Clarenville will host 2015 Allan Cup

Hockey fans in Clarenville got a dose of good news this weekend – the town announced that it will host the 2015 Allan Cup.

The tournament is the country's top prize in senior men's hockey.

Todd Cole, the rink manager at the Clarenville Events Centre, said the town is excited to have so much hockey being played at home.

"They are so excited that finally we're doing the Allan Cup, the national triple A championship, on our home turf, for our home fans," he said.

The town has wanted to host the tournament since 2011, when the Clarenville Caribous won the Allan Cup.

"At that time, the town of Clarenville sent me up with the goal of 'Let's get this tournament here,'" Cole said.

"It's something that, from an economic development perspective, is huge. And from a hockey perspective, it's even probably larger."

Economic boost

Frazer Russell, deputy mayor of Clarenville, said the town is excited to host the event.

"It's a week-long tournament – very high calibre. It's teams with players from major junior experience, with American Hockey League experience – a great level of play – and certainly something that our fans will look forward to in 2015," he said.

Russell said the economic boost from hosting a tournament of this size will be huge.

"You will be looking at anywhere from 400 or 500 people coming from outside of the province, coming to Clarenville for a week-long event," he said.

"To the best of our estimates, it would have somewhat of an impact of about $750,000 on the Clarenville economy in April month, which is a time of the year which is not peak season."

Hotels in the area have already started booking up for the 2015 tournament.