Memorial Cup not affected by virus so far

Game on.

But stay tuned.

While an increasing list of sporting events have been cancelled or postponed in North America because of COVID-19, the Memorial Cup junior hockey championship is still planned for Kelowna from May 21-31.

“The Canadian Hockey League takes the health and safety of our players, fans, volunteers, staff, and general public very seriously,” CHL spokesman Paul Krotz said Tuesday in an email.

“At this time, there is no change to our plan of hosting the Memorial Cup in Kelowna this May,” Krotz said.

“The event is still 10 weeks away and the CHL, in partnership with the host organizing committee, will continue to monitor the evolving situation, including what the local, provincial, and federal health agencies are saying, and provide communications as appropriate,” Krotz said.

The Memorial Cup features the winners of the three major junior hockey leagues, as well as the team from the host city.

The Kelowna Rockets won the right to host the 2020 Memorial Cup in the fall of 2018. As well as the games at the 6,300-seat Prospera Place arena, the 10-day tournament is to feature an outdoor festival zone, a family zone, and a display from the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Country music star Brett Kissel is to headline a concert in Waterfront Park on the tournament’s final weekend.

Total economic impact on Kelowna’s economy from the Memorial Cup is estimated between $10 million and $15 million by city officials. That was part of the rationale behind the city’s decision to contribute $225,000 toward the staging of the tournament.

Kelowna hosted the Memorial Cup in 2004 when the Rockets won the championship game.

On Tuesday, Forbes reported that hundreds of conferences, concerts, sports events, parades and other large-scale public gatherings around North America have been cancelled, estimating that almost seven million attendees have been forced to change their plans.

A big postponement announced Tuesday was the Coachella music festival in California, which had been set for two weekends in April, with almost a quarter-million people expected to attend.

Most of the cancelled or postponed events reported by Forbes were to have taken place this month or in April but a few were set for May.