Manitoba Junior Hockey League Commissioner Kevin Saurette spent the last couple of weeks in PEI taking in the Centennial Cup, where the MJHL's Niverville Nighthawks were crowned champions, and from the current tournament to future format, he says there was a lot of discussion with all the leagues.
Hard at work in a beautiful place
Beyond the hockey, Saurette details what it's like being a commissioner at the Centennial Cup, saying right away that being in PEI is pretty special. " Obviously, to start off, being hosted in Summerside, PEI, it's just a beautiful facility. Beautiful community. I've never been to Prince Edward Island before, so for me, it's a special time to get to see part of Canada I've never been to, and I've had a chance to explore the island a bit, check out different coastlines, and even made it out for a round of golf with some of the commissioners. So that side of things, it's been really good. Lots of seafood has been eaten, I will say that. Can't ask for a better spot to eat fresh seafood."
Time between games aside, there are a lot of discussions going on between the leagues, something Saurette says the MJHL is a central figure. "In terms of work, it's a lot of meetings, a lot of networking with different people from across the nation in the hockey world. From the various leagues that are represented here, and the Hockey Canada staff. There are different branch membership groups that are on-site. Of course, at the CJHL, we hold our annual general meetings during this event, and we meet with different groups that are in different aspects of hockey that are presenting different services that maybe the CJHL can look at. So really, it's a great week of meeting people and networking and really trying to put forward what the CJHL is going to look like moving forward and for next season, very much like what we do with the MJHL AGM and a lot of planning for the season ahead. A lot of reflecting on where we are as a group nationally, and obviously, the junior landscape comes into a lot of discussions, but it's been all very positive. It's a nice mix of a little bit of a holiday, and you get to watch your team represent the MJHL, which they did very well. You get to see where we are compared to the other league champions across Canada. Obviously, a lot of networking and meeting time."
MJHL is number 1
Having the MJHL win the Centennial Cup is huge, according to Saurette, and he said the entire province can be proud that the Nighthawks are the latest example of how strong the league is. "I think it's just a testament to things that we know, but maybe sometimes that gets overshadowed nationally," he explains. " As commissioner, I'm very proud of the MJHL. I think we have an amazing league. Our quality of play gets higher and higher every single year. You know, you look at our, I think, last six or seven years, we've had a different champion from the MJHL. All of those champions who come to this event, we're one of the only leagues that have made the playoff rounds every single time of this event. So now to have a team finally punch their ticket to (and win) the final, I think it's a nice evolution of what we have been doing as a league and the quality of organizations we have in the MJHL. With Niverville, obviously, they've had a strong team all year, and they're ranked nationally at number two across the CJHL for most of this season, and they're really showing why that is. They played a lot of different leagues throughout this event already, a lot of league champions that maybe sometimes get looked at as a higher-level league, which I don't agree with, but that's sometimes the perception. But I think the Nighthawks are helping show what we already know in Manitoba that the MJHL is a very, very high-end league and one of the best leagues in Canada."
More than an on-ice champion
The Niverville Nighthawks not only represented the MJHL well on the ice, but off the ice as well, something Saurette says goes a long, long way with him and the other leagues. "They've represented the league exactly how we like to see it done," he says proudly. "They're a very classy organization, they do things the right way. They go above and beyond. It's a very community feel. With the number of board members they have here in PEI, the volunteer staff, I think almost every parent group is here celebrating this team, and it's just a really community feel that this group is bringing to the event. Even their standards from how their dress code and how they conduct themselves around the community, and how they walk into the arena, how they practice, treat volunteers and the staff at the event, all those things make a massive difference. They're really showing the MJHL as a standard, top of class, and it just shows very, very positively throughout this event how we conduct ourselves, and they've been a great representative of that."
Shared challenges
Saurette says the MJHL is like the other leagues across the CJHL landscape, and the leagues share common issues. "I think they're all generally along the same lines," he says. "I think we have different strengths and weaknesses than other leagues, and obviously, it's a little bit of a different landscape out East compared to what we have in the West. You know, all the leagues run a little bit differently in their different parts of the country, different player pools, and different relationships between leagues. For myself, I have a great relationship with everyone, and obviously, in the West, we have a very strong relationship with our Western Canadian development model and the partnership between the AJHL, SJHL, and MJHL. That's something that is trying to be reflected across the nation. So a lot of the leagues out East are looking at what we're doing in the West and trying to bring that development model to their area. So we're almost a bit of a shining light in that regard. That's something I'm proud of. But everyone, we're all in the same junior A landscape. We're all affected by the NCAA ruling. We all have our partners with our major junior leagues that are in our district. So it's just a lot of discussion points."
