The Terrace River Kings were chosen to host the Coy Cup Championship this coming March and they have an automatic berth to the tournament.
The Coy Cup is given to the champion of the Senior Male AAA Championship, which includes four top teams in northern B.C., one being the host team.
The other three teams are top northern teams, and could be teams from Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, Powell River or even Whitehorse, said coach Rob Findlay.
Terrace last hosted the tournament in 2009, and the past two years, have come in second in the cup finals.
“I think we have a really good chance [at winning the cup],” said Findlay.
“When we went there last year, we were short a couple of our players and the team that beat us, we had beat during the semi-finals… We beat them once, but then they brought in half a dozen new players for the final game… high-end players… I think if we would have had our full team and maybe an extra couple of guys (‘cause I had some guys playing hurt), we would have had a way better chance.”
Findlay says just like last year, he will not bring in ringers.
“We will just use our guys, our Terrace local guys who have played with us,” he said.
“The guys are pretty excited about it.”
Findlay adds that hosting the championship will be good for the community.
“It will bring a lot of people here, you’re going to have at least 60 guys, 75 people, coming to town in the hockey teams. Then you’ll have lots of people from Kitimat and Prince Rupert coming down to watch the games.”
Between shopping, staying in hotel rooms and eating at restaurants, the community should really see some benefits, he said.
Fundraising manager Ross Smith says they are looking for sponsors and volunteers and will meet in two weeks to start organizing an event planning committee.
The committee will organize referees, security, ice time, beer gardens, hotels, food for players, promotions, fundraisers and everything around the championship.
Anyone interested to help can call Ross Smith at 250-615-9086.