It's difficult to imagine Hockey Canada choosing to hold the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championship anywhere but Winnipeg. Unless the bid forwarded by the local committee is inexplicably substandard, it's far and away the best choice for this tournament.
Money -- big surprise there -- will be a key factor in Hockey Canada's decision-making, but if the cash is close, the rest of the factors lean heavily in Winnipeg's favour.
Sealed bids are due in Calgary at Hockey Canada headquarters on Tuesday for the 2010 and 2012 events, both of which will be held in Canada.
Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Halifax are the only centres bidding for 2010, and those three cities, plus offers from Toronto and a combined proposal from Calgary/Edmonton, are in the running for 2012.
Scratch Winnipeg off the 2012 list. The guaranteed money coming in from Toronto and the Alberta bid will take the rest of the players out of the game. The tussle for 2010 will be the only fight Winnipeg has much of an opportunity to win, and that proposal has some major juice.
Expect the bids from Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Halifax to wrangle over the event with guaranteed money somewhere between $6 million and $10 million. Vancouver guaranteed $5.5 million for the 2006 tournament and Ottawa went way over the top with its guarantee of $12 million for the '09 tournament.
Ottawa expects to sell somewhere north of 400,000 tickets for its championship, and they'll reach their guarantee. But none of the centres aiming to land the 2010 championship can hit similar targets.
Unless a provincial government or private benefactor is willing to write a ridiculous cheque, the guarantees should be somewhere in the $6 million to $10 million range.
If the bids are tight in the financial corners, Winnipeg moves to the front of the line for a number of reasons.
Just a year ago, Hockey Canada boss Bob Nicholson and a few of his top aides flew to Winnipeg for a hush-hush meeting with True North chairman Mark Chipman to request a size-extra-large favour. Nicholson had his pants in a knot over the lack of progress Quebec City was making on its plans for this spring's world hockey championship and he wanted to know if Winnipeg would be willing to pull him out of the lurch. Chipman didn't blink, reached across the table and offered his hand and his word that Winnipeg would be willing and able should the need arise.
Nicholson stuck the chit into his wallet, hopped a plane to Quebec City and waved it around like a stolen credit card without any concern about the bill he might be running up.
The Quebec committee quickly righted its ship, Nicholson phoned Chipman to tell him thanks, but no thanks, and by the way, "I owe you one."
The time to collect is now. And while Nicholson will be repaying Winnipeg for the favour we did Hockey Canada, the puck bureaucrats will also be helping themselves.
The 2010 world junior tourney would begin in December '09 and finish in January of 2010. Right on its heels, in February 2010, will come the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Two spotlight events in two months time will keep Hockey Canada very busy. Likely too busy.
Awarding the juniors to Winnipeg, however, would, in effect scrape, one of the events entirely off Nicholson's plate. Sure, he'd have to fly out for a few games, but he'd be safe in the knowledge that the folks at True North and the rest of the Winnipeg committee would stage a profitable, first-class event.
Winnipeg's track record in hosting hockey tournaments of this magnitude is spotless. From the 1999 juniors, to the 2005 junior training camp, to last year's women's worlds, Winnipeg has consistently delivered, and no one knows this better than Nicholson.
Halifax and Saskatoon are nice places and have solid pedigrees of their own. But with the Olympics breathing down Nicholson's neck, he'll want the path of least resistance, and that's definitely Winnipeg.
This city's most recent foray into international hockey, last winter's women's world championship, took that event to a new level in both revenue and excitement.
Hockey Canada wants its cheque, but it also wants the players and IIHF officials to leave an event raving about the organization and the spirit. Winnipeg does both.
So do yourself a favour, Mr. Nicholson: Forgo the headaches and sign us up. We're ready.
gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca
PREVIOUS
