The Kelowna Rockets will bid for the 2020 Memorial Cup.
Rockets’ owner Bruce Hamilton made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday in Kelowna.
“We feel that it has been a long time (16 years) since we have had the privilege to host the Memorial Cup,” he said . “From our perspective it’s a great opportunity for our organization and for our city.”
“From a hockey standpoint we feel very confident that we will have an extremely competitive team, and we will be in it to win the tournament. We feel that our fans deserve the opportunity to host this event again,” Hamilton said.
The Rockets have played host to the Memorial Cup once before.
In 2004 Kelowna hosted the prestigious tournament and went on to capture the cup on home ice in front of a sold-out crowd at Prospera Place.
The Rockets bid committee will spend the next five months preparing their bid.
They will present their bid along with the other competing teams at the Annual Governors meeting scheduled for Oct. 3 in Calgary.
After all teams have presented, the Governors will vote and the winning team will be announced at the conclusion of the meeting.
WATCH BELOW: Global Okanagan coverage of the Kelowna Rockets this season