As soon as the new Western Canada Cup format was announced in 2012, with the hosting duties rotating among the four western leagues, we knew the Estevan Bruins would go after it.
With a gem of an arena in Affinity Place, a city large enough to accommodate the influx of people and a stellar base of volunteers, it was a no-brainer for the Bruins to go after a marquee event for the city.
It was confirmed at the SJHL's annual meetings on the weekend that the Bruins, Melville Millionaires and Yorkton Terriers are the three teams interested in bidding on the event.
Those are no surprise either. Yorkton is the largest market in the SJHL, boasts a fine facility in the Farrell Agencies Arena, and hosted the RBC Cup in 1999.
Melville is a proud hockey town with a rich tradition and also owns a new rink.
Affinity Place is the key to Estevan's bid. It is the best arena in the SJHL and puts some major junior barns to shame. There is plenty of seating capacity for the large crowds of people that will come and the private boxes are a perk. There's also lots of room for visiting media.
Farrell Agencies Arena and the Horizon Credit Union Centre in Melville are both nice arenas as well and rank up there near the top of the league, but they aren't Affinity Place.
The FAA was built in 1977 and has a smaller capacity. The HCUC, while opened the same year as Affinity Place, is smaller and visiting radio broadcasters will have a nightmare with the lack of press box space.
If the Bruins do win the right to host, it will be interesting to see how it affects their plans for next season. Teams that host the WCC or RBC Cup usually load up for that season by trading away veterans for futures the year before.
However, with David Robertson, Wyatt Garagan and R.T. Rice being the only 20-year-olds eligible to return next year, this team is already set up to make a run in 2015-16. It will be a young and talented team in 2014-15 and I don't think the club would want to jeopardize its chances of success by trading away a player like Robertson.
With the Summer Games already coming to Estevan in 2016, it could be quite a year if the Bruins win the bid.
Contact Josh Lewis at 306-634-2654 or sports@estevanmercury.ca. Can we just agree that CFL players should stay off Twitter to avoid saying stupid things?
