Montreal Wins Skate Canada's Bid for 2020 Worlds

[manhn]

I always get confused about GPF. When you say 2018 GPF, that is the GPF taking place during the 2018/2019 season?

I would love Victoria. Everywhere else in Canada in December....

 

[WildRose]

Edmonton sold out a 16000 seat NHL arena in 1996. Oilers were able to accommodate it in their schedule, as were the Flames in Calgary, so NHL teams haven't been a problem in the past. It's too bad Edmonton couldn't host it with the new arena, but our economy is going to get even worse. Even if they wanted a larger arena there is no sense in putting it anywhere in Alberta.

 

[Rock2]

Did they say arena size required? I'm assuming next tier down, 4-8K in seats.

I think Kitchener is a great market. I'd say Mississauga but SC is just passing through.
Vancouver Thunderbird and Victoria area great options. Maybe Regina.

And then Ottawa and Halifax -- the usual suspects.

 

[overedge]

The Thunderbird Arena in Vancouver (at UBC) is not a great option in terms of nearby hotel capacity, or in easy accessibility from other parts of the region.

People who complain about shuttles and transit would have a cow when they see what it's like trying to squeeze on the 99 B line bus at rush hour

 

[skategal]

The advantage of Halifax is that there are 4 major hotels attached by pedway to the main arena so no shuttles required for that once you get to the downtown core.

 

[million$momma]

The advantage of Halifax is that there are 4 major hotels attached by pedway to the main arena so no shuttles required for that once you get to the downtown core.

It's hard to fly into Halifax when the weather is bad though!! Flights are cancelled and delayed often.

 

[dramagrrl]

I think Kitchener is a great market.

I would love to have Worlds there, but the problem with the Kitchener Aud is that it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. You have to have a car to get there from any of Kitchener's hotels (unless there have been things built around there recently that I don't know about), and as far as I remember, there aren't even very many food options that are accessible without a car. As far as I am aware, there is no public transportation in Kitchener that would get people without cars to and from the rink, either.

London worked well because even though there is no airport there (like Kitchener), there are many hotels nearby, there is public transportation to the rink if necessary, there are many food and other business options around the rink in very short walking distance, and the rink itself is situated in a busy downtown area rather than in a suburban jungle.

 

[quartz]

London has an international airport, and Kitchener is served by the Waterloo international airport.

 

[skategal]

It's hard to fly into Halifax when the weather is bad though!! Flights are cancelled and delayed often.

That's true for many places in Canada in March. Late winter storms can be brutal.

 

[dramagrrl]

London has an international airport, and Kitchener is served by the Waterloo international airport.

Ah, I didn't realize! Thanks for the correction.

 

[quartz]

That's true for many places in Canada in March. Late winter storms can be brutal.

Also true for many US locations, European locations, China, Japan....

 

[Dave of the North]

The Kitchener arena seating is terrible. It has absolutely no leg room. Even my 5 ft 2 in mother in law could barely fit in. It was the most painful experience I've had over the past 10 years of attending multiple Skate Canadas, Canadians, and two Worlds.

 

[Rock2]

Yeah the Kitchener Auditorium is kind of an old barn.
But the city is booming with tech industry so there might be some corporate money to draw on, which SC should care about.

It's about 45 mins from the Toronto airport in no traffic (OK that's never)

And good news, the ION light rapid transit rail line is opening in about a year so it will be ready in time for the event. It connects pretty much anything of interest in Kitchener-Waterloo although I can't speak to which hotels are on it.
It will stop about 500m from the arena.

 

[WanderlustTO]

I don't see them holding it somewhere in an NHL-size arena. I agree with those above who mentioned Ottawa and Halifax as good options.

As far as Quebec City goes, the Remparts play at the arena and I think they keep the top closed off. I suppose they could do the same thing if the world's are held there - although that might not be what SC is looking for.

I think someone might have mentioned Kingston as an option - iirc, the capacity on their arena is less than 6k.

If Montreal wants to bid, it's always possible they suggest the arena out in Boisbriand - they've got a Q team playing there, but i'm guessing the capacity is too small.

On twitter, Ryan Pyette (a writer for the London Free Press) mentioned that while he didn't see London bidding for the worlds again he thought they might bid on the GPF.

Yeah the Kitchener Auditorium is kind of an old barn.
But the city is booming with tech industry so there might be some corporate money to draw on, which SC should care about.

It's about 45 mins from the Toronto airport in no traffic (OK that's never)

And good news, the ION light rapid transit rail line is opening in about a year so it will be ready in time for the event. It connects pretty much anything of interest in Kitchener-Waterloo although I can't speak to which hotels are on it.
It will stop about 500m from the arena.

Kitchener did a reno on that arena fairly recently (within the last 3 years or so). It's in good shape.

 

[googooeyes]

There is also the First Ontario Centre (Copps Coliseum) in Hamilton. They just did a great job with synchro world's. And I almost forgot that Toronto has the old Maple Leaf Gardens which is is now smaller and would be the ideal size. There are a lot of good possibilities because SC is going after 2 competitions. Can they get both?

 

[Dave of the North]

Moncton is building a new 7500 seat arena (supposed to be ready Sep 2018) which will be downtown, but the limitation for Moncton might be the number of hotel rooms in the area. After the 1100 plus rooms for ISU/competitors/coaches/SC/media/TV etc there won't be a lot left. There are about 3000 rooms in the area.