"For us, for the MJHL, our big focus is internally right now, and that's just raising our standards from top to bottom on and off the ice," the Commissioner continues. "You obviously understand, and you're always trying to see what the generated landscape is and predict what's going to happen. But at the end of the day, if we're not running good programs, and we're not providing the programs that kids and families want to play in, it doesn't matter what the landscape is, the players aren't going to go. Our focus at the MJHL is really internally, raising our standards and trying to be the best league on the ice and the best league off the ice."
A chance for Centennial Cup changes
When it comes to the Centennial Cup, one of the issues that's brought up often is the size of the tournament, having 10 teams being something that limits who can host the event, but Saurette says that may be changing sooner rather than later. "Those conversations are ongoing, and we're fully aware the event size is limiting to host communities," he says, speaking to conversations had by all commissioners. "It's something we have to look at very seriously. For the upcoming next season, 26/27, it'll be the same format. But after that, there'll be a full review this year to see if this is a feasible format going forward or looking at other options with fewer teams and lesser time frame. It's a very hard event to host. We're losing a lot of really, really good host communities if it were a five-team event that just can't do it at the 10-team level and over a two-week period, which is totally understandable. It's something we're very, we're fully aware of and something that we're discussing internally, along with Hockey Canada. Especially, those conversations will ramp up over this upcoming season."
Cost to watch
Another thing fans brought up throughout the tournament was the cost to watch, something that Saurette says they are aware of but have limited control over. "There are discussions, I mean, at the end of the day, it's obviously a CJHL event in the sense that CJHL teams are attending. But it is a Hockey Canada event, if that makes sense. There's definitely going to be pressure put on regarding the pricing, the feasibility and availability for everyone to access these games at the price point they are. HN Live does a great job, but we totally understand that it's not the most cost-effective. Are there different ways forward? I can't say it'll change for next year, but it's something that we've been having internal discussions on as well. I'll give a shout-out to the MJHL Director of Partnerships and Marketing, Eric Swar, who's on-site working for the CJHL. If anyone's been following on Instagram, he's trying to capture the story live for people who maybe don't want to watch it or aren't able to. He's really trying to capture the sights and sounds of the event, much like what we did in the MJHL playoffs this year."
Setting a new bar for social media
Continuing on the topic of social media, Saurette saw firsthand that the work put into building the brand really yielded views and results, so it may be something teams are pushed to do more of next year across the MJHL. "I mean, we always try to set the standards at league level, and this year for playoffs, we really wanted to show the MJHL experience. Obviously, it wasn't to specifically promote certain teams. It was just whoever was in the playoffs. We were going to go above and beyond this year and really try to capture the MJHL experience and show everything that's happening during a game on and off the ice. Hopefully, it's used as a template for teams going forward, and that's something we'll discuss at our upcoming AGM as part of the marketing meeting, but it's a template that teams can follow and try to emulate. They should try to be better, if possible. It's a massive tool that, if not utilized to its full capabilities and potential, well, then they're really missing out. Especially in this day and age, where it's a short attention span customer base. It's up to teams to promote themselves, especially on Instagram right now, where there is huge room for growth. That's their fresh template to show the organization, show exactly what goes on, how professional things are run. It gives people a window exactly into the organization, and if it's something that's not being utilized, well, shame on the teams, and that's why we wanted to set the standard and raise the bar from a league level. Hopefully, teams can use that as a template and standard going forward as we get ready for the upcoming season."
Teams putting in the work for fans
From Steinbach's facility to Winkler's upgrades, to Virden's game day, Saurette says it's been amazing to see teams across the league stepping up to bring a better product to their fans. "I'm very, very pleasantly optimistic about it," he says with a smile. "It's something that we've been working towards, and I know it's an investment, but it's necessary to operate at this level. I know it's not easy for junior A teams, but we have a lot of teams in our league that want to be elite organizations. You could just tell with how they've conducted themselves, the investments they're putting in, and where they want to go. We've had some leaders raising the standard along the way, which helps push everybody in. You look around the league, like Niverville is doing upgrades, Steinbach's facility is a jewel, Portage, Winkler and Dauphin, they are all doing things to make it better for people, also Virden, their game-day experience is fantastic. So we need those groups to really elevate and push the standard. You hope everyone else looks internally and says, where can we go? What do we need to do to stay at this level? These high operating teams, they're not going away, and they want to be the best."
Well-earned time off
There are still a few things to do now that Saurette is back in Manitoba after the conclusion of the Centennial Cup, but he says he's got one eye on some summer downtime. "May is a long month for the league office," he says with a chuckle. "We've got our playoffs, then the CJHL National Championship. The MJHL AGM is in a couple of weeks. Once we get through the AGM, Eric and I will take a few weeks off. That's the nature of the job. Just because I want to take some time off doesn't mean the other 13 teams stop operating. So it's a balance there, but there will be a time this summer where I will send an email saying, 'Please leave me alone for a couple weeks,' he says with a laugh.
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