Angelica Haggert
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey
club championship trophy awarded annually
to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL)
champion. Sixty teams from nine provinces
and four states compete each year for the
Memorial Cup in a round-robin
championship event. The Cup championship
is 99 years old.
This year, the City of Windsor and the
Windsor Spitfires host the tournament May
19-28 at the WFCU Centre.
What do you need to know?
This is the first year Windsor has hosted
the Memorial Cup and it is only the fourth
time the Windsor Spitfires will participate in
the tournament. In 2009 the Spits won on
their first visit to the Memorial Cup in
Rimouski, Quebec. The Spitfires defended
their championship in 2010 in Brandon,
Manitoba.
The last team to host the
tournament AND win was the Shawinigan
Cataractes in 2012.
To celebrate, the City of Windsor and the
Spitfires are hosting a number of events,
including a free celebration for the arrival of
the Memorial Cup, a Cup tour, military
displays on site at the WFCU Centre and a
CHL alumni game.
On May 25 “Witness The Legacy: The
Memorial Cup Arrival,” as the trophy arrives
aboard a Canadian Coast Guard patrol vessel
and docks at Dieppe Gardens. The Cup will
then embark on a military-led parade to the
Cenotaph on University Avenue, followed by
a parade to the Essex County War Memorial
(City Hall Square). After that, the cup will
travel to each of the 10 wards of Windsor,
For Memorial Cup game tickets and more
information, click here
stopping at locations such as Roseland Golf
and Curling Club, Devonshire and Tecumseh
Malls and the Forest Glade Library.
The CHL alumni game will be played on
May 27, with partial ticket proceeds
benefiting Smilezone, a charity for children
with health difficulties. Music groups
including Big Wiggle, White Noise and United
Snakes will play before and after each game
on the AM800 Community Rink turned
“Molson Hockey House.”
As a part of the Memorial Cup 2017
legacy, a Remembrance Garden has been
planted outside the WFCU Centre. It is
expected that by the time of the cup, a mix of
red and white tulips, along with a special
Canadian Celebration Bulb created for
Canada’s 150th anniversary, will be in bloom
on Mickey Renaud Way. The tulips represent
an appreciation for the Canadian-led
liberation of the Netherlands during World
War 11, for which the Dutch gifted over
100,000 tulip bulbs to the citizens of Canada.
They also symbolize the relationship between
Canadian and Dutch forces, who fought
together in Afghanistan.
There are single game ticket and combo
packages available for spectators as well as
full tournament packages.
Where are you exploring this spring? Tell us about it!
Use the tag #ExploringMatters on Facebook and Twitter to let us know!
8 The HUB -May2017