NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins speaks with media Wednesday afternoon about Medicine Hat not being awarded hosting rights for the 2026 Memorial Cup.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
A day of anticipation and excitement turned into a period of mourning, the chair of Medicine Hat’s Memorial Cup bid committee said Wednesday afternoon.
Brent Sauer chaired the six-person committee that had their hearts broken with the news that the Kelowna Rockets had received the nod from the CHL to host the 2026 Memorial Cup.
“This has been very disappointing, not the outcome we were looking for,” Sauer said in front of media at Co-op Place on Wednesday. “We do congratulate the Kelowna Rockets on being selected, we know they will host a tremendous Memorial Cup. A big thank-you and appreciation to the Maser family for giving us the opportunity to submit a bid and providing us with a tremendous amount of support. We know Medicine Hat was ready to be the host.
“Over the last four months, there’s been many, many meetings and hours and hours of work put into the document and the video submission preparation to host a first-class event.”
The Tigers and Rockets were two of five teams to submit a bid to host the 2026 tournament, alongside the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Brandon Wheat Kings and Spokane Chiefs. Lethbridge and Medicine Hat were the two lone markets that had not previously hosted.
Kelowna was to host the 2020 Memorial Cup, cancelled due to COVID-19, and previously hosted the Memorial Cup back in 2004, marking the first and only time Kelowna has won the CHL’s championship event. They will also be the second straight B.C. market to host, with the Kamloops Blazers hosting in 2023.
“We are excited to be heading to Kelowna for the 2026 Memorial Cup,” said Dan MacKenzie, president of the CHL in a release. “With the largest number of CHL teams seeking to host a Memorial Cup in more than 15 years, the selection process for the 2026 tournament was incredibly competitive given the strong bids put forth by all five bidding clubs, including the Brandon Wheat Kings, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Medicine Hat Tigers and Spokane Chiefs. I’d like to express my gratitude to these four finalists for all the work they put into creating outstanding bids.
“We look forward to working alongside the Kelowna Rockets and the City of Kelowna to make the 106th edition of the Memorial Cup a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both fans and players alike.”
Sauer says they were not provided any reasons why Kelowna was chosen over Medicine Hat but he hopes they might still be able to talk to the CHL’s five-person selection committee to find out what the tipping point was.
“Our facility checked off all the boxes, there were a few minor, little details to take care of, but that was nothing that would have been the decision maker,” Sauer said. “The city council and the province stepped up big time to to support this, and really without their contribution, it would have been much harder to take on.”
The City of Kelowna pledged $3.7 million toward upgrades at Prospera Place, a facility not meeting league standards to host the tournament in 2023.
Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins also spoke Wednesday and shared his disappointment in a separate interview with the News.
“We have an outstanding city, amazing fans, really great facility, great organization, so when you put all that together, it surprises me we wouldn’t get the bid,” Desjardins said. “At the same time, I’m really, really proud of what went into it and the people that were involved. I didn’t know Medicine Hat had all this kind of talent, there’s some really talented people in the city and I was really impressed by it.
“It started with the mayor, city council, I was surprised they would step up in such a big way to support the team. There’s so many things going on with needy causes, and for them to all be behind and step up like that just shows what kind of a city we have.”
Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark shared a statement in the Tigers’ release.
“We are grateful to the CHL for the opportunity to present our bid and extend our heartfelt congratulations to the community of Kelowna on their success,” Clark said. “Thank you to everyone involved in creating our Memorial Cup bid. Without your hard work and dedication, we wouldn’t even have been in the running. We’ll get ’em next time. Go Tigers!”
The Tigers have won five WHL championships and won two Memorial Cup tournaments, winning back-to-back in 1987 and 1988. Desjardins, having coached two of those championship teams, says he was most excited for the fans at the idea of hosting the Memorial Cup and what it would mean for the city.
“Watching Czechia this year at the World Championship, when they won at home, how excited those fans were, that’s what our fans would be like winning the cup here, it’s going to be the best,” Desjardins said. “I thought we deserved that chance, I really did. I thought we deserved that chance to host it in front of our fans. We’ve been part of the league for over 50 years and they’ve never given us that opportunity. I don’t know why they wouldn’t, I don’t know why.”
Both Sauer and Desjardins offered their thanks to council, Medicine Hat’s bid committee as well as Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright, Premier and Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Danielle Smith, as well as Minister of Tourism and Sport Joseph Schow for their support in the bid. The City of Medicine Hat committed more than $1.9 million to help host the tournament, with the province also contributing funds for a successful bid.
There were others around Medicine Hat who contributed to the bid. From Bob Ridley organizing alumni for support and involvement with a successful bid, Tim Machan with the city put together their promotional video, featuring alumni and current players, for the presentation to the CHL. It’s a culmination of work that began with the submission of the intent to bid in June until the final meeting with the CHL on Oct. 30.
After this period of mourning as Sauer described, the focus will shift for the team as they look to get to the tournament on their own.
“They can pick who hosts it, but they can’t pick who wins it,” Desjardins said.
