It might come down to show of hands whether Prince George wins the bid to host the 2013 Memorial Cup.
The Prince George Cougars need a greater abundance of fans to start waving their own mitts at Cougar games to show the city is ready to host major junior hockey's national championship tournament.
The Cougars rank near the bottom of the WHL in attendance and the team realizes its lack of fan support could scuttle plans for what would rank second only to the 2015 Canada Winter Games as the highest-profile sporting event in the city's history.
"We've got all the criteria for the bid process -- the facilities, the arena, transportation, hotels -- we're on top of the league in all that," said Prince George Memorial Cup committee co-chair Mike Doran.
"We've got a good product on the ice, the only thing we're missing is fan support. That's definitely lacking and we need more people to come to games. A good show of support for the Cougars on the ice would demonstrate to the league we have that support and will have it for years to come."
With just four home games left in the regular season, time is of the essence for that turnaround to occur. Through 21 home games this season, the Cougars averaged 2,207 fans, down 68 fans per game from last season.
Western Hockey League commissioner Ron Robison said in November if the Cougars are unable to raise attendance figures at their games, the city would not likely be successful in its Memorial Cup bid. The only sellout at CN Centre this season happened in November at the CHL's Subway Series WHL-Russia game.
The Cougars were once the envy of the league in the mid '90s and early '00s when they regularly played in front of near-capacity crowds for every game. That hasn't happened since the team's 2007 playoff run, in which they made it to the Western Conference final.
"We need to send a message to the league and let the league know the city supports this," said Cougars vice-president Brandi Brodsky. "The first thing the public can do is be a part of Cougars' hockey. Come to the games and commit to a season ticket for the rest of the year and for next year and support the team, and we could use that for leverage to support our bid. It's something that's easy to do because there's some pretty good hockey being played here."
Attendance at Wednesday's game at CN Centre between the Cougars and Portland Winterhawks was ??????? An additional 800-1,000 fans at each of the remaining four games this season would help alleviate the bid committee's concerns, Brodsky said.
"I think this city could put forth a bid that's second to none, what worries me is they will look at the lack of attendance as an easy criteria to eliminate Prince George," Brodsky said. "We want to get past that stage."
Lethbridge, Saskatoon, and Red Deer are among the other WHL cities rumoured to be interested in hosting the 2013 Memorial Cup.
The Cougars had considered earlier possibilities to host the tournament in 2001, 2004, 2007, but until the last few years when three new hotels were built, the city lacked enough suitable hotel space. With an estimated 2,000 visitors expected for the four-team round-robin 10-day tournament, the economic impact on the city is expected to reach between $10 million and $16 million.
Prince George committee co-chair Mark Miller said the committee will have to guarantee an operating budget of close to $2.5 million.
"This is a partnership between the community and the Prince George Cougars and we will need corporate support as well," said Miller. "We need to know who we can call and what role they will play."
An estimated 1,000 volunteers will be needed.
The bid committee had hoped to have the 2013 host city guidelines by Feb. 10 but that information won't be available until after the 2011 Memorial Cup in May. Until that date, the Prince George group will use the 2012 tournament guidelines to prepare its bid. A letter of intent must be received by the WHL by April 1. The committee then will have to submit a six- to 10-page bid package by May 15.
On June 15, the Memorial Cup committee will announce its short list of candidates. The decision on the host city will be announced Oct. 15.
The Memorial Cup is hosted by the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and is held every three years in a WHL city. After 2013, the next time Cougars could host it would be in 2016. That's the year after the Canada Winter Games, and Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson said the city would not likely want to take on such a huge undertaking that close to the Games.
