Nicholson knows this is the town for big international hockey tilts
Thu Jan 25 2007 | GARY LAWLESS | Winnipeg Free Press
GARY BETTMAN may not think much of Winnipeg as a hockey market, but to Bob Nicholson, there is no better place to stage an event.
Nicholson is in a tight spot these days with the 2008 Men's World Hockey Championship headed for a messy wreck in Quebec City.
So where does Nicholson turn when he needs a handshake agreement for a bailout? Winnipeg, of course.
Where else could a hockey executive stick out his hand and ask for a guarantee of $7 million as well as a promise for an organized and well-attended marquee international event? All put together in just over one year. Nashville, you say? Atlanta? Tampa? Phoenix? Miami?
Please continue reading now that you've recovered from choking on your doughnut. These places may all be part of Bettman's failing NHL vision, but they don't really register as true hockey markets. Not with real people in seats.
Winnipeg, however, does.
So with an organizing committee unable to name a chairman in Quebec City, deposits on less than 300 ticket packages and a new mayor who just last week went back and forth on whether she wants to be responsible for financial commitments agreed to by her predecessor, Nicholson has some issues in La Belle Province.
Out on the Prairies, however, there lurks a white knight with a beautiful state-of-the-art building and a ticket-buying populace that eats up international hockey.
Hell, in 2005 we bailed out the world junior tournament held two hours south of here. Doesn't even have to be in our country and we'll show up in our red and white, buy all the beer for sale and make the event something memorable.
So imagine what we'll do in our own backyard.
In fact, one need not imagine but just remember. In 1999 we set attendance marks with our world junior tournament. In December 2004 we sold out a pair of exhibition games played by Canada's national junior team. And we're in the process of putting on the 2007 women's worlds with the expectation of again setting attendance marks.
Put simply, we're among the top markets in Canada for international hockey events. So why wouldn't Nicholson turn to us in his hour of need? We'll make it right, and he knows it.
The IIHF has never held the men's world tournament in Canada and it hasn't left European soil in 100 years. So imagine Nicholson's horror when faced with the prospect of showing a globally viewed broadcast taped in a rink with empty seats.
The Hockey Canada czar went out on a limb to get this event played in Canada and he doesn't want to watch it go south. But maybe west wouldn't be so bad. The last team our country sent to the world championship included Sydney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Brendan Shanahan, Mike Comrie and Kenora's Mike Richards.
All wearing Team Canada jerseys and playing for our country. Tickets are expected to average in the $65 range for a gold-medal final.
Folks around here will line up for those stubs like they will for free perogies. It's a no-brainer. We'll buy the tickets, get the corporate sponsorships and make Team Canada game-nights memorable.
We'll fill the streets for tournament festivals, host our international hockey brothers and give them a two-week ride they'll never forget.
We are hockey. We know it even if the NHL doesn't. And this will be just another opportunity to let the rest of the world in on our secret. We're Winnipeg, and hockey belongs here.
gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca