BONNYVILLE – After months of waiting, the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs organization learned they were unsuccessful in its bid to host either the 2024 or 2025 Canadian Junior Hockey League’s (CJHL) Centennial Cup championship tournament.
Hockey Canada made the decision to award the tournament bids to Oakville, Ont. for 2024 and Okotoks, Alta., in 2025.
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Representatives from the Jr. A Pontiacs debriefed with the chair of the site selection committee for Hockey Canada, Dean Macintosh, following the announcement.
“They were very open about the fact that the event has been hosted in the western provinces for the past three events, and with a highly competitive bid coming from Ontario, they were inclined to award the 2024 event to Oakville,” stated the Pontiacs’ associate general manager Neil Langridge, in an acknowledgement letter addressed to the Town of Bonnyville council.
“As for the 2025 event that was awarded to Okotoks, he expressed that the Bonnyville bid was a very close second, with the only major hurdle arising from our bid being our geography and proximity to a major center, which is what elevated the Okotoks bid ahead of ours.”
Langridge went on to say that the chair of the selection committee spoke highly of the commitment from the local municipalities' willingness to work together to bring a national-scale event to the area.
Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs thanked both the MD of Bonnyville and the Town of Bonnyville for their support, regardless of the final result.
