The outgoing commissioner of the Western Hockey League says a three-year span more than a decade ago helped push it into the national spotlight.
Ron Robison says from 2004, when the Kelowna Rockets won the Memorial Cup on home ice, to 2007, when the Vancouver Giants did the same, the WHL was impossible to ignore.
In between those years was the 2004-05 season when the NHL went on strike and the hockey world focused its attention on junior hockey.
At the 2005 Memorial Cup in London, Ont., the rink was not only overflowing with fans but NHL scouts and general managers. The top three players in that tournament: Sidney Crosby (Rimouski Oceanic), Corey Perry (London Knights) and Shea Weber (Kelowna Rockets).
“You could argue that, looking back at it, that run we had from 2004 to 2007 was really special,” said Robison, who is in Kelowna and will be honoured before Friday’s game between the Rockets and Giants for his 24 years of service.
Robison is stepping down from his post, with his last official day being Feb. 15.
“When Kelowna hosted the Memorial Cup in 2004, it really raised the bar for the standard of the event, both on and off the ice. The community embraced it in a way that we had never really seen before, quite frankly.
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“It set the tone for London to reach that next level as well, and they did. They did a wonderful job.”
That’s true, because at the 2003 Memorial Cup in Quebec City, there was little fanfare of the four-team tournament outside the rink.
In Kelowna in 2004, it was hard to ignore – one building along Highway 97 / Harvey Avenue, for example, had a massive, multi-storey graphic of Kelowna Rockets captain Josh Gorges on it.
But that was then. What about the future?
For Kelowna, hosting a Memorial Cup isn’t in the cards until much-needed rink upgrades — such as more dressing rooms — happen.
If and when those happen remains to be seen, but the hockey world would love to see Kelowna host another Memorial Cup.
When Kamloops played host to the annual tournament, many NHL scouts lamented the fact Kelowna was slated to host in 2020 but had the event cancelled because of COVID.
Robison complimented the Blazers “on the work they did to host the event, and a high standard of events being held in the west.”
He added that should Kelowna’s rink issues be solved, the city “would have a very good opportunity to host in the future. That’s a key criteria for us, obviously, to get the building standards corrected. I’m optimistic that can happen.
“But there’s a lot of work to be done in a short period of time because the bid process (for 2026) will begin this spring and we’re going to need to know what the status is right away.”
Somehow, should Kelowna’s rink issues be solved and the Rockets decide to throw their hat into the bidding ring, they won’t be the prohibitive favourite.
That’s because, for the first time since 1998, American teams will be allowed to bid as a tournament host. This spring, the Saginaw Spirit in Michigan will host the Cup.
“The U.S. (Division) teams, for the first time in many years, are going to have the ability to host. So our six teams in the U.S. are eligible to bid,” said Robison.
“So I think that’s great. Now all of our member clubs have an opportunity to potentially bid for the event.”
The last U.S. Division team to host was Spokane in 1998. Seattle (1992) and Portland (1983, 1986) also hosted.
After the Rockets (20-19-2-0) host the Giants (17-23-2-0) on Friday night, the two teams will meet in Langley on Sunday afternoon.