Wednesday, September 22, 2021

More on Saint John's 2022 host selection

Kevin Chambers/Station Nation
How was Saint John chosen to host the 2022 Memorial Cup?

"In choosing Saint John as the host, there were three things that stuck out," said CHL president Dan MacKenzie in a speech in Saint John on Wednesday. "First, a comprehensive ticket sales plan to ensure Harbour Station is full each night of the event - even when the Sea Dogs are not playing. No. 2, a strong community event portfolio that included the opportunity to leave a lasting physical legacy in Saint John. And finally, the commitment of the bid committee to ensure the event will be operating on a sustainable footprint; be a celebration of the game and the history of this trophy; and inclusive for all."

The Sea Dogs and Quebec Remparts were the only two teams to submit bids. Saint John was officially awarded the tournament on Wednesday morning, a little more than 10 years after the team came up short to host the 2012 tournament.

MacKenzie was asked about the CHL's selection criteria during the question and answer period of Wednesday's news conference.

"One of the things that's very important to the CHL as we come out of COVID is to be in a place where we're going to have an environment for the Memorial Cup and a true celebration," MacKenzie said. "Part of that includes full buildings and full buy in. Not to say that the other bid didn't have that, but we felt, and you could hear it from the speeches today, that this is really important to the group here. 

"The commitment level in terms of full buildings and full community buy in and some of the other elements that were discussed - diversity, inclusion and environmental sustainability - those are all factors that played in to putting the bid a little bit further ahead."

Some of the things that made the Halifax tournament so great in 2019 were free fans events, affordable tickets and a full (or close to) building each night. It sounds like Saint John's bid had a similar vibe.

The full press conference can be seen here.

According to a CHL news release, "the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia site selection committee consisted of Colin Campbell (Sr. Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations, NHL), Natalie Cook (Vice-President of TSN/RDS, Bell Media), Nancy Orr (P.E.I. Chief Provincial Court Judge), Dan MacKenzie (President, Canadian Hockey League), and Sébastien Vézina (Partner, Lavery Lawyers)."

ANNOUNCEMENT
Some cool videos released by the CHL.
OTHER THINGS
  • CBC New Brunswick reports that "hosting the Memorial Cup is usually touted as an economic boon for the host city, with spinoffs often estimated at $1 million a day."
  • CTV Atlantic has a video story on the big announcement.
  • The Telegraph-Journal (paywall) notes an interesting line from bid chair Mark-Anthony Ashfield, who says this selection could inspire other mid-sized markets to push forward with bids.
  • The Chronicle Herald reports that Sea Dogs forward Brady Burns is looking forward to playing in the Memorial Cup.
  • The CHL website looks at Saint John's previous three trips to the Memorial Cup. Personally I have blocked the 2012 semifinal from memory and choose to believe it never really happened!
  • Global News looks at some of the benefits the region can expect from hosting the tournament.
  • Big day for Port City Kia.
  • The Hockey News refers to Saint John as Saint Johns throughout its article. Sad!
  • The CHL is already using the #OneForAll hashtag so it certainly seems like that slogan is locked in.
  • For the conspiracy theorists: a Bell Media executive was on the selection committee and the CHL chose the Sea Dogs over the Quebecor-owned Remparts. There's probably a Reddit thread started about this.
  • We're all in for quite a ride. Enjoy it.
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