Estevan Bruins re-affirmed as host for the 2022 Centennial Cup national tournament

Hockey Canada has announced that the 2022 Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship, presented by Tim Hortons, will still be held in Estevan.

An announcement was made Tuesday that the 2022 edition of the event will occur at Affinity Place. The tournament will be in Saskatchewan for the first time since 2012.

Tournament dates will be May 20-29.

Estevan was announced as the host of the 2022 event back in December 2019. The Estevan Bruins initially submitted a bid for the 2021 event, but finished in a dead heat with Penticton, B.C., in the final vote.

Penticton was awarded the 2021 event and Estevan was selected as the 2022 host.

Since then, both the 2020 Centennial Cup, scheduled for Portage la Prairie, Man., and the 2021 tournament have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The Centennial Cup represents a partnership between Hockey Canada, the local organizing committee, the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and the Saskatchewan Hockey Association.

Also announced on Tuesday was that the 2022 Esso Cup national female U18 AAA tournament would be in Prince Albert from April 17-23, with the Prince Albert Bears as the host team; and the Telus Cup national male U18 AAA tournament would be in Cape Breton, N.S., with the Sydney Rush as the host team.

“Hockey Canada is excited to mark the return of its national championships in 2022 by announcing Prince Albert, Cape Breton and Estevan as the hosts of our three spring events next year,” said Dean McIntosh, vice-president of events and properties for Hockey Canada. “Despite not being able to host national events since 2019, we know the local organizing committees in these three communities will deliver world-class experiences to all participants. Hockey Canada recognizes the excitement for a possible return to fans in the stands, and we look forward to welcoming back hockey fans in these communities if it is deemed safe to do so.”

Schedules and ticket information for the national events will be available at a later date.