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Bonnyville bids for RBC Cup

The Town of Bonnyville is hoping to prove they're a hockey town once again, submitting a bid for the 2019 RBC Cup.
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The Town of Bonnyville is hoping to prove they're a hockey town once again, submitting a bid for the 2019 RBC Cup.

On March 14, bid committee chair Robb Hunter and co-chair Neil Langridge, also Bonnyville Pontiacs assistant coach, were in front of town council to ask for support.

“It's the national championship for Jr. A hockey in Canada. This will be an event where, if we're successful in our bid, our own Bonnyville Pontiacs will automatically gain entry into the event for the national championship,” Hunter explained to council.

The bid comes on the heels of Bonnyville hosting the World Junior A Challenge (WJAC). The successful international tournament had an economic spinoff of at least $2 million, estimated Hunter. At the wrap-up of the event, both Hockey Canada and the CJHL expressed their admiration for the town's ability to host that magnitude of hockey, by suggesting that Bonnyville consider submitting other bids.

“Before last December, we had the thought that Bonnyville was a hockey town. Then last December, we proved that Bonnyville is a hockey town. We had quite the successful event with the WJAC; everyone enjoyed it and had a great time,” said Hunter. “It's been a little bit of time and we've considered a couple of options of what we could do to again bring world class hockey to our community. One option is a bid for the 2019 RBC Cup.”

The RBC Cup sees five Jr. A teams from across Canada go head-to-head to be the national champions. It includes the first and second place teams from the Western Canada Cup, one team from the east (winner of the Fred Page Cup), one team from the central division (winner of the Dudley Hewitt Cup), along with the host team.

The nine-day long tournament takes place annually in May. This year, it's being held in Cobourg, ON before heading to Chilliwack, BC for 2018.

“This event is bid on much more in communities in Canada than the WJAC is. The competition to get this event in our community will be much greater so our bid needs to be that much better,” Hunter expressed to council.

At this time, the town agreed to provide a letter of support to be included in the bid package, which has already been submitted.

Representatives from the local committee will travel to this year's RBC Cup to present the full bid to Hockey Canada and the CJHL in May.

“I can't think of a reason why we wouldn't support this in a flash,” said Coun. Ray Prevost. “Taking into consideration how the World Jr. A Championship went, the positive comments we got and the negative comments, there were zero.”

Partly due to the fact that it is a longer tournament, the funds needed to host the RBC Cup will be greater than that for the WJAC. However, the economic spin-off is expected to be higher as well. Not only because teams and fans will be in town longer, but due to the fact they're all Canadian teams competing the event Hunter anticipates it would bring in more out-of-town guests.

“If Bonnyville were to make the RBC Cup this year, how many Pontiacs fans would travel to Cobourg, ON to watch their hometown team play and spend an entire week there? If in 2019 the RBC Cup is in Bonnyville, how many fans of the Cobourg Cougars would come out to watch their team if they make it?”

Currently, the Bonnyville committee is already aware of a few other communities competing to host the 2019 RBC Cup, including Brooks and Drumheller.

With a successful international event already under their belt, Hunter believes Bonnyville has a good shot at having the top bid.

“Hockey Canada looks for fan experience, volunteer experience, and athlete experience is probably No. 1. Then the financial, are you able to pull off a successful event from a financial standpoint? Our athlete, fan, and volunteer experience at the WJAC was tremendous. Financially, we did well.”

Excited by the prospect of bringing another prestigious hockey tournament to town, Mayor Gene Sobolewski had one thing to say: “Go for it.”

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