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Scotia Place set for World Cup of Hockey showcase in inaugural 2027-28 season

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme sometimes.
When it comes to the home arenas of the Calgary Flames hosting major events, the Olympic Saddledome opened in time for the 1983-84 National Hockey League season and the Flames moved in from across the street in the Stampede Corral. After its first year of operations, the Saddledome hosted six games during the 1984 Canada Cup, splitting hosting duties for the semi-final and final games with Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
In 2028, Calgary will open a new new home for the Flames, Scotia Place, with the Flames moving in from across the street in the Scotiabank Saddledome. And just like in 1984, the new arena will play host to a major international event. It was announced on Monday morning that Calgary’s new rink will co-host the 2028 edition of the World Cup of Hockey, with the O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia hosting European group games, and Edmonton’s Rogers Place hosting the semi-finals and final.
When speaking with FlamesNation on Monday afternoon, Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation president and CEO Robert Hayes noted the appeal of bringing a big event to Scotia Place to showcase the long-awaited facility during its first year of operations.
“That’s what was attractive to the ownership group when this opportunity first came along, is, ‘Gosh, what if we could pull this off, ladies and gentlemen at CSEC, and actually make this happen?,’ and we had their full support to blast ahead and do it,” said Hayes. “It was a mountain of work by a small group because we had to keep it pretty tight internally. And when we decided, I don’t know who decided first, us or the [Oilers Entertainment Group], but let’s get together and make this happen from a provincial perspective, and everybody kind of jumped on board. It just made so much sense. To go into the first year, will be a little over halfway through season probably from a Flames perspective, but to be able to say we’re hosting the preeminent outside of the Olympics, arguably, hockey event in the world, that is pretty amazing.”
Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Hayes recollected that he attended a Canada Cup game at the Halifax Metro Centre during the 1980s. While that was his first exposure to international “best-on-best” hockey, he’s confident that the World Cup of Hockey will be even more exciting for fans.
“It was spectacular to watch that game and to see the best-on-best, as Mr. Bettman likes to call it, hockey that’s out there,” said Hayes. “And to think we get to do it now, two years out in Calgary and to see best-on-best, with due respect to the past, I just think hockey is so much more exciting. It’s faster, bigger players, all those sorts of things that makes it exciting today. It’s going to be a heck of a time to be in Calgary, that’s for sure.”
(The aim for the Calgary portion of the festivities is to create a festival atmosphere around town, so that the games won’t be the only chance for Calgarians and visitors to enjoy the fun; more details to come on that front.)
Hayes shared that the partnership with Edmonton on the joint bid came together organically. Each city submitted their own bids and during the process, made it known to the NHL that they would be open to partnering with their provincial counterparts. The NHL decided that a joint Alberta bid would make sense, and things progressed down that road, garnering support from multiple levels of government.
The successful World Cup of Hockey bid is part of a pretty diverse portfolio that Hayes has managed since joining CSEC nearly two years ago. In addition to operating the Scotiabank Saddledome and several teams, CSEC is also prepping for Scotia Place’s opening and preparing to host the Grey Cup in November. With all the things he’s juggling in his role, Hayes was quick to compliment the staff at CSEC, from top to bottom.
“I was incredibly fortunate when I walked into this role to inherit a team of individuals from a senior leadership team right on down to our part-time team,” said Hayes. “The dedication is second to none. And I’ve heard that through the NHL folks, who we interact with through some of the things that we submit to them on a regular basis.”
“And then when you link in the fan base, I remember the first time I met Mr. Bettman and he said, ‘One thing you can’t screw up is the C of Red.’ And I kind of looked at him and he said, ‘That’s happened naturally, and you have a fan base that 31 other teams in the league are envious of. And that’s a pretty special thing.’ And I hadn’t really thought of it because I was part of the C of Red as a fan. I was a season ticket holder and just went to every game and had so much fun and excitement watching the team and the energy in the building. So, yeah, it’s been a lot of fun so far.”
When the doors open at Scotia Place in 2027, Hayes’ teams – on and off the ice – will gain access to a host of fancy new tools and toys. Given the potential for more operational complexity, we were curious how they’ll maintain “the special sauce” of the fan experience when they move to their new facility. Hayes sees the additional touch points with fans as an added benefit of the newer facility.
“We will have more touch points in Scotia Place from the perspective that we’ll have lots more room in the facility. You’re going to have a lower concourse, an upper concourse, and that facility will be able to do so much more from the interaction perspective with the fans, whether it’s trying to get [teams] doing things there and activations, or whether it’s working with our partners and sponsors to try to do things for the fans. I think there’s going to be much more that we can do from that perspective. And then when you go in the bowl, you have to remember, this is going to be a bowl where no matter where you sit, you’re going to be closer to the ice because this bowl is going to go up a lot straighter than the Saddledome is right now. And you’re not going to have any kind of obstructed view seats that you have in the Saddledome presently, because you remember where the two saddles are. It’s awful hard when you’re sitting up there [in the press level] and you need those TVs to watch to see a great hockey game that’s going on on the ice. It’s a little difficult. In a new stadium, there’s not going to be any of that. Every seat in the house, whether you’re a front row, face to the glass, or your last row on the upper bowl, it’s going to be a great vantage point to watch a game.”
With construction proceeding on Scotia Place, Hayes was able to provide a bit of clarity in terms of when CSEC will get the keys to the facility and when doors will open to the public.
“We’re on time, all the critical paths are there,” said Hayes. “We’re hopeful that early summer of 2027, we can get [the keys], whether that’s late May or that’s early June, to be determined. But at this particular stage, there’s nothing that suggests that that’s not feasible.”
After taking possession of the building, CSEC’s teams and staff will move in and get the building operationally ready for its opening to the public later in the year.
“So we’ll take some time over the summer to do that in order to be in a position that we can open up the facility from a public perspective, hopefully in September,” said Hayes. “Don’t hold me to exact dates, but in a perfect world, I think that’s where it would work. And we open it up in September, and then we’re ready for the hockey season come October.”
The final season of Flames hockey in the Saddledome begins in October. The 2028 World Cup of Hockey, in Scotia Place, will take place in February 2028.
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