For an ice hockey team, a maximum six skaters is allowed.
Referees may cite Saginaw’s Memorial Cup organizers for “too many men (and women) on the ice,” although this would represent praise instead of the penalty box.
The Saginaw Spirit and The Dow Event Center are hosting the Canadian Hockey League’s junior championships next year, and up north the Memorial Cup is as popular as the NCAA football playoffs in the USA. The 10-day event begins May 22, with 17,000 visitors and their favorite teams anticipated to spend up to $25 million in the region.
Nearly 500 volunteers already have signed up to assist, said Jimmy Greene, the Spirit’s new special events sales coordinator, during an advance information and planning session Tuesday. Another is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, open to the general public.
Of 60 CHL franchises from five smaller leagues, Saginaw and the Flint Firebirds are among five from the United States, with the other trio in the Pacific Northwest. The last to host the Memorial Cup across the border was Spokane, Wash., 26 years ago. Teams for more than 100 years have provided training for future NHL superstars like Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky.
Fifty participants Tuesday took part in a City Hall session organized in cooperation with local sources, ranging from Great Lakes Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau to Saginaw Future. They learned, among varied minutiae, that many Canadian families take their pets on vacation car rides.
They also were informed:
- Improvements surrounding The Dow include a social area under the I-675 overpass on Washington named for Henry Marsh, first black City Council member and mayor during the 1960s. The plaza will extend behind Wendler Arena along Symphony Lane, named in 1972 when the former Civic Center opened. A Marsh mural already is completed. The goal is to develop a “campus environment.”
- STARS bus routes will expand hours beyond midnight for Canadian revelers, while providing a special rapid shuttle service to make sure city-based entrepreneurs are included. Funding is separate from the city-only 3.2 mills in property taxes.
- Hoyt Park, one mile south, will serve as a major activity venue, including a Canada versus USA baseball game along the hillside.
- WNEM will pursue broadcasting rights for Channel 5 to show some of the games that will fill the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. airwaves, while Jolt Park will have a big screen feed for visitors, both Canadian and local, who opt to enjoy the outdoors with an array of food and souvenir vendors.
- The courthouse Easter Bunny lawn figurines will do double duty in spring, starting with the annual egg hunt and moving to the new big news in town, with mystery Memorial Cup promo appearances at sites across the community. Canadians will have the chance to win the grand prize of a return expense-paid vacation back to Saginaw
- Small businesses may seek mini loans for short-term needs such as more supplies or more employees during the sports celebration.
In response to critics who may feel that the powers that be are favoring visitors over day-to-day residents, organizers say most improvements, ranging from the Marsh Plaza to Hoyt Park, are supported with federal and state funds that will linger long after the Memorial Cup has departed, while also boosting Saginaw’s reputation to hopefully host similar events along the road.
