The final game has been played, the championship trophy has been awarded and the 2022 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons, has come to an end.
From a community perspective, it proved to be everything we had hoped for and then some. It brought people to our city and proved to be a showcase for Estevan. People came here who would have never been here before, and who may not come back again, but they were raving about our city – the people they encountered, the venue where the games were played, the volunteers who helped out, the hotels where they stayed, the restaurants they frequented and the businesses they visited.
So many businesses around town had signs welcoming the visitors to Estevan.
This tournament is going to be a boon for Estevan. Ten teams and their supporters mean lots of money being spent in the city. It wasn’t just a gold mine for hotels and restaurants; it brought a lot of revenue to Estevan that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
You could see the added activity in downtown Estevan and other areas of the city. You could see all of the buses and the other additional vehicles making their way around town. And there were people we’d never seen before strolling around.
Hockey Canada should be very impressed with what we pulled off here. This was not an easy tournament to host. Due to COVID-19, there was all the uncertainty of whether we would have the tournament we were granted back in 2019, and then the competition went from five teams to 10 months before it happened.
But the tournament organizing committee pivoted, navigated the uncertainty and found the necessary volunteers.
The city staff stepped up big time with the long hours associated with more games.
If Hockey Canada decides to shift to a 10-team tournament on a permanent basis, Estevan will serve as a lesson that it can work.
The hockey proved to be great. Yes, there were blowouts, especially early on in the tournament. But it also brought the excitement of junior A hockey at its finest.
Those who attended the May 25 game between Summerside and Ottawa, with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line, were treated to an emotional game with a thrilling finish. Summerside’s goal with 21 seconds to play in the third period will go down as one of the biggest goals ever scored at Affinity Place, as it sent Summerside to the playoff round.
And then there was the double overtime game in the quarter-finals between the Flin Flon Bombers and the Pickering Panthers.
And we got to marvel at the skill of some of the best players in junior A hockey in Canada. This year’s Brooks Bandits might go down as one of the best Canadian junior A teams ever.
Now the question is, what’s next?
From a community perspective, it’s going to be a busy summer, starting with the Estevan Oilfield Technical Society Oilmen’s Golf Tournament this weekend. The Energy City Ex. fair and rodeo from June 9-12, organized by the Estevan Exhibition Association, is going to be big. It’ll largely be something that will attract people from within the community, but it’ll still bring people to our city and create a lot of excitement.
The Estevan Comprehensive School’s grad ceremony is the following weekend.
Next winter will bring the provincial men’s and women’s curling championships to Estevan. This will be another marquee event that will remind people of what we have here and bring more out-of-town dollars.
And we’re now firmly entrenched on Hockey Canada’s radar for future events. It might be a long time before we get to host the Centennial Cup again. For some who were there, it might be the only time we get to experience it in our backyard.
But the Centennial Cup is just one of a number of great national and even international events that can come to a community. They might not have as many teams as the Centennial Cup, and they might not last as long or have the same level of hockey, but they would be great for Estevan all the same.
