Seats Are Filling Up Fast As Camrose Prepares For RBC Cup:

This was in last weeks Camrose Newspaper:

Seats are filling up fast as Camrose prepares for RBC Cup

By Vince Burke

Vince Burke

Camrose Canadian

On the seating chart in the Camrose Kodiaks' front office, the colour blue indicates a seat sold for the upcoming Royal Bank (RBC) Cup.

And if you take a look at the chart, there's already a lot of blue on it.

The Kodiaks are the host of the event which will see top junior A hockey clubs from around the country converge on the EnCana Arena this May for the annual tournament.

Organizers told the Canadian that when it comes to tickets for the much anticipated, fast-paced week of hockey, they are going fast.

"We had a great start with ticket sales when we launched them with our Kodiak season ticket sales, and with our fans we had great uptake on initial sales. But, we really haven't seen that slow down," said tournament chairman Kevin Gurr.

"We are consistently selling (ticket) packages daily and it is going well, with the packages sold and the number of tickets we have committed through our sponsorship, we are up over that 1,500 mark."

Gurr said there is some hold on tickets for Hockey Canada, but with only about 400 ticket packages for the tournament left, he said if you are thinking about getting tickets, don't wait.

"We are getting down to the point where there are still some great seats left, but they are going quickly."

Gurr said there have been questions about whether there will be ticket packages based solely on games the Kodiaks are in. He said that has yet to be done because sales for entire tournament ticket packages are still selling well.


"I know in the past a lot of the tournament hosts have resorted to that at an early stage, because they haven't had any luck selling tickets," he said.

"We have set records for the RBC Cup going back years. Hockey Canada hasn't seen this kind of pre-sale for an event, so they are pretty excited about it, and we are pretty excited about it. We really want the place filled for every game, so that we can build that atmosphere."

Gurr said there has been a lot of ticket packages purchased within the Camrose community, but said once more of the teams competing are set, there will probably be requests from fans in those communities for tickets.

When it comes to getting the event organized, from now until the drop of the puck, Gurr said the biggest push, right now, is getting volunteers. Gurr said there is a volunteer rally Feb. 28 in the Gold Room of the CRE.

"It is an opportunity for people to come out and sign up for the event and then kind of pick where they would like to fit in and where they would like to volunteer during the event," he said.

"So that is the next big push. We have a lot of great Kodiak volunteers and I'm sure lots of them will jump on board as well for the event. The next few (Kodiak) games we will be doing a volunteer sign up at the games. Then we will be getting the word out about the volunteer rally."

Gurr said there will around 200 to 250 volunteers needed.

"Everything from security to 50/50 sales to drivers and all that kind of stuff. So there is probably 20 different areas where they can come and volunteer," said Gurr.