Community at the core of Lethbridge’s Memorial Cup Bid

As the only community-owned team bidding for the 2026 Memorial Cup, the Lethbridge Hurricanes, together with bid committee partners, have highlighted this strong community collaboration as Lethbridge’s advantage over other cities vying for the event.  

The Lethbridge Memorial Cup bid was submitted to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) on Friday, focusing on Lethbridge’s unique intersection of urban and agriculture, cultural diversity and of course, a long and rich hockey history. These elements are all tightly woven together within the fabric of Lethbridge.

“We know this city loves hockey,” says Mayor Blaine Hyggen. “And we also know our volunteer base and corporate sponsorships have been the recipe for success for the many national and international events we’ve successfully hosted.”

In recent years, Lethbridge has welcomed the Brier, Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the World Curling Championships for both men and women. The city has also held Skate Canada International, the Canadian Trampoline Gymnastics Championships and the 2019 U Sport Men’s Hockey Championships – just to name a few. All of these events were held at the City’s VisitLethbridge.com Arena, the venue at the centre of the Memorial Cup bid.

In July of this year, Lethbridge City Council committed $1.25 million towards hosting the Memorial Cup, should the Lethbridge bid be successful.

“We are grateful to have the support of the City of Lethbridge and we all understand what it takes to host an event of this magnitude,” says Brian Wichers, Chair of the Lethbridge Memorial Cup Bid Committee. “The financial backing is important, but it also takes people and passion. That’s where Lethbridge has the advantage. We want to show the CHL that we have done this before and they can be 100 per cent confident in the community support they would get here in Lethbridge.”

The Lethbridge Memorial Cup bid committee is comprised of members from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the City of Lethbridge (including VisitLethbridge.com Arena), Lethbridge Sport Council and Tourism Lethbridge. This group worked together to compile a strong proposal for the CHL’s consideration.

The league is expected to announce the winning bid by the end of December 2024.