The excitement of the Memorial Cup coming to Kelowna in 2026 continued on Thursday, Dec. 5 as the trophy and Canadian Hockey League (CHL) president paid a visit to Prospera Place.
At a media availability, CHL president Dan MacKenzie spoke and met with the Kelowna media for the first time since the announcement. Kelowna Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton, Kelowna mayor Tom Dyas, and former MLA Steve Thomson, who's part of the group that led the bid also all spoke.
"It's a pleasure to be here at Prospera Place to make the formal announcement that Kelowna has been chosen to host the 2026 Memorial Cup," said MacKenzie.
The Rockets beat out the Medicine Hat Tigers, the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Spokane Chiefs, and the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who were all vying to host the tournament. MacKenzie thanked the other teams for bidding their bids in.
MacKenzie explained the history behind the Memorial Cup and said "we know the team in Kelowna understand and respect this history and will do an incredible job."
He also added that at the 2024 Memorial Cup, the host city of Great Lakes region of Michigan saw a $24 million USD economic impact. Dyas said on Thursday he believes the 2026 event could have a economical impact of more than $30 million.
Kelowna won the bid unanimously which was voted on by a CHL committee. MacKenzie said him as well as WHL commissioner Dan Near also saw all five bid presentations.
As far as some of the upgrades and changes to the rink, it was confirmed on Thursday that upgrades are happening to the dressing rooms, the media arena, and more. Dyas said the upgrades are being looked at as items that can be used over and over again, not just in use for the tournament. He also said the hope is to have confirmed plans in place by the summer.
Additionally, at the Memorial Cup event on Wednesday, Nov. 27, Dyas said he had reached out to the mayors of the other bid cities but hadn't heard back yet. On Dec. 6, he said he got responses from the mayors in Brandon and Spokane.
"There's the potential of seeing any of those communities here in 2026," said Dyas.
As for the Rockets on the ice, they want to put the best team out there that they can and that lays on the shoulders of Hamilton, especially with this season's trade deadline around a month away. When asked if there could be major changes coming to the current roster, Hamilton said "There'd be potential for that, but you need to have a partner to dance with in order to do that."
"I still have a lot of confidence in our hockey club this year," added Hamilton. "We were well down this path in 2020 to building a team out for that and this time we got two trade deadlines to go through."
Hamilton also discussed tickets packages and said the best way to get early access to become a season ticket holder, including second-half season tickets for this season, which go on sale on Dec. 14. Additionally, the ticket packages are going to be very similar in price as they were in 2020, according to Hamilton.
The Memorial Cup in Kelowna takes place in May 2026.
