National midget division hockey championships coming to Thunder Bay

The Canadian national midget division hockey championship will be on the line at the Fort William Gardens in 2019 as Thunder Bay plays host to the 46th-annual TELUS Cup tournament.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from April 22-29, 2019, when the Thunder Bay Kings midget team will compete against five to-be-determined regional midget hockey champions from different parts of the country (Atlantic, Central, Pacific, Quebec, and West) for the championship.

Kings 'ecstatic'

"For the Kings to host the 2019 TELUS Cup, I think as an organization we're ecstatic," said Gary Linquist, president of Thunder Bay Kings AAA Minor Hockey. "To us, it's showing growth with our organization, and a new era of the Kings organization."

Linquist said the Kings organization bid on hosting the tournament, despite the challenge it presents.

"We're such a small board, we're only, right now, 14 people," he said. "We only have four teams, we're not a big organization."

"We thought, you know what, just jump in with two feet, do it," Linquist said. "It's something that needs to be done. It's good for the City of Thunder Bay."

Major economic impact

John Cameron, development officer with Thunder Bay's tourism division, said the event has the potential for creating an economic impact of $5 million for the city.

"These players and fans are here for a total of seven days," he said. "It has a big economic impact on our city."

"The fact that this event comes with a TSN broadcast of the final game, that just gives us great national exposure, as well."

Cameron said the bid process cost about three or four thousand dollars.

He added that some challenges may present themselves due to the tournament taking place in the aging gardens facility. But, he said, the gardens is capable of hosting the event.

"It's an opportunity to showcase that we can still host events," he said.

The tournament schedule has not yet been announced, nor has ticket information.

In a media release, Hockey Canada said that many future NHL players have played in the tournament since its inception in 1974. That includes 53 first-round draft picks, three No. 1 selections (Gord Kluzak, Wendel Clark and Sidney Crosby) and eight future Hockey Hall of Fame inductees (Glenn Anderson, Ron Francis, Mike Gartner, Al MacInnis, Larry Murphy, Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman).

The last time Thunder Bay hosted the event was 1988.

The 2018 TELUS Cup will be hosted by Sudbury.