Joey Payeur
Nothing’s official until at least tonight but the road to the Dudley Hewitt Cup very well may pass through Fort Frances next spring.
A decision on whether the Fort Frances Lakers will serve as host team for the 2015 tournament likely will come when the club holds its annual general meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Ice For Kids conference room.
“Unofficially, it looks positive,” Lakers’ president Milt Strachan said following a meeting last Wednesday night to determine local interest in hosting the Cup, which rotates between the three Ontario Junior ‘A’ leagues, with next year being the SIJHL’s turn.
“We had a pretty good turnout at the meeting and had some good suggestions,” he noted.
“A good number of new people said they were willing to help and quite a few who couldn’t be at the meeting let it be known ahead of time they wanted to pitch in,” Strachan added.
He noted the cost of holding the event has been estimated at around $95,000, although that figure is not set in stone.
“Some of that money can be trimmed, depending what we can get locally in terms of accommodations and things like that,” Strachan explained.
“That $95,000 is a top-end number and people at the meeting felt pretty good we can conquer that.
“It’s not like we have to raise the whole $95,000 ahead of time,” stressed Strachan, who said two-thirds to three-quarters of that would come from money made from admission fees and 50/50 draws during the week of the tournament.
“We’re looking at around $25,000-$35,000 that we will have to raise in advance.”
Strachan said the outcome of last week’s meeting was to have been discussed by the team’s board of directors this past week.
“I’m sure there will be some concerns from board members about how holding the tournament will affect our normal fundraising efforts we need to do for the team,” he conceded.
“But I do feel a lot better about the prospects of hosting the Dudley Hewitt Cup after last week’s meeting.”
Strachan said after more discussion about the event at tonight’s AGM, chances are good an announcement will be made one way or the other.
If the Lakers do decide to host the tournament, Strachan said the team officially will stake its claim to the event during the SIJHL annual general meeting July 11-12.
Fort Frances has the inside track to be the tournament host.
The Thunder Bay North Stars staged the tourney the last time the SIJHL welcome the event in 2012 while Dryden’s ice surface is removed by town council mandate in mid-April—weeks before the Dudley Hewitt Cup is set to begin.
Strachan said in an earlier interview that the English River Miners’ home arena in Ear Falls isn’t likely to be considered due to its age and size.
Hockey Canada, meanwhile, is unlikely to agree to have the Cup contested south of the border, which would rule out Hoyt Lakes, Minn. (Minnesota Iron Rangers) and Spooner, Wis. (Wisconsin Wilderness).
