Plug pulled in Penticton on Young Stars prospects tournament
Lack of participation by other NHL teams cited for 2019 cancellation, but Vancouver club keeps door open for future events
The Young Stars Classic, the popular prospects tournament organized by the Vancouver Canucks and held annually in Penticton since 2010, is done — at least temporarily.
After the Winnipeg Jets announced Wednesday they are joining the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators for a prospects tournament in Belleville, Ont., this coming September, the Canucks confirmed Thursday this year’s event at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton is off.
“The Vancouver Canucks are grateful to the city of Penticton and its fans for their support of the annual Young Stars Tournament since its start in 2010. The tournament will not take place in 2019 due to a lack of participating NHL teams; however, options for future Young Stars tournaments in Penticton continue to be explored,” Canucks Sports & Entertainment wrote in a statement.
The Jets were the only other team involved in the 2018 edition. In past years, two other teams, most recently the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, also were involved.
But the Oilers and Flames organized their own event last year, held in Red Deer, and the feeling was that took away from the buzz that had usually been found in Penticton.
The tournament’s lead Penticton-based organizer, Andrew Jakubeit, called the news “disappointing.”
“We were quite fortunate to have the run that we did with the Young Stars and the young talent that we saw come through,” he said Thursday over the phone from his Penticton record store, The Grooveyard.
He said he figured the excitement and energy of the Young Stars may have been the inspiration behind the Flames and Oilers looking to build their own event in Alberta.
He said the door was still open for a return in 2020.
“Ultimately, I hope to see it rotate back through,” he said. “Every year each team evaluates what’s best for their team and how to move forward.”
He was proud of how well-regarded the event had been and how well it showed off his Okanagan Valley community. “Everyone from the GMs down to the equipment people were thrilled to come here — it’s not like this is about something that was done or not done,” he said.
“It’s disappointing, but by the same token we can take pride that we really built this event up, and grew it into a signature event, that fans and analysts got to see Penticton. It was good for Penticton, not just from economic impact, but from a branding point of view.”
He said they generally estimated the four-day event’s impact on the local economy at around $2 million.
“When the NHL set up shop for four or five days it was exciting,” he said. “And I know the Canucks love coming here.”
The Canucks games were always the hottest ticket but the games that involved the Alberta teams were always pretty boisterous, too.
“It wasn’t just Canucks fans, when Vancouver played Calgary or Edmonton, or the battle of Alberta games, there were a lot of jerseys from all the teams,” he said. “A lot of fans have moved here (from across Canada).
“For a lot of people that might have been the only time they got to see an NHL-type game. You could really see the talent of these kids ... obviously the hockey was exceptional but you also got to see heroes of the past around, media personalities floating around, that was pretty cool.”
The Canucks haven’t confirmed their 2019 plans but it seems likely they’ll join the Flames and Oilers in Red Deer in the fall. The closest other prospects tournament features six Pacific Division teams in Las Vegas, but that event already has lined up the Vegas Golden Knights, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks and Arizona Coyotes.
The other big prospects tournament is in Traverse City, Mich., and features prospects representing the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers.