EDMONTON — One thing you learn when you grow up in Edmonton is dismissiveness.
“Seriously,” the rest of the world — the rest of Canada — so often says. “Edmonton? Are you kidding me?”
It’s a city that has had to punch above its weight just to get into the arena with the lightweights. Then, over the years, it won enough lightweight bouts to build a sporting history by succeeding where the heavyweights had tried and failed.
In 1978 Edmonton hosted the Commonwealth Games, a small fry event. But it came away with a stadium that, 40 years later, is as nice of an outdoor stadium as our country has. In 2001 Edmonton took on the outdoor version of an event that had failed in Toronto — the World Indoor Athletics Championships in ’93 — and people laughed.
Well, they packed 40,000 fans a day into Commonwealth Stadium for 10 days, then plowed some of that money back into the ageing stadium, while the Big Owe was still a shabby foreclosure in Montreal.
Then, the next time Edmonton applies for a gig, it’s the same response: “Edmonton? As if they’re going to beat out Vancouver, Vegas or Toronto?”
We don’t know where Edmonton stands in its quest to become one of the National Hockey League’s two hub cities, but it is clear that as the process has gone on, so too has their bid adapted to both make up ground in places where Edmonton simply can not take on a Toronto or Vancouver, and exploit their obvious advantages over a Las Vegas.
For example: while Vegas can put all 900 people involved under the same roof in a single hotel, Edmonton can not. But what they can do is put the 336 NHL players (or the first 28 per team) in one hotel that is connected by walkway to the arena, and create both indoor and outdoor walkways throughout the Ice District that allow players and staff to walk outside to the rink and various amenities.
“A hard perimeter, with special transportation between everything,” said Oilers senior vice-president of communications Tim Shipton. “Or they can walk. The J.W. Marriott is across the street from Rogers Place, and the Delta is a block away.” Sutton Place, a third hotel that will be used to accommodate the rest of the nearly 900 folks in total, is about a four-minute walk from Rogers Place, and will be the first one phased out as teams begin to go home.
I know what you’re thinking. “The Delta? Sutton Place? How do you compete against the hotels in Vegas, Toronto and Vancouver with those chains?”
You can’t. But what you can do in downtown Edmonton is create an NHL Village, similar to an Olympic Village, with large outdoor spaces and patios that are inside the Ice District bubble. On a summer day (or night) in Edmonton, players will want to be outside sipping a coffee or having lunch.
Vegas can not say that from July to September. Vancouver and Toronto can, but can they produce an NHL Village across the street from their arenas the way Edmonton can? Do either have a practice rink for morning skates under the same roof as the NHL rink?
Edmonton can deliver concerts, golf simulators, basketball courts, ping pong tables on rooftop patios and a giant outdoor plaza where players from all teams can comfortably spend an evening, as the temperature dips to 18 or 20 degrees Celsius on an Edmonton summer night. All inside the Ice District bubble.
Obviously, they’ll arrange with Edmonton’s top restaurants to rotate through the primary eating spot inside the bubble. They’ll have their pick of golf courses, where teams can tee off at 2 p.m. and play a comfortable 18 holes. Try that in Vegas.
Another wrinkle the Oilers have come up with is to set up travel within Alberta for families, who may become part of this as the rounds go on. They’ll show the wives and kids around Jasper or Banff as Dad stays focused on the job at hand in Edmonton.
“As the tournament progresses,” Shipton said, “we’ll be working with Travel Alberta and tour operators in Jasper and Banff, if the families might want to spend some time at a place like the Jasper Park Lodge or the Banff Springs.”
It’s reminiscent of how Hockey Canada takes care of spouses and families at the World Championships.
Something else that the other cities may have trouble matching: There is a 50,000-square foot gym at J.W. Marriott, and the state of the art fitness facility inside the Oilers dressing room will be opened to all players as well. Two massive, brand new gyms, right inside the bubble.
Then there is the reason we are doing all of this: COVID-19.
There isn’t a city in the competition that match Edmonton’s numbers where coronavirus is concerned, because Edmonton is simply is smaller and further away from the world than the competition.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Victor Hedman as the team captain on Wednesday as training camp opened, making the big defenseman the successor to Steven Stamkos.
Hedman, who is going into his 16th season with Tampa Bay, was considered the obvious choice to get the “C” after the Lightning did not re-sign Stamkos and their longtime captain left to join Nashville.
“Victor is a cornerstone player that is extremely well respected by his teammates, coaches and peers across the NHL,” general manager Julien BriseBois said. “Over the past 15 seasons, he has been a world-class representative for our organization both on and off the ice. Victor embodies what it means to be a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning and is more than ready for this exciting opportunity. We are looking forward to watching him flourish in his new role as we continue to work towards our goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”
The 33-year-old from Sweden was a key contributor in the Lightning hoisting the Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21, including playoff MVP honors on the first of those championship runs. Hedman also took home the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2018 and finished in the top three in voting five other seasons.
Ryan McDonagh, who was reacquired early in the offseason in a trade with the Predators, and MVP finalist Nikita Kucherov will serve as alternate captains with the Lightning moving on to the post-Stamkos era.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
