With hockey season set to begin across the country, Hockey Canada in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League, has announced the schedule for the 2016 RBC Cup. Canada’s National Junior A Championship will be held at the Centennial Civic Centre, May 14-22, 2016, and will feature five of Canada’s top Junior A hockey teams, including the host Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
The RBC Cup will return to Alberta for the first time since 2011, and just the sixth time in the tournament’s 46-year history. The event kicks off May 14 with two games on the schedule, including the Bobcats taking to the ice at 7:30 p.m. MT.
The 2016 RBC Cup will bring together four regional representatives (Central, East, West #1, West #2), along with the host Bobcats, to face off for the national championship.
The event marks the Bobcats’ first appearance at Canada’s National Junior A Championship, and in recognition, the team has announced it will introduce new throwback jerseys that it will wear for Friday home games during the 2015-16 season and at the opening game of the championship. The jerseys give recognition to the Bobcats’ history when they were known as the Lloydminster Lancers (1982-89) and the Lloydminster Blazers (1989-05). The team will wear the white throwback Blazers jersey for the first half of the season and blue Lancers jerseys for the second half of the season.
“There have been many hands involved in supporting and building this team throughout the years,” said Malcolm Radke, host-committee co-chair and Bobcats’ team business manager. “Our appearance in the 2016 RBC Cup has been 34 years in the making, and we thought these throwback jerseys would be a fun way to honour the work of past players, staff, and volunteers.”
The championship game will be broadcast on TSN/RDS, official broadcasters of Hockey Canada, on Sunday, May 22. Please check your local listings for broadcast times in your area. All other games, including the preliminary round and semifinals, will be available via webcast at www.hockeycanada.ca/rbccup.
Ticket inquiries can be made by contacting the Bobcats’ box office by phone at 780-871-0900.
For more information on the 2016 RBC Cup, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/rbccup