It's Memorial Cup Week and Innisfail took its turn to welcome the celebrated trophy that is the symbol of Canadian junior hockey supremacy.
While the hockey tournament action officially got underway on Friday (May 20) in the official host city of Red Deer, the cup was brought to the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion Saturday (May 21) for the public to have a peek at one of the sport's most sacred symbols, as well as the history behind it. The Memorial Cup tournament, which was last played in Alberta in 1974 when Calgary was the host city, is also scheduled to make a local appearance at the MasterCard Memorial Cup Golf tournament on May 26 at the Innisfail Golf Club.
“It is great to see all the young people coming out and getting their picture taken,” said Danny Rieberger, a town councilor and member of the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion who brought his seven-year-old son Bergen to see the trophy. “It was very impressive that we could get this here to the legion and Innisfail and be part of the Red Deer event.”
Mike Barclay, the Innisfail legion's sergeant-at-arms, said it was important for members and the general public to know that the original meaning behind the Memorial Cup was to show support for Canada's fallen soldiers.
“It is a great way to honour the military and as well to honour the winners from the Canadian junior hockey leagues,” said Barclay, noting the Red Deer national tournament is a celebration all Central Albertans can justly join. “It's not just for Red Deer but for all the area's towns and getting everybody pumped up for this once in a lifetime chance to be able to see this event. It is the Canadian championship of Canadian hockey, and getting all the communities involved is a great thing.”
The Memorial Cup, originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup, was created and first awarded in 1919 as a memorial to remember the OHA (Ontario Hockey Association) players who died during the First World War. The trophy was rededicated for the 2010 tournament to honour all soldiers who died fighting for Canada in any global conflict.
Phil Penner, vice chair of community initiatives for the host organizing committee, noted while there are Memorial Cup events – the golf tournament, opening reception and awards banquet – that happen every year, the committee felt it was important to expand the celebration throughout Central Alberta by working with legion branches. After the cup was brought to Innisfail for the morning of May 21, it was taken to the legion branch in Lacombe for the afternoon. The trophy will be brought to the Olds legion on Tuesday (May 24) afternoon from 1 to 3 p.m.
“We see the excitement in a number of different way,” said Penner, adding he first noticed it last fall when organizers were recruiting volunteers. “We needed 500 volunteers for the event. We used an online registration process and we were full in two days,” he said.
“We saw the interest and willingness to be involved then, and then we really had it again during the cup arrival ceremony on Thursday morning,” added Penner. “Previous hosts of the Memorial Cup had told us that they had not found a real good way to gauge how active community involvement and participation was going to be in that event. It had been hit and miss. Going into Thursday morning we knew we had an impressive event lined up but we didn't know what it was going to be like either, and we were thrilled.”
Mike Barclay, Innisfail legion's sergeant-at-arms
"It's not just for Red Deer but for all the area's towns and getting everybody pumped up for this once in a lifetime chance to be able to see this event. It is the Canadian championship of Canadian hockey, and getting all the communities involved is a great thing."
