RBC bid pitch made Monday

Yorkton Terrier brass and provincial hockey officials were in Lloydminister Monday making a pitch for the city to host the 2018 edition of the Royal Bank Cup (RBC).

Yorkton is one of three franchises making a bid for the national championships, the others being Brooks, AB., and Chiliwack, BC.

The event was hosted in Yorkton one time previously, 1999. The local Terriers lost out in the semifinals. The Vernon Vipers won the championship 9-3 over the Charlottetown Abbies.

So, what is the key selling point for the Yorkton bid?

Terrier Club president Dave Baron said they want to make the RBC something which will transcend hockey.

“It’s going to be an event, not just a hockey tournament,” he said. “We want to make it a celebration of hockey, and a celebration of Yorkton and District.”

Baron, who officially announced the local Terriers would be making a bid back in February, said to achieve the ‘celebration’ element they will be highlighting the entire Gallagher Centre facility. He said with the Nexera Flexihall, curling rink, lobby and banquet facilities, they can host a variety of events with the RBC as the core draw.

“If we get you there to watch hockey, we can get you into other things too,” said Baron.

As examples, he said the annual Sunflower Show which is such a success each fall could be duplicated in a smaller version during the RBC, or it might be a Ukrainian dance event.

The key will be to highlight not just hockey, but the culture of Yorkton and region.

“We want to show off a little bit,” he said. “We want to show off East Central Saskatchewan.”

And, Baron, who will be joined by Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League president Bill Chow and Kelly McClintock with the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association, and Terrier head coach and general manager Trent Cassan among others for the presentation, said the community has certainly been supportive so far.

“We want the whole district part of this, and so far everybody I’ve talked to is supportive,” said Baron.

As for when a decision will be made, Baron said it could be as early as Friday at the RBC banquet.

However, they have been told if two bids are close, Hockey Canada could decide to do site visits, which would push a final decision several weeks into the future.

The Terriers have been involved in five RBC Championship tournaments. The first was in 1991 in Sudbury ON. when the event was known as the Centennial Cup.

Yorkton was then in Melfort in 1996, and Brampton, ON. in 2006, before finally winning the national crown in Vernon, B.C. in 2014, with a 4-3 overtime win over the Carleton Place Canadians.

The RBC was last hosted by an SJHL team in 2012; Humboldt. This year the event is being hosted by Lloydminster of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and in 2017 it will be held in Cobourg, Ont.