London-Kitchener took its best swing at the 2006 world junior hockey championship yesterday. The group now waits to see where the ball lands.
"We hit it out of the park," said a confident Jim Rooney, president and co-owner of the Guelph Storm and a key member of the London- Kitchener committee.
"When you're served a fastball right down the middle, you connect with it."
The four other cities -- Ottawa, Vancouver, Quebec City and Saskatoon -- all felt the same way following one-hour sessions with the Hockey Canada bid committee.
The winner stands to make about $4 million for Hockey Canada and its programs across the country and millions more for its city.
"Our constant message was how our two cities have worked as a team," said London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco, who was joined at the table by Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr, Ontario Hockey Association president Brent Ladds, consultant Fred Galloway and Rooney.
Tourism London general manager John Winston was outside the room because Hockey Canada allowed only five people to make the presentation.
Winston stood with his ear pressed to the door the entire hour.
"The London-Kitchener team was well-prepared, exuded confidence and met the challenge on every question that was asked," Winston said. "I'm proud with what they put forward today. They couldn't have done a better job."
Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson said the decision will be announced by Jan. 30.
Canadian Hockey League president David Branch, a member of the selection committee, said their group has been challenged to come up with a winner.
"When you come into this, you always hope they will start to separate themselves," Branch said. "In my estimation, and to use a hockey axiom, no one has cut themselves through this process today and no one has made the team."
While none of the five would disclose financial details of their bids, it is known Hockey Canada has requested a guaranteed profit of more than $3.5 million.
The Free Press has learned some of the six bids eliminated in the first round made higher guarantees than some of the five finalists.
"I sense eliminating the myth that it's all about money is really important to Hockey Canada as this tournament evolves in this country," Ladds said.
Four years ago, in the bidding for the 2003 world junior tournament -- when London also made the short list -- Halifax blew the socks off the committee when that group came to the table with 5,000 ticket packages already sold.
"Everyone has done what Halifax did four years ago, plus," Nicholson said. "There were some very special ideas that came forward and now we have to make sure how they fit in."
Two teams brought some heavy hitters to their tables.
Retired NHL goaltending great Patrick Roy, a co-owner of the Quebec major junior league's Quebec Remparts, is with that city's group.
The Vancouver delegation had Premier Gordon Campbell and John Furlong, who chaired that city's successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
"It makes us feel really good about what we're doing and it shows you what this game means to the country when you see people like that make a commitment to the game," Nicholson said. "But in the end, it really is the quality of the bid."
Branch echoed that.
"I was impressed that Carl Zehr and Anne Marie DeCicco were here," he said. "We're all important and everyone is important in their own right. We look at the bids to see that the ingredients for success are there."
