No one who attended the 2018 SaskTel Tankard could complain that it wasn’t smoothly run and a blast to cover and play in.
Fans had a good time because Affinity Place was well-organized and things were easy to get to. Food prices at the concession were consistent with what they’ve been all year. Heck, even Power Dodge supplied free coffee and hot chocolate one morning and some of us had (ahem) more than one that day.
Curlers had a good time because they’re curlers and if you give them a sheet of ice and some people to appreciate shotmaking and strategy, they’ll love you.
And the media like myself had a good time covering it because that’s what we do and this is what makes the adrenaline flow.
The city looked good from all those who were able to watch the games from a distance, and those who came enjoyed themselves immensely.
So now the question comes – what’s next? Rumours have been circulating about a 2021 Royal Bank Cup bid for the Bruins, and that idea holds some sense. Having the top few junior A hockey teams for a week here would be an exciting time for a lot of area hockey fans and the economic spinoffs would be amazing. I can’t imagine teams would be happy about their practice rink situation but perhaps somehow that’ll be fixed over the next couple of years.
With no team in the fight, we’ll never get the Telus Cup for midget AAA hockey and any bantam or peewee AA championships just wouldn’t have the average fan on the street engaged enough.
The organizers of this event themselves made themselves a powerful ally in SaskCurl, the organization that can help bring similar and bigger curling events to the city. They dropped some strong hints that there is likely to be something just on the horizon. So what could that be? The World Curlign Championships that have been held in Swift Current in the past? A World Curling Tour (WCT) Pinty’s Grand Slam event? Those are often held in places like Lloydminster, and Ontario cities like Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie – places that are ewither a touch bigger or are veterans to holding major curling events.
I might be wrong but personally, I don’t feel like we’ll get the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts here. The venue and the population base is just a touch too small in order to bring in the kind of revenue needed. I was shocked that organizers in Moose Jaw were able to bring the event there and those who worked on that event put in a ridiculous amount of hours and people-power to get that. It would take a monumental effort locally to pull that off from an organizational standpoint, partuclarly now with the 16-team format plus the play-in game, plus the fact that a lot of the big teams at that level have their own staff of nutritionists, chiropractors, etc.
The Tim Hortons Brier is also a bigger city thing now and will likely never be held in a city this small. Regina is likely as close as we’re ever getting to the Brier geographically.
Realistically, when it comes to curling at least, we’re left with the Worlds and the Slams, both of which would be a blast to cover from a media person’s perspective. If you’re getting Thomas Ulsrud and his Norwegian curling team (and their outlandish pants) here for a week, sign me up.
But in all seriousness I do hope that having the Tankard here is just the first step in turning Estevan into a major curling destination. Everyone has used this pun before except for me, but SaskCurl should hurry, hurry hard to ensure the Tankard experience leads to more future bigger curling events in the city.
Bring on the Pinty’s, I say.
