Super Series leads upcoming highlights

When it comes to notable hockey events in Saskatoon, the Subway Super Series is next in line.

Game 1 of the Canada-Russia matchup takes place at Credit Union Centre on Nov. 10 following a world junior championship, two University Cups and a Memorial Cup hosted in the city in recent years. So what’s next after that? “That’s a good question,” host committee chair Hugh Vassos said. “We knew this year we weren’t going to do something major like a week-long tournament with festivals. That wasn’t going to happen this year. You get volunteer burnout and all those types of things.

“We needed to do something like this. It’s one game of a six-game series. That’s the kind of thing we want to do in the next little while.”

Ticket information was unveiled Friday for the game, which was initially announced in April.

Saskatoon last hosted a Super Series contest — meant as evaluation tool for world junior invitations — in 2005.

Saskatoon Blades’ Devin Setoguchi netted a hat trick, while teammate Wacey Rabbit assisted on each of his goals as the WHL allstars defeated Russia 9-2.

Anton Khudobin started the game in the Russian net.

Blades head coach and general manager Bob Woods is confident Russian winger Nikita Scherbak will represent the Blades in November. He hopes others get the call too.

“I think that every WHL player’s dream is to be able to compete for Canada and this is an opportunity for them,” he said. “A lot will dictate on the starts of their seasons.”

Among other upcoming sporting events in the city are the under-18 Football Canada Cup and the PGA Tour Canada’s SIGA Dakota Dunes Open, both early next month.

Also, Chicago and Edmonton will play an NHL pre-season game on Sept. 28.

“We’ve got our radar on and we’re always looking for events in the future,” Vassos said. “The thing about Saskatoon is we have a good reputation of being great hosts — in fact, probably being some of the best hosts on major sporting events. I think that helps us when we’re trying to go out and attract these types of events.”

Tickets go on sale next Friday at noon. Prices range from $17.50 to $29.50, plus service charges.

Tickets for the game, and future events, can now be purchased at the downtown Tourism Saskatoon office.