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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Red Deer Rebels To Host 2016 Memorial Cup

The Western Hockey League announced today that the Red Deer Rebels have been selected to host the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup. The MasterCard Memorial Cup will be held at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer May 19-29, 2016 and will mark the 98th edition of the Canadian Hockey League national championship. All games will be televised nationally on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.

Two WHL Clubs, the Red Deer Rebels and Vancouver Giants, submitted applications to host the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup. The decision to award the hosting of the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup to Red Deer was made by a majority vote of the WHL Board of Governors on Wednesday, October 8 in Calgary.

This marks the first time Red Deer has hosted the MasterCard Memorial Cup while the Rebels become the first Alberta-based Club to host the event since 1974. The Rebels were also crowned MasterCard Memorial Cup Champions in 2001.

"The WHL is very confident the Red Deer Rebels, the City of Red Deer and Province of Alberta will serve as outstanding hosts of the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup,” commented WHL Commissioner Ron Robison. "The strength of the Rebels organization combined with the enthusiasm of the City and the Province will ensure the 2016 event will be one of the best ever.”

“The MasterCard Memorial Cup hasn’t been hosted in Alberta since 1974 and with that the Red Deer Rebels, the City of Red Deer and province of Alberta are tremendously honoured that the governors of our great league have put faith in us hosting the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup,” said Rebels Owner, Governor, President, General Manager and Head Coach Brent Sutter. “For all of us, our work is just beginning to stage this prestigious event.”

“MasterCard would like to congratulate the City of Red Deer and the Rebels on their successful bid to host the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup,” said Mike Tasevski, VP of Sponsorship Marketing, MasterCard Canada. "MasterCard is very proud to support the Canadian Hockey League and this prestigious national championship for the 18th straight year.”

The 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup will be hosted by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Quebec Remparts from May 21 to 31, 2015 in Quebec City, Quebec. The Memorial Cup features a four-team round robin format with the host club competing with the Champions from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

The Western Hockey League has won a total of 19 MasterCard Memorial Cup Championships since its inaugural season in 1966, including: Red Deer Rebels (2001), Kootenay Ice (2002), Kelowna Rockets (2004), Vancouver Giants (2007), Spokane Chiefs (2008) and Edmonton Oil Kings (2014).

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