For the first time since 1998, Sudbury will host Canada’s Midget Hockey Championship, as the Nickel City has been named host of the 2018 TELUS Cup.
“This is the only national championship held for male minor athletes so it’s pretty special,” said General Manager of Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves, Albert Corradini.
The tournament began in 1979 as the Air Canada Cup until it was renamed the TELUS Cup in 2003.
It will be the 13th time the tournament has been held in Ontario, and the first time Northern Ontario has hosted since 2013 in Sault Ste. Marie.
Sudbury was the host of the tournament back in 1998 when the Sudbury Nickel Capitals lost in the finals to Riverains du C.C. Lemoyne from Quebec.
Then in 2008, Sudbury broke through and the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves of the Greater North Midget League won the TELUS Cup for the first time, beating the Winnipeg Thrashers.
The success of local minor hockey and the passion of the community played a huge factor into why the 2018 tournament will come to Sudbury.
“When you take a look at bids, the first thing you look at is community support. The second thing you look at is experience,” said Edward Pupich, director with the Hockey Canada board.
“The experience they have shown in the TELUS Cup in the past, hosting it in the past, it was a no brainer.”
In its history, 225 players whose names graced a score sheet in the tournament have gone on to play in the NHL, with players like Wendel Clark and Sidney Crosby among the 53 first round draft picks to have played in the TELUS Cup.
Other names like Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Ron Francis, Mike Gartner and more have participated as well, so the city is in for a real treat when coming out to the games.
“The quality of hockey is tremendous. The quality of the players who are here, you can only envision how good and how fast the hockey actually is, it’s actually a really exciting game,” said Corradini.
And a benefit of hosting is the automatic entry for the Sudbury team.
“I was here in 1998, (and it) started very small but by the end you couldn’t get a seat in the Sudbury Arena, it was just packed. That’s the sort of thing that makes it grow and everyone gets behind it. When we saw the bid, we knew the history, no brainer,” said Pupich.
It’s also a big opportunity for the city; a chance to show off the clear passion for hockey, but at the same time what the city can do in putting on an event of this magnitude.
“It’s a great opportunity to showcase Sudbury’s ability to host a nationwide or international event. It’s a great stage to put our best foot forward and show the world what we can do,” said Wendy Watson, chair of Greater Sudbury Development Corporation.
“From an economic perspective and not that we’re going to look beyond this, but history has proven its success in hosting this event and doing it well, ultimately springboards you to the front of the list with Hockey Canada,” said Corradini.
“Other events like the World U17, World U18, and I’m not suggesting for a minute that’s our focal point, but from an economic impact perspective this is huge for the city. This will be the event in 2018 in Sudbury,”
The 2018 TELUS Cup will feature five of the best midget teams from across the country with the host team making accounting for the sixth.
The final game will be televised nationally.
