INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE TO DECIDE 2012 HOST

One thing is certain, the Saint John Sea Dogs are taking the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup very seriously. But whether or not the team hosts the Canadian Hockey League’s national championship is not a sure thing.

The Sea Dogs organization has stated several times that they plan on bidding to host the week long event and are even using the possibility of hosting the tournament as a season ticket incentive. The following was issued in the Sea Dogs’ season ticket brochure:

Our front office is already hard at work preparing a bid to host the 2012 Memorial Cup Tournament, and we’re confident that our outstanding on-ice product in conjunction with our first-rate facility and tremendous fan support will go a long way towards ensuring that this prestigious event will indeed be staged in the great city of Saint John.

Saint John’s bid, along with all of the other teams who are also trying for a chance to host, will have to go through an independent selection committee. The issue of who should decide the host city was voted on yesterday at the QMJHL’s Board of Governors meetings in Rouyn-Noranda, Que.

"The Board of Governors was very clear in regards to the question of who should decide the site of the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup," said QMJHL Commissioner Gilles Courteau in a release. "The Board of Governors voted unanimously to mandate an independent committee to choose the site of the next MasterCard Memorial Cup as was the case for the 2009 event in Rimouski. Over the course of the next few weeks, steps will be taken to select the members of the independent committee."

Also from the QMJHL’s release:

Timelines have already been set regarding the process. Teams interested in making a bid for the event must request the bid guidelines to the Canadian Hockey League prior to September 15th, 2010. A brief which underlines the ability of bidding franchises to host the event must then be forwarded to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s head office prior to November 30th, 2010. The independent committee will begin touring potential sites early in 2011. A decision is expected in April.

The Halifax Mooseheads, Shawinigan Cataractes, and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are three other known teams expected to make a bid for the tournament. The QMJHL hosts the Memorial Cup every three years.

This year’s tournament will be held in Mississauga, Ontario.