When the puck drops for the opening game of the 2022 Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Horton’s in Estevan, it’s very likely a brand new, state-of-the-art scoreboard will hang above center ice at Affinity Place.
The 2022 Centennial Cup committee and the Estevan Bruins have announced their intention to use the revenue generated from hosting the national championship to purchase the Scoreclock as a Legacy Project. As the Scoreclock will become an asset for the City of Estevan, the committee formerly approached City Council for their approval of choosing a new scoreclock as the Legacy Project.
“The Estevan Bruins organization is very excited to collaborate with the City of Estevan on this Legacy Project,” states Danny Ewen, Director of Marketing & Operations for the Estevan Bruins. “The current scoreclock is still functional, but will be approaching the end of it’s useful life in the next few years. With our community hosting the national championship, now is the perfect time to purchase a scoreclock using funds that normally wouldn’t be available to us, and allows us to properly showcase the first class facility that Affinity Place is to the whole country next May.”
After an initial proposal was submitted on June 14th, City Council approved an amended proposal during their bi-weekly meeting on Monday, June 28th. Once the revenue targets of $125,000 (or 50% of the expected cost) are achieved, the Committee will present an updated quote on two options for a new scoreclock for City Council to choose from, and then the City of Estevan will purchase the scoreclock so it can be installed before the Centennial Cup tournament begins in May 2022. The City will then be fully reimbursed using the revenues generated from the tournament, so there will be a new scoreclock in Estevan at no cost to the taxpayers.
The Estevan Bruins sought out quotes from multiple companies, with the most attractive and cost-effective option coming from Saskatchewan-based IKS Media/DDG Group. The business already has scoreclocks installed at other Junior A rinks in Humboldt (SJHL) and Okotoks (AJHL), as well as WHL rinks in Regina, Prince Albert, Swift Current and Lethbridge.
The two options for the LED scoreclock are very similar, with the size and dimensions slightly different for Option 2 (photo of both options above). The video screen will provide an interactive, stunning viewing experience for fans in the building, upholding Estevan’s reputation as one of the premier hockey arena’s at the Junior A level across Canada.
David Willberg of the Estevan Mercury reported on the project following the initial City Council meeting on June 14th, 2021
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The legacy project for the community was a requirement by Hockey Canada when Estevan was awarded the Centennial Cup tournament. Several ideas have been tossed around, and the committee has selected the score clock.
“We still have a state of the art building, a beautiful building, there’s no doubt about that. Probably the nicest one in our league and probably one of the top two or three in the country as far as junior A hockey is concerned,” said Cory Prokop, Co-Chair of the 2022 Centennial Cup committee.
But the scoreclock, which was new when Affinity Place opened, is likely going to have obsolete technology in a couple of years, and will need to be replaced in a few years.
“When the (Centennial Cup) final game is on TSN, it would be great to showcase a nice big clock like this on TSN nationally, and the revenues that we’re looking at bringing in for the tournament, based on the financials we have today … before that legacy project, probably are somewhere in that $300,000 to $500,000 range at the end of the day,” he said.
The Bruins are now focused on selling tickets and making it as affordable as possible for the public to attend the tournament. The city has committed $75,000 in 2021 and 2022 to the tournament, covering most of the corporate sponsorship needs.