SASKATOON – Saskatoon has concluded its second Memorial Cup and again local fans came out to show Saskatchewan’s dedication to hockey from May 17 to 26.
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) championship featured the London Knights, the Halifax Mooseheads and the Portland Winterhawks, as well as the host team, the Saskatoon Blades.
The Mooseheads claimed their first Memorial Cup, beating the Portland Winterhawks 6-4 in Sunday’s final.
It’s no doubt, the 2013 Memorial Cup was not lacking in headlines. The Blades hoped to redeem themselves from a first-round knockout during WHL playoffs. After upsetting the top-ranked Mooseheads in the round robin, the Blades were eliminated in a tiebreaker game against the Knights.
A hit by Blades Dalton Thrower on Winterhawk’s Taylor Leier stirred up a little controversy during the tournament. Thrower was suspended for the remainder of the tournament while Saskatoon’s Leirer suffered concussion-like symptoms.
Yesterday, the Blades announced they traded Thrower back to his hometown of Vancouver.
On May 18th, Saskatoon singer Alexis Normand fumbled the US national anthem during a game’s opening ceremonies. Normand got another chance at a later game and completed ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ without the crowd’s help.
Credit Union Centre (CUC) celebrated its 25th anniversary this past February with the Saskatoon Blades. Back in 1988 the arena, formerly Saskatchewan Place, seated 7,800 and now seats about 15,000 for good reason.
In February, the Blades set an all-time attendance record of 12,588 during their 18 game winning streak and 25th anniversary game.
Fans in Saskatoon did not disappoint at the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup, achieving the fourth-highest attendance total in championship history.
“The hard work of our volunteers has delivered a first-class event and we’re proud to have hosted the hockey world in Saskatoon,” said Jack Brodsky, co-chair of the event.
Vancouver’s 2007 Memorial Cup still holds the highest attendance record. To date, Saskatchewan appears three times in the top ten of highest attendance.
Saskatoon’s 2013 Memorial Cup tallied 82,503 attendees for an average of 9,167 fans a game. The Bridge City beat their previous tournament attendance of 77,296.
The Saskatoon Blades last hosted in 1989 and lost out in overtime to the Swift Current Broncos in the championship game.
The tournament also had an abundance of special guests such as hockey greats Gordie Howe, Bryan Trottier and Bernie Federko as well as appearances by Harlequin, Loverboy and Lord Stanley’s Cup.
The CHL Awards Gala was held on Saturday at the Remai Arts Centre. The Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy for MVP went to Mooseheads Nathan MacKinnon who totalled 13 points in the tournament.
MacKinnon was also named to the 2013 Memorial Cup All-Star Team along with forwards Martin Frk (Halifax) and Ty Rattie (Portland). All-Star defencemen were Konrad Abeltshauser (Halifax) and Derrick Pouliot (Portland).
Blades Andrey Makarov was the all-star goalie and received the top award for goaltending. The 19-year-old Russian accepted the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy in his second WHL season.
Tourism Saskatchewan said the tournament is expected to generate $19 million in revenue.
Comments