats off to Brandon!

Thanks,
Pat