'Something to look forward to': Saint John prepares to host 2022 Memorial Cup

Saint John prepares to host Memorial Cup A cloud of COVID-19 uncertainty hangs over the Memorial Cup, scheduled for Saint John, N.B., this spring.

As the stage is set for the City of Saint John in New Brunswick to host its first ever Memorial Cup, the chair for the event says the majority of the tickets have already been sold, with only about 20 per cent remaining.

There are only about four months left until the puck drops in one of Canada’s most prestigious sporting events. The Saint John Sea Dogs’ successful bid for hosting rights means the tournament will be held at TD Station this summer.

“Our vision for this event was always a takeover of the region,” says host committee chair Mark-Anthony Ashfield. “Everyone around here is going to know the Memorial Cup is happening.”

Although pandemic restrictions are being eased in many parts of the country, there is still the cloud of COVID-19 concerns hanging over the heads of organizers.

“No surprise to anyone, there’s been a bit of a disruption in everything that’s going on these days. But I would say everything is tracking very well with the Memorial Cup,” says Ashfield.

“We anticipate to have an event like we had planned all along, in spite of some of the recent disruptions, and really, really thankful that things look like they’re opening up.”

Halifax hosted the last Memorial Cup in 2019 – reportedly generating almost $18-million for businesses in the province.

With so many businesses impacted by the last two years of the pandemic, there is hope that this event could bring a much needed boost to hotels, restaurants and other industries in and around the Saint John region.

“The pandemic has been hard on everybody,” says David Duplisea, CEO of the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce. “Now that there’s something to look forward to, there’s hope on the horizon. There’s a big ticket event coming here.”

For an event of this size, Ashfield says between 400 and 500 volunteers are needed. After a call was put out about two weeks ago, they’ve filled about 70 per cent of the volunteer positions.

“This event is going to happen in June, it’s going to happen in Saint John, and we’re hoping by then it’s going to be a great time where we can all get together and have a full building,” says Ashfield. “That’s the plan.”