More on the 2022 Memorial Cup bid

The biggest and most obvious question facing Saint John's 2022 Memorial Cup bid: does the original "We Want The Cup" video still hold up 10+ years later?

It's actually pretty okay.

April 7, 2011 was when the 2012 Memorial Cup selection committee awarded the tournament to Shawinigan. After several months of hype and campaigning, it was a heartbreaking day for the Sea Dogs and the city.

The selection committee visited Saint John on Feb. 9, 2011. It was a full day of events, which included Kevin Gagne speaking at a school and a reception at the Imperial Theatre. Here's how the teams were reportedly judged for the 2012 tournament (which may be different than how Saint John and Quebec will be judged this year):

1. Logistics - Accreditation plan, hotels, etc.

2. Hockey operations - Will the team be competitive?

3. Host facility - Does it have large enough seating capacity, enough luxury suites, big enough dressing rooms, a state-of-the-art score clock?

4. Strength of the organizing committee

5. CHL Events - Are there adequate facilities to host such events as the awards banquet and golf tournament?

6. Sales and marketing - Is there enough corporate sponsorship?

7. Finance - How will a team foot the bill?

It feels like Saint John is more of the underdog than the favourite this time around - but 2012 showed us that nothing is certain or guaranteed. The major knock on the Remparts will be the fact that they've hosted the event twice in somewhat recent history: 2015 and 2003.

More takeaways on the 2022 bid:

• How prepared are the Sea Dogs to put their bid package together? “During the pandemic when the team wasn’t operating, we were able to keep our team busy working on this in the background during that time,” Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie told CHSJ. 
• The Sea Dogs have extended their season ticket renewal deadline given the 2022 announcement. The team notes that some season ticket holders may not be able to have their usual seats if Saint John hosts due to CHL requirements (sponsors, media, etc.).
• Ticket prices for the tournament are never cheap - but hopefully, no matter which city hosts, they follow the Halifax model and make prices reasonable. Every game of the 2019 tournament was at or near capacity.
• East Coast GameDay notes that Saint John would be just the third Maritime city to host the Memorial Cup (Halifax in 2000 and 2019 and Moncton in 2006).
• TD Station will presumably need some upgrades - even some temporary ones, at the very least - if Saint John is awarded the tournament. That's certainly noteworthy given that the arrangement between the building and the Sea Dogs has been in the news a lot lately.
• The Sea Dogs previously kicked the tires on bids in 2017 (when it was believed the QMJHL would host that year) and again (briefly) for the 2019 tournament.
• There's an argument to be made that 2022 is perhaps Saint John's best shot at hosting this decade. If you look ahead to 2025 and 2028 (assuming the current rotation and format continue) you've got Moncton, Gatineau and even Halifax (again) to compete with.
• Losing the 2012 bid sucked but the rivalry between Saint John and Shawinigan during the 2011-12 season was so, so good. It probably won't reach that level of nasty between the Sea Dogs and Remparts, but we can dream. The two teams meet on Nov. 4 in Quebec City and Jan. 20 in Saint John.