Northwest Notes Sept. 24, 2024
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 1 year, 11 months AGO
Five WHL clubs, including Spokane, bid to host 2026 Memorial Cup
Spokane is one of five Western Hockey League clubs — along with the Brandon Wheat Kings, Kelowna Rockets, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Medicine Hat Tigers — to have officially submitted their formal written bids in an effort to secure the hosting rights for the 2026 Memorial Cup.
The five WHL clubs vying to host the 2026 Memorial Cup represent the largest number of CHL teams bidding for this event since six Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) franchises sought to host the 2009 Memorial Cup.
All five franchises from the WHL were required to submit their bid documents ahead of last Friday’s deadline. They will now be asked to formally present their bid before a selection committee in the weeks to come. Each of the bids will be evaluated based on four categories: business operations, local atmosphere/community engagement, event logistics, and hockey operations. Following the evaluation process, the winning bid is tentatively scheduled to be announced by the end of December 2024.
The 2024 Memorial Cup was hosted by Saginaw, Mich., representing the first time in 26 years that the tournament was held in the U.S.
In 2026, a WHL host club will be one of four teams to participate in the 106th edition of the Memorial Cup alongside the playoff champion from each of the WHL, Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and QMJHL.
Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are looking to host this event for the first time in franchise history. Spokane (1998), Kelowna (2004) and Brandon (2010) have hosted before.
Spokane won the Memorial Cup in 1991 and 2008, Medicine Hat in 1987 and 1988 and Kelowna won in 2004.
In the most recent Memorial Cup, the host Spirit defeated the London Knights 4-3 in the final to secure Saginaw’s first CHL championship title in franchise history. By accomplishing the latter, the Spirit became the first CHL club from Michigan to ever win the Memorial Cup and just the third U.S. franchise to accomplish the feat.
Next year’s Memorial Cup will take place in Rimouski, Québec from May 22 to June 1, 2025.