REGINA, SK – In practically every sport, a championship is celebrated by the winning team lifting a trophy for all to see and today the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League lifted the cover on their new Canterra Seeds Cup trophy for all to see.
“We worked with our partners at Canterra Seeds to design the championship cup, but until now we’ve only seen drawings,“ says Kyle McIntyre, Commissioner of the SJHL. “When we pulled the cover off it today, I gotta say, it really pops.”
“I know how important it is to our players, and to our league, that they really feel like champions when they lift that cup at the end of the year,” he says. “It’s big, it’s bold, it looks awesome. This trophy just screams champion.”
When the league partnered with Canterra Seeds for the naming rights to the championship series, working with the league to design a new cup was part of the agreement and one the company took on with pride.
“Since we partnered with the SJHL, the one thing we hear time and time again from Kyle and his team at the league is that it is all about the players,” says David Hansen, President and CEO of Canterra Seeds. “The SJHL has a long history of developing professional players and it’s a team effort – from the league on down to the volunteers that show up every night in the arenas. When we partnered with the SJHL is wasn’t to be spectators, it was to be a part of that team.”
McIntyre and Hansen unveiled the Canterra Seeds Cup live on the league’s playoff preview show which was streamed live on all the SJHL’s social media channels.
“My one instruction to the design team – that we give the players a cup that is worthy of the blood, sweat and tears they shed all year for the honour of being the team to lift it at the end of the season,” says Hansen. “Looking around the room when we revealed the cup, I just knew that we had a cup that these kids are going to be so proud to play for.”
After seeing the cup for the first time, Ben Tkachuk, center for the Melfort Mustangs says he is eager to hit the ice. “The Canterra Seeds Cup looks fantastic. It truly represents the character of our league and I cannot wait to battle hard for the next couple months to win it.”
The Canterra Seeds Cup SJHL Championship series kicks off on March 17 with teams playing in North Battleford, Humboldt, Flin Flon and Melfort.
The eight teams that will be competing for the cup this year are Battlefords North Stars, Estevan Bruins, Flin Flon Bombers, Humboldt Broncos, La Ronge Ice Wolves, Melfort Mustangs, Nipawin Hawks and Weyburn Red Wings.