Canes among five teams to officially bid for Memorial Cup

By Lethbridge Herald on September 23, 2024.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes are among five Western Hockey League teams officially vying to host the 2026 Memorial Cup.

On Monday, the Canadian Hockey League announced that the Hurricanes along with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Brandon Wheat Kings, Kelowna Rockets and Spokane Chiefs have officially submitted bids for the club.

This is the largest number of CHL teams seeking to host the event since six teams in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League put in bids to host the 2009 Memorial Cup.

All five WHL franchises 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. 

Among the five clubs, there is at least one team from each of the WHL’s four divisions (U.S., B.C., Central and East Divisions). Spokane is aiming to host the event on the heels of what was a successful 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow in Saginaw, Michigan. The 2024 Memorial Cup ultimately represented the first time in 26 years that the tournament was held in the U.S. and its first-ever occurrence in Michigan.

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.

Both the Hurricanes and Tigers are hoping to host the tournament for the first time in the history of their franchises.

Among the five teams are five Memorial Cup champions with the Tigers winning in 1987 and 1988, Spokane in 1991 and 2008 and Kelowna in 2004.

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