Egland scores Teddy Bear Toss goal but Pats lose in OT
19m ago
Over 3,000 stuffed animals were tossed onto the ice.
We are moving closer and closer to Sunday’s WHL tilt between the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats.
It’s expected that as many as 15,000 fans will be in attendance when Connor Bedard comes to town for the second time this season. There has been a buzz across the city all week, and now SaskTel Centre is making sure things run smoothly with such a large crowd expected.
“Everybody’s wanting everything to be perfect,” said Scott Ford, executive director of SaskTel Centre.
“We’re re-cleaning the stands to make sure that they’re good. We’re improving all of our entrance areas to make sure they are accessible for everybody.”
Ford said he hasn’t had any trouble finding people to work on Sunday.
“Everybody wants to work the event. This is a piece of Saskatchewan history,” he said.
Ford said this weekend will likely bring out the biggest crowd SaskTel Centre has ever seen for a regular-season WHL game. In fact, Sunday’s attendance will be up there with some of the highest the arena has ever had.
Concerts can range from 13,000 to 17,000 people in the building, and the Saskatchewan Rush had a run of sellouts in the team’s first couple of years in Saskatoon, drawing around 15,000 fans. But this is new territory for the Blades.
“This is a new space for them and a complete sellout,” Ford said.
“They’ve got an amazing team this year. Their attendance across the entire season is up.”
With thousands of fans in the building, they’ll all need food and drinks throughout the game, meaning the concessions will be busy.
Kevin Hills, co-owner of Prairie Boys Hospitality, said they’ve been preparing for the game for a while.
“Generally it takes us about three days to prep for a sold-out event, so we’ve been at it since the beginning of the week as far as pre-production,” Hills said.
“For things like staffing, it takes weeks and weeks and weeks to fill all the spots we need.”
Hills estimated 300 people will be working in the concessions on Sunday.
He said the planning for a sports event is different than when a band brings a big concert to town.
“A concert is very beverage-heavy, where a hockey game is definitely more an all-ages event, which means that there’s more desire for things like popcorn and cotton candy,” Hills said.
If fans want to try and avoid the long lines, the only advice Hills could give would be to come to the game early – echoing the advice SaskTel Centre passed along – and get your food early as well.
Hills said there will likely be long lines throughout the entire night.
If fans would prefer to avoid the large crowds and still catch the Blades in action, the team will host the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night with attendance expected to be around 5,000.