Young Stars tourney adds to Penticton’s hockey cachet
NHL tournament appeared to be fizzling out before pandemic, but it’s coming back strong this September
The ice was barely frozen inside the South Okanagan Events Centre back in 2009 when a delegation from Penticton led by Andrew Jakubeit pitched the Vancouver Canucks on the idea of hosting an annual prospects tournament at the rink.
Jakubeit, who was a newly minted city councillor at the time with deep ties to the hockey world, heard the Canucks were casting around for places to host an event that would allow the club to see how their rookies stacked up against their rivals. He was also trying to drum up business for the new 5,000 seat arena, which opened in 2008, and the broader community.
So, with the support and connections of Scott Carter, a former Penticton Vees owner and NHL scout, Jakubeit enlisted the services of two others — Curtis Webb, then-manager of the SOEC, and Andy Oakes, president of the Okanagan Hockey Group – to help him pitch the Canucks on the idea of creating a tournament in Penticton.
“We put together the plan of the teams playing each other, having big crowds and (the Canucks) got quite excited about the prospect of hosting and it was a partnership we entered into with the Canucks: They would look after getting the teams here and we would execute the plan,” recalled Jakubeit in an interview Friday.
And so was born the Vancouver Canucks Young Stars Classic.
The first edition in September 2010 featured five clubs — the Canucks, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers — and future NHL stars like Taylor Hall and Jorden Eberle.
Jakubeit, as co-chair of the organizing committee, barely left the facility. He filled water bottles, carried towels and even refereed one of the games.
The results speak for themselves, with the Canucks announcing earlier this week they’re reviving the Young Stars Classic this coming September following a three-year hiatus. Also coming with their rookies are the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets.
“We’re treating it like it’s Year 1 again in terms of making sure everything is top shelf,” said Jakubeit, who’s still serving as organizing co-chair alongside Jonathan Wall, a former Canucks staffer who now works as a realtor in the Okanagan.
“But I think the bigger picture is Young Stars has become a signature event for the SOEC and the community, and I think it’s helped validate our rich hockey history and our SOEC as a top-notch facility,” he continued.
“It continues to make Penticton an envy, I think, of other communities.”
Professional hockey is a business, though, and the Canucks aren’t just coming for the scenery.
Final details are still being worked out, but the City of Penticton expects to make an in-kind contribution of approximately $100,000 to the tournament, mainly through waiving facility fees. It will recoup
some of that with revenue from concession and ticket sales.
“For an event like this, we certainly look at a small profit, but the bigger bang for our buck is the economic impact for the community,” said Anthony Haddad, the city’s general manager of community service.
Back in 2018, a financial analysis of the SOEC concluded one-off hockey events like the Young Stars Classic pumped $2.8 million into the local economy on an annual basis.
Haddad acknowledged much has changed in the four years since but expects similar results this year — perhaps even better, since Penticton Regional Airport offers direct flights to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
The tournament also coincides with the start of the tourism shoulder season, giving the economy a boost after summer visitors have gone home, and gets Penticton into hockey highlight reels across Canada.
During its initial run from 2010 through 2017, the tournament attracted as many as five NHL clubs, but by 2018 it was reduced to just the Canucks and Winnipeg Jets, plus two university squads, after the Flames decided to host their own event in Alberta.
The tournament was cancelled in 2019 and an attempt to revive it in 2020 was scuttled by the pandemic.
Dozens of eventual NHL stars have participated over the years, including current Canucks standouts like Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat, and
Oilers great Connor McDavid.
The tournament opens Friday, Sept. 16, and closes Monday, Sept. 19. There will be a total of six games between the NHL clubs, along with a B.C. Hockey League exhibition match between the Penticton Vees and Chilliwack Chiefs.
Ticket information will be announced at a later date.