The Memorial Cup tournament has wrapped up in Saint John, New Brunswick and now the count down is on for Kamloops 2023.

The Sea Dogs became the 11th host team to win junior hockey’s most coveted trophy and the Blazers will look to make it 12, but before the puck drops on the event there is a lot of planning to be done.

Officials in Saint John have a little advice for those in the Tournament Capital.

Speaking on The NL Morning News, Chair of the Saint John Memorial Cup Host Committee Mark-Anthony Ashfield says the 10-day event went even better than expected.

“If we were to write the script of how this week could go, I don’t think in our wildest dreams, we could have scripted something that unfolded the way it did. It was just it was an amazing week for everyone. And yeah, we’ll be riding high for a while here,” he said.

Although exact figures have yet to be calculated, the CEO of Envision Saint John: The Regional Growth Agency, Paulette Hicks, says the economic impact from the tournament has been very welcome.

“Going into this what we had estimated, and certainly we had, you know, a similar city in Halifax about a $10 million economic impact left to the city. That’s what we were expecting,” Hicks said. “I actually think that we elevated that just with all the other components and the engagement that we had all throughout the city, even outside the rink. So I know that we will run those numbers, but I’m thinking we’re at least in the $10 to $12 million as a minimum.”

Ashfield says it makes even more significant as the community tries to dig out of the pandemic. He says he spoke with one restaurant owner who was just hanging on and waiting for the Memorial Cup to help keep his business afloat.

“I was talking to him last night and he said, if you were to go back pre-pandemic and look at his best year of sales ever, he will eclipse it. He will do 10 per cent of that best year in the 10 days of the Memorial Cup,” Ashfield said.

“So pretty spectacular to see the businesses really benefiting from it and the whole communities benefited financially but also emotionally and the community pride is an intangible that referenced earlier that that will live on here forever.”

One thing that both Ashfield and Hicks say helped them stand out was the number of non-hockey events it was able to run throughout the tournament.

“I think a traditional Memorial Cup would have around, you know, 15 to 17 events and we had 68 individual events as part of our Memorial Cup. So it was a different size and scale than I believe has ever been held before. It put us on the national scene and the people of this community will will never forget this this week and a half that we’ve had here in Saint John.”

As far as any advice, Hicks says to be authentically Kamloops.

“I think that’s one of the pieces that was the magic in putting this fit together and recognize it, let’s be who we are. We are a port city. You know, we have this really gorgeous, urban uptown, we’ve got a wonderful community of volunteers, you know, the one for all concept really emulated who we are,” she said.

“So I would recommend just really lean into that lean into your natural assets and really show off, this is an opportunity for you to be on that national stage.”

“This wasn’t just about hockey. So if you’re a hockey fan, you’re all in this is absolutely an event that you want to be with be at. But what I would say is that we saw different faces, it wasn’t just about hockey, and we actually converted some into hockey because of the event and everything that was planned around it.”

Kamloops did send a small delegation (pictured on the right) to New Brunswick who will return home to begin planning for 2023.