The Brandt Centre is quiet for now, but next Friday the Regina Pats will be hitting the ice to take on the OHL champions in the Memorial Cup.
There’s plenty of work left for the teams trying to make the tournament and the organizers preparing to host the best junior teams from across the country.
“It’s going to be all hands on deck once this gets going,” said entertainment coordinator Neil Donnelly.
The puck drops on the tournament’s first game at 8 p.m. on May 18.
“It’s hard to imagine the time has flown by this quick,” said Shaun Semple, chair of the organization committee. “We put in our application back in 2016 – over 16 months ago.”
The celebrations kick off with an Eagles concert in Mosaic Stadium on May 17. From there, the action will shift the Brandt Centre ice, with games scheduled for the next nine days. Concert and game tickets are still available.
“It’s not sold out yet, but tickets are going fast,” Semple said. “We did put the single-game tickets up, so those are selling now. As far as the seats, the selection is limited but there are still good seats out there.”
More than 500 volunteers and staff are working to set up the stage and event venues, including a Hockey Hall of Fame exhibit, Celebration Zone with live entertainment, and a Fan Fest area with free activities.
“It’s going to be a long go for us,” Donnelly said. “It’s been over a year of prep and we hope we do it justice.”
Event coordinators say they expect more than 30,000 people to attend the Memorial Cup festivities.
With files from CTV Regina's Josh Diaz
