Windsor Spitfires organizers gearing up to host the 2017 Memorial Cup in the city are back from Red Deer, Alberta with a wealth of knowledge to pull off a better event.
The plan is to utilize Windsor-Essex as a whole -- from the downtown core to area wineries to generate buzz around the event.
Memorial Cup Host Committee Chair John Savage says fans won't have to be at the WFCU Centre to take in the experience.
"So you don't necessarily have to come here to have an experience of the Memorial Cup," Savage says. "That's something most of theirs was focused on and they have a great facility there. So they had the venue to be able to handle the number of people that were associated, but we're trying to expand that to the greater part of the population."
Savage was told the Memorial Cup in Red Deer is expected to generate between $14-million and $19-million in economic impact. It's still unclear how much it will bring to this region.
After the Spitfires camp was finished scouting the sights sounds of the event, General Manager Warren Rychel was ready for the hockey.
He was able to show new head coach Rocky Thompson the level of hockey expected at a Memorial Cup.
"Every team has their star players, but you need those fillers, those role players, much like I was when I played, to be successful," says Rychel. "We saw that with those teams there. There's always the Marner's, Dvorak's ... Quenneville's who are great players, but you need the supporting cast."
The Mastercard Memorial Cup will be in Windsor May 18-28. A date has not been set as to when tickets will go on sale to the public.