 

[skategal]

I bet Moncton will bid for Worlds.

 

[clairecloutier]

Well, a quick Expedia search suggests there's few direct flights to Moncton from the U.S. Long flight times to get there, even from Boston. That + lack of hotel rooms doesn't sound all that appealing.

 

[skategal]

Moncton has a very forward thinking council and major when it comes to bidding on events. They would get lots of local support for the event, I think.

I'm not really sure where the arena is in Moncton.

Transportation (air flights) would be more challenging than some other places as there are less flights and many people would have to change planes in Halifax, Montreal or Toronto to get there.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Fake London wouldn't be bad for GPF as long as they don't gouge us on the hotel rates again.

 

[barbarafan]

Also true for many US locations, European locations, China, Japan....

bell centre in mtl ...planes were good during the storms. lots of hotels..has the metro.

 

[Rock2]

Great discussion. Yeah, I would factor out Vancouver/Thunderbird.
I would honestly rule out any arena with an NHL team in it for two reasons. First is, it would be too expensive to secure the arena and displace the team and second even with top closed off the relatively cavernous atmosphere just may not be to SC's liking.

Moncton. Interesting. I could see Halifax getting it before them but who knows. Don't they already have a pretty big arena? I wonder why building another one....?

I would rule out Kingston and old Maple Leaf Gardens. Way too small. Also, I went to Nats in Kingston and I have to say it's one of the more dismal arenas I have ever been in. Horrible atmosphere.
Also I don't think Quebec as an entire province has an arena in the 7-10K size. Strange but maybe true.

While Halifax and Ottawa will always be the usual suspects, I'm going to call out Regina, Kitchener and Victoria as legit dark horses to get one of the 2 big international events coming up.

Not much discussion about Regina. Brandt Centre is over 6K in capacity...and it's part of the Megaplex Evraz Place with all sorts of facilities including practice rinks.

 

[fan]

G

I would rule out Kingston and old Maple Leaf Gardens. Way too small. Also, I went to Nats in Kingston and I have to say it's one of the more dismal arenas I have ever been in. Horrible atmosphere.
Also I don't think Quebec as an entire province has an arena in the 7-10K size. Strange but maybe true.

Really? I loved kingston (though don't particularly remember the arena itself) due to the fact the entire "downtown" core was walkable - all the hotels, bars, restaurants, grocery stores were within a 5-10 minute walk of the arena, which is a blessing during winter.

 

[Catherine M]

Really? I loved kingston (though don't particularly remember the arena itself) due to the fact the entire "downtown" core was walkable - all the hotels, bars, restaurants, grocery stores were within a 5-10 minute walk of the arena, which is a blessing during winter.

I too loved Kingston. Its probably my second favorite Canadians location ever after Halifax, just for the fact that you could WALK everywhere. We parked the car on our arrival and never moved it till it was time to leave. And I thought the downtown area was very nice and had some great places to eat. Would go back that in a heartbeat if they ever host another major skating competition.

 

[Debrah]

I vote Montreal and Bell Centre for Worlds in 2020, a very fun destination for out of town visitor's with the bonus of me living close to Mtl and so many awesome skater's who train in Montreal could sell the hec out of it, and perhaps Vancouver for 2018 GPF another great destination, and again the new homebase of P. Chan and other well known skater's for the ad poster's, so that way both East and West are served and both locations have the proper infrastructure and travel hubs and federation strength and expertise to make it all run smoothly!

 

[dramagrrl]

I too loved Kingston. Its probably my second favorite Canadians location ever after Halifax, just for the fact that you could WALK everywhere. We parked the car on our arrival and never moved it till it was time to leave. And I thought the downtown area was very nice and had some great places to eat. Would go back that in a heartbeat if they ever host another major skating competition.

I didn't get to Canadians that year, but I was in Kingston a few weeks before that competition and saw the rink while I was walking around downtown Kingston with a friend. I did think it was very well situated and would be excellent in terms of a location with walkable amenities in a smaller city (unlike Kitchener, as I mentioned above, and Mississauga, which, as far as I remember from the last time I was at an event at the Hershey Centre, is also very car-centric and doesn't have a lot of anything in walking distance).

These are the same reasons why I loved London as a venue both times Canadians were held there in the recent past. The arena is right in the middle of the downtown area, there is a lovely food market with all sorts of vendors (and an adorable outdoor skating rink) directly across the street, and pretty much all the downtown retail (including one of my favourite used bookstores in the province, or anywhere, really!) is walkable from the arena. London's downtown is quite charming also, much like Kingston's. (I can't believe I'm saying anything in Kingston is charming, but they really have made their downtown area quite nice in the last few years, with an almost hipster-y selection of shops and restaurants.)

 

[Rock2]

Agree with the location of arena for Kingston but for me the venue matters just as much if not more.

The arena wasn't great. Far too small for world's for sure. Very small concourse...food wasn't good.
Very grey and dingy inside.
Had a very 'local/community' arena vibe...and not in a good way.

 

[peibeck]

London has an international airport, and Kitchener is served by the Waterloo international airport.

I have to say London has to be the tiniest international airport I've ever been in. I've been to bigger regional airports.

 

[quartz]

Hey it's not how big it is, it's what you do with it, right??

 

[allezfred]

London has an international airport

Also true for many US locations, European locations, China, Japan....

What European locations have regular winter storms in late March? Or Japan where it is cherry blossom season?