LETHBRIDGE’S LAST STAND?

If it doesn’t happen this time—will it ever?

It is official: the Lethbridge Hurricanes will bid to host the 2013 Memorial Cup. In early August, the Western Hockey League club made it known publicly that it wants to hold the prestigious event, the culmination of the major junior hockey season in Canada.

The team now has over a year to get its ducks in order, and make its bid proposal to the league’s Board of Governors next October. At the moment, the ‘Canes are the only club to formerly announce its intentions. Rolling around in the old rumor mill is that a number of other cities will put a proposal together as well, with Saskatoon, Kelowna, Everett and Red Deer all possibilities.

Of course, the Hurricanes have tried to host the Mem Cup on previous occasions, only to see another city win the honours after the selection process. The locals’ last attempt came in 2004 but they lost out to the Kelowna Rockets.

So, what makes things different this time around? Well, the team is banking that a 30- million-dollar and change refit to the Enamx Centre will make the biggest impression.

The renovations at the old Sportsplex are set to be finished in time for the start of the 2011-2012 WHL season. There will be many improvements—a wider concourse, additional luxury boxes, a permanent lounge and banquet area and a video scoreboard—to name a few. It will make the Enmax Centre as up-to-date as it possibly can get.

So, with a top-notch building, the Hurricanes can compete with pretty much another rink in the WHL, outside of the major centres like Calgary and Edmonton. For instance, Brandon, which hosted the last Mem Cup, had a building with less capacity, and far fewer luxury boxes at Westman Place, than what the Enmax will have after the renos.

Yet, even with the building soon to be in its best shape ever, it still seems like the ‘Canes hosting the next Memorial Cup will be a long shot. When you look at the past hosts from the WHL, one thing really stands out—community owned teams have rarely ever held the event. And that folks, is something that’s not going to change around here (at least not for now).

Having private ownership has its privileges. Just look at the teams that have hosted the Memorial Cup out west in recent years. Kelly McCrimmon owns Brandon. Ron Toigo owns Vancouver. Bruce Hamilton owns Kelowna. Russ Parker owns Regina. These are the Dub’s power players, and in the end, they can get the other governors on board to back them to win a bid.

The last WHL community run team to hold the event was Kamloops back in 1995. But, 15 years ago, it was a different climate, with different expectations for any host franchise.

For the Hurricanes to have a shot in 2013, pretty much everything in their bid proposal will have to be perfect. But mostly, the locals will have guarantee the money is there. In fact, the organization will probably have to ensure the other WHL franchises that more revenue will be made here in Southern Alberta than in any opposing centre.

Just looking at the territorial map, Lethbridge has very few natural supporters among the other Dub clubs. If Red Deer bids, the Rebels owned by Brent Sutter, can safely expect the Calgary Hitmen (owned by the NHL’s Flames, with about 23 other Sutters on the payroll) to get their support.

If Saskatoon is the only Saskatchewan entry, then it makes geographic sense that the other teams in that province will back the Blades. Still, our team has to hope that other community owned teams, like those in Moose Jaw and Prince Albert may see the Hurricanes bid as an opportunity to follow suit in the future.

But if the Hurricanes can guarantee a big pile of cash for the other teams, as much as we like to think bids are won for other reasons, in the end money can be the ultimate motivator.

Off the ledger, Lethbridge and area has shown in the past that it can put on a top-notch national event. Just a few years ago, the city successfully hosted the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which was widely praised by the curlers and the fans that traveled from across Canada to attend. Along with the Canada Games back in 1975, and numerous national and provincial championships, I believe the community spirit in our region is second to none.

But, will that be enough? If the Hurricanes cannot get the Memorial Cup in 2013, when will the organization? The building will never be better. This spring, Brandon showed a smaller community is often better than a large centre when it comes to hosting the Mem Cup because it rallies around the event, where in Vancouver there are a thousand other things going on as well.

The Hurricanes board believes the time is now for Lethbridge. The bid committee will need to work hard to put together the best proposal the WHL Board of Governors has ever seen.

And, unfortunately, it still may not be enough to bring the Memorial Cup to the ‘Bridge.