For the first time in their history, the Saint John Sea Dogs will host the Memorial Cup.
The Canadian Hockey League announced on Wednesday that the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League club had beat out the Quebec Remparts to host next year’s tournament, which will run from June 3 to 12, 2022.
“Our organization’s heart and soul has gone into realizing the opportunity to hoist the Memorial Cup in our home city,” Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie said in a prepared statement.
“We are ecstatic that our fans will get to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event. This is one of the most significant days in Sea Dogs’ history.”
While this will be the first time the Sea Dogs have hosted the event, they have competed in the Memorial Cup on three occasions as QMJHL champions.
They hoisted the trophy in 2011 after beating the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in the final, lost to the host and eventual champion Shawinigan Cataractes in the semifinal a year later and fell in the semifinal game in 2017 to the Erie Otters in Windsor.
Barring any changes due to COVID-19, the 2022 tournament will mark the first time that the Memorial Cup will have taken place since the 2019 event in Halifax, N.S.
The WHL’s Kelowna Rockets were to have hosted the event in 2020, but the season was cancelled due to the pandemic.
While a host for the 2021 Memorial Cup was never determined, the OHL’s Oshawa Generals and Soo Greyhounds were both vying for the rights to hold the tournament in their respective cities.
Around the WHL
The Saskatoon Blades swung a deal with the Red Deer Rebels on Thursday as they traded overage forward Blake Stevenson for a fourth round pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft that originally belonged to the Victoria Royals and a seventh round pick in 2022.
The 20-year-old Stevenson, who calls Calgary home, had 14 points in 24 games for the Blades last season after being acquired from the Tri-City Americans for a conditional fifth round pick in 2023 last February.
As a result of Thursday’s trade, the Blades now have four overagers on their roster with goaltender Nolan Maier, defenceman Rhett Rhinehart and forwards Evan Patrician and Tristen Robins.
Robins’ status for the upcoming campaign is up in the air, however, as he’s a signed prospect of the San Jose Sharks and could start his pro career.
In addition to Stevenson, forwards Arshdeep Bains, Liam Keeler and Zak Smith are the 20-year-olds currently in the Rebels lineup.
Meanwhile, the Everett Silvertips will be looking for a new play-by-play announcer as Mike Benton has been hired as the pre-game, intermission and post-game host for the Seattle Kraken’s radio broadcasts.
Benton had been the voice of the Silvertips since 2015 and had previously called games for the Stockton Thunder and Alaska Aces in the ECHL.